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Laughing, I inched closer to the water. “I don’t recall if he…” I trailed off, the back of my neck tightening suddenly. My skin prickled. Stopping, I turned and scanned the trees. The Grove was quiet except for the breeze rustling the branches and the distant calls of birds.
“Poppy?” Tawny called. “Did you hear something?”
I gave the expanse of trees another look. “No. I just…” My brows knitted. I wasn’t even sure what had stopped me. I hadn’t heard anything. I’d just…felt something. But what? I had no idea.
Shaking my head, I walked into the water. The coldness stole my breath, but I powered through it, knowing it was best to just go for it. The pale shift I wore trailed behind me as I reached Tawny’s side, finding that she was still staring at the bank of the lake.
I followed her gaze, seeing nothing. I looked back at her. “Did you hear something?”
“No.” The warm breeze tossed a loose curl over her face. “But I expect a spirit to wander out of the trees at any moment in an attempt to get a peek at our unmentionables.”
“I don’t know if you’re being serious or not,” I said, letting myself sink. The moment the water rose above my chest, I thought my heart stopped for a moment. But after a few seconds, the shock of the cold faded. I waded farther out, my feet gliding over the smooth rock at the bottom of the lake. I then swam and made it to the deepest part of the lake, where the water crested my chin.
Tawny was still staring at the woods.
I let my senses open just a tiny bit. Not a lot. Tart, almost lemony unease gathered in my throat. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yes.” She backed up in the water.
“I swear I didn’t see or hear anything, but if you’d rather head back, we can.” I pushed off the lake floor.
“No. I’m fine. I’m just being weird.” Tucking the wayward curl back, she faced me. A moment passed. “You don’t believe in spirits, do you? I mean, the kind that remain here. With us.”
I opened my mouth, unsure how to answer. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen one, at least that I know of.” I shrugged. “Do you believe?”
She swam closer, biting her lip. “I didn’t.”
My curiosity piqued. “But?”
“But I saw one once.”
“Really?” I narrowed my eyes. “Are you being honest?”
“Yes. I am.” She splashed me, creating a ripple that cascaded across half the lake. “And it wasn’t when I was a young child. It was only a few years ago.”
I stared at her. “You saw a spirit here? Was it at the castle?”
Tawny nodded. “I was in the atrium with Loren. The Mistress had just left, and Loren had dozed off. I was supposed to be reading. And I was. Sort of.” She drew her teeth over her lower lip and looked back at the bank. “I felt this…I don’t know. A cold draft? Suddenly. Like a burst of wind. Then I looked up and saw it standing in the corner.”
“It?” I whispered.
“Her. It was a woman. I thought she was a guest at first. She was solid. Or at least she appeared that way initially,” Tawny said as tiny bumps appeared along my skin. “I started to smile at her, but I realized that she didn’t…well, she didn’t look right.”
“What do you mean?”
“Her gown was old.” Her brow creased. “Like something I’d seen ladies wearing in paintings from hundreds of years ago. And she was pale. Not white. Pale. She stood so still, and I realized she looked almost…fuzzy, you know? Like her features weren’t clear. At first, I thought it was because of the sunlight coming in from the windows, but then I realized I could see through her lower half.”
My eyes went wide.
“I know.” Tawny let out a nervous laugh. “For a moment, I couldn’t move or think. I was just frozen. Time stopped. We just sort of stared at each other.”
“You weren’t afraid?”
“No.” She drew her fingers through the water. “But that wasn’t the strangest thing. I wasn’t afraid at that moment, but afterward, I was terrified. I wouldn’t stay in the atrium alone for months. But at that moment, I wasn’t scared. And she…”
I drifted closer to her. “What?”
“She…” Tawny looked away, shaking her head. “She just faded away. Disappeared.”
