See? This wasn’t so bad. The hauntings were mostly flickering lights and bumps in the night. Sure, I’d almost been flattened by a homicidal oil painting, but the walls here were bare, and nothing hung overhead. Every projectile was tucked securely inside the bureau, and I’d gone full twenty-first-century with the lighting. No more candles. Windows locked. Curtains drawn.
Thud…The sound was like a body hitting the floor. I peered over the side of the bed. The dust ruffle fluttered like something had slithered beneath the bed frame. My spine straightened so fast, I pulled a muscle.
I let out a slow, trembling breath.
There's nothing under the bed. You're not five.
I was totally safe. With a confident nod, I finger-combed my hair and peered into the mirror again.
The glass fogged.
A single word etched slowly through the film:RUN.
I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head as if the ghost read nonverbal cues.I'm fine. Everything is fine. That wasn't a threat. It was a healthy suggestion to take up cardio.
Peaking my eyes open, I blinked the black spots away. I heard it then, the heavy scrape of boots on the floorboards.
Inside my room.
Another word appeared beneath the first in the mirror, making my blood freeze.RUN NOW.
The bulb in the lamp cracked under the shade. Darkness swallowed the room.
A shadow took shape in the far corner; a man’s silhouette, tall, shoulders hunched. His long coat hung on his muscular frame, the ends whipping in a non-existent wind. When he lifted his head, I saw the outline of his features, watched them twist with anger. His mouth opened in a soundless snarl.
My scream died halfway up my throat.
He moved—fast, white mist blowing around him like driving snow. Frost bloomed up the wallpaper, the sound like a frozen whisper. I snatched my pillow, my pulse a jackhammer in my throat, and bolted for the door.
Wrenching it open, I staggered into the hall. My bare feet slapped against the floorboards as I skidded to a stop in front of Grant’s room. I could hardly breathe, hyperventilation, making the hallway spin. The brass room plate seemed to glow against the wood, the numbers warping in my vision.
My hand hovered over the knob.
I looked back.
The ghost stood in the doorway of my room, eyes blazing with silver fire, teeth bared. Then he stepped backward into the dark, and the door slammed shut.
I choked on a breath, my lungs spasming. There was no way I was going back in there. But there was also no way I'd give Grant the satisfaction of crawling into his bed for safety. He’d love it too much. And I mightnever leave.
With trembling fingers, I mumbled a spell, my temporary magic flickering enough to light the wall sconce beside me. Then I slid down the wall next to his door and pressed my pillow to my chest like a fluffy shield.
“Just a few hours,” I whispered to the shadows. “Nobody has to know, except me and the ghost who stole my room.”
I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep.
Chapter 16
Grant
The clock on thenightstand read just past two. Muted moonlight slipped between the curtains, silvering the room in uneven bars of light. But it wasn’t the light that woke me. Something rustled faintly against the floorboards in the hall.
I frowned, sitting up, rubbing a hand over my bleary eyes. The sound came again, closer this time. A quiet exhale. The softthwackof feathers. Then, the saddest sound, a muffled sniffle.
I was on my feet, a spike of urgency clamoring inside my throat as I crossed the room in three long strides. When I opened the door, the sconce in the hallway flared brighter, pushing back the shadows as if it were trying to help.
And there she was.
Valerie lay curled in on herself beside my door, a pillow tucked behind her head, knees drawn tight as if warding off the cold. Her hair was a riot of brown silk, spilling over her shoulders and pooling onto the floor.
