“You’d be welcome here,” Sophie said quietly. “For as long as you’d like.”
He looked at her, eyes warm. “I know. That’s the problem. It’s starting to feel more tempting than terrifying.”
I caught the threads around him in the corner of my vision—just a faint shimmer, nothing like with Greta. A possibility.
Well,thatwas new.
I wondered if this was what Zara could see, and we’d always assumed it was just auras. Was she seeing people’s threads as well? But the harder I tried to look at the threads around Matthew, the more they disappeared into nothingness. No, I would need a proper focused reading to actually see his chart, that was for sure.
“Whenever you’re ready,” I told him. “We can look at it. And see what options are available to you.” Honestly, I was dying to give another reading, just for being able to get a chance to see the threads again.
“Deal,” he said.
Before I could say anything else, a soft, plaintive cooing sound echoed through the room.
We all froze.
“Please tell me that was a pigeon,” Willow whispered.
“In the dining room?” Lia snorted. “Absolutely not.”
The sound came again, this time from the stone wall near the kitchen. It was longer this time, almost like a sigh.
“Clyde,” Sophie muttered under her breath.
“Is that the?—”
Her question got swallowed whole when a translucent figure shot out of the stone and into the room with a loud, echoing “Mooooo!”
Several things happened at once.
I yelped.
Shona squeaked and grabbed Orla’s arm.
Lottie’s dogs—all five—went absolutely ballistic, exploding into frantic barks and scrabbling under chairs as if they’d personally been offended by the afterlife.
Matthew clutched his chest. “Oh my God?—”
“Breathe, professor, you’re fine,” Kaia said, though her own eyes were huge.
Clyde hovered above the table, tossing his head joyfully, seemingly delighted to have interrupted the dinner.
“Damn it, Clyde,” Lia moaned, crossing her legs.
“He—” Sophie leaned toward me.
“Yes, yes, he made me pee my pants once, all right?” Lia glared at Sophie, as the table burst out laughing.
Clyde threw his head back and bellowed, and the candles flickered.
“Oh, he’s in amoodtonight,” Sophie said, pressing a hand to her racing heart. “All right, Clyde, we hear you, buddy.”
Clyde tilted his head, studying me for another long, unnerving second. Then, abruptly, he swooped downward in a lurching, too-fast movement that sent everyone flinching back from the table.
Lottie’s Scotties lost their minds, barking and lunging at thin air, nails skittering on the stone floor.
“Clyde!” Agnes hissed. “Enough with the jump-scare routine!”