A man appears out of nowhere, stumbling in the snow only twenty feet from us.
My skin crawls just looking at him.
He’s dressed as if he’s holess, with bare feet, dirty skin, and matted hair. If we were in the middle of a city sowhere, I wouldn’t think twice over his existence. Here?
It’s strange.
Where’s he from? How is he surviving this cold in his threadbare clothing? Why no shoes? And how did he just appear in front of us?
Eleanor makes a soft sound. "He looks cold," she says, and I stick my arm out in silent warning for her to stay back.
Vester growls, and my bodyguards co between us. "Who are you?" he demands of the man.
He catches staring and throws his head back, cackling with a laugh that splits the air like a blade. It’s high-pitched, manic, bouncing off the snow around us.
"Don’t you recognize , little wolf?" He points at , fingers dirty and nails blackened.
We’ve seen him before, Selene murmurs. I rember his scent. It was the ti you took shopping for that terrible kibble.
"I do," I say, my voice tight. "You were in Cedarwood." My stomach twists as recognition dawns. Not full recognition, but a hint of it. I vaguely recall this: a man who’d given the creeps, staring at us a little too intently.
His eyes are hungrier now, his posture more predatory despite his frail appearance.
He wags his finger at , clicking his tongue. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’re lying. Naughty girl. Only the wolf recognized . Only the wolf." His voice slides up and down scales like he can’t decide what pitch to use.
He takes a step toward us, and Vester snarls, taking a step forward with his chest puffed out.
"Stay back."
The holess man skips backward, an exaggerated hop, painfully childish for a grown man. He giggles again, a piercing, high-pitched sound.
"Do you know your people are in battle, right now, with vampires?" His smile stretches too wide, revealing far too many teeth. "As we speak, blood spills and souls depart. Tick tock, tick tock."
My back stiffens.
Vester’s eyes narrow. "How would you know that?"
The holess man taps the side of his nose and winks, letting out another unsettling chuckle. His eyes never leave mine.
Selene steps in front of , adding another layer of protection. He slls wrong, Ava. Like living death. He did then, too.
"Can I co with you?" the man asks, swaying slightly. "To your ho. I promise I won’t bite." He snaps his teeth together with an audible click.
"Absolutely not," Vester answers before I can.
The man’s face falls in an exaggerated pout. He sighs dramatically, making a show of his disappointnt. "Such a sha, such a sha. To encounter such prejudice, even this far from humans."
Sothing about his phrasing cuts through my fear. "What are you?" I demand, dropping all pretense. "Because I know you’re not human."
His eyes light up and he claps his hands like I’ve said sothing delightful. "Am I not human? If I am not human, then you, too, are not human."
"I’m not human," I say flatly. "I’m a shifter."
He giggles, the sound skittering across the snow like ice cracking. "Wolf, wolf, big bad wolf. It all cos back to wolves, doesn’t it?"
His madness feels unpredictable and dangerous. The way he sways, the hunger in his gaze; it’s no wonder all my guards are on edge.
"Please take with you," he says again, voice suddenly plaintive. He extends his hands, wrists pressed together. "You can bind . I understand why you’d want to. I won’t fight. I won’t hurt you. I just need to see my friend."
The pathetic gesture doesn’t match the gleam in his eyes.
Vester’s suspicion is palpable. "And who’s this friend?"
The holess man winks again, tapping his finger against his lips. "The Alpha’s sister," he stage-whispers, then dissolves into more giggles. "But it’s not. It’s not."
My muscles lock up. He’s not talking about Ivy.
He’s talking about the dream-eater.
Grimoire, are you getting anything from him? Can you tell what he is?
After a silence that stretches too long, Grimoire speaks with strange reluctance. He isn’t seem human, but... I don’t think he’s a threat.
Selene’s surprise mirrors my own. Are you using your powers of observation? Look at him. Any fool can see he’s dangerous.
I can’t explain it, Grimoire admits. But I truly don’t think he ans us harm.
The man sighs deeply, his entire body deflating. Then, without warning, he drops to his hands and knees in the snow, pressing his forehead to the ground in front of .
"Please," he begs, voice muffled. "I’m harmless. Please bring with you."
I can feel Eleanor’s confusion behind , Vester’s tension beside . But I’m focused on the truth that Grimoire has sensed.
Can you tell if he’s able to use magic? I ask Grimoire. Anything you can pick up on?
No, Grimoire answers after a pause. Nothing magical about him. But...
Another long pause.
He’s not really alive, Grimoire finally says. He’s a spirit. A leftover wish of soone’s soul, gone slowly mad. The worst he could do is possess soone, but with how fractured he is, I don’t think it’s even possible.
The man remains prostrate in the snow, not shivering despite his bare hands against the ice.
"So you’re saying he’s... what? A ghost?" I ask, trying to clarify.
Yes, Grimoire answers. You can probably see it that way.
The man suddenly springs up from his prostrate position, all traces of desperation vanishing as he twirls in the snow. His bare feet leave no impressions as he spins.
"Ghost, ghost, everybody’s toast," he sings in his unsettling high pitch. "Wander here and wander there, no body to house, no soul to share!"
The way he transitions from groveling to dancing makes my body itch.
I don’t rember him being this disturbed before. Creepy, yes. Deranged? Not so much.
Selene’s ears flick. He wasn’t. He could pass for normal then. Not like this.
That’s what I thought. This deterioration, whatever it is, doesn’t seem like a good sign. Whatever happened to him between Cedarwood and now has fractured him beyond repair.
My bodyguards exchange glances, clearly uncertain how to proceed.
"Grab him," I order, nodding to two of the guards. Vester doesn’t argue, just stays between us as he waits for them to follow my commands. "We can’t just leave him here, and I don’t trust him running free."
The guards move without hesitation, approaching the dancing man from opposite sides. One of them reaches out to grab the man’s arm—
And his hand passes straight through.
Eleanor gasps. "He’s really a ghost?"
The man cackles, spinning away. "Can’t touch this!" he sings, distorting the song. "Spirit fingers, spirit toes! No body to punch, no bones to break!"
The other guard tries, but it’s the sa result. His hand goes through the man like he doesn’t exist.
"An outrage!" the ghost shrieks suddenly, flapping his arms wildly. "An outrage! Manhandling the dearly departed! No respect for the dead!" He hops from one foot to the other, resembling a deranged bird doing so bizarre mating dance.
"We can’t contain him," Vester states the obvious, keeping himself positioned between the ghost and .
Grimoire clears his throat. I hate to be the bearer of bad news... but I believe he will follow us, regardless of our wishes. We may as well return.
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