“No!” he exclaimed
“I don’t know her name. I think it starts with E. She started communicating with me on my first night here.”
Seph walked over and ran her hands over the desk, as if to soothe the spirit.
“How do you know it’s a she?” Dev asked.
“I don’t know. I guess I feel it. And she doesn’t feel - bad, you know?”
Jess looked at Seph like she’d lost her mind. She glanced at each of us in turn, and I could practically hear the gears grinding in her head.
“What thefuckis it with you attracting the worst nightmares in this place?” she asked — not mean, just… baffled.
“Hey,” I growled automatically.
Ash just grinned, eyes glued to Seph like she’d hung the moon. “It’s because she’s awesome.”
Seph stepped into the middle of the room and looked around. “Can you tell me your full name? Or should I call you E?”
A pencil wobbled, then floated up—jerky, like invisible hands were too weak to hold it.
It hovered above the pad of paper on the desk.
Then slowly, shakily, letters carved themselves into the page:
E
C
H
O
The writing was big.
Uneven.
Childlike.
Jess’s mouth fell open. “Oh my god. You have a baby ghost.”
“Echo,” Seph whispered softly. “Hello, Echo.”
A pencil rolled off the desk and clattered on the floor.
“Seph, maybe you shouldn’t stay here,” I said quietly.
She shot me a glare sharp enough to cut glass. “It’s my room. Of course I’ll stay here.”
I didn’t back down. “We have a suite—one of the biggest in the Institute. We even have a spare room. It’ssaferthan Night Block.”
“I’m sure your place is great,” she said, voice clipped. “But I answered you already. If you don’t like it, you can leave.”
My jaw tightened. I stepped forward, a growl rising in my throat. “Seph.”
“K, for Christ sake, leave her alone.” Dev snapped.
Seph took a slow breath and turned toward me. “Listen, K. I appreciate your concern. But if I leave now, I’m leaving Jess alone with Echo, and she really wouldn’t like that.”
