“Why?”
“Honestly, my family would harness that power for the wrong reasons, and I don’t have the heart to do that to anyone, living or dead.”
His expression softened. “You’re definitely not your ancestor.”
“Thank you.” Maybe he was finally seeingher, instead of making bold assumptions. That would be nice. She was used to distrusting most people, especially her family.
The only person she’d ever been able to trust was Pearl.
“So, tell me about them. The ghosts. I swear it’s not to exploit them. I just want to know who I’m sharing space with.”
She grinned. “Some of them would appreciate if you would not keep wandering around the basement naked. You do have a Victorian mother and child who frequent that area of thebasement. Well, her child mostly hangs out in the attic where there’s a bunch of old toys, but still the mother is quite incensed you jape about like a harlot. She has made it known how she feels, that you’re very indecent.”
“Jape about like a…like a what?”
“Harlot,” Mercedes answered, mimicking the ghost in question.
Magnus chuckled. “Noted. Any other Vikings?”
“No. Sorry. A few from the fifties who died in car accidents, a mobster, the Victorian woman and her child. Like I said, I haven’t met them all… oh, and the spirit from twenties who seems different from the rest of the ghosts.”
Magnus perked up. “Twenties, you say?”
“Yes, and the other spirits in the home don’t seem to notice her. It’s…” How to describe it when she didn’t know for sure what it was? “It’s like she’s stuck between her body and the afterlife. Like a ghoul, but also not like a ghoul. She doesn’t seem to like me, or maybe she’s guarded with me, yet I interact with her the most because she’s always watching me.”
“That’s…interesting.”
Mercedes cocked an eyebrow. Did Magnus know something about this mysterious flapper ghost? If he did, he wasn’t saying a word about it to her.
“Do you think she might be causing your recent explosions? Maybe it wasn’t me or my curse?”
“Who knows. I still want you to take me to that spot.” She finished her coffee. “I want to see for myself if you’ve actually cursed me or stirred up something you shouldn’t have. Maybe it was her. I also think she’s been hanging around you two for a while, but mostly Sven.”
“Sven?” Magnus stroked his beard. “That’s interesting.”
“Why?”
“Sven was in love with a girl back in the twenties. Honestly, I thought she might be the one to break his curse. I was mentally prepping myself to be separated from my brother, and I was happy for him that he might actually get to live a life. Then she disappeared, and he hasn’t been quite the same since. He was heartbroken.”
“Did she have green eyes?”
“I can’t recall,” Magnus admitted.
Something in her gut was telling her he wasn’t being completely truthful. “You can’t remember?”
Magnus shrugged. “I just remember him being devastated that she…pardon my pun…ghosted him. I think that ghosting people is probably the most immature thing someone can do to someone else.”
Mercedes nodded. “I agree. It’s cowardly. If you have a problem with someone, talk to them, get it out. And if you can’t work it out, then you can walk away.”
“Exactly.” He grinned sheepishly. “I let you know exactly how I felt when I saw you.”
Mercedes narrowed her eyes and pointedly grinned at him. “I’m aware.”
“You forgive me now though. Remember, we’re going to try this friend thing, right?”
“Still, about Sven and this twenties girl?—”
“Sven doesn’t like me talking about it. So I’m not going to.” There was a firmness to his voice. It was clear she wasn’t going to get any more information out of him. “Can we chat about something else. I mean, friends do discuss other things.”