I’m back in the forest. I’m bleeding, and I know I’m going to die. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to relive this last memory. I want to go back to the porch, back to Aunt Estelle.
“This is a dream,” I grumble and try to sit up, but I’m stuck inside the dying body. “Wake up.” I push my hands down against the damp earth. “Wake up.”
Something moves next to me, and I try and fail to turn my head. Whatever it is draws near, and the outline of a bird-demon comes into view.
“Anora.” Ethan’s hand lands on my shoulder, gently shaking me. “You’re having a nightmare.”
My eyes flutter open, and I take a moment to convince myself I’m actually awake and am safe in my room. “I was.”
Ethan pulls me to his chest and runs his fingers up and down my back for a minute. “Do you remember what it was about?”
“A few things. My aunt teaching me magic, which wasn’t the bad part, and then dying in the woods again. One of those bird-demon things was coming at me right when you woke me up. I feel so shaken up by it.”
“You’re safe now.”
“I know.” I let out a deep breath and close my eyes, listening to his heart beating. “The ghost—the blonde one I’ve been seeing—I think these are his memories. Not the whole being taught magic and stalked by humanoid, demonic birds, but being murdered in the woods. Ghosts don’t typically come to me like this, not like it is in movies when they want someone to help them with unfinished business, but I think…I think that’s what he wants. What if his body is still out there and he wants me to find it?”
“Okay,” Ethan says, considering my words. “Do you have any idea where in the woods his body could be?”
“Yes,” I say and lift my head off Ethan’s chest. “The woods between the barn and your house. There’s this big oak tree at the end of the horse trail, and I’ve seen it in my dream a few times.”
“Then let’s go out there and look.”
“You’ll help me look for a body?”
Ethan pulls the blankets around us and rests his hand on the curve of my hip. “Of course, and as much as I can sympathize with this spirit, I really think you should cast some sort of spell to banish him—at least for now. If we don’t find a body today, we can come back to whatever it is he’s trying to tell you after the Pricolici are dealt with.”
“I agree,” I say. My case of supernatural narcolepsy was induced by the ghost, I’m sure of it. “I have another lesson today. We can body-hunt then.”
“What time is the lesson?”
“Four, but I can see if my student can come earlier, though I really need to go grocery shopping and do laundry.”
“Being an adult sucks, doesn’t it?”
“It does.” I splay my fingers over Ethan’s chest. “Though I do like this part of it.”
His hands move up and down my body. “I like it too.”
I close my eyes, soaking up another few blissful moments lying here with Ethan before we have to get up and face reality. We both fall back asleep, woken about half an hour later when Ethan’s phone rings.
“It’s my dad,” he says with a sigh. “I’ll call him back in a minute.”
“Okay,” I reply sleepily. “I should get up and get going too. And I’m going to tell my brother and best friend about everything. How they react will be interesting to say the least.”
“You know you don’t have to tell them.”
“I want to, because hiding something this big…I don’t see how we can still be friends. And Harrison already called me out for acting weird. It’s only a matter of time before Laney does too.”
“Good point.” Ethan kisses my forehead before forcing himself up. I move a little slower but get up too. I’m pulling clothes out of my overstuffed closet when an unwelcome thought enters my mind: I can’t keep a secret from my friends, but will Harrison and Laney still want to be friends with me when they learn the truth?
“Thanks for coming over.” I bring two mugs of coffee to the table, giving one each to Laney and Harrison. We’re in my kitchen, and I’m going to open up and tell them everything. Ethan is back at home, doing something for the Order with his family. I’m going to his house before my lesson