The Curse of Redwood (Ivy Grove #2) - Jaclyn Osborn Page 0,29
have to pry it out of you?”
“No need to resort to violence, Ben.” I sat across from him and moved a white pawn forward on the board. He arched a brow at me before moving one of his too. “I don’t want to worry you or make you worse.”
“Make me worse?”
“Yeah, you don’t look like you’ve gotten a good night’s sleep in months.”
“I’m feeling a lot better now actually.” He studied the board after my second turn, then he moved his knight forward. “The book is nearly finished.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” He sharply exhaled and slumped back in his chair. “I’m not sure I’ll even publish this one. It feels too personal. And I still don’t have an ending.”
“It’ll come to you,” I said, taking one of his pawns. He cursed under his breath, and I grinned. “Isn’t that how writing works? You don’t know until you know.”
“Basically.” Ben chuckled. “I usually have an idea of the end, but it’s fuzzy this time.”
“Maybe it just needs to simmer in your mind a bit,” I said, before calculating my next move on the board. “It’ll come to you.”
Theo entered the room and placed a cup of coffee in front of Ben before kissing the top of his head. “Although I dislike you writing about Lady Death, I see how much you needed to.”
Ben had told me Theo flipped the hell out when he first learned what he was writing. I didn’t get all the details, but Ben said he’d had to buy another set of plates—again—because Theo had smashed them all in his anger. He might’ve been over a hundred years old, but Theo still had the temperament of a teenager.
“I’m sorry for making you worry.” Ben kissed Theo’s hand before holding it to his cheek. “Forgive me?”
“Forgiveness isn’t needed, darling.” With a soft smile on his ghostly lips, Theo grazed a finger across Ben’s jaw.
Though they lived a world apart, I felt the intensity of their love. Funny how I no longer felt jealous. Maybe because I had Z? Then again, I didn’t exactly have him. He wanted me one moment and told me to leave the next.
When Ben asked me again to tell him what was wrong, I spilled everything. I told him I’d returned to Redwood to see Z, and then I recounted the way the mansion had burst with paranormal activity at the stroke of midnight.
“And the dreams about Ezekiel? Are you still having them?”
I nodded. “Awake, asleep, it doesn’t matter. I think I’m going crazy, Ben.” My chest tightened with fear when I remembered the blond man I’d seen in my living room a few days ago. “There’s something else too. I saw a ghost in my house. But he wasn’t like Theo. He seemed… I don’t know, mean or something.”
“Was it Harvey?” Theo asked, appearing right beside me.
Harvey was my great-great grandfather who had died in WWII. He and Theo had been lovers before Theo’s death.
“No. This was someone I didn’t recognize. But… I felt like I knew him from somewhere. Then, he attacked me. I can still feel his hands around my throat. It was only a nightmare because I woke up after it, but it felt so real.”
“If it was real, how is it possible?” Ben asked, the game of chess between us forgotten. “A ghost only haunts the property in which they were killed, or a place that held significance to them while alive. Why would a random ghost attack you?”
“I don’t know, but I think it’s tied to Redwood. Everything that’s happened to me started there. The nightmares, the daydreams. The longer I stay away, the worse they get.” I breathed in deep, trying to steady my nerves. “I have to go back.”
There was something I wanted to do first, though.
After leaving Ben’s house, I drove to the public library. Florence wasn’t nearly as friendly as she’d been last time.
“What can I do for you?” she asked in a bored tone.
“Um, yeah. Hi. Can I see that book of Redwood records again? The one written by Charlie Michaels?”
“I’m really not supposed to let people back there unsupervised,” she said, eyeing me through her glasses.
“I won’t touch anything else, I promise. Just the book.”
Though she grumbled under her breath about it, she led me to the back room and told me to sit at the table while she brought over the book. Once alone, I flipped through the entries. Searching. The angry blond from my nightmare intrigued me.