Page 4 of Written in Red

“You did not abandon me when I was in danger.” Tacey crossed to him. “Do you think that I would ever abandon you?”

Mercury resisted the urge to reach out and touch her face, something that required a surprising amount of effort. She tugged fiercely at his heart, and he didn’t have the first idea what to do about it other than offer her what protection he could.

“We need to have a plan, even if it never proves necessary.” He took her hand. That felt far less vulnerable than brushing her cheek or putting his arms around her. “Promise me you will spend time every day searching out your connection to your ghosts and growing familiar with it. The more easily you can find and feel those connections, the better able you’ll be to release them and form new ones when the time comes.”

He walked with her, keeping hold of her hand. Ghosts couldn’t touch a person, not truly. The warmth of her touch was welcome for more than its novelty; it was comforting and reassuring, but also unexpectedly heart-flipping.

“Do you spend time each day doing that?” she asked.

“When I have a new ghost, I do for a day or two. After that, I can find it very easily.”

“A day or two?” She shook her head as she walked toward the chairs surrounding the fireplace in her room.

“I have had my ghosts all my life, and I struggle to locate the attachments.” She sounded very discouraged.

Tacey sat in one of the two chairs. He sat in the other. Fortunately, the two were beside each other. And more fortunate even than that, she didn’t let go of his hand.

“I have had many years of experience,” he said. “The longer you’ve done it, the easier it will be for you.”

“Are new attachments easier to locate, since you’ve only just created them?” Tacey had always asked very insightful questions. Her cleverness and curiosity had made her intriguing at the beginning. Now, those traits were only two of many that pulled him to her.

“I don’t know that they’re easier, necessarily.” He hadn’t thought about it before. “With my Originaries, I don’t have to locate the attachments at all. I am always aware of them, in the same way I am aware that I breathe and that my heart beats. I don’t have to think about it; they are simply part of me.”

“Baby Blue, Zizzy, and Smythe are like family to you.”

Another thing he hadn’t pondered before. “I’ve never had a family. I don’t really know what that feels like.”

She squeezed his hand, which brought his gaze back to her once more. The softness of her smile flipped his heart about in his chest. “They are the people—or ghosts—who are as important to you as the air in your lungs and the beating of your heart.”

That made her family. She had become that crucial to him. Did she realize that? Would it matter if she did?

Tacey’s attention was pulled to the doorway with a look of focused listening. Her Invisible, no doubt. She looked at Mercury once more. “Baby Blue and Zizzy are coming this way. They seem distressed.”

The two littlest of the Aventine ghosts slipped inside the room in the next moment. They did, in fact, look worried.

Mercury stood, moving toward them. Of necessity, he dropped Tacey’s hand.

“Someone is coming up the drive,” Zizzy said.

Mercury’s eyes darted to the window, though it didn’t overlook the drive. “The Vanns?” he guessed out loud.

“Smythe doesn’t recognize the carriage.”

Smythe had a good memory. He likely would have recognized the Vanns’ carriage. Then again, the Vanns might have changed vehicles.

New arrivals Mercury couldn’t yet identify. Was this the first wave of dangerous people descending on Aventine? The Vanns themselves? A new client with unfortunate timing?

“I don’t feel the Violet Giant’s voice,” Baby Blue added. “It could still be the Vanns, but he’s just not talking.”

Smythe arrived, hovering in the doorway. “What do you wish me to do about the new arrivals?”

“Answer the door without opening it,” Mercury said. “If it is the Vanns making a shockingly bold arrival, you need simply return inside, leaving the door bolted. If it is anyone else and they have come wishing to make a trade, tell them Mercury Raine has taken a holiday and will resume brokering in a few weeks.”

Smythe nodded. He turned and glided very regally into the corridor once more.

“Is that the approach you mean to take moving forward?” Tacey asked, having risen and moved to stand next to him. “People who come to Aventine will be told that Mercury Raine is not at home?”

He nodded. It would be simple to implement and easy to change as needed. “Those who have legitimately come to trade a ghost will leave. That will help us sort out who has made the journey for nefarious reasons.”