“I’ve heard you before, when you thought that nobody was listening,” said Eliza. “It explained so much. The way you almost seem to want it both ways, like you want to be with me, but you also act like you know you can’t be. It’s because of Tess. She’s the one you love, isn’t she?”
Lee stood stock still, totally unsure of what to say, or how to react. He looked over at Tess, searching her face and posture for help.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “If I knew what you should do, I would say so.”
“Eliza…” began Lee.
“Hold on!” Eliza held up a finger. “I’m not done yet. I’ve figured it all out, Lee. The truth that you won’t, or can’t tell me. I know how much pain you’re in. You came to Primhaven because you were desperate to find a way to help Tess. She’s either sick, or in a coma, she must be, from the things I’ve overheard.
“You were desperate to find a way to heal her, but you’re not from a magical background, so you didn’t know that there aren’t any schools of magic that can heal in ways that normal medicine can’t. When you found that out, you went completely outside the box and started searching for… darker means of helping her.
“That’s why you made a deal with the Dealmaker, isn’t it? He promised you a secret dark magic spell that could help her, so you made a deal with him to spy on Primhaven. You attacked me when we were down in the jail because you thought somebody was on your trail.”
Eliza folded her arms triumphantly. Lee blinked, a bit overwhelmed at how close she’d come to the truth before veering off into insane territory.
“Well?” she asked, expectantly. “I know I’m right about at least some of what I’ve worked out. Tell me the truth, Lee.”
Every logical impulse in Lee’s body screamed at him to nod his head and admit that she’d figured it out. He could pick the details he liked from her imaginative fiction, the parts about Tess being in a coma, maybe even her being the reason for him coming to Primhaven in the first place.
It would be so simple and easy, and he wouldn’t have to wade into the messy quagmire that was the truth. Nothing would have to change and he could continue churning along with his life at Primhaven with Eliza and Toma, insulated from the outside world, apart from reality.
He’d also be lying to the face of someone he cared about, someone who deserved better. Lee closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, hating how needlessly complicated his life had become.
“I can’t tell you the truth, Eliza,” he muttered. “It’s not my secret to tell.”
He glanced at Tess, who had a pensive, slightly mischievous smile on her face.
“It’s our secret, Lee,” whispered Tess. “Yours and mine.”
She threaded her ethereal fingers through his, adding a new, flickering chill onto the others that Lee had collected. He slowly nodded to her, and Tess pulled away from him. She took slow steps toward the window behind Lee, the one that Eliza was currently facing. She brought her finger up to the thin layer of frost and wrote a simple sentence, followed by a smiling emoji.
I’M NOT IN A COMA : )
CHAPTER 18
It was Lee’s turn to watch Eliza bounce through the various stages of confusion and disbelief that accompanied an unexpected revelation. She made the cutest expressions, furrowing her brow, then frowning, then lifting a finger and opening her mouth before hesitating and folding her arms.
“Lee,” she finally said. “Do you think I’m some kind of idiot?”
“If I thought that, I would have just kept lying to you,” said Lee. “We both would have, and we both would have felt bad about it. Eliza, Tess is a ghost.”
Eliza’s eyes narrowed into furious slits. She shook her head, balled her gloved hands up into fists, and began stomping toward the stairs.
“I know about your telekinesis!” she shouted. “You’re a bastard! You really think that little of me, that you would try to… Fuck you, Lee! Don’t ever talk to me again.”
“Hold on!” he said, quickly. “I can prove it! Eliza, please, just hold on. I know that you know that I’m not stupid enough to think that you’re that stupid.”
She hesitated, more out of confusion over his phrasing than in deference to his point.
“What I’m saying is, let’s do a test. I’ll close my eyes and cover my ears. You can whisper any question you want to Tess and she’ll answer, to the best of her ability. That way you’ll know that it isn’t just me playing around with my telekinesis, which by the way, has mostly just been Tess helping me out.”
“This is… ridiculous,” muttered Eliza. “Ghosts aren’t real.”
Lee sat down by the stairs, covering his ears and closing his eyes. A minute went by, and then Eliza started screaming.
“Oh god!” she cried. “This can’t… be happening! Oh god!”
Eliza was in her elemental spell stance, face pale, gaze darting from side to side. Lee watched as Tess continued writing hasty messages on one of the windows.
“I’M NOT EVIL! I PROMISE!”
“She’s really not evil,” said Lee. “You can trust me on that. She’s more of a helpful klutz, really.”
“Lee!” cried Tess. “I am not a klutz!”
Slowly, Eliza let her arms drop, and after a minute she caught her breath.
“Who… is she?” she asked. “I mean… If Tess is a ghost. Does that mean that the person you’ve secretly been in love with is…?”
Lee let out an awkward cough. “She can hear everything you’re saying right now.”
“DO YOU REALLY THINK LEE LOVES ME?” wrote Tess.
“Well, yeah, I mean it’s pretty obvious,” said Eliza.
“YAY!”
“Hey, come on,” said Lee. “I’m standing right here.”
“Where’s Tess standing?” asked Eliza.
She turned in a slow circle. Lee came up behind her, gently taking her by the shoulders and orienting her so that she was facing Tess directly. Tess had a huge grin on her face, though she became slightly nervous and fidgety as she met Eliza’s gaze, even though Eliza couldn’t actually see her.
“She’s right in front of you,” said Lee.
“What does she look like?” whispered Eliza.
“Oh, you know,” muttered Lee. “She’s pretty. Kind of. She’s short, but close to the same age as us, at least discounting all the time between now and when she died. Her hair is chestnut brown, a little longer than shoulder length. She’s got these freckles that… you almost want to try to brush off her cheeks sometimes.”
“She sounds beautiful,” said Eliza.
“Tell her I think she is, too!” said Tess.
“Tess says that you’re beautiful,” said Lee.
Eliza flashed a wry smile and set her hands on her hips. “Tess says that, huh?”
Lee felt incredibly awkward, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. He watched as Eliza lifted her hand up, palm first, and held it out toward Tess, who responded with her own hand in a similar gesture. Eliza shivered as Tess’s ethereal fingers made contact.
“Why did you decide to tell me about her?” asked Eliza.
“I didn’t,” said Lee. “It was up to Tess. She decided that we should trust you.”
“Tell her that…” Tess scowled. “Oh, never mind.”
She returned to one of the frosted windows and started writing.
“I WAS HOPING WE COULD BE FRIENDS…”
“You want to be my friend?” asked Eliza. “I would really enjoy that, Tess!”
She flashed a wide, childish smile at where Tess had most recently been.
“She’s actually over here now,” said Lee. “She’s… hey!”
“WILL YOU ALSO BE LEE’S GIRLFRIEND?” wrote Tess.
“That’s not…” He scowled and started scraping the words off the ice. “I’m right here! You can’t just ask questions on my behalf. I’m a grown man!”
He heard the surprisingly similar sounds of both Eliza and Tess giggling in unison. The
frost letters were harder to scrape away than he’d anticipated, and when he finally finished erasing the unauthorized message, he turned around to find both girls lying on the floor, huddled around a notebook that Eliza had brought with her. A pen held in Tess’s ethereal hand was writing at a furious pace over it.
“What are you doing?” asked Lee.
“Tess is just… filling me in on a few things,” said Eliza.
“Like what?”
“Oh,” said Tess. “You know. This and that. It’s important for her to understand your situation, Lee. All of your situation.”
“I take it back,” said Lee. “Eliza, I’m totally just using my telekinesis. Tess isn’t real, this is all a big joke. Eliza?”
“So that’s it…” muttered Eliza. “So you really aren’t a mage? And the pact lets you cast spells through Tess? Fascinating… I won’t tell anyone, don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”
Lee sighed and sat down on the bed.
CHAPTER 19
The electric heater had done an adequate job at warming the small room up, so Lee took off his snow gear and tried to keep calm and pretend that he wasn’t insanely curious about the contents of Eliza and Tess’s private discussion. They took turns scribbling in the notebook, occasionally sharing a laugh. Aside from the fact that Tess was a ghost, they looked like two regular teenage girls, fast friends in the midst of passing secret notes in study hall.
Eliza eventually took off her winter clothes, too. She had on a grey band t-shirt and yoga pants, and she came over and sat down on the bed next to Lee, staring at him with new, curious eyes.
“She really cares about you,” she said, in a soft voice. “I can tell that you care about her, too.”
“What did she tell you, exactly?”
“A lot.” Eliza shrugged. “It’s kind of a relief, in a way, to know and understand the relationship you and her share. I get it now.”
“Eliza…”
“No, don’t use that tone of voice. I’m alright with Tess being first in your heart, Lee. And she’s alright with, um… well, we kind of… the thing she wrote before on the window… which is to say…”
Her face turned beet red, and Lee couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Now there’s the Eliza I know,” he said.
“She—” continued Eliza. “She told me about how spellcasting works for you. How it’s limited by, well, you know.”
Lee was tempted to act confused and force her to say the word “sex” outright, but he gave her a break.
“Yeah,” he said. “Tess can absorb essence from my defeated opponents and women I’m intimate with.”
A loaded silence followed. Lee was dangerously aware of the small amount of contact between his leg and Eliza’s.
“So…” said Eliza. “Nurse Susie?”
Lee grinned. “Yeah. I see she told you quite a bit.”
“I can’t say I’m really surprised to find out she’s a succubus,” said Eliza. “Did she teach you anything?”
Lee held Eliza’s gaze, leaning into that loaded silence.
“A few things,” he said, sliding a little closer.
“Like what?” whispered Eliza.
“Oh,” said Lee. “This and that.”
He let his hand slide up Eliza’s back. She shivered and the blush came back to her cheeks with a vengeance.
“I’m a virgin, Lee,” she said.
“What? No way!”
“Shut up,” she said, swatting him on the shoulder. “Look, given everything Tess has told me, and the way I feel about you, I was, uh… you know… kind of I guess hoping… that you would be the one… to… you know.”
“I know.”
He leaned in slowly, giving Eliza time to acclimatize to the closeness of their faces and bodies. He planted a gentle kiss on her lips, not rushing toward any particular conclusion. The kiss deepened, and Eliza responded with motions that felt stiff and practiced, as though she’d even tried to study something as wild and unpredictable as physical intimacy.
He made sure she was comfortable, watching for the signs in her body language as the moment began to heat up. They stretched out on the bed and Lee let his hand explore underneath her t-shirt. Eliza was generously endowed, and he cupped one of her breasts through her bra, sliding a finger along, and then within the edge.
“I dreamed about this,” she whispered. “A few times. I mean… it was a normal dream! Nothing weird. Just a normal dream where the two of us… uh, never mind.”
“Where we had sex,” provided Lee. “A few times, huh? What did we do in your dreams, Eliza?”
He gently pulled her shirt up and over her head, watching as her ponytail caught against the fabric before bouncing loose. He ran a hand along her taut stomach, gently caressing her breasts through her bra and resisting the urge to free them from their confines.
“I… don’t want to say,” she whispered, with a smile.
“Will you tell me if I’m on the right track?”
He caressed her inner thigh as he continued to softly kiss her. Eliza’s breathing shifted wildly. Lee let his fingers creep into the waistband of her yoga pants, and then into her panties.
“Oh!” Eliza’s hips bucked slightly. Lee shifted to lean over her more directly, looking her right in the eyes as he let his fingers slowly begin to explore.
She was like a delicate flower, unspoiled, unsure, and well, unshaven. Lee didn’t want to rush her into anything that she might be uncomfortable with, even if the innocent way she responded to his touch was one of the hottest things he’d ever seen.
He slid a single finger into her. Eliza’s breathing intensified, but it wasn’t until Lee added another and slowly began caressing various spots that she began gyrating in earnest. He kept his attention split, still kissing her neck and letting his breath tickle her ear. Teasing her, really, and feeling rather cocky about it.
“Lee!” moaned Eliza. “Oh, god!”
He kissed her, letting his tongue press into his mouth as his fingers pressed elsewhere. He went slowly, keeping his own arousal in check for the sake of building hers. Perhaps a little too slowly, at least for his own desires.
Eliza let out a shivering gasp, and Lee felt her body tightening on the one finger he still had inside her. She let out a low, insanely seductive moan and leaned her head back, taking deep, heaving breaths. Lee forced himself to relax, noticing her sexually exhausted state, and slid his arm under her shoulders.
“Wow…” whispered Eliza. “That was… better than a dream.”
“Tell her that if she keeps saying things like that, it’s going to go to your head,” said Tess.
“Tess says it was the same mind-blowing experience for her, too,” said Lee.
Eliza blinked and glanced around the room. “Oh. She’s still in here, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. That doesn’t make you too uncomfortable, does it?”
Tess tapped on the window, drawing Eliza’s attention to another hastily ice-written message.
WE’RE LIKE SISTERS NOW : )
Eliza started laughing, and Lee couldn’t stop himself from joining in. He gestured for Tess to come over, pulling her into his mystic stream to lie against his arm on the other side as the three of them cuddled together on the tiny bed.
CHAPTER 20
“I still can’t believe it,” whispered Eliza. “There are so many questions I have about this entire situation.”
They were still lying on the bed. Eliza had busied herself by gently caressing one of Lee’s biceps, while Tess cuddled against him on the other side, occasionally planting kisses on his cheek or lips.
“It’s a curious situation,” said Lee. “It doesn’t seem like most of the supernatural world, or at least most of the mages affiliated with the Order of Chaldea, understand the reality of ghosts and mysticism.”
“Is it intentional?” asked Eliza. “Is there some secret organization of mystics that works to keep it secret, like the Order does for the regular supernatural world?
”
Lee let out a laugh. “If there is, they haven’t revealed themselves to me. No, I think it has more to do with how rare mystics are. Mages do occasionally encounter ghosts, but they just don’t perceive them as what they are. They treat them as anomalies or mislabel them as other types of entities.”
“Shouldn’t someone try to bring them around to the truth?” asked Eliza.
Lee shrugged. “Maybe eventually. Most people, mages especially, wouldn’t accept the nature of ghosts as easily as you did.”
He imagined how that particular conversation would go with Harper. Even if he did manage to sell her on the idea of ghosts existing, she would never accept Tess, the pact between them, and the trust he’d placed in her. Harper hadn’t even been willing to hear Zoe out on matters of supernatural politics. Lee couldn’t imagine her giving him a pass for lying and consorting with an invisible, undead, dangerous entity.
“I won’t tell anyone, Lee,” said Eliza. “You don’t have to worry. I promise both you and Tess. I’ll die before I reveal any of your secrets.”
“I’m not a fan of that ominous phrasing, but I appreciate the sentiment,” said Lee.
“So do I!” said Tess. “Tell her I do too, Lee.”
He sighed. “So does Tess.”
Eliza smiled. “Well, I guess we should probably do what Instructor Daniels intended for us to do, since we’re here.”
She started to stand up.
“Should we?” Lee smiled and playfully grabbed her hand, pulling her back toward the bed.
“Yes, we should,” she said, slapping his knuckles. “They’ll be plenty of time for more later.”
Eliza let out a cooing shiver as she stood up on the cold floor, pulling her t-shirt back on. One of the windows had unthawed enough for a visible circle to have formed in the center of the glass, and she let out a small gasp as she glanced outside.
“There’s someone out there…” she said.
“What?” Lee rose to join her, and what he saw waiting outside the watchtower sent an ominous premonition reverberating through him.
There was a man outside, or at least, something man-shaped. It was staggering through the snow, hindered and apparently injured, but otherwise unconcerned, from the ponderous nature of its movements. Lee knew what it was, though part of him wished that he didn’t.
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