Elodie shrugged. “That’s what happens when you don’t come home for over a year.”
She wasn’t wrong. I’d stayed gone on purpose, because it was easier to play the part of “city success story” from a distance than let anyone see the cracks up close.
Still, her words stung and my back went straight. “Damn, El. Back off a little.”
Kit looped her arm in mine, trying to keep the peace. “So muchhas happened. While Elodie was building this place, they found an old trunk with letters from the Lady. You know how the legend said she was haunting the town because she was waiting for her shipwrecked lost love?”
I nodded. Growing up, everyone knew about the Lady. Her story was a tragedy of lost love, and if you lived here long enough, you’d see her ghost with your own eyes. As kids, we used to dare each other to go out to the dunes at night and call for her, half hoping she’d appear, half terrified she actually would. The Lady had always been safely contained to spooky stories and barroom decorations. The idea of her being real—of her writing letters—made the hair on my arms stand up.
Kit shook her head. “She wasn’t waiting for a sailor. Everything we know about the Lady is a lie. Her letters revealed that she was afraid.Hiding. Then Selene found a photograph of her, and someone had scratchedX’s over her eyes.”
Our oldest sister, Selene, worked as an archivist and probably came across the photograph in her work. A chill ran up my spine. “That’s unsettling.”
There was something so violent about it—taking the time to scratch out someone’s eyes. Like whoever did it wanted to erase her but couldn’t quite manage it.
Kit moved in closer, as though she didn’t want anyone—especially a ghost—to overhear. “The weirdest part ... there was a man in the corner of the photograph, and I swear to you, he looksexactlylike Hayes.”
I reared back in disbelief. “What?”
Elodie and Kit nodded in unison. “Fucking weird, right?” Kit asked.
I don’t know why, but my throat went dry and I tried to swallow. Everyone in Star Harbor knew of my brother’s curse. I’d never wanted to believe it, but it was hard to deny that the man had the worst luck of anyone I’d ever met. The fact that there was some old-ass photograph with his face on it made the entire situation extra creepy.
And intriguing.
A tiny, reckless part of me wondered whether maybe the Darling family hadn’t been telling itself ghost stories all these years, but warnings.
“Fine.” I blew out a breath. “I’ll go toonemeeting, but if it’s boring, you’re buying drinks after.”
Kit’s grin bloomed. “Deal.”
