Page 54 of Grave Matter

He might not be a good man, the thought comes to me, bringing awareness into my bones.He might be a bad man.

And yet, who am I to talk, anyway?

I’m not a good person either.

I look at the painting on the wall. “The reason I left my room last night was because I saw a woman matching that description, in the hall. A woman who then disappeared.”

“I see…”

“And before that, I saw an image of her when I was touching a cedar. It felt like…I don’t know, this will sound silly?—”

“As silly as ghosts?” he says, as if he’s making fun of me, but when I look at him, his expression is grave.

“Worse,” I admit. “It felt like the tree gave me that image. Perhaps it was the tree she hung herself from? Either way, I saw a girl in a nightgown, with long dark hair, hanging from a tree. I didn’t see her face—it was just a flash, but it was there in my mind, clear as day.”

“When was this?”

“On a foraging expedition. The one with Nick where Lauren and I discovered the grave.”

He looks off, deep in thought, his face more handsome in profile. “I see.” His gaze returns to mine, a fervent look in his eyes, making them look more blue. “And what do you make of that?”

“Ghosts?”

“Do you believe in ghosts?”

“I’ve alwayswantedto believe in ghosts. I’ve never seen any though. Until now. How else would you explain it?”

We both fall silent as we mull that over. Bacon starts to sizzle on the stove.

“Could be a coincidence,” he says, getting up, his massive frame towering over me. “Things can always be a coincidence.”

I twist around to watch him cook. My sex trifecta has just turned into a quadfecta: large hands, nice forearms, gravelly voice, and the ability to make me breakfast.

“Are you going to take your shirt off now?”

He manages a laugh. “While I’m cooking bacon of all things? I like inflicting punishment, not taking it.”

I try not to let my mouth drop open. Did he really just say that?

Damn.

“After the bacon,” I tell him.

He shoots me a wry look. “I said I would do it. I didn’t say when. Perhaps when I take the group to the lake. We can go swimming.”

That’s not what I had in mind, but I know better than to push it.

Besides, now that the threat of his shirt coming off is gone, I’m thinking back to what he said about it being a coincidence. That may be fine and dandy about me seeing a woman who looks like Farida who also happened to die in the same way, but it doesn’t explain the fact that I saw her to begin with, both in my mind and in the hall.

But then there’s a phrase that I’ve heard at least three times since I’ve been here.

This place can play tricks on you.

CHAPTER 15

“Good afternoon, everyone,”Everly says cheerfully from the front of the lab classroom. “Dr. Wu is still on a break, so I will be taking over her class today.”

It’s been a week since our last lab session, where Dr. Wu ran out crying, and it’s gone by in a flash. After that breakfast with Kincaid on his boat, I’ve felt a lot closer to him, but he’s been elusive outside of the classroom. I don’t feel brave enough to go to his boat and say hello, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been roaming the grounds, hoping we’d bump into each other, or looking out my window at night, hoping to catch him on bear patrol. Staring at him during class just hasn’t been enough, though when he does meet my gaze on occasion and holds it, the electricity is enough to fuel me for the rest of the day.

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