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I make a mental note, as Kyrin continues to give me factoids about the house and how it runs, to find time to speak to Sophie alone and gather more information on the house and Lucien.

I know curiosity killed the cat and all that, but I can’t help it.

11

WRAITH

SERAPHINE

Days have passed in a blur, and snow is on the horizon. I don't want to be snowed in at Ironwood Estate, but I don't know that I have a choice.

Aria told me the winters here are brutal, and with no city smog and heat to melt the frozen wasteland, I can only imagine.

My nightmares seem to have gotten worse here, and that's only when I sleep. Things in the night have gotten worse, and I overheard Sophie muttering this morning about ghosts hating winter.

I haven't found the right moment to approach her yet, but since Kyrin is busy today and my workload is finally becoming manageable, I'm hoping to ask her about the supposed ghosts.

I haven't expressly seen anything, but there's this overwhelming feeling that you're being watched everywhere you go, and then at night...

I swallow some much-needed coffee as I stare at the wall of remaining boxes.

"It's like the boxes that never end," a voice says from behind me, and I startle.

I thought I felt a presence at my back, but, becoming accustomed to feeling stalked, I ignored it.

When I turn, I find Elias standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame like he's one of the spirits who haunt here.

"I think this is the last of them," I tell him. "I'm just trying to gain the nerve to dive in. I'm not feeling it today."

"Late night?" he asks, and I note a tone of intrigue, almost like he's wondering not if I had a long night, but if Kyrin was here with me.

"Yeah, you could say that."

Over the last few days, I’ve learned that Kyrin doesn't like me talking about the house’s moans and groans, which makes me feel even more alone in my nightly torment.

"What do you mean?" He steps in, taking in my disheveled state with a quick glance.

"Nothing." I drop my chin, my gaze landing on his haphazardly untied boots. I can't deny how I felt toward him in that bathroom, nor how his bad-boy look calls to me.

Over the last few days, however, I have felt closer and closer to Kyrin, even though we haven’t shared anything beyond the kiss in this very office.

Elias steps close, tipping my chin back before taking my coffee and setting it down on the desk beside us. "What's wrong? You can talk to me."

I find that odd, since I’ve only met him once, and we don’t know each other beyond the way he interrogated me in that restaurant bathroom.

"Is it Lucien? Because he can really be a fucking pain sometimes, but if you tell Kyrin..."

I scoff. “No! It's not Lucien. For the love of God, I'm not even convinced the man exists at this point."

"Okay… then what is it?"

I look at him, honestly look at him, and try to gauge if he's going to call me a lunatic when I admit to him that I think this place is haunted.

Remembering all the excuses Kyrin gave me, and how he wrote me off, I think better of it and sigh. "I'm just not sleeping well."

Elias narrows his eyes as if he doesn't believe me, but thankfully says nothing. "When's the last time you got away from the estate?"

"I haven't left since I arrived, the day we had lunch."