Page 25 of Spirit Witch
I glanced at the ghost. ‘What’s your name?’
‘William.’
‘By your great-uncle Willie,’ I said to the barman.
‘William!’ the ghost howled. ‘Not Willie!’
‘Well then,’ I snapped, ‘you should have kept your willie inside your damn trousers then, shouldn’t you?’
Both Winter and the barman started. ‘My great-uncle was known for exposing himself,’ the barman said, staring at me.
I raised an eyebrow in Willie’s direction. That figured. The ghost pretended to be suddenly fascinated by a stain on the old flocked wallpaper.
‘How did you know that?’ the barman asked. ‘It’s supposed to be a family secret.’
‘I told you,’ I said patiently. ‘This place is haunted.’
He looked very pale. ‘No wonder the milk keeps going sour.’
‘Actually,’ William declared loudly, ‘that’s because the silly woman in the kitchen keeps forgetting to put it in the fridge and she leaves it out next to the oven.’
I focused back on him. ‘Why are you here? I’m going to assume it’s not just because you want as many people as possible to see your poor excuse for a penis.’
Winter started and, predictably, his expression grew closed and angry. He stayed quiet, though; he knew I was a big girl.
William sniffed. ‘The family always hated me. They were jealous. My sister despised me so much that she cursed me to find no rest, not even in death, unless I promised to name her as my sole heir when I died. She was a money-grabbing whore who—’
‘Shut up.’ I glanced at the barman. I wasn’t entirely sure how all this was supposed to work but how hard could it to rescind a generations-old curse that transcended death? ‘One of your ancestors cursed ol’ Willie to find no rest unless she was given his stuff when he died. I’m presuming that she didn’t do that. I guess that to get rid of him and allow him to pass to the next plane, where he’s supposed to be, you just need to take back her words.’ I shrugged. Maybe. What the hell did I know?
The barman scratched his head. ‘Are you trying to fleece me or something?’
‘Nope. This is for real. I promise. All I want in return is to get into that room.’
He was obviously still suspicious and on edge. He sidestepped and, in the process, slid in one of the small pools of splattered gravy. Winter reached out and grabbed him just before he went crashing to the floor.
‘Ivy is a pain in the arse,’ Winter said gruffly.
‘Hey!’ I protested.
He flicked me a look. ‘It’s true. You’re the laziest person I’ve ever met. You’ll take shortcuts wherever you can and you never do anything the way it’s supposed to be done.’ He smiled and my heart flip-flopped. ‘But you’re honest to a fault. You don’t lie and you wouldn’t deliberately hurt someone.’ He paused and I knew he was thinking about what I’d done up in Scotland. ‘Not unless you really had to, anyway.’
‘So, ridiculous as it sounds, you finally forgive me for sacrificing myself for you?’
Winter’s expression was earnest. ‘Yes. But don’t do it again.’
‘I’m not sure I can promise that,’ I said with a wry grin.
He leaned towards me. ‘Maybe I can make you.’
‘How? By tying me up?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘By flashing those sexy blue eyes at me? By kissing me until…’
Both Willie the ghost and the barman cleared their throats at exactly the same time. Oops. I’d completely forgotten they were there. I coughed. ‘Sorry.’
‘That’s alright.’ The barman stared round the room as if expecting Willie to jump out at him at any moment. ‘William Barcell. I, er, take back what my ancestor said. She was wrong to want all your money and she shouldn’t have cursed you. You are now…’ He scratched his nose.
