My Inherited House Might be Haunted

Epilogue

Rhett

Three months later

I sat in the library that evening, curled up in my favorite armchair, with a glass of wine in my hand and a purring cat in my lap. Calix was in the kitchen making something yummy—I could tell from the smells alone. Nothing better than a sexy man in my kitchen cooking.

For some reason, I felt a little pensive. A little sad. Well, I say “for some reason” but I knew the reason. Today was Aunt Ruth’s birthday. It was a reminder to me of all the other birthdays I’d celebrated with her. I missed her fiercely even on a good day, but today? It was more poignant.

I looked up at the oil painting of her above the fireplace and spent a moment mourning this incredible woman. At the same time, I felt like I should thank her. So much had happened in my life, all positive, because of her generosity.

“So, Aunt Ruth? Turns out I’m a technomage after all, like you guessed. I’m still training, but your apprentice is doing a damn fine job getting me up to snuff. Thank you for Chelsea. She’s really becoming one of my best friends.”

I was on a roll now and needed to say this aloud. To acknowledge it, hoping she could somehow hear me.

“The house has been so welcoming to me. It has a spirit of its own, I’ve found. It doesn’t talk to me, but I sometimes get impressions from it. With practice, I hope to get better at understanding what it’s trying to say. The Brownies interpret for me often. Oh, speaking of, thanks to Calix, it’s now got a whole family of Brownies to take care of it. I’m not even allowed to clean. They get pissed at me if I try. It’s glorious. I’m so spoiled, and I never want it to change. I feel like I’m a Disney princess some days.”

Myst came in to flop at my feet, then went belly up. Shameless creature. I used a foot to give him belly rubs and got a wagging tail for my efforts.

“I have two wonderful familiars, a loving boyfriend who moves in with me this week, and a successful business that’s grown so much I’ve actually hired a person to help me in the shop. And while the house is hella haunted at any given time, you set it up this way for those who need help to pass on. It’s been wonderful, seeing people stuck in time finally reunite with family and friends. Some days, I sit on the patio with Chelsea and just watch, encouraged by the thought that there’s a life after this one.”

The front doorbell rang and Calix called, “I’ve got it!”

Good, because I wasn’t moving. I was under various levels of fur paralysis.

I kept my ear trained toward the door though and heard Calix greet someone, a beep, and then the sound of a heavy cardboard box being lugged inside.

“Cutie, what did you buy?” Calix called to me. “It’s heavy as hell and marked fragile?”

I tilted my head back to answer him. “That’s the new custom sigil light, probably. It was due to arrive today.”

“What sigil light? Are you expanding the ghost path again?”

“No, this is for something else.”

“Uh…okay? Where do I put it?”

“Gimme a second.”

That was my cue to get up, apparently. I shifted Lucy to the back of the armchair—her normally preferred perch anyway—then carefully stepped over Myst to avoid stomping on my dog—who was too lazy to move until he realized I was moving, and then all of a sudden he found his motivation. Typical.

Before leaving the study, though, I lifted my glass toward the portrait.

“Thanks, Aunt Ruth. For the magic.”