Page 15 of Ghoul Me, Maybe
“And now?”
“Now, I’m stuck. Bound to theMaiden. Until the relic is destroyed or someone finishes what Jonas started.”
She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Why me?”
“I don’t know yet. But I think you’re the key.”
“Cute. I actuallyhavea key. Want to try it on your chains?”
“You joke,” I say, “but that key opens something. Something your father feared and I died protecting.”
She swears under her breath and turns away. “No. No, this is above my pay grade. I came back for a funeral and somedusty treasure maps, not to exorcise a hundred-and-fifty-year-old pirate with cheekbones sharp enough to stab me.”
I step forward again, more solid now than I’ve been in decades.
“I don’t need you to believe me,” I say, low and calm. “I need you to help me.”
“Why?”
“Because if you don’t… the wreck won’t be the only thing cursed. The tide’s changing, Sienna. And you’re in the middle of it.”
She exhales hard, staring out toward the sea like it might cough up a better option.
Then she looks at me again.
Eyes like fire meeting storm.
“Fine,” she says. “We make a deal. I help you. You stop haunting me.”
I offer her my hand.
It doesn’t pass through hers.
Ittouches.
Warm.
Real.
Her fingers close around mine, and the wind dies down.
The sea holds its breath.
The deal is made.
She pulls her hand back first, flexing her fingers like she’s not sure they’ll behave.
“Okay,” she says, glancing at me like I might vanish again. “Ground rules.”
I arch an eyebrow. “We’re making rules now?”
“Damn right we are.” She points a finger at me like I’m a particularly sassy raccoon. “Rule one: no cryptic ghost riddles. If you know something, say it like a human being.”
I smirk. “You’re assuming I remember how.”
She ignores me. “Rule two: if anything tries to eat me—sea monster, cursed artifact, angry mob—you help. None of this ‘watch from the mist’ crap.”
“Agreed.”
