Chapter 10
The Vanns did not join Mercury in the drawing room after dinner. If he had to guess, he would say they were in their guest bedchamber complaining about how unaccommodating he was or deciding on another argument for convincing him to go to London.
They had to have a reason for wanting him to go to Town. They pushed the matter far too hard for it to be an offhand idea. They wanted him in London, and he couldn’t shake the growing suspicion that their motivation was nothing good.
Baby Blue stuck his head through the wall of the drawing room. “They aren’t going to be in here tonight?”
“They? The Vanns, you mean?”
“The Vanns.”
Mercury waved the tiny ghost inside. “They are upset with me. I believe they will remain in their room, then depart in the morning in a huff.”
“I’m glad they are leaving.” Baby Blue floated over to him and “sat” beside him on the sofa. “They make me feel nervous.”
“Miss Wilde said the same thing.”
“Is that why she isn’t here tonight?” Baby Blue asked.
Mercury nodded.
“Then I am doubly glad the Vanns aren’t staying. Miss Wilde will come back after they leave.”
“Have you missed her?” Mercury asked.
Baby Blue nodded. He leaned against Mercury, something he often did. But, being a ghost, there was no true contact between them. Baby Blue even passed through him a little.
“I’ve often wished I could give you a hug,” Mercury said.
“So have I.” The boy sounded lonely, even a little sad.
“Can other ghosts hug you? Or touch you?”
“No,” Baby Blue said. “It’s like with people: we just pass through each other.”
“Miss Wilde held my hand earlier today,” Mercury said. “I couldn’t remember the last time someone touched me. I think living in a house of ghosts means all of us long for some kind of touch.”
“But we’re all together,” Baby Blue said. “Being together makes everything better even when it isn’t all good.”
“Yes, it does. It’s good that we’re together. And we’ll always be together.”
“Even if the Vanns’ fancy friends offered you a fortune?” Baby Blue asked quietly.
“I wouldn’t give you up for anything.” And he would tell Baby Blue that as often as the little ghost needed to hear it.
Baby’s eyes shifted away from Mercury to a nearby wall, where the Violet Giant stood. He’d likely only just floated inside.
“Mr. Raine.” Feeling his name rumble through him was not an overly pleasant experience. “We need to talk.”
Baby Blue hopped up immediately. He turned back to Mercury. “Are you within five hundred feet of Larissa Lodge?”
“Not in this part of the house, no.”
The baby ghost’s posture drooped. “I’ll have to see Miss Wilde tomorrow, I suppose.”
“We’ll make certain of it,” Mercury assured him.
Baby Blue trudged from the room—as much as a ghost could “trudge.” The little boy had, it seemed, missed Tacey that evening every bit as much as Mercury had.
“You are very considerate of your ghosts,” the Giant said.
“I try to be.”
“You told my people that you would stay here after they left.”
Mercury nodded.
“Even though that would mean no chance of making a trade, of adding me to your household?”
Mercury leaned back on the sofa, striking a casual pose in contradiction to the increased tension he was feeling. “You believe I wish you to be one of my ghosts?”
“You wish me to be close by and, perhaps, to feel a sense of loyalty,” the Violet Giant said. “I know things about you, and you cannot explain how. That worries you.”
There was little point denying that. So he seized on it, taking the opportunity to ask more direct questions. “I am familiar with Phantomic memories. Have you begun ‘remembering’ things about me now that we are in company? It can happen even with ghosts and people who have never actually met.”
The Violet Giant moved closer, requiring Mercury to crick his neck looking up at him. “I hadn’t intended to tell you, but I’ve watched you the last two days. I’ve not ever met anyone else who treats their ghosts as equals. I’ve certainly never experienced that myself.”
Mercury sat up straighter. “Do the Vanns mistreat you?”
The Violet Giant didn’t answer, but that felt like an answer in and of itself. “You deserve to know what you haven’t been told.”
“What is that?”
“You are aware that some ghosts have unique abilities?”
Mercury nodded. Baby Blue could sleep. Pearl could sense things to come. Rum Nicky could sense the taste of food even though he couldn’t eat.
“I have never before met a ghost who can do what I can do,” the Violet Giant said.
“What is that?” Mercury repeated verbatim the question he had asked a moment earlier.
“I can see and hear Invisibles. It does not matter who they belong to; I can see and hear them.”
Mercury sat up, tense and concerned. This ghost was a danger to Tacey. He would have seen her Invisible attachment, something she was, for good reason, keeping a secret. Tacey was in danger. How could Mercury let him go now?
“How has that ability led you to know so much about me?” Mercury wouldn’t volunteer any information about Tacey’s Invisible, but he was determined to get the Violet Giant to admit to knowing. That seemed safest.
“The Reluctant Recluse told me. He tells me a lot of things.”
“Who is the Reluctant Recluse?”
The Violet Giant’s expression softened. He suddenly didn’t seem threatening in the least. He seemed almost mournful. “He is an Invisible who cannot be seen even by the person to whom he is attached.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Invisibles could be seen only by their person. “Who is he attached to?”
A small smile tugged at the Giant’s lips. “You.”
The blood drained from Mercury’s face. All thoughts fled. The air seemed to disappear from his lungs. He couldn’t speak. He could hardly think.
I have an Invisible attachment. Invisible even to me.
“He has told me a few things about you,” the Violet Giant continued, “which is how I knew your name and that you like cricket. I have also learned that you are protective of Baby Blue and Zizzy, though I could have sorted that out on my own.”
I have an Invisible.
“He is, compared to other Invisibles I talk with, quite close-lipped about you,” the Violet Giant said. “I can often learn quite a lot about people by gabbing with their Invisibles. But not you.”
Thank the heavens. This Reluctant Recluse must have known everything; he certainly would know where Mercury came from.
“You must have significant secrets, Mercury Raine,” the Violet Giant said. “And your concern about me likely stems from those secrets. Yet you’re willing to let me leave with my people in order to protect the peace of your ghosts.”
I have an Invisible. “I’m— I’m not usually so inarticulate. I’m simply—”
“The Reluctant Recluse says he has tried to get your attention many times, but in a household with so many ghosts, that is a difficult thing.”
“He is in the room right now?”
The Violet Giant nodded.
“Does he know why I can’t see him? Or hear him?” Mercury pushed a hand through his hair, overwhelmed. “I didn’t know such a thing was possible.”
“It is something I have never encountered before coming here.”
“Could you— Could you tell him I’m sorry he’s been ignored all these years?”
“He can hear you.” The Violet Giant motioned to Mercury’s left, the space between his sofa and a nearby chair.
Mercury looked in that direction, hoping he was somewhat close to looking at the ghost who’d apparently been with him all his life. “I am sorry. You must be lonely.”
“He says he has always been happy being attached to you. There is plenty to watch and enjoy. And he knows that, now that you know he is there, you will be considerate.”
Mercury nodded. “And I will pay more attention to his—” He pushed away his default to the third person. “I will pay more attention to your efforts to communicate with me,” he said to the seemingly empty spot. “Perhaps, in time, we will develop a language we can both use.”
The Violet Giant made a sound of contemplation, which pulled Mercury’s eyes to him once more. “You are an odd sort of person, Mercury Raine. In the best way. Though I have already caused tremendous upheaval in your life these past few minutes, I need to tell you something else.”
Mercury rubbed at his face. “I’m afraid to even ask.”
“The Vanns are not what they seem.” The Violet Giant, who never looked upended, seemed worried. And that, in turn, worried Mercury greatly. “Their insistence that you travel to London is not a friendly invitation.”
Mercury swallowed down the distress that rose up. “I have suspected they harbor some hidden motive.”
“Do not accept their offer.” The Violet Giant added emphasis to every single word.
“Why not?”
“They are dangerous,” the Violet Giant said. “And, for reasons I have not been able to ascertain, they have set their sights on you. They have something to gain from getting you to London, and you can be certain it is for something nefarious.”
Mercury nodded, his thoughts spinning like a whirlwind. “Thank you for the warning. And for introducing me to the Reluctant Recluse.”
But the Violet Giant was not done. “Do not take the Vanns lightly, Mercury Raine. They oughtn’t be underestimated.”