Page 68 of Ghosts of Halloween

She presses her lips together, brows furrowing, and I can tell she’s miserable. She really hates being the cause of our suffering, but I don’t mind it at all right now. Silas made her pay. We all did. The sick hunger for her pain is appeased, and now, I only have warm feelings for my little bird.

Maybe too warm. I dread what will happen if it doesn’t work out. And even more—if it does. Because being together as ghosts won’t be half as good as when we’re corporeal.

“And this is why we got our bodies back. Just for one night,” I continue when she doesn’t say anything. “So we could save you. But… as soon as the sun rises, we’ll be back to being ghosts, and most likely, no longer here. We’ll be trapped somewhere else. Another place where your life will be in danger. Where we’ll have to protect you.”

She sucks in a breath, glancing at Jack, whose face is serious and drawn for once, and then at Silas, who is completely devoid of expression. He looks bored, leaning against the wall, though I see the tense muscle in his jaw ticking.

“So… I have to die so you can get free,” she says slowly. “Then why… Why did you stop me when I took the pills?”

Silas snorts, and she looks at him, confused.

“Angel, we were trapped here for two years because of you, knowing you were the one who gave us away. Believe me, in our place, you would have wanted the same thing we did.” He flashes her a predatory grin, candlelight playing in his mocking eyes. “Revenge.”

She raises her eyebrows and glances at me in confusion. “But… Wait. That was… revenge? You must have really liked being stuck here, then.”

I snort, and Jack growls low in his throat, making her look at him as he speaks. “You messed with our plans, princess. We wanted to do things differently.Verydifferently.”

She stares at him until her pupils widen and she looks away, tensing as she clasps her hands in her lap. “Oh. Well. I… would have deserved it, I guess.”

“No,” Silas snaps, pushing away from the wall. “Look, we punished you. That’s enough. What’s done is done, and we need to focus on the next step.”

“Killing me,” she says in a flat voice that only trembles a little.

“Would you let this go?” Jack grumbles. “You make it sound worse than it is.”

Harlow snorts with a high-pitched laughter, sounding on the edge of hysteria. I run my hand through my hair, relishing even that casual touch. Fuck. I’ll really miss having a body. But existing as a ghost is still better than not existing at all.

“We were planning to just kill you so we could pass on,” I explain after releasing a long breath. “But the plan changed. Jack figured out a way that might work so you… can stay with us. As a ghost. So we can all stay. Together. Hopefully, no longer trapped.”

Silence ensues, and the tension in the air is palpable. Harlow’s wary eyes swing to Jack’s face, then to Silas where he stands by the wall, shoulders tight. Finally, Jack breathes out shakily. “Is this something you want?”

“I… I don’t know,” Harlow says, dropping her gaze. “A lot happened. I don’t…” She sighs in frustration and slides off Jack’s lap, kneeling on the floor, arms covering her chest. She glances at each of us in turn, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

Jack looks at me, his face tense and anxious, and I know what he feels, because I feel it, too. Suddenly, this is so much more complicated. When we made our big plan, killing Harlow seemed like the easiest thing in the world after what she did to us. Now? I care for her. I don’t know what I’ll do if she says no. If she tries to leave.

I don’t think I have it in me to hold her down and cut her throat while she fights and screams.

Silas snorts, shaking his head, his face sharpening in a scowl. I know he’s bracing for her rejection.

Only hours ago, I would have counted on him to do what’s necessary if Harlow refused. Because after everything’s said and done, we are still tethered to her. Our only way to freedom is through her.

But now, I don’t think I can rely on Silas anymore. He fell for her, somehow, just like I did. There is something about our broken little bird that makes me loathe the thought of hurting her despite everything.

So when Harlow swallows, her tight throat bobbing, and gives a tiny nod, I slump in relief, unable to control it. Silas looks suspicious, eyes narrowing on her like he expects her to take it back, and Jack pulls her into his lap, peppering kisses all over her head.

“Fuck, princess. So glad you agree. Would have sucked to… you know.”

Harlow grabs his hand, playing with his long fingers, her eyes cast down. “I mean… I planned to, anyway. There’s nothing for me out there. Um… I also might have pissed someone off today. Enough to hurt me. It would be stupid to… go back to my life. So… Yeah. Just… Make it quick.”

She casts a furtive glance at the knife lying on the floor, the blade spotted with her drying blood. Silas looks at it, too, his hand flexing.

“Not yet,” he rasps. “Cay. Will you… Come with me? And Jack… You know. Better make your peace in case it doesn’t work.”

Jack’s mouth tightens into a grim line, and I grip his shoulder, then lean down to kiss Harlow’s forehead. When I get up, Silas is already waiting by the door, his hand stretched out to me. I take it without a word and we walk out of the room.

He leads me to the basement, and I follow, looking at the tense muscles in his neck and shoulders. When we reach our card table, he turns me fast until I stand with my back to the table. He pushes, making me stumble and sit down heavily, our worn deck of cards spilling onto the floor.

We played a lot as ghosts. After we figured out how to handle objects, we picked the basement as our hiding spot, knowing even if someone came into the house, they wouldn’t come down here. They wouldn’t touch our stuff and wreck the space we had so painstakingly cleaned up to make our entrapment more bearable.

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