"My ghost's name is Emily."
What. In. The. Actual. Hell.
"She's technically my cousin. She died in eighteen ninety. I was hearing a voice in my head during the months leading up to my premonition coming true."
My heart starts to pound in my chest. I reach for my pulse point and start counting the beats in my head.
"She was warning me. Urging me to find a way to break the curse. She wanted to help me, but I didn't want to listen to her. I fought her intrusive thoughts, dismissing them as just my subconscious reacting to the stress of the dreams."
My breath leaves me. My heart pounds even harder. I'm having trouble comprehending what she's trying to tell me. "And she was real? I mean, areal ghost?"
"Very. Without her interference and guidance, I wouldn't be here today."
Luka wraps one arm around her and pulls her into his side. Our food is long forgotten.
"Do you think this ghost is trying to warn Millie?" Rowan asks. His question is surreal in the most daunting way.
It isn't possible, is it?
I think back to that day that I heard her. So positive that someone had to be standing in my room calling my name, the chill that accompanied the voice. The feeling of knowing that voice, though I've never heard it once in my life.
It can't be possible.
"Have you ever heard of cellular—"
"Memory," I finish for her. "I have actually. I was doing some research the other night and came across it. It seems like a reasonable explanation for at least some of what I'm experiencing."
Lily is nodding her head and then she seems to go deep in thought. Her eyebrows pinch together in concentration.
"What's cellular memory?" Rowan asks.
I tear my eyes away from her and focus on Rowan. "When you have a transplant, it can be any organ, and you start to take on traits of your donor."
"For example, you hated apples before but suddenly you have an affinity for the fruit. A fruit your donor loved," Lily answers.
"Is it just taste and stuff like that?" Luka asks.
I shrug my shoulders because I don't know how far the cellular memory theory extends.
"There has been some research that suggests it can be far more in-depth than that. I read a paper once that suggested it could affect your choice in partners, mood swings, all the way to complete personality changes, not just cravings."
"Seriously?" Rowan asks, his jaw popping with distress and surprise.
"Yes, but that was just one paper. There aren't enough studies on how much cellular memory can affect, but I believe it's entirely possible."
I'm already shaking my head. "You're saying I could have a personality change?To what?"
"Something more in line with your donor. Like if they were prone to adrenaline seeking, you could find yourself more drawn to dangerous activities. Or if you were more of an introvert but your donor was an extrovert, you could find yourself seeking more connections with people outside of your circle. Things like that."
I try to think through everything that I've done and how I've felt after my surgery, and I've never felt like I was doing something that didn't feel like me. The only time I have that feeling is in my dreams and that one time in the ice cream shop when I was so drawn to a certain flavor. I would hardly call either of those personality changes. "I don't think that's me."
"I'm not saying it is. I'm saying that it opens up a world of possibilities for what you are experiencing though."
Rowan groans and leans forward. His posture shows just how tense he is. Now it's my turn to rub soothing circles on top of his hand. "Then what does it mean?" I ask.
"I don't know," Lily answers.
"If you had to guess, Lily." Rowan pushes her for an answer, his tone a little too harsh which agitates Luka.
