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When I swerved my amazed attention to Damien, he shook his head in question. “What? What worked?”
“The day I got this place, your sister heard me talking about needing somewhere to stay while I was walking on Bridleway past the brownstone, so she played some music to get me to glance over and notice the vacancy sign in the window.”
His mouth formed a small O. “No way.”
As I nodded, Thalia started talking again. “Of course, Imeantfor you to call the number on the sign and speak to Damien directly, but…when you knocked on the door and actuallyheardmy voice…” Her eyes glittered with tears. “I got a little greedy.” With a rueful shrug, she admitted, “It’s beennicegetting to talk to someone again. I missed that.”
I wiped at my own eyes, starting to get emotional too. To hold it off as best that I could, I turned away from her and focused on Damien.
“She drew me into this place on purpose,” I told him. “So I could meetyou. Because, apparently…” I rolled my eyes and laughed a little, feeling weird for admitting, “She could see something in my soul that she knew would connect well with yours.”
When he tipped his head as if needing me to repeat that because he was sure he’d misheard me, I nodded. “Yes, sir. Your sister totally hooked us up. Matchmaker ghost in the house.” But saying that aloud made me scowl in confusion. “Except…” I whirled toward Thalia and flipped my wrist, pointing an upside-down finger at her. “That doesn’t make sense. You warned me to stayawayfrom him.”
“Well, yeah…” she agreed with a roll of her eyes. “I didn’t want you to have to suffer through a boring, straightforward, drama-free romance. I mean, you gotta admit it was more thrilling to sneak behind your roommate’s back so you could get busy with her little brother, am I right?”
“But…” I blinked, stunned to be hearing this. “What if I’d actually respected your wishes and kept my distance?”
Thalia snorted. “Come on,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “A naughty, rebellious thing likeyou? I don’t think so.”
“Seriously?” I cried, pulling back in offense. I wasn’tthatdefiant.
“What?” Damien asked again.
I glanced at him, my mouth still open in surprise. “We got played. She planned out our relationship from the get-go.”
He merely shook his head, smiling fondly. “Sounds like Thalia.” But then he hissed out a long breath and shook his head sadly. “I wonder why she’s still here, though.”
Thatwasa good question. When I turned to Thalia for an answer, she merely blinked at me as if she didn’t understand what I was asking.
“Oh hell.” My stomach dropped in concern. “You’re not, like, stuck here—this way—forever, are you?”
Thalia slapped a hand to her hip and scowled. “Hey! What’s wrong with me being this way?”
“Nothing!” I rushed to reassure her. “I just…I’d imagine it gets lonely after a while.”
Thalia shrugged and finally began to look a little sad. “Time doesn’t exactly work the same here,” she tried to explain. “But yeah… You’re the first person I’ve been able to talk to since transitioning over. And okay,maybeit’d be nice to—I don’t know. I know it’spossibleto move on, but I also know Ican’tuntil all my unresolved issues are taken care of.”
“Well…” I straightened. “Maybe I—we—” I glanced toward Damien as I motioned between us— “can help you resolve all your unfinished business so youcanmove on.”
Damien stepped forward eagerly, and I took his hand.
“What kind of unfinished business does she evenhaveleft?” he asked.
“I don’t…” I turned toward Thalia in question. But when she merely stood there, looking all thoughtful and otherworldly, I realized, “You can’t tell us, can you?”
Her shoulders heaved, and she exhaled sadly.
“No, that’s okay,” I rushed to add. “We got this. We can figure out what you still need, and we’ll help you get it. Okay?”
I glanced seekingly toward Damien, and he nodded readily to back me up.
But then he winced. “What else could she need, though? You already delivered a goodbye message to me from her. We caught her killer, and he’s—”
“You didwhat?” Thalia screeched and veered closer, blasting both Damien and me with a rush of cold air.
As he pulled back and rubbed his arms, I lifted my hand to hush him.
“Wait.” Focusing on Thalia, I said, “Did you not know? Oh my God, Thalia. I didn’t even think to tell you.”
