Betrayal - By Lee Nichols Page 0,27

them! Why do you think I hang with Emma?” She shot me a quick grin. “You guys have barely seen her in action. That should’ve been a cakewalk. She’s not like any other ghostkeeper. She messed up tonight, that’s all. Ask her.”

I nodded. “She’s right. I just—couldn’t concentrate.”

“We all have off days,” Simon said. “Now, back to this knife. How did you know it was there? Why did you want it?”

“What is this?” Lukas asked. “The English Inquisition?”

“No.” Simon frowned. “It’s a guardian questioning his ward about a lethal weapon.”

“Wait, are you in charge of us?” Natalie asked.

Simon set down his tea. “Sadly, yes.”

“You’re only like ten years older than we are,” Lukas said.

Simon sighed. “It’s not as though I wanted this job. When William phoned, I didn’t precisely jump at the chance to be the guardian of three wayward teenagers.”

I turned to Natalie. “Did he just call us wayward?”

She eyed Lukas. “He clearly meant Lukas.”

Lukas shot her a cocky smile that looked like the definition of wayward.

“Nevertheless,” Simon continued, “I am in charge of you, and this team.” But he must’ve decided he wouldn’t get anything further from me, because he simply said, “It’s late, and you all have school tomorrow. Time for bed.”

“You should show Lukas one of the empty rooms,” I told Natalie.

“That’s all right,” he said. “I already compelled the maid to get our rooms ready.”

“Well, make sure you lock your door,” Natalie said, “before you face the wrath of Emma.”

He frowned. “What did I do?”

“Compelled the house ghosts instead of politely …” Her voice faded as they stepped into the hall.

I slunk after them, but Simon stopped me. “Emma, a word.”

I sighed. So close to making my escape.

“Tell me more about the dagger,” Simon said. We both stared at it, lying innocently on the dining room table. “How did you know it was there?”

I glanced into my empty teacup to avoid Simon’s gaze. “Edmund, a ghost at school, told me.” I sensed he’d see through the lie, but just because he was my guardian didn’t mean I had to give up all my secrets.

“And who did it belong to?”

“It was Emma’s. She was the one who lived—”

He nodded. “The Knell briefed me.”

“Well, there was a group of men who hated her. They used this to bait a trap.”

“The one you sprang tonight.” He lifted the dagger and turned it over in his hands. “Do you know what this is?”

“Um. A knife? Is that a trick question?”

“Do you know how to use it?”

I felt my right hand clench. “Try me.”

He almost smiled. “I rather think I won’t. But this isn’t merely a dagger.” He pushed it across the table to me. “I’m almost certain that Emma imbued this with her power.”

“But I didn’t notice anything when I picked it up.”

“Try it again.”

I took the dagger by the hilt. It was well balanced, with a razor-sharp edge despite being buried for hundreds of years. Didn’t feel like anything special. I shook my head at Simon, but he told me to give it more time. So I closed my eyes and probed further, accustoming myself to the weight of it in my hand and the fine dents in the silver pommel. I ran my thumb over the guard, and that’s when I experienced that familiar spinning, like being on a merry-go-round, with that great whooshing sound.

When I opened my eyes, I stood in a cornfield, under a night sky filled with an impossible number of stars. My heart raced and my breath came fast. It was one of Emma’s memories, but I experienced it as though it were happening to me right now.

Her heavy skirts whirled around my ankles, her white linen blouse stuck to my back with sweat. Not a great sensation, but it paled in comparison to her terror that I was experiencing. In my right hand I gripped the hilt of her dagger.

Behind me, a big bearded man stalked through the rows of corn. I saw his face in the starlight and recognized the features, even though I’d only ever seen him distorted by death and the Beyond. He was the black ghast. Only still alive.

He disappeared into the swaying corn and taunted me in a low, malicious whisper. I spun, feeling Emma’s terror and her iron determination. Hunching low, I slipped toward the distant light of a farmhouse.

The man’s voice grew fainter as I ran faster. Then he burst from a row in front of me, a cudgel in his hand. As the other