I shook my head, pushing those thoughts, and the fear squeezing my chest, aside. If anyone could have survived all of this, it was Alona. Maybe another spirit taking over Lily's body would have been enough to save her. If Lily's body didn't need her anymore, maybe that would give her more energy to sustain herself. Maybe.
She smoothed her hands down her body in an utterly creepy manner. “Must have been nice having it all in one package, huh?” She grinned and elbowed me, none too gently, in the ribs. “A spirit guide in a tight, living body. All the perks.”
I grimaced and shifted away from her. She made it sound so gross. It wasn't like that, had never been like that. We hadn't even known that Alona was still my spirit guide after she took over Lily's body. But I doubted Erin would believe me, and I didn't want to waste my breath explaining something she'd never understand. So weird the way Erin changed everything about Lily into something creepy and threatening, in a way that Alona had not. It said something about how much the soul or spirit in charge mattered. “What do you want?” I asked.
Erin laughed, and I shuddered.
“What do I want?” she repeated. “Nothing more than I've got right here, baby,” she said, slapping her thighs. “It's a little beat up, sure, but nothing I can't work around.” She sounded delighted. “I'm going to live it up.” She winked at me like this was all no big deal. Like she hadn't potentially sentenced Alona to a more permanent form of death. “Now, are we going to get burgers or what?” she demanded.
I drove on autopilot, steering the car toward Krekel's, Alona's favorite burger place, and thinking furiously. I needed a plan. One thing was for sure: I couldn't let her out into the world like this. God only knew what Erin would get up to if left to her own devices, and she was, for all intents and purposes, Lily. Around here, someone would eventually recognize her, and that would be bad. Not to mention her parents, who would be worried sick about her. And what if Alona wasn't gone and she needed Lily's body back? The Order had said the two of them had become dependent on each other. Lily seemed to be doing okay with Erin in Alona's place, but Alona didn't have that same option.
Locking Erin up, at least until I had a better grasp of the situation, seemed to be the only logical solution, as much as I hated the idea. But where? Maybe Edmund/Malachi would have an idea.
I looked over at Erin, her arm on the rest between us. She was weakened by her transition into Lily's body; I could probably drag her along pretty easily. But some of what I was thinking must have shown on my face.
“Oh, no.” She snatched her arm back and scooted away from me. “I've already wasted too many years watching and not living. You're not going to do that to me again. You try to lock me up somewhere and I'll scream until someone calls the cops.” Her chin jutted out in determination, pushing aside any doubts I might have had that she would do less than she claimed. And the Turners, when they got wind of it, as they surely would, would probably press charges against me, thus eliminating any chance I had of fixing this mess.
“In fact,” she said, “I think you can let me out here.” She nodded at the red stoplight we were approaching.
“Here?” I asked, incredulous. “We're not even close to anything, and she can't… you can't walk—”
“We'll manage,” she said, already tugging at her seat belt.
“Erin, wait,” I said, fighting desperation. “What about Edmund? I know he'll want to see you and—”
“Right,” she scoffed. “Like I'm going to waste any of my time on him.”
“He's your brother,” I argued.
“Fat lot of good that did either of us,” she muttered. She yanked at the handle and shoved the door open as soon as we reached a stop.
I lurched across the car to grab her, but she slipped away. Then she surprised me, ducking her head back in and mashing her mouth against mine in a rough parody of a kiss.
I jerked back, hard enough that my elbow banged into the steering wheel.
“I would have expected better from you,” she said in mock disappointment before slamming the door shut.
The light turned green, and someone behind me honked and held it, loud and obnoxious. But I refused to move. “Get back in the car, Erin,” I shouted. I felt my face burning, imagining what this must look like to the other drivers.
“Stalking is illegal, Will,” she warned loudly, her voice muffled through the closed door but clear to anyone who had their windows rolled down. Her gaze darted to the cars behind me, a tiny smirk playing on her lips as someone else added his horn to the mix.
