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“You!” I gasp.
CHAPTER 5
BLUE
“You’re the man from my dream,” I say, immediately following it with a slightly accusatory, “And you’re a ghost.”
To my astonishment, he rolls his eyes. “Oh, thank you so much for enlightening me. I’ve waited centuries for that particular revelation.”
He waves a hand, and a lamp on the table immediately lights up. I stare at him. The ghosts I typically see are stretched a little thin, like laundry that’s been washed too many times. This man is as solid and real as me. And yet I know he’s dead.
He has long black hair tied back from his face with a black ribbon. His cheekbones are high, and his square chin has a stubborn look about it that belies full, soft lips. He’s dressed in a long grey coat with a velvet waistcoat, breeches, and salt-stained, battered-looking knee-high boots. He’s broad-shouldered and his legs are long and muscular. He’s like something from the Georgian TV series that Levi had been obsessed with last autumn.
“Good god. I don’t believe I’ve ever been stared at so intently,” he says. His voice is deep and full of a faint amusement
I shrug. “It’s nothing personal. You just might be the best-looking ghost I’ve ever seen.”
He pretends to fan himself. “I’m overcome.”
“I wouldn’t bother. You don’t exactly have a lot of competition on the ghost hottie scale.” He gives a deep chuckle, and I look at the stairs. “I should check on Levi.”
“No need. You are both safe for now.”
My eyes narrow. “Weren’t we safe before?”
“What do you think?”
Before I can answer, a dog creeps out from behind his legs. He’s small, with rough, white fur and a sharp, foxy, little face. It’s a ghost dog. I stare at it in fascination. I don’t tend to see many of them around. Most pets seem to move on very quickly, or at least they go somewhere I don’t know about. This one looks as real as its master.
“Oh my god. He’s so cute.” I crouch, and the dog observes me, its tail wagging furiously. His eyes are bright as buttons and his coat is neat. “What’s his name?”
“Dog.”
I roll my eyes. “Oh, how very Columbo of you.”
“I’m unsure what that means, but do not worry. I’ve researched you, Blue Billings, so I know that you often stir great confusion.”
I straighten abruptly. “You’ve researched me?”
He cocks his head. “You sound surprised.” His eyes narrow and he sits up. “You did not know that the spirit world is aware of you?”
I scuff my bare foot on the carpet. “No, I mean I get the ones in York know me. I’m not a popular boy with half of them. The other half I wish I wasn’t popular with, because they want to talk all the time. I’m just a bit surprised that a ghost in Cornwall knows my name.”
“Ah, I do not stay in Cornwall.”
My shock must show on my face, because it’s always been my assumption that most ghosts stay where they lived their lives. Tom’s never said anything to the contrary either. Rosalind disappears a lot, but I presumed that she was just doing her thing around the city she lived in.
“Most of the spirits in England know your name,” he says. “It is a byword for chaos and mayhem.”
I brighten. “Wow. Thank you. That’s a very nice thing to say.”
He stares at me. “Is it?”
I nod. “It’s nice to be memorable and not boring. Well done, me.”
“Yes, you do seem to have managed it.” His lip twitches. “Huzzah.”
I eye him curiously, and shift my gaze to the door. Everything has fallen quiet.
