Page 20 of From the Darkness

Nola gave her a satisfied smile that grated on Bree’s nerve endings. “Are you afraid of ghosts, Bree?”

“I’ve never encountered one.”

“Well, I’m sure you will. If you haven’t already. The mansion is supposed to be haunted. By several ghosts, actually. The most . . uh. . . bothersome one is the ghost of a man whose wife fell over the edge of the cliff one night in a storm. She was killed, and he never got over her death. When he couldn’t stand the pain any longer, he killed himself.”

Bree’s skin had gone cold. Under the table, she knitted her fingers together and held on to her own hands. She didn’t want to know any more about the ghost. She wanted to simply drop the subject. It didn’t have anything to do with her. Yet she found herself asking, “How long ago was that?”

Nola waved a hand in an airy gesture. “At least a hundred years. I’m not precisely sure. He was a cousin of the owner.”

So, one of Troy’s relatives had taken his own life, Bree thought as she ordered herself to sit there calmly. That is, if Nola was telling the truth.

After swallowing, she forced another question past her dry lips. “How do you know?”

Nola appeared to be enjoying herself now. “There’s a book in the library—with a history of the house. Published by a vanity press. Apparently, one of the former residents fancied himself as an author.”

Bree nodded. “Can I see the book?”

“Of course. It’s big and black—with Ravencrest on the spine in gold letters. I’ve put it on the library table. You can’t miss it. But then I also got some firsthand information from Miss Carpenter. I believe she had several encounters with the ghost.”

Bree couldn’t stop herself from leaning forward. “What kind of encounters?”

“Very intense encounters. In the dark of the night. It seems the poor ghost never resolved his feelings. He’s still searching for his wife, and when a new woman comes to the house, he seeks her out, hoping it’s his lost love.”

Bree had gone very still. When Nola didn’t continue, she was forced to ask, “And?”

Nola smiled again, the same knowing smile that had grated on Bree’s nerves minutes ago. “He’s looking for a sexual relationship, although I don’t know how a ghost would manage the sex act, do you? But he craves female companionship, so he comes to her room at night—making advances. Kissing and touching, from what Ms. Carpenter said. She was frightened by it—and embarrassed, poor thing. I believe the ghost is what forced her to leave.”

“I thought she left because of Dinah. Or did I hear your husband incorrectly last night?” Bree asked carefully.

Nola’s face hardened. “He told that to the child because she’s such a pest.”

Bree was too speechless to respond.

As she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, Nola went on smoothly talking. “The ghost is quite sexy.”

“You know from personal experience?”

Nola’s eyes took on a speculative gleam. “I’ll tell you, if you’ll tell me.”

“I have nothing to tell,” Bree insisted, forcing herself to hold the other woman’s gaze.

Nola lowered her voice. “Don’t you think it would be . . . stimulating to have a phantom lover? He’d come to your room in the dark. Caress you. Kiss you. Tune you to his touch.”

Bree caught her breath, as remembered feelings swept over her. “Don’t . . .”

“Why not?” Is it too close to reality?”

“No . . .” Bree protested, her body going rigid in the chair.

***

For weeks he had avoided the light of day. But now he took one of his secret routes to the dining room, then stopped short as he listened to the conversation.

Nola was telling Bree about the ghost, and he felt a spurt of anger. She was obsessed with the damn phantom. Too bad he hadn’t taken that book out of the library and burned it. Apparently, she’d read the good parts over and over, probably because her husband seemed to have no sexual interest in her.

When she’d first come to Ravencrest, her ghost fantasies had been amusing. But not when she’d started dwelling on the subject with Miss Carpenter.

Now Nola was starting in again with the new teacher, and every instinct urged him to sweep into the room and scare the living daylights out of her. But unfortunately, that would have the same effect on Bree. So, he stayed where he was. An unseen listener.

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