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Was he even part of this world anymore?

It did not seem so.

But then why did he still feel the need to stick around?

Nate’s mom’s house had a porch light shaped like a lantern and a driveway full of cars.

“How many people are in there?” the ghost asked.

“Probably a couple.” Nate unclipped the seatbelt.

“Define ‘a couple.’”

“I’m guessing Mom, Jonah, Sophie, the kids. Aunt Claire.” A pause. “Maybe Richard.”

“What about your dad?”

Nate looked toward the house. “I don’t know who my dad is. I’m not sure my mom even knows, to be honest. She was never one for relationships.”

“Oh.” The ghost looked toward the house as well. “I had a relationship.” He knew it was true as he said it. But who had he been with?

“When you died?” Nate asked.

“Yes.” He thought so, at least.

“Sorry about that.” There was this fuzzy shape of a memory, not even quite a memory… of blue eyes and cigarette smoke. A note in a song he couldn’t recall the lyrics to.

A sad song about something he should not have done.

Something he should not have done.

What?

“You okay to head in?” Nate asked.

“If I have to.”

“If you want to be released from that seal, there’s no way around it.” Nate picked him up, tucked him into the crook of one arm, and got out of the truck.

As they approached the door, it opened before Nate could knock.

Light and noise spilled out around the man who’d opened the door—Jonah. He had his sleeves pushed up and a dish towel hung over one of his shoulders. “You’re late.”

“There was an incident with the ghost,” Nate said.

“I was abducted,” the ghost added.

Jonah’s eyebrows went up. He looked at the seal. “Did he say abducted?”

“There was a fox,” Nate said.

“A fox?”

Before either of them could explain, a child’s voice shrieked something about a seal and then two little ones materialized out of the hall, colliding with Jonah’s legs. The taller of the two was missing a tooth. The smaller one was already reaching for the seal.

“Is that him? Is that the ghost? Can I hold him, I want to hold him!”

“Sally,” Jonah said.