Chapter 14 – Celaeno
CELAENO
I’m lying in a tub filled with hot water, which feels like absolute heaven on my sore muscles. So unbelievably good that I swear my brain has melted into a pile of happy goop.
Did I find this place creepy at first? This isn’t creepy, it’s amazing!
Yeah, it’s filled with antique furniture… and the closets are full. And there’s personal touches everywhere, as if the owners simply vanished a long time ago, and nothing was touched. But that’s just eccentric, not weird.
Nothing really matters as long as I’m soaking in a giant tub filled with hot water.
Someone recently seems to have dusted, washed the bedding, and turned the water and electricity back on. If I were to bet, I’d say it was done to help sell this place. Which is totally normal.
Maybe not totally normal.
And yet, I wouldn’t have a hot bath or clothes to change into if this place wasn’t so strange, so that makes it worth it.
Anything if I can just stay in this bath and forget my troubles for a little while.
Forget that the three guys I’ve been feeling a strange connection to don’t feel the same way about me.
Even though I imagined maybe they did. At least a little.
A light shimmers at the end of the tub, and a ghost slowly comes into focus. It’s that of a young woman with a kind smile. She’s wearing a nightgown from another era, and her hair is loose about her shoulders. All in all—she looks to be a nice ghost. Which I’m grateful for.
They’re not always nice.
She smiles at me. “Hello.”
I hear her familiar voice and smile back. “Thanks for the warning in the garden.”
She laughs, and the sound is a little sad. “No, thank you. You are only the second being that could see me. It was nice to be heard, if only to save your life.”
After my time spent in the Underworld, and likely because of the job I was responsible for, I can often see ghosts. Sometimes the experience is good, and sometimes not so much. But the reason the ghosts remain on this plane is always the same: they have unfinished business.
“What’s your name?”
“Catherine,” she answers easily.
“Catherine,” I repeat. “And why are you still here, Catherine?”
Her easy smile fades. “I was the loser.”
“Loser?” I repeat, generally curious.
She nods and seats herself lightly at the end of the tub, the light growing dimmer around her. “Our family has secrets. Secrets that need to stay hidden. One of us had to remain behind to ensure it. And I was the loser.”
“Makes sense.” I already know this family didn’t die from violent means. If they did, she’d be one angry ghost, but I still ask. “And what killed your family, if you don’t mind me asking.”
She shrugs. “An illness. It swept through the house, killing our family and all those serving in our household.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.”
I take a little fancy soap I found in one of the bathrooms and start to scrub my skin and hair. Some people might feel weird having a ghost watching them take a bath, but anything becomes normal with enough time. And I’ve had ghosts pop up at far stranger times than this.
“I know you are the prisoner of those gargoyles,” she says, after a time. “But do you think you could help us hide our secrets?”
I freeze. “Would you be able to leave this place then?”
She nods.
“Am I going to be hiding anything creepy? Bones and that kind of stuff?”
I’m not sure, but I swear she blushes. “Just one set of bones. Some journals. A couple paintings.”
Even though that’s the last thing I want to do right now, I can’t imagine walking away and leaving her here to spend eternity trapped within these walls. There really isn’t a choice. I have to help her.
“Alright.”
She clasps her hands together in excitement. “Thank you!”
I dip beneath the water, washing the soap from my body and hair. Beneath the bubbles, images of the gargoyles come back to me. I try to push them away, but they linger. I hate how much my treacherous heart likes those three.
They don’t deserve the tiniest sliver of my heart.
When I resurface, the ghost begins to tell me her plan.
I listen halfheartedly, trying not to think about the three jerks.
When she’d done speaking, I get out, dry off, and put on one of the old gowns in the closet.
I hand washed my clothes, which are currently still drying by the window, so this is all I have right now.
Following the ghost into the cellar, I help to undig the tiny skeleton.
It’s the bones of her father’s child out of wedlock.
And I’m thankful that rather than hiding these bones again, all she wants is to give them a proper place in the family cemetery.
I wrap them in a blanket, carry them out to the overgrown cemetery in the very back of the estate, and bury them beside the others.
Taking a piece of wood, I etch her name into it, Eveline Winters, beloved daughter.
Then I collect the items on her list from their secret locations and burn them near the cemetery.
When I’m done, I turn to the ghost. The look of relief that washes over her face warms my heart.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I smile. “You can go now. Your reason for being linked to this earthly plane is gone.”
She has the most stunning look of happiness as she glows brighter and vanishes.
On to some place better than this.
Using the little shovel, I cover the smoldering remains in the tiny hole. I’m suddenly so tired, and yet, I need to take another bath. Without looking back, I toss the shovel on the ground and return to my room, where I take another bath and put on another gown.
When I’m done, someone knocks at my door.
Opening it, I come face-to-face with Journey. Relief flashes over his face when he sees me.
“We couldn’t find you!”
I shrug. “I had something to take care of.”
He takes a deep breath that seems to shake his whole chest and nods.
“Is that all?”
He hesitates. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“What about?”
His gaze locks onto mine, and I hate how my heart flutters under his stare.
“You know.”
“No, I don’t,” I press.
“We didn’t mean to put you in that situation.”
“Grey did. He told them what I am, and he didn’t have to.”
He shakes his head. “He told them because he was afraid they were going to take off with you.”
“So he would’ve rather had me dead?”
He shifts a little closer to me, his voice lowering. “You have to know he never thought that was going to happen.”
I stare back at him. “If he was sorry about it, wouldn’t he be the one here rather than you?”
“It’s complicated…”
“Because of his hatred for monsters? I know. I know about his Brother. I know about it all.”
He reached forward and very slowly brushes my wet hair back from my face.
Everywhere he touches seems to awaken. For a minute, I’m actually foolish enough to think he might kiss me.
The tension that sings between us seems to scream it.
The distance between us seems to grow smaller, and I can’t quite catch my breath.
And then he drops his hand. “Get some sleep, Celaeno. I’ll be right across the hall if you need anything.”
I nod. “And better hurry off and tell the others I didn’t make a break for it.”
He looks sad, but he turns, and I know he’s doing exactly that.
I close the door. My legs are shaking. Tomorrow we’ll finally reach our destination. I’ll see what’s wrong with the birds in this town of Cherish, and I’ll try to help.
And once I do, I’ll have a week’s head start. I’ll have time to scramble and get as far from these men as possible. If they keep their word. But either way, that will be the last time I see them. The last time where we have this weird agreement between us.
After that, the rules of war will apply. Which means there will be no rules. It’ll be kill or be killed.
So I’ll stay away from them. And any memories of them will fade from my mind.
As I climb into the bed, I hate that I feel strangely sad about that. Because one thing is clear: I feel something for them. But no matter what they feel for me, it isn’t enough for them to see me as anything but a monster.
I brush away the foolish tear that slips down my cheek. There’s no reason to cry. I don’t have anything, so I’m not really losing anything.