Cinder X (Death Collectors, #2) by Jessica Sorensen

away when I reach the doorway of the living room and then point at the front door. “No, we’re not and you should go.”
     
    Now, Ember, is that any way to speak to your best friend. Cameron’s voice reemerges in my head.
     
    How the hell do I get you out of my head? I say loudly inside my head.
     
    You don’t.
     
    I hate you.
     
    No you don’t. You want me, more than you’d like to admit.
     
    “Shut up.” I don’t mean to say it out loud, but it slips out.
     
    Raven gapes at me like I’ve lost it. “Em, are you okay?”
     
    I cross my arms over my chest. “Oh, like you already don’t know that I’m not okay. That nothing is okay.”
     
    She doesn’t know about me, Cameron hisses in my head . I already told you I’m not part of the Anamotti and that Reapers hate me and my family, and if you know what’s best for you, you won’t utter a word to her about me.
     
    Well, if that’s what you don’t want me to do, then it’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m not really planning on telling her, just making a threat. When I open my mouth, my jaw snaps shut of its own accord.
     
    I guess we’re going to do this the hard way then. He sighs, like he’s so disappointed . I really would rather not, but you give me no choice.
     
    Suddenly, my mouth turns upward into an enormous grin as I span my hands out to the sides of me. “I’d love to go bowling.” The voice belongs to me, but I’m not controlling it; I’m suddenly nothing more than a puppet, just like everyone else at school.
     
    Cameron, knock it off! I try to run towards the stairs and grab ahold of the railing, but my feet remain planted in place.
     
    No, you need to go with her. It’s important. He sounds serious, which is weird for him. It might help us figure some stuff out.
     
    Us? There is no us. With a loud grunt, I manage to get my foot up and then step back very ungracefully, bumping my hip into the corner table.
     
    “Shall we?” I ask Raven in a very cordial tone.
     
    Cameron chuckles. Shall we? I guess I probably should have done better than that.
     
    I feel a hot sensation whisk through my body and then he swiftly takes over, making my legs move, bringing my knees up a little too far so it looks like I’m marching in a parade. Raven follows after me with a perplexed look on her face as I stumble to the door.
     
    “Are you sure you’re okay?” Raven asks as I open the front door and stumble over the threshold. Sunlight shines down on me, yet I feel like I’m stuck in the shadows. In the cold.
     
    You’re feeling me, he explains. I know it’s not the best sensation, but bear with me.
     
    “I’m fine.” My mouth moves as I trip down the stairway and onto the lawn. “I’m perfectly okay.” I plaster a smile on my face, but on the inside I feel completely hollow. So cold. As though I’m losing control of who I am as well as what makes me feel things. I think I could do anything at the moment—good or bad—and be okay with it.
     
    Cameron, what is that? Why is everything so cold? It feels almost like that night in the room when the shadow dove into me.
     
    I have no idea what you’re talking about, he says. I can’t tell if he’s telling the truth or not. But that coldness you feel is the feeling of death, he explains. You’re feeling me right now and the energy of the souls I’ve stolen. I’m part of you at the moment, Ember; part of your mind, body and soul. I just wish I could figure out how to take it. And who knows, maybe you’ll break down and tell me.
     
    Part of my soul?
     
    Oh, God. I’m in deep shit.

Chapter 6
     
     
    The cops that are always parked out in front of my house are gone, probably taking one of their very rare breaks. The sun is shining down on the neighborhood, but it’s eerily quiet with everyone too afraid to step outside or something. Leaves shower from the trees and land on the frosted ground, crunching underneath my boots.
     
    “I made them leave,” Raven