Page 63 of Dead End

“That’s the saddest parade I’ve ever seen,” Ray said.

“Can you blame them?” Nana Pratt asked. “You heard what Lorelei said. She’s leaving town.”

“I heard.”

“I’m sorry,” I told the ghosts. “I know my decision impacts you, too.”

“You don’t owe it to us to schedule your life choices around us,” Nana Pratt said.

“You can come with me to the underworld, although I don’t know if you’d like it. Otherwise, you can stay here.” I didn’t miss the look that passed between the ghosts. “What? Did you two already make a plan?”

Ray averted his gaze. “We did, actually.”

A sense of relief rippled through me. Finally, a hard decision I didn’t have to make.

“We’re not going with you,” he said.

“Okay, fine. Then you stay here and hold down the fort. Watch over Goran. Make sure he takes good care of the Castle.”

Nana Pratt licked her chalky lips. “We aren’t going to stay here either.”

My thoughts were scattering in several directions at once. “I have to move quickly. There isn’t time to relocate you to other houses.”

Nana Pratt wrung her hands. “Ray and I have put quite a bit of thought into this. We would like to cross over before you leave, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

I felt like someone dropped an anchor in my mouth. “I’m sorry. I think I misheard you. It sounded like you said you want to cross over.”

Nana Pratt cast a wary glance at Ray. “Yes. That’s what we said.”

“Why would you decide that now? Is it because I’m leaving?”

“The conversation started before you announced your decision to go,” Ray said. “Ingrid and I have been mulling it over ever since Alicia’s news that they’re moving to San Francisco.”

It sounded like an excuse to absolve me of guilt. “You don’t need to leave the Castle because of me.”

“This isn’t about you, Lorelei,” Ray said. “This is about us and what we need. Our families are thriving, which is all we ever wanted. They’ve moved on, as they should, and it’s time for us to do the same.”

“No.” The word sounded garbled, like I’d tried to object while rinsing my mouth.

Ray’s brown eyes brimmed with the pain of a difficult conversation. “Lorelei…”

An idea sparked in my mind. “I can convert you!”

Nana Pratt recoiled. “I’m not interested in that.”

“No, not religious conversion. I mean, what if I could turn you into a god? Give me time. I promise to find a way to deify you, so you can become Lares.”

“Lares?” Ray’s lower lip jutted out. “I’m not familiar with them.”

“In ancient times, they protected households. You could each become a Lar for your family. You’d have to be a statue most of the time, but you’d get to interact with your families.”

The ghosts fell silent, and I hoped it was because they were taking my suggestion into consideration.

“I don’t know that I want to be a god,” Nana Pratt said. “It seems to involve a lot of conflict. At this point, I only want peace.”

“You’ve been working overtime to free gods from their human prisons,” Ray added. “Doesn’t it seem wrong to do to us what you’ve been fighting to undo?”

My heart slammed against the wall of my chest. “I don’t want to lose you, too.” My voice faltered. “I can’t.” Ray and Nana Pratt had become family, and I’d already experienced so much loss in that area. I wasn’t sure I could survive another one.

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