Page 62 of A Game Cursed and Deadly

I snatch the book list from Sara’s hand. “Let me go grab these for you. Like Tei said, no ghosts back there today, so there’s nothing to worry about. And for the record — spirits are actually quite friendly. The real ghosts to watch out for are small-minded people who insist on haunting others with their ignorance.”

Without another word, I disappear into the stacks, my steps light and bouncy. I can’t even find it in me to be disappointed that Tei’s words were all for show, excited as I am for this small victory over my haunted past.

I make it back with all six books balanced in my arms and leave Sara to the task of checking out Mrs Collins. The bully doesn’t speak to me again, which suits me just fine.

She can loathe me, fear me, find me despicable. None of that feels meaningful anymore.

I retrieve my phone to shoot Tei a quick thank you text. My breath hitches when I find a few of his own waiting for me.

The cemetery line was gold. And what you said about real ghosts? Her head was about to explode.

I laugh. Now that would’ve been a sight to behold.

That fire burns hot enough to scorch, little gem. Never let those lowly people snuff it out again.

I press a hand to my chest to slow my hammering heart, but it’s no good. The last text sends me over the line.

I was serious about tonight, by the way. In case it wasn’t clear.

I fire one back of my own.

You want me to come over?

Three dots dance on my screen in time with my speeding heartbeat.

Yes. I definitely want you to come.

I squeal. An absolutely, unequivocally pathetic sound.

This monster will be the death of me. And not just because of the bargain.

chapter 30

stoking the flame

esmeralda

Mei acts all shifty when I ask her where Tei is, but I’m too jittery to dissect her response. Instead, I decide to wait for him in his room, and take the stairs two at a time.

For the first fifteen or twenty minutes, I just sit on his bed, keeping the seconds with the tap of my feet; but as more time passes, I grow restless.

I don’t mean to snoop. At least, I don’t think I do. It must be the chaos of the room, with its hundreds of books laid everywhere, covering every inch of available space, that drives me to find some level of order to this mess. I browse some of the older looking tomes; some are rare, likely insanely expensive first editions of classics, while others are in the same language as the book Tei lended me. There’s something magical about them, and even though I can’t understand a word of what’s on the page, I see it in the way the ink shimmers, in the velvety texture of the page, in the elaborate swirls that snake around the edges. I flip through a book cover to cover before moving on to another one.

Books are stacked on the ground, serving as a nightstand in one place and piled as high as the desk they stand beside in another, but they all look like human literature. The books from the Beyond get preferential treatment, piled far more neatly on elevated surfaces. That’s probably why, when I notice the edge of a tome peeking out from the top drawer of his dresser, I reach inside to grab it. Instead of a spine, my fingers make contact with a velvet ring box.

A shiver runs down my back, a sneaky suspicion that coils around my throat like a serpent. It’s the only justification I have as to why, instead of leaving Tei’s belongings alone as I should, I reach for the box and pull it out of the half-opened drawer. My heart hammers in my chest as I lift the navy velvet lid.

There’s no surprise in seeing the familiar ring sitting on the cushion, just a sinking feeling that makes my chest a thousand pounds heavier. I struggle to take in a full breath.

I think a part of me knew there was no way Àvia’s engagement ring could fetch the kind of money Tei gave me for it, but I didn’t want to think about the implications of that. Now, they’re staring me right in the face.

“Looking for something, meddling little creature?” Tei calls from the door.

I’m too tied up in the ring to feel any sort of remorse for snooping. I wave the box in his face without a word. None are needed, at least from me. Tei, for his part, has a lot of explaining to do.

His eyebrows lift slightly, but his expression is back to normal as quickly as it changed. “You can have that back, if that’s what you want.”

I can have it back? That’s the best he’s got to say? His deflection makes my palms itch. “Why do you even have this?”