A pulse of pain in my heart. A reminder. “Sure.”
I drag my eyes from her, taking in her space. There’s a bamboo shelving unit directly across from me, and I focus on that instead.
My recoil is fast enough that I swear I feel my soul leave my body. “What the fuck is that?”
She follows my gaze. “Oh. Just ignore her.”
Fucking ignore her?
Panic threatens to close off my breath. “She looks like she’s about to crawl over and drag me to another dimension.”
Emmy snorts with laughter, her hand slapping over her mouth. It would be adorable, if I wasn’t currently freaking the hell out. “You’re scared of a doll?”
“Who in their right mind wouldn’t be scared of that thing?” I can’t look away. “Where did you get it?”
It’s watching me. Long dark hair sits on either side of its china face, creepy wide eyes with freakishly realistic eyelashes and a china dress. “Did it justblink?”
Actual laughter spills from her. “Don’t look at her, and she won’t curse you.”
I rip my eyes away, my expression pleading. “Emilia. Please. Put a blanket over her or something.”
I’m actually sweating. “I’m suddenly re-evaluating everything I thought I knew about you.”
Her laughter grows, until she’s bent over at the waist, clutching her stomach as she gasps. “Stop.”
My fear recedes slightly at the sound. “Is offering me a shower a ploy to sacrifice me to a demon or something? Because nobody normal would choose to display that thing voluntarily.”
Her shoulders are shaking. “That’s why I got her. The owner of the store was going to put her in the trash.”
I stare at her, aghast. “And you stopped him?”
“I felt sorry for her!” she protests, wiping her eyes. “She even has a name. Geraldine.”
“Lalalalala.” I shove my fingers in my ears and squeeze my eyes shut. “For the love of God, don’t say it three times. I’ve seen this movie before, Emilia.”
“I’ll protect you. She owes me a favor for saving her. What are youdoing?”
I wave my fingers in the air. “Making the sign of the cross.”
Emilia completely loses it. She’s still laughing when I rip the blanket off and storm into her tiny kitchen.
I mean, the fear is real. But as the low, husky sound of Emilia laughing her ass off fills the air around me, I find myself smiling, too.
It’s a good sound.
Even if the doll is creepy as fuck.
41
Emmy
“You really do like the weirdest shit.” Jared peers over my shoulder. “Any cursed dolls in there?”
“It’s not weird,” I defend as I pick through the crate. The stall owner gives Jared a dirty look. “It’s… quirky. What did you get?”
I twist as he holds up a few battered books, turning my head to see the spines. “Biographies?”
He tucks them under his arm. “I like reading about people’s lives. Who they were, what they did.”
