Page 63 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

Turning to Maisie, I said, “Your grandmother told Dottie about me, and Dottie wrote a letter to her sister, my grandmother, saying a piece of her would return. The letter was received the day after her death, though it was written three days before. Dottie knew she was going to die, but she also knew a piece of her would be reborn in me. Somehow, Dottie and I are connected, and maybe that’s why I’m the only one she can communicate with, even in death.”

We stopped walking, and I gently held Maisie’s arm to halt her since she’d been too focused on the ground to notice we’d reached our destination.

Her gaze met mine, and her eyes widened in amazement. “My grandmother could see decades into the future? I can barely manage a year,” she murmured, almost to herself. “Nathaniel once managed to glimpse our future after Aquila, but he had a headache for a week afterwards. The sight is a curse, really.”

There wasn’t much I could say to soothe her pained expression. She was right. This entire situation was a colossal curse.

“Are you ready?” I asked the two girls beside me.

“To step into a haunted church where a girl is looking for friends to join her in death? Of course. She’d better make it quick—I’ve got Algebra first period,” Naomi quipped, and I pushed the heavy doors open.

The only light we had came from Maisie’s phone. As we entered the dark building, a chill ran down my spine, and I braced myself for something dreadful to emerge from the shadows.

“Gwyneth?” I called out, surprised by how steady my voice sounded despite the fear gnawing at me.

It was fine. I wasn’t alone, it wasn’t Samhain or any other day when the veil was thin as tulle, and I had the tourmaline necklace around my neck.Safer than ever.

The phone’s light began flickering, and I cursed under my breath, taking a deep breath to steady myself.

“Don’t tell me your phone’s dying,” Naomi hissed at Maisie, who shrugged. “It’s fully charged.”

The flickering stopped, but there was still no sign of Gwyneth. Maybe she was angry with me for not dying the way she’d wanted. A peculiar reason to hold a grudge, but who was I to understand the minds of spirits?

“Oh no,” Maisie muttered as her phone’s light went out entirely, plunging us into darkness.

A hand gripped mine firmly, and I sighed with relief. “Naomi’s right, we should stay together,” I agreed, searching for Maisie’s hand with my free one.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t say anything,” Naomi snapped, her voice tinged with fear. For the first time, I started to believe this might actually be a terrible idea.

“I know, but you grabbed my hand,” I replied, giving the hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Doe?” Naomi’s voice came from my other side, sharp and alarmed.

“What?” I asked, turning toward her even though I couldn’t see a thing.

“I’m not holding your hand.”

“Neither am I,” Maisie’s voice echoed, and I froze.

I stopped breathing, trying to pull my hand away, but the grip tightened until my fingers began to tingle.

“Gwyn?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

A second hand stroked my arm, sliding up to my shoulder. Panic surged within me.You won’t rip off my necklace again.

“I know you’re a spirit, and I don’t want you near me. Stop touching me,” I commanded, my voice sharper. To my immense relief, the grip loosened, and the hands retreated.

The votive candles suddenly burst to life, casting a dim glow around the room. Standing before me was Gwyneth, her face a blend of shock and sadness.

“Don’t do that. Don’t shut me out, Dottie,” she whimpered softly, and my heart ached with sympathy, remembering how I had felt drowning in that lake in her place. Seeing my mother fade away from my grief, and having no one other than myself. But I shut out her feelings she had been implying on me.

“So you can try to kill me again?” Gwyn flinched at the coldness of my words. “And I’m not Dottie.”

“I know you aren’t, but you look so much like her,” was all she had to say, not acknowledging the mention of her trying to kill me.

I swallowed my fears and took a step forward, but Naomi took hold of my arm, shaking her head as I faced her. “We can’t trust her after what she tried to do to you.”

“She won’t get that close to me ever again, I promise.”

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