“Can you tell me what happened the night we all died?”
I highly doubted she could. It seemed an effort to string together a few words, much less recall a story, but I thought I’d push my luck and ask anyway.
To my complete surprise, Cora nodded and floated closer, running a shadowy palm over her headstone. For a moment, she looked like any girl in a graveyard. “I threatened him. I threatened to tell her. Lunette, the white witch. It didn’t feel right anymore. He’d only proposed because she has fortunes, and his fortune was gambled away. He promised that he’d divorce her swiftly, and we’d take her manor and money. At first, I thought it a fine plan… after time… I felt I could not bear to watch him marry another. I’d rather be poor than do that.”
“Go on,” I urged, though rage built in my chest at a plan to use the girl I loved.
“We were fighting in the middle of town, and Alaric was afraid we’d be spotted. So he brought me here to this very graveyard to try to calm me down. At least, that’s what it seemed. He gave me a beautiful locket that he had designed for only me. Though, when he went to put it around my neck… that’s when he strangled me.”
“What a bastard,” I swore.
“That’s what you called him then, too. You see, you were here working and saw him. You tried to intervene but were a hair too late. In the commotion, my spirit stayed to watch what happened, I suppose. You punched him and took the necklace off my neck, stuffing it in your pocket as you tried to revive me. Alaric pulled a pistol from his coat, but you tackled him, wrenching the gun from his hold. Alaric grabbed you, slammingyou into a headstone, but just as he did, you fired a shot—one that killed him as he killed you.”
“Well, at least I went down swinging and took that asshole with me,” I murmured as I crossed my arms. “That’s not something my obituary mentioned, unfortunately.”
“He won’t even come out. His soul hasn’t moved on, just like mine and yours, but he stays in his grave. You know, he watches Lunette every night and doesn’t come forward. Alaric doesn’t want her. He never loved her.”
“What is it you want? Why are you killing people, Cora?”
The ghost let out a wicked screech that sounded a bit like the pain of a dying bird. “The killing, the killing, I didn’t want the killing. I just wanted my necklace. It was the only fine thing I’d ever been given, and I only wore it as a weapon of my own death. Something fine was only mine for such a short time… Oh, I should add that to my song of the sea. The sea, you see, like sapphires. Al knew I loved the ocean and the color blue. Blue, blue, blue.”
Awesome, she was nuts, a killer-ghost, and I was alone with her. Then again, if she went after others tied to Alaric, she’d go after Lune next. “If I happen to give you what you want, will you move on and stop killing? Will you promise to leave Lunette alone?”
Cora cocked her head at an unnatural angle that sent a shiver down my spine. “I’ve already seen the white witch tonight.”
My breath froze in my lungs.
Cora smiled a horrible smile. “She is here. Don’t worry.”
“Here, alive or dead?” I dared ask.
Cora extended her bony, translucent palm. “Give it to me if you have it.”
I fished the locket out of my pocket and dropped it into her hand. With a laugh that would haunt my nightmares for an eternity, Cora evaporated into gray smoke—and she was gone.The air wasn’t as cold anymore. Even so, my heart pounded in my chest as I raced over to Alaric’s grave.
A woman in white swayed but didn’t chant. She looked up and met my gaze. Lunette. A very alive Lunette. I ran over, not waiting for permission, and took her into my arms. “You can magic-shock-collar me again if you want, but I’m not letting you go.”
She buried her head in my chest. “I’m sorry,” she muffled.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Did a creepy ass ghost visit you tonight?”
Lunette furrowed her brow as if it were something commonplace she needed to search her mind for. “Oh, yes. Poor soul, so lost, so confused. I sent her back here. Have you seen her? Cora, I believe she said was her name.”
“She didn’t hurt you?”
Lunette smiled and gripped my hands. “Darling, she couldn’t if she tried.”
“God, you’re hot,” I breathed. “But now, I need to do something for you.” Letting go of her, I took a step back onto Alaric’s grave. “He’s here, and I can talk to him for you. I’m dead, he’s dead, he’s here, I’m here.”
Her eyes widened. “You—you can do that?”
“Yes, and if I can trade places with him and… bring him back to you… ” My heart wrenched in my chest, screaming at me not to do this. “Then I will.”
“Shiloh—“ Lunette reached out, but it was too late—I touched Alaric’s headstone, and everything went dark.
