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I grunted. “Welcome to the club.”
“The human brain is a marvel. The strategy we create to keep ourselves safe as children is often what causes us pain later.” She closed the book. “I’ve had enough of that for now. It’s a lot to digest.”
“Do you think of yourself as human or not?”
She examined her arms. “I’m in a human body, so I guess I have no choice.”
“But sometimes you talk about humans as though you’re a separate entity.”
She shrugged. “Old habits.”
“What if you made the decision to leave her?”
“I’d exist in the ether unless I found a new hostess.”
“Would that be so bad? You’re Aite. You’ve lived so many lives. Why not let this woman reclaim hers?”
“What she had wasn’t much of a life. Why do you think she agreed to join the avatar program? She drank that soma like it was the antidote to a poison she ingested.” She pushed the book aside. “What about you then? Why not give Lorelei a chance to live life on her own terms?”
“I am Lorelei.”
Addison winked. “Sure you are, snookums.”
Ray and Nana Pratt huddled in the kitchen doorway. “You’re back,” Ray said. “How do you feel?”
“Much better, thank you. Your suggestion was exactly what I needed. Plus, I got an idea.”
“About what?”
“I’d like to try to contact Rozhanitsy…”
“Gesundheit,” Addison said.
“Sudenitsy and Narechnitsy.”
“Who?” Ray asked.
“Their collective name is the Givers. They’re the Slavic Fates. Would you mind doing a little research for me to see what our best option is to reach them?”
Ray lit up like a Christmas tree. “On it.”
Nana Pratt’s face fell. “What about me?”
“Oh, I have an extremely important job for you.”
The elderly ghost rubbed her hands together. “Lay it on me.”
“I’m in dire need of a grounds inspection.”
Her arms fell to her sides. “What?”
“Spring is on the way. I need someone to look over the property with a fine-tooth comb and see what needs to be done for the gardens, the water in the moat, the cemetery—the works.”
You would’ve thought I’d offered her the keys to the pearly gates of Heaven itself. “You would trust me with all that?”
“Trust you? There isn’t anyone I’d trust more. Consider yourself the Castle’s property manager.”
She shot Ray a look of triumph.
