Page 112 of Medium
Ghosts the Medium is in close regular contact with will become visible to the Medium’s family (whether blood-related or not)
(Allegedly, according to an older ghost) Can destroy ghosts by draining their energy or “tearing them apart”
Childhood Aptitudes: Ghosts are visible to a Medium from birth.
EPILOGUE
SHANE
“This is it.”Rory pointed out the window at the mansion. “What do you think?”
It was huge, and if I was being honest, beautiful. The fieldstone and stucco facade blended with the lush landscaping better than the surrounding houses did, that was for sure. I rolled down my window and listened to the quiet neighborhood. In the distance we could hear cars on Memorial Drive, but the closest sounds to us were someone mowing the lawn on the next street over.
The yard was enormous, and I itched to replace most of the grass with native plants. But that could come later. First, Pia would need an apple tree in the backyard, and I also wanted to plant a beech tree, which had been Pia’s mother’s favorite.
“It’s pretty,” Pia announced. She’d unbuckled her seat belt and was hanging out her window to look around. Hugo Blackbourne’s estate was still in probate, but since he’d died without a will, in a few months this house would be Rory’s.
And ours to live in.
It was funny, but if you’d have asked me a few months ago if I could ever see myself in a house like this, I would’velaughed. No way would I have felt comfortable here, worthy of this house, this neighborhood, this life. But now I felt fucking worthy. I had the love of two men and a daughter, I co-owned a business, and I helped the Wonders in my District every day. I belonged wherever the fuck I wanted to.
For the past two months we’d been staying in Rory’s condo. It wasn’t ideal. We’d filled the place with potted plants, but we’d still had to take Pia to a local park almost every day. But even so, none of us wanted to live in my house again.
Well, except Manny. He’d taken it upon himself to clean up the blood and patch the bullet holes in the living room. When we’d told him we weren’t moving back in, he’d asked if he could rent the place since his lease was almost up. I’d told him he could live there for the cost of the utilities and taking care of minor maintenance issues.
Frankly I was glad to have more concrete ties to Manny. He still sparkled with Ms. Jackson’s magic, and I wanted to be close in case he manifested any talents.
Granny, along with Carlyle, Garfield, and Mercy, popped in every now and then to check up on us. They’d all decided to work with the Hunters to rescue Wonders, and the Hunters were helping Garfield trace where his other pack members had been taken. Arch, being the only Hunter who could see the ghosts, was their official point of contact. He’d reached out to Ellis a few times since that night, and they were slowly rebuilding their relationship.
Rory had big plans for Hugo’s millions. He’d already decided to set up a fund to provide the District Monitors with a monthly stipend, and he was looking into other states where District Monitors didn’t have any financial compensation. Not gonna lie, that money would make a big difference in my life. Ellis had found several clients for our new landscaping business, including Greg and Cal’scontractor friend Ruben, but we’d barely started getting things off the ground. I didn’t love relying on Rory to pay for everything, even though I knew he enjoyed providing for our family.
Pia had started school with other Wonder children a couple of weeks ago, and she loved it. Her therapist was very positive about how Pia was dealing with the loss of her mother and the trauma of her kidnapping and the home invasion. The four of us had even done family therapy a couple of times, and I think we all felt better afterward. We were figuring out how to operate as a unit. It was a work in progress, but we were all committed to doing our best.
Personally, I couldn’t believe I got to live this life. Two men—two!—who loved me. Who were bonded to me. I couldn’t be lonely, because we were tied together by the magic we shared.
Not that everything was roses, especially trying to get private time together in Rory’s tiny condo. Pia was too old to have an early bedtime, so if the three of us wanted to get naked, we had to either stay up really late or be very, very quiet. It was fun for the first week, but now all of us—probably Pia especially—were looking forward to having more space in the new house.
Rory had gotten in touch with Randolph Champion’s former staff, the ones who’d helped him rescue Pia. A few would be working for us as soon as we took possession of Hugo’s house. I’d also given several of them jobs doing landscaping. Digging in the dirt in the hot sun was harder than being indoors all day, but they all claimed to just be relieved to work for someone honest.
After we’d all looked our fill, we stopped to pick up burgers and fries at Beck’s Prime in Memorial Park. Pia loved their milkshakes, and Ms. Jackson was partial to their veggie burger.
They hadn’t been interested in checking out the new house, wanting instead to stay home and watch another episode ofSupernatural. Pia had gotten them to watch a few other shows, likeHeartstopperandBuffy the Vampire Slayer, butSupernaturalwas their favorite.
So it wasn’t a surprise when we returned to the condo to find Misha Collins frozen mid-stride on the big TV in the living room.
But itwasa surprise to see Misha Collins, complete with trench coat and necktie, standing in front of the TV.
We all stopped dead in the doorway.
“Ms. Jackson?” Pia whispered.
