Page 78 of Witch Unbound
“You…you can see me?”
“Yes, I can see you.”
“Cora, who are you talking to?” Rune asked.
“A ghost. One I assume you can’t see.”
“There’s a ghost?” Rune said.
“Wren not see.”
Weird. Back in our world everyone could see ghosts, but maybe the rules in Faerie were different? In which case, why the heck could I see him?
“Hello?” He hovered closer, his face elongating as it leaned toward me.
I pulled my head back. “Whoa, dude, space.”
“You see me?” His voice cracked on a sob. “Youreallysee me. I’m here. I’m not there. I’m not gone.”
His spectral body shimmered and solidified a little, as if being seen and acknowledged fueled him somehow.
“Thank you. Thank you. Please, I need to go. I need to find…I have to be elsewhere. I don’t… I don’t belong…” He became visibly upset, wringing his hands.
“Calm down. What’s your name?”
“Name? My name is…” He squeezed his eyes closed for a long beat, as if working to dredge up the information.
This happened with specters if they remained too long on the earthly plane without being reaped, but it took decades, sometimes longer, and this spirit, from the look of his clothes, couldn’t have been dead that long. Things were obviously very different in Faerie when it came to the dead.
“Relax, just let it come to you.”
“Jamie!” he gasped out. “My name is Jamie and I…I have to get home. This place is not right. She’s waiting for me. She was expecting me…Leana.”
Wait…Jamie…as in Leana’s missing human lover, Jamie. The clairvoyant. My heart sank. Oh, shit.
“Jamie, hey. My name’s Cora. I know Leana.”
“You do? Can you take me to her?” His eager expression fell. “I…I know I’m dead, but I can see her, speak to her. Be with her for a while before…”
Yeah, I got it. Back home he’d have time with Leana before he was reaped. Maybe years if he was lucky, but could I get him home?
Could a spirit go through a rift? “I’m going to try to get you to her, but first I need your help. There are other people here, right?”
“Yes. Pain…There’s pain here.”
“I need you to show me where they are. I want to free them.”
He nodded eagerly. “Yes, I can do that. I can show you.” His throat bobbed. “Thenyou’ll free me too?”
I could lie to him, tell him that I’d definitely free him, but he deserved the truth. “I can’t promise you’ll be able to leave with us. I don’t know what the rules are here, Jamie. But like I said, Iwilltry.”
He dropped his gaze, seemingly considering this. “If I can’t leave, if I’m stuck here, will you tell her …Will you tell Leana I loved her and that I’m sorry.”
My throat tightened. “I’ll tell her, but I’m going to try and get you out of here first. Okay?”
He nodded. “There are…people…like me, different. They have them trapped and below. I can show you. But they’re bad. Not human. The energy is…malicious.”
He looked more solid now.
