Page 13 of Dead Ringer

“Talk to Clarice, got it. Thank you so much, ladies,” I said cheerily.

That man has been staring at you for nearly three minutes,Cain growled from the back of my head.No, don’t turn and look. Pretend to admire the shield over there.

And there was a shield hanging on the wall, a round bronze thing that looked like it had been torn in half and hung on the wall. It was polished to a brilliant sheen, and I pretended to check my makeup in it while glancing at the stranger instead.

The bronze of the shield blurred things a little, like the street lights in a rain puddle, but there was a man standing in the room, motionless like an island in the sea. He was big, broad shouldered, his hair snow white on the sides with only a bit of black left on the top. He did seem to be watching me intently enough that it gave me the jitters.

I waited until the crowd blocked the guy’s line of sight, and then I slipped down the hall toward Magda’s wing.

Chapter Six

The Erepto manor was, in a word: unbelievable.

It was more like one of those old English country houses you see in movies—nothing like the mansions I’d seen back in California. The fact that family members could have entire wings to themselves, not just rooms or suites, butwingswas absolutely unbelievable to me.

The ghost ladies had been right, though. It was easy to find what I was looking for, on account of the entire hall being draped in swaths of white cloth. The rooms I crept past all seemed to be in the process of being stripped, belongings and furniture packed up for storage or destined for the Good Will or maybe the trash.

It all seemed fast to me. I was literally attending Magda’s wake, and half or more of her earthly possessions were already being squirrelled away.

The clack of footsteps on the marble floor caused my spine to stiffen. I didn’t want to get caught peeking through a dead lady’s stuff, so I ducked behind a statue of a woman in a breastplate with snakes twining up and down her arms, trying to squish myself down as much as possible. It helped that the fabric draping the walls went all the way to the floor. With any luck, I’d just look like a shadow.

What in the world are you doing?Cain asked, sounding bewildered.Are you planning to just hide here until they go away? That could take hours, you realize?

I pinched my lips together to make sure I didn’t accidentally answer out loud.No. I’m just waiting until whoever it is gets busy. Busy enough not to notice me.

A young woman rounded the corner, looking harried. Not a family member, I was pretty sure. They seemed to tend towards dark hair and golden complexions. This gal was tall and fair haired and pale enough that her freckles looked like someone had flicked sepia ink on her face. She was wearing a dark dress with a starched white collar: it looked like someone had tried to glamorize a maid’s outfit and only got so far.

Her limbs were a little too long for her body, her cheeks like razor blades. And she had that extra little shimmer around her. Probably Fae then. Maybe Summer court? I couldn’t tell for sure. Ghosts were my specialty, not any of the other crazy things that called the Hollow home.

Though, I was getting better with faeries, on account of Cain’s sister being Queen of the Winter Fae. Or Princess, at least, until she took the throne. Yeah, that had been a trip for Cain to find out. I wasn’t sure who was more surprised by it, him, or Taliyah.

Once the gal was in the middle of taking some paintings down from the walls, I crept back to the main hall, and then dropped all attempts at sneaking. Instead, I craned my head around, staring at the walls like some tourist.

The gal turned around, looking surprised. “Can I help you, miss?”

I tried not to let the ‘miss’ part make me smile. I still had it. Though, come to think of it, even though she looked about twenty, Fae were tricky like that. She could have been older than me, even with my stint as a stiff.

I gave her ‘the look’, all wide eyes and flushed cheeks. “I’m so sorry! I left to use the powder room, and I got all turned around. This place is so big!”

The Fae woman relaxed, and if her smile was tinged with a bit of condescension, then that was okay. It meant she wouldn’t think I was up to something. If I was just some Dumb Dora who couldn’t find the bathroom, so much the better.

“I understand.” She smoothed the front of her dark skirt down and folded her hands in front of her. “This place can be a little confusing, until you’re used to it. The closest washroom is just down this hallway—the fourth door on your left.”

“You’re a life saver,” I told her, putting some relief into my voice. “This place is just soooo huge. But you must be used to it. Have you worked here long, miss?”

I might not know much about the oogly booglies that called Haven Hollow home, but I’d picked up a thing here and there. One of those was, never ask a Fae for their name. Ask how they referred to themselves, or just leave it open ended so they could give whatever name they wanted to.

The Fae twitched, shoulders tensing before they relaxed again. “Sage, Miss. They call me Sage. And yes, I’ve worked here for some time.”

Alright, excellent. Servants were almost as good as ghosts when it came to dishing the dirt. I just had to ease my way into my questions.

“It’s terrible, what happened.” I waved back toward the direction of the wake. “It’s nice that so many people came out, though. She was a special lady.”

Sage looked at me like I’d grown a second head. Her smile was tight. “Yes. Special.”

Okay, time to change tracks.

“Sure is a lot of hubbub going on though, eh?” I gave her what I hoped was a conspiratorial look. “What with certain things going missing.”

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