At least, not for now.

‘Let me ask you something,’ Jesse said so suddenly that I thought, for a minute, maybe he’d read my mind.

‘What?’ I asked cautiously, throwing down my magazine and standing up.

‘Last night, when you warned me not to go near the school because you were doing an exorcism . . .’

I eyed him. ‘Yes?’

‘Why did you warn me?’

I laughed with relief. Was that all? ‘I warned you because if you’d gone down there you would have been sucked away just like Heather.’

‘But wouldn’t that have been a perfect way to get rid of me? You’d have this room to yourself, just the way you want it.’

I stared at him in horror. ‘But that – that would have been completely unfair!’

He was smiling now. ‘I see. Against the rules?’

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Big time.’

‘Then you didn’t warn me—’ He took a step towards me. ‘—because you’re starting to like me or anything like that?’

Much to my dismay, I felt my face start to heat up. ‘No,’ I said, stubbornly. ‘Nothing like that. I’m just trying to play by the rules. Which you violated, by the way, when you woke up David.’

Jesse took another step towards me. ‘I had to. You’d warned me not to go down to the school myself. What choice did I have? If I hadn’t sent your brother in my place to help you,’ he pointed out, ‘you’d be a bit dead now.’

I was uncomfortably aware that this was true. However, I wasn’t about to let on that I agreed with him. ‘No way,’ I said. ‘I had things perfectly under control. I—’

‘You had nothing under control.’ Jesse laughed. ‘You went barrelling in there without any sort of plan, without any sort of—’

‘I had a plan.’ I took a single furious step towards him, and suddenly we were standing practically nose-to-nose. ‘Who do you think you are, telling me I had no plan? I’ve been doing this for years, get it? Years. And I never needed help, not from anyone. And certainly not from someone like you.’

He stopped laughing suddenly. Now he looked mad. ‘Someone like me? You mean – what was it you called me? A cowboy?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I mean from somebody who’s dead.’

Jesse flinched, almost as violently as if I’d hit him.

‘Let’s make rule number two be that from now on, you stay out of my business, and I’ll stay out of yours,’ I said.

‘Fine,’ Jesse said, shortly.

‘Fine,’ I said. ‘And thank you.’

He was still mad. He asked sullenly, ‘For what?’

‘For saving my life.’

He stopped looking mad all of a sudden. His eyebrows, which had been all knit together, relaxed.

Next thing I knew, he’d reached out, and laid his hands on my shoulders.

If he’d stuck a fork in me, I don’t think I’d have been so surprised. I mean, I’m used to punching ghosts in the face. I am not used to them looking down at me as if . . . as if . . .