Page 62 of Found Objects

His questions were so on point and methodical, and I appreciated that. “I think they got there, were moved there, because of the spot of magic, and when I killed those two guys and spilled blood on the land, it triggered first the movement of the bones, and then the ghost.”

“And that’s because the person was killed. Or more likely murdered, right?”

“I suspect so, yes.”

“Okay, so because this person was murdered, and related to me, and Cole, and my alpha, and Narah and Justin—because of the connection to our family between the magic and the blood…boom, we got a ghost.”

I grinned at him. “Yes. Very good.”

He smiled back at me. “If it wasn’t so scary, it would be awesome.”

“Yes, it would.”

“I have a question,” Abel said.

I looked over at him.

“The bones, you say, are from a member of our family?”

“Most certainly. When they’re identified, you’ll find out who. They’ll also have a forensic pathologist check over the bones and try to find out exactly how the person died so there won’t be any mystery. But who, in your family, has died in the last twenty or so years?”

“Both my parents,” Cole said quickly.

“Yes, but your mother died in childbirth, which is horribly sad, but not unnatural.” I took hold of Evan’s hand when he reached for me. “How did your father die?”

“In a car accident,” Evan said.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes. That’s what I was—” He looked at Cole. “That’s what you told me.”

“Because that’s what I was told.” Cole spoke to his brother, but he was staring at his uncle. “You went and saw him in the morgue, and that’s what they said, right?”

“Yes, it was,” Abel said, frowning as he turned to me. “But you’re saying that…that something else happened to Anson, if those bones are his?”

“I don’t know. What I am saying is that whoever those bones end up belonging to, they were killed, or as Evan says, murdered, and that is clearly not natural. The ghost needed Cole to know that, and now he does.”

Evan heaved out a breath. “Why would my father ever try to hurt me like⁠—”

“Again, the ghost would not have had any idea that it was hurting you at all.” I tried to soothe him. “That would never have been part of what it was trying to do. Communication was its only intention. Remember that.”

“Okay.” Evan exhaled sharply.

“And we don’t know that those bones belonged to your father,” Abel said curtly.

“But if they do,” Evan said, his focus on me, “he just wanted to speak to us.”

“That’s right. And also, ghosts aren’t how they are in the movies or on TV. They are not the people they were, so even if those bones end up belonging to your father, the ghost tied to them is not him in any way that would allow the Anson Swann you knew to recognize you, or you him. Ghosts hang around because they can’t move on. Something is anchoring them to this plane—some injustice, some grievance, something that needs to be put right, something that was lost… But the only part that stays behind is the piece that’s angry and in pain. Your father’s soul, the part of him that he loved you with, loved your brother with, loved your mother with…that moved on to whatever he was supposed to do next.”

Evan sighed deeply, and his eyes welled with tears. “So he’s not really here.”

“No, he’s not. Only what needed to be conveyed to you and your brother remained.”

“And is the ghost gone now too?”

“Yes. I released it because it communicated to me what it needed to, so it could peacefully move on.”

“It didn’t need to stick around to make sure you followed through?”