Page 21 of Ghoul Me, Maybe
I say nothing.
He leans in, eyes wide. “You’re tied to her.”
That gets my attention. “What do you know about her?”
His grin is wide and wild. “She’s got storm threads woven through her aura. Pulled from the wreck, bound to the moon. Someone stitched you two together like a bad patchwork spell.”
He’s insane.
But also… not wrong.
I tilt my head. “How do you see me?”
“Oh, I’ve seen worse,” he shrugs. “You’re not even top five most haunted things I’ve tripped over.”
He turns and waves for me to follow. “Come on. I’ll show you my vault.”
I almost laugh. The last time someone said that to me, it ended with knives and a mutiny.
Still. I follow.
He leads me down into the basement of what used to be the town’s barbershop. Now it’s cluttered with mason jars full of glowing liquids, broken mirrors, and what Ithinkmight be a taxidermied frog wearing a monocle.
“This,” Lyle says proudly, “is my collection.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Of what?”
“Truths.”
He pulls out a drawer and reveals a handful of copper discs etched with strange runes. “Every piece resonates with a ley crossing. This one?” He taps a coin. “This one hummed like a tuning fork when she walked past.”
“She?” I ask.
“The girl. The one who brought you back.”
I say nothing.
Lyle grins. “It’s always a woman. They’re the ones who stir up the ghosts. Men just complain about it.”
I can’t argue.
“Why are you helping me?” I ask.
“Because I don’t believe in coincidence. And because it’sfun,” he says, waggling his brows. “Plus, you’re the only dead guy I’ve met who doesn’t reek of sulfur.”
I glance at a dusty porcelain sink in the corner. The pipes rattle. Water drips.
“You lot have… plumbing now?”
Lyle beams. “Buddy. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
He drags me up the stairs and into the actual bathroom of his building. The tiles are cracked. The wallpaper’s peeling. But it’s got a toilet, a tub, and—most amazing of all—a faucet.
He turns the handle.
Water gushes out.
I take a step back, blinking.
