“Arbiter?”
Nat waved his hand in the arm. “Judgment? It’s been centuries since we’ve had one. Probably why the weave is the mess it is, and realms are merging. I know little about it, or the books, as the room is warded against entry to all beings.”
But I’d entered without any real difficulty. “Are you saying you can’t go in there either?”
“I’m saying the book is trouble. The hounds sensed an anomaly. That was you bonding with a primordial grimoire.” He groaned again, rubbing his temples.
“The book feels like mine. What does that mean?” I asked, examining the book like it might suddenly sprout fangs.
Nat shook his head. “I’m not certain it matters. The book has already formed a bond with you. Severing it now could leave you both unraveled and useless.” He gestured vaguely at the glowing pages. “And you’re writing in it… that shouldn’t be possible.”
“Impossible is my brand, just ask my boyfriend,” I said, flashing a grin I didn’t quite feel. “It’s right there on my ghostly business card.Jude Holt. Professional Impossibility. Now with 20% more existential dread.”
Nat straightened up, brushing nonexistent dust from his sleeves. “I hope you’re wrong.”
“About what? Being impossible?”
“That the bookchoseyou.”
“Yougave it to me.”
“Igaveyou a journal on basic weaving. The rest,” he pointed at the added writing and glowing designs scrawled across thepage, “should be unfathomable to you.” His gaze cut to the book in my hands. “And you know so little. Can you put it away?”
Put it away.
The thought sent a jolt of irrational panic through me. Would it vanish if I let go? Would I fade? My fingers tightened on the cover before I could stop them. Carefully, I tried to set it on the table beside Nat’s stack. My hand hovered, then withdrew. The book stayed put, but my skin felt cold where it had been. Empty.
“Uh…” I managed, staring at the book as if were part of me.
Nat’s sigh was long-suffering. “I don’t mean away from you. Did you learn anything from the manifestation book? You’ll need a pocket realm to store it. Damn thing is like a leech once it’s attached.” He shook his head. “Focus your intent. You don’t have a pocket. You’re a ghost, nothing more than a handful of frayed threads left to float in the universe unguided.”
“Rude.”
He glowered. “But one hundred percent true.”
“I thought we were friends,” I grumbled, already trying to picture a pocket like the one in my favorite jeans. I focused, but nothing happened. The book just sat there, warm and present. “Maybe I don’t have enough threads left to make one.”
“You have a bond to the book; that is a thread, and the only one you need. Can you visualize your connection?”
I closed my eyes and stopped trying to make something.
It was there instantly, a thin, shimmering strand connecting me to the book. It glowed with black swirls of nebulous purple and blue, like a captured piece of galaxy.
“Good,” Nat murmured. “Now imagine tucking its thread into a fold between the rest of yours.”
I focused, picturing the shimmering strand not as a separate line, but as part of my own weave. Gently, I imagined it shortening, coiling inward, drawing the book with it into a quiet,protected space within myself. A warmth settled inside my chest, quiet and humming. Invisible, but I could still feel it.
Nat gave a single, slow nod. “Adequate. Now bring it back.”
I reached out with that same intent. The book reappeared in my grasp, warm and solid.
“Good,” he said, and for the first time, it almost sounded like praise.
“I didn’t know ghosts could have pockets or store books.” I stared at the dark, hidden space where the book hid within a fold in reality only I could feel. It made me wonder if this was how Nox carried his strange collection of titles. A pocket between worlds. Maybe I could use it for more than forbidden texts. Once I got back to the living world, a secret stash for snacks sounded like a pretty solid perk.
IfI got back.
“You’re not a ghost,” Nat added, then immediately waved off my next question. “I don’t know what you are, but a ghost isn’t on that list.” Nat turned toward the door. “I’ll see if I can find any more engaging texts.”
