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CHAPTER 1
I watchedthe snowflakes from the second-floor balcony of Bluebeard’s Castle, the monstrous money pit I called home. I’d climbed out of bed early, anticipating a beautiful sunrise—yesterday’s had expanded across the horizon in ribbons of orange and gold—and was surprised to see specks of white falling from a gunmetal gray sky. There’d been no snow in the forecast. In fact, the winter temperatures had yet to dip below freezing until now.
I loved snow from a warm distance, preferably while holding a mug of hot cocoa with marshmallows. The fat, squishy ones. Not the small ones that resembled rabbit pellets. I had my standards.
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
I glanced at Ray and nodded, too sleepy to chastise the ghost for interrupting my private moment. Arguably, he wasn’t breaking house rules because he was outside on the balcony. Ray had been quiet of late, and I wondered whether he regretted his decision to stay tethered to this earthly plane. When I first moved into the Castle, I helped all the spirits in the adjacent cemetery cross over. I wasn’t keen onneighbors, living or dead. Only Ray Bauer and Nana Pratt had asked to stay. Why I’d indulged them, I’d never understand. It wasn’t like me to be soft when hardness was required. Pops would’ve been so disappointed in me. One of my grandfather’s key lessons had been to do what was necessary, even when easier options presented themselves.
“It’s one thing to be strong, Lorelei, but you also need to be tough,” Pops had said on more than one occasion. “There are those who would take advantage if they knew the truth about you.” He didn’t like to say the words out loud, as though afraid there were listening devices hidden in our modest house. At the time, I’d dismissed his behavior as paranoia, but now I understood. I’d seen the types of supernaturals he feared and agreed with his assessment. I only wished he were still alive so I could tell him.
I zipped up my hoodie to stave off the cold. “Where’s Nana Pratt?”
“Wandering around outside. She likes that she can’t feel the temperature.”
I smiled. “One of the perks of being dead.”
He looked at the ground below. “The moat’s starting to freeze.”
“Not much of a deterrent in the winter months, is it?” Fresh water was a somewhat recent addition to the moat. I’d bartered with a woman in town known as Big Boss. Fatima Fayez seemed to have contacts in every industry. One teensy tiny favor for her and voila! I had a working moat.
Okay, that teensy tiny favor turned into a huge debacle, but still. The moat was the important part. I chose to block out the minor detail where I ended up on The Corporation’s radar. I was fairly certain I’d escaped the evil organization’s notice, except for their employee, Naomi, who later witnessed my special skills during a fight to the death. The upside was that neither fighter died. The downside was thatI’d drawn the wrong kind of attention in the process, and I’d made an enemy of Vincenzo Magnarella, a local mobster with a short temper and long fangs.
“Might be fun to skate on the moat once it’s solid,” Ray suggested.
“I’ll let you do the honors. Getting near frozen water seems like a bad idea unless it’s in a cocktail.” I caught sight of Nana Pratt lingering near the front gate. “She looks tense for a ghost. Is she still mad about the tree?”
“It’s your house. She’ll get over it.”
Nana Pratt had lobbied for a Christmas tree in the house and was dismayed when I rejected the idea. She refused to accept my argument that indoor trees were fire hazards, and I’d poured all my savings into this house and couldn’t afford to lose it because of a holiday tradition gone awry.
“I’m not a Grinch,” I announced.
Ray cast me a sidelong glance. “I never said you were.”
“No, but I could hear you thinking it.”
“Listen, I need to choose my battles wisely,” he said. “I was on Team Halloween. I can’t force you to celebrate every holiday.”
“Good, because it won’t happen. If you try to guilt me into buying those little candy hearts for Valentine’s Day…” I paused. “Actually, I could be persuaded to do that, but I draw the line at sending cards.”
He nodded sagely. “Fair enough.”
“How many inches do you think we’ll get?”
He observed the sky. “Hard to say. Snow isn’t too heavy right now, but it depends on whether it picks up during the day.”
“What’s the most snow you ever had in Fairhaven?” If Pike County, Pennsylvania was anything like the county where I was born and raised, the town was no stranger to snow.
Ray didn’t hesitate. “A hair over thirty inches in February 1978.”
I whistled. “That must’ve been fun to shovel.”
“The whole town shut down. It was kind of nice to have everything grind to a halt. Time seemed to stand still. We huddled in front of the fireplace and played games by candlelight.”
“Sounds peaceful.”
His head bobbed. “It was. Forced socialization. Speaking of which, if the roads stay clear, why not venture out tonight?”
