Chapter 4
Chapter Four
THEO
I’m startled awake by what sounds like an earth-shattering bang.
I’m momentarily at a loss as to what made the noise as my focus is on making sure I’m fully tethered to this realm.
I pull my consciousness to the forefront of my mind and manifest in the front room of my family’s home.
The noise sounds again, and I realize it’s simply a knock at my door.
I float toward the foyer to see who it is, remaining in my ghostly form.
Through the shaggy and moth-ridden curtains, I spy two figures standing on my porch wearing thick layers dusted with snow. There’s a woman I don’t recognize, but the man beside her is my vampire-friend, Aidan Ward.
I turn the handle and hover behind the door, inviting my visitors inside.
“Theodore?” Aidan calls into the house as he leans over the threshold.
I shift from behind the door as he steps across the crumbling, wooden floorboards and answer hoarsely, not having used my voice in several weeks. “I’m here.”
Aidan’s eyes meet mine, and his face softens into that familiar expression one shares with old friends.
He kicks his boots against the doorframe to remove the layer of snow that’s caked to the bottom of them while the female remains tucked behind his tall frame.
“Might this be a friendly visit?” I ask, turning away from the door and floating back into the salon at the front of the house. My legs flicker in and out of their spirit form as I shift my focus more on projecting the upper half of my body.
Aidan groans guiltily under his breath. “I have been meaning to come by.”
I settle in front of the unlit hearth containing ashes more than a decade old. “A dubious one then,” I respond with teasing cadence and a smirk.
His companion lingers in the foyer, unsure if she’s truly been invited in. Her light brown hair reflects subtle strands of honey in the setting sunlight that cascades through the hazy windows.
“And who have you brought with you?” I ask, gesturing to the female.
She squares her shoulders and looks directly at me for the first time. Aidan guides her to stand beside him by placing a hand at the small of her back. “Theo, this is my mate, Joanna.”
My eyebrows lift. “Mate? Color me surprised.”
Though it does surprise me to finally see Aidan with a significant other, their status is confirmed by the taut, silvery string strung between them, connecting their souls—one of the interesting benefits I’ve received by being connected to the spirit realm.
I reach out, wishing to touch it, but think better of it.
Joanna frowns, unsure whether or not I’ve just insulted or complimented their relationship, but Aidan’s chuckle relaxes her.
“I know it’s a shock, watching me go from being alone for over one hundred years to being mated.”
“It’s most certainly not something I had on my bingo card this year,” I say with a tilt of my head.
Joanna snorts.
“Where did you learn that phrase?” Aidan asks, barely keeping back a laugh himself.
I float closer to the window. “You’d be surprised by the jargon I pick up from listening to passersby. But that one I learned from you.”
I hear Aidan’s chuckle from behind me as I gaze into the trees beyond the glass. The forest that surrounds me is home to many—the werewolf pack is not far past the nearest cluster of trees, and during certain moon phases, witches trek the dirt trails to find ingredients and bless their spell-work.
I hear Joanna muttering as she leans into her mate. “Just wait ’til he spends time with the witches.”
This gets my attention.
A gust of wind blows the front door open, sending a shiver through Joanna’s frame. It slams noisily against the wall, and Aidan rushes to close it firmly in place.
Quiet settles throughout the house, the door having created a barrier between us and the loud whip of winter winds outside.
There was a time, when I was alive, that I loved the snow—I appreciated the way it blanketed ugly things and made them beautiful—but things like frozen ice crystals falling from the sky start to mean less once you’ve been dead for one hundred and eight years.
With my father’s pocket watch tucked away in a drawer upstairs, the routine of the seasons has become the only way to note the passing of time, as well as a crutch upon which I depend for my sanity.
As long as the seasons continue to change, I’ll know how long I’ve been here—stuck in this house, cursed to live as a shadow of my former self.
I take a deep breath to calm my racing mind. Though the mention of witches sets my teeth on edge, I am curious what has brought Aidan to my doorstep.
“What’s this about witches?” I ask pointedly. Better to get this over with.
Perhaps they have questions for the son of a warlock with insider knowledge, but I’m curious what couldn’t be answered by the coven in town. I stare openly at the man I call a friend, waiting for him to explain himself, and after several seconds of gathering his courage, he speaks.
“We have a unique situation at hand,” he begins. “Shadow Hills is home to only a handful of ghosts, all of whom are registered with the mayor’s office, correct?”
“Yes,” I concur flatly.
Aidan shoves his hands into his slacks. “I believe we have a new ghost.”
I lift one brow. “And what makes you think that?”
At the exact same time, Aidan answers, “Because she appeared to us,” and Joanna says, “Because she told us she was dead.”
This actually makes me chuckle slightly. “Both are good arguments, but that still doesn’t explain why you’ve come to me. Why not ask the mayor to assist you in… What is it you need assistance with?”
“From what she told us, this ghost is having trouble staying on the earthly plane. Right now, she’s floating freely through empty space, appearing occasionally and then disappearing again.”
“She must be recently deceased,” I say. “She’ll figure it out on her own. It takes time for all of us.”
It took me well over a decade to navigate the afterlife on my own. Why does this ghost get a free ride?
This time Joanna speaks up. “She sounded really scared. I don’t think she remembers anything about her death. We just thought, since you’re also, you know…a ghost…that maybe you could reach her when she’s floating around out there in the nothingness and then bring her here.”
Whether she means here as in my home or here as in Shadow Hills proper, I don’t like it. Somehow, I feel as if getting involved with this will mean I am to be responsible for this wayfarer.
“It doesn’t work like that,” I tell her.
Joanna’s eyes widen. “It doesn’t?”
“No. I assumed that’s why you brought up the witches.”
Aidan and Joanna exchange a knowing glance. “The girl—Kennedy—she’s the one who said she needed a witch.”
“And she’s right,” I say. “I have no way of knowing where the ghost is. We don’t have special psychic connections to one another. But a witch can call upon a spirit with a spell, if they have something that belongs to the deceased.”
Aidan heaves a sigh and pinches his brow. “Of course. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. We must have a seance.”
Joanna shivers. “You mean, like, Ouija board shit? Nuh-uh. No way, José.”
“Who’s José?” Aidan and I both ask at the same time.
She scoffs. “Wow. You two really are old.”
She then pulls a device I’ve come to learn is a mobile phone out of her pocket and frowns. She places the phone next to her ear with a furrowed brow. “Hey, what’s up? Is everything alright?”
Joanna’s eyes widen and Aidan stiffens, having heard every word of whatever’s being said with his paranormal hearing.
Instead of addressing his mate, he looks at me. “The ghost,” he says, “She’s at Kiki’s Cafe right now.”