Page 10 of Ghost Broker (Mercury Raine #1)

M ercury became slowly aware that he was not in his bed.

He was waking up, but he was also sitting up.

He kept his eyes closed, sorting out where and when he was.

The puzzle was solved quickly enough by the exhaustion and lingering memory of heartbreak.

That combination only ever accompanied the facilitation of a swap.

He’d fallen asleep in the library waiting for the Transferal to complete.

They didn’t always drain him as entirely as this one was.

But he also didn’t usually undertake one after having his sleep interrupted two nights in a row.

He likely ought to retire to his bed early that night.

With his luck of late, he’d spend half the night in sleep-heavy conversations with ghosts.

“I don’t know.” That was Miss Huddleston’s voice.

Mercury inched his eyes open the tiniest bit and spied her standing at a distance, facing almost entirely away from him, looking at…nothing.

“I know you’d like to stay,” she said to absolutely no one, “but I don’t believe it’s possible.”

There was no one else there, person or ghost. She was very focused, her gaze not wandering in the least. And she didn’t seem to be having a conversation with herself .

After a moment, she said, “For one thing, he likely could never swap you, so it would be a poor choice on his part.”

Still focused. Still looking at the same spot.

She shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s his only motivation, but this is his occupation, and he has to make wise business decisions.”

Miss Huddleston was a mystery, but he didn’t for a moment think she was mad. What, then, was she doing talking to the air? Air that she then followed to a slightly different location.

“We both watched the Transferal ceremony,” she said. “There were words that had to be—” She shook her head. “ Saying them didn’t seem enough. They had to be heard. ”

Blast it all. In a flash, he understood not merely what he was seeing in that moment but so much about her that hadn’t made sense since her arrival. And the answer wasn’t at all what he could have guessed, yet it was suddenly so obvious.

Miss Huddleston had an Invisible attachment, something considered scandalous, undesirable, and even dangerous.

“He’s what ?” She snapped her head in his direction as her eyes pulled wide.

Mercury propped an elbow on the arm of the chair and rubbed at his chin with his upturned hand. “Now this,” he said, “is very interesting.”

He meant the remark far more playfully than she clearly interpreted it. The terror that entered her eyes brought him quickly to his feet.

He held his hands up in what he hoped would be seen as a gesture of reassurance. “I don’t hold to the universal disapproval of Invisibles.”

Her eyes darted around as if expecting to see someone suddenly there watching and listening. But they were alone… other than the ghost he couldn't see, that was. Still, he could understand her worry, and he didn’t intend to add to it .

Invisible attachments were almost always viewed as threatening, and those who had them were subject to everything from ostracism to culpability in any horrible thing that could possibly be laid at their feet, warranted or otherwise.

“Your mother doesn’t know?” he guessed.

She shook her head. “My father knew, but he warned me not to ever allow Mother to discover the truth.” Her eyes drifted a bit away, focusing just behind him. She nodded, seemingly in response to something.

“This is why you said you weren’t actually looking at me when you were looking in my direction . ”

“He thinks you are very intriguing,” she said. “I am forever finding him hovering near you.”

He tried to match the direction of her gaze. “Welcome to Aventine Manor.”

Miss Huddleston didn’t look entirely appeased, but some of her panic had ebbed. “He says, ‘Thank you.’ And he hopes that you will not spill this secret. He understands that it’s dangerous.”

“So do I,” Mercury reassured the spot where he assumed the Invisible was hovering. “I hope you know you are free to make yourself at home while you are here.”

Miss Huddleston twitched a brief smile to her unseen companion.

“I am not at all versed in Invisible attachments,” Mercury said. “No one speaks of them, for obvious reasons. Can other ghosts see him? Obviously, the only person who can is you.”

“I am the only one, person or ghost, who can see or hear him. As far as I can tell, no one can even sense him nearby.”

That seemed like a very lonely existence. And it must be very tiring for Miss Huddleston to keep such a perilous secret .

“Does my mother have to be present for a Transferal ceremony?” she asked.

“For your first one, yes.”

She rubbed at her forehead. “Is the ceremony different when both people involved have more than one attachment?”

He nodded. “It is a little different. And even someone who has never seen a Transferal before would likely be able to tell what was happening.”

Miss Huddleston met and held his gaze. “Then I can’t move forward with this. If I do, my mother will know something that I cannot risk her discovering.”

“You won’t make a Transferal?” He needed her to. Desperately. Granny Grey had to stay at Aventine. Too much depended on that.

“I cannot,” she said. “I absolutely cannot.”