Page 12 of Edged By the Apparition

I grinned back at him. “That’s amazing. We’ll have to run a lot of experiments on that. See what activities affect it the most, that sort of thing.”

He giggled, scrunching his nose up, and I was transported to that first time we had sex in my college dorm room, all those years ago. He’d giggled after, like he couldn’t contain his joy.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, wrapping my legs tight around his waist. “I’m staying here with you. I love you. Death can’t keep me from you.”

He collapsed into me, sighing and pressing his face into my neck.“I…I thought I was doing right by you, telling you to leave. But not having you by my side would have devastatedme. Going back to that long loneliness. You are the love of my life, and of my afterlife.”

Something settled in me then, like a loose mechanical part clicking into place. This was right. This is what it felt like when everything worked. I squeezed Blaise to me, my heart overflowing with affection and adoration.

“When I die, I’ll die here, and we can haunt this house together. You and me for eternity.”

Epilogue

“Uncle Tommy!”

The little girl’s voice rang through the house like a bell. I was upstairs in the bed, where Blaise and I had landed after cleaning up the living room and talking for hours. Around midnight, he’d faded. We were both too tired for another marathon session, and the more time I spent with him, the less his invisibility concerned me. Iknewhe was there. I could feel him all around me. I didn’t need the proof of my eyes.

“Uncle Tommy?”

Shit. Olivia was here, which meant Jen was as well. How was I supposed to explain everything to her? I couldn’t just say, “Blaise is haunting the house so I’m staying so he can bone me regularly with his ghost-dick.”

I slipped on a pair of sweats and an old black t-shirt and headed down the stairs. God, the sun was bright. How long had I slept? It must be almost noon.

My niece waited there for me, just inside the front door, all decked out in a pink tulle dress, a wand, and a tiara. The perfect Glinda. Standing in the doorway behind her was my sister,wearing the dazed expression of someone who’d taken a five-hour drive with a six-year-old.

“You’re so beautiful!” I sped down the stairs and lifted my niece in my arms. She squealed as I hugged her. “Are you going to put a spell on me?”

“No, Uncle Tommy! I only put spells on bad people.” She gave me an intense look, her eyes filled with the certainty of a child who knows she’s right.

I brought her back to the floor. “That’s good. I wouldn’t want to get turned into something horrible. Did you have fun trick-or-treating yesterday?”

She nodded vigorously, her tiara slipping down over her eyes as she did. “I got thirty-seven candies! I brought them so I can show you.”

She glanced back at an orange plastic bag her mom was carrying. I needed a second to chat with Jen.

“Why don’t you go into the living room and lay them all out on the coffee table so I can see what you got?”

Without saying a word, Olivia grabbed the bag from her mom and dashed into the living room. The sound of chocolates and other goodies being dumped out quickly followed.

Jen cocked her head at me, an eyebrow raised. “Did you finish up sorting through stuff?”

I took a deep breath. “I’m staying.”

Jen stepped further into the foyer, a confused expression flashing across her face. “You haven’t been here in five years. You need the money.”

I wasn’t sure how to explain it. She was right, after all. I needed the money. I’d asked her to help me put the house on the market. But I couldn’t tell her the truth.

“It was a mistake to stay away. I realized that yesterday. I’ve been hiding from it. But this is my home.”

Jen frowned at me. She was about to lecture me. She was the younger sister, but she’d also been the grownup one, at least since Blaise died.

“You shouldn’t make a decision this big so quickly. Wait until?—”

A shriek came from the living room, the kind of high-pitched sound only a child could produce. Both Jen and I moved toward the door in time to catch a series of delighted giggles.

“Olivia? Are you?—”

As I entered the room, a shocking tableau was laid out before me. Olivia stood on the couch, her arm extended out in front of her, wand in hand. Where the wand was pointing, a big chocolate bar was floating mid-air.

Uh-oh.

“What the fuck?” Jen asked in a strangled tone, her eyes so wide I was worried they’d fall from her head.

It looked like Blaise and I were coming out of the ghost closet.