Page 76 of Ronen
“Ghosts,” Mason repeated slowly, his eyes wide.
“If you can be a dragon, I can see ghosts,” I decided, arms crossed over my chest defensively. “Don’t act like it’s weird.”
He looked at me like I had lost my ever-loving mind.
“And…there’s a ghost here now?”
I nodded. “Emily. She used to be a librarian here, in the seventies. She actually died here. She was taking stuff down to the basement–we just use it for storage now–but she fell on the stairs and broke her neck.”
He blinked slowly, looking shell-shocked.
“And she waswatching us have sex?” He pulled his duster over his groin, looking around like she was going to materialize in front of him and his dangly naked bits.
“Yeahhhh,” I breathed the word out, wincing. “’Fraid so.”
“Does she do that often?” He demanded. “Watch us…” his hand flopped at his side, “have sex?”
He whispered the last words like he was saying dirty words inside a church.
Rolling my eyes at him, I made a face at Emily, then shooed my hands at her.
“No, not usually. I think this time was just because we were in the library. And you know, it’s been a long time for her. Plus she was up front with me when you came strolling in wearing this–” I waved a hand at what he was wearing, “outfit.”
“Are there other ghosts you talk to?”
“Please stop using that tone of voice with me,” I snapped. “I’m not a deranged lunatic. I just happen to be able to communicate with the dead. And yes, there are other ghosts.”
“Like who?”
“Well, there are ghosts everywhere, but I try to ignore most of them,” I told him. “Unless they make contact with me, I don’t bother them. But Gigi is here. She was my Uncle Quinn’s grandmother. Biologically we weren’t related, but she just acted like me and my cousins were all her great-grandkids. She was the first ghost I saw. And there is Miss Rose. She was Gigi’s lifelong friend. She used to own the daycare my Uncle Ryan used to work at, the one Beck’s husband, Wyatt, owns. And then there is William.” I couldn’t keep the distaste from my tone. “He’s a new addition, and he can fuck right back to wherever he’s beensince he died.”
“Who is he?” Mason asked, still looking around like he was expecting books to start flying off the shelves at us, or some such nonsense.
“William Sinclair,” I wrinkled my nose at just saying his name. “Technically he was my grandfather. But he died when my dad was ten, so I never knew him. I’ve heard stories though. Not a super great person.”
“You call him by his first name?”
Reaching for my scattered clothes, I started pulling them on. “He wasn’t my grandfather and I’m not going to call him that. Allan Rafferty was the only grandfather I knew, and he earned that title.”
“You’re a very rude young man,”William spat from behind me, and I spun around, shirt half undone.
“And you’re a very rude ghost. You pushed my mate down the stairs! You could have killed him! Go. Away! All of you. Boundaries!”
“Bah,”William sputtered,“he was fine. And it worked, didn't it? Look at the two of you now. All naked and sweaty. In the library! For shame, Ronen.”
When I turned back to face Mason, he was staring at me, wide-eyed. “Pushed me? They pushed me?”
His voice got louder with each word, and I didn’t blame him.
“Yes, they pushed you. I was doing my best to ignore their chattering, and it wasn’t until it was too late that it registered with me what they were going on about. I tried to stop them but I was too late.”
Kneeling between his spread legs, I gave him a small smile. “I’m sorry about that.”
“So I did hear you yell that day, but I thought you were yelling at me.”
Putting my hands on my thighs, I leaned back on my heels. “Nope, I was yelling at them. I usually do pretty well at not talking to them when there are people around.” I gave him a small grin, “Because then people look at me like you are looking at me. I’m not nuts, I swear.”
Mason held my gaze for a long time, before he said, “I believe you. I’m not sure why I believe you, but I do. How did this happen?”
