Arm around her shoulder, Culver guided Daelin home. “It’s afraid of you now. You needn’t worry. You’re safe.” The rhythm of his words had a soothing quality.
His oddness made more sense now. The oddness of the whole town did if they spent most nights battling ghosts that collected heads. Daelin didn’t pull away from him. “I don’t understand any of it, other than Earl Blacke didn’t murder Susan and Greg.” She wrapped her coat tighter.
He squeezed her arm. “I’d like to explain, but to defeat the phantom we need you as you are.”
“Stupid and ignorant?”
Not a hint of mocking stained his features. “Innocent is a better word.”
“OK.” What choice did Daelin have but to accept his lack of an explanation as an explanation. This town had no patch of sanity. What had Charming put her in the middle of? “Ghosts shouldn’t be real. More to the point, Haw Shot isn’t just any ghost.”
“Hmm.” Culver said nothing more, picking up her hand, leading her down Settler’s quiet streets. No trace of the battle with a phantom sullied them. She and Culver walked slowly, she chewing her lower lip.
Climbing up the knoll at the end of Madeline Street proved daunting after a beating. At the top of it, Culver swung her around, pointing at the tiny downtown, singling out an old house, the historical marker of Settler’s founding. “We celebrate Patrick this weekend. His arrival in this region changed everything. You heard of his bizarre home? Have you seen the inside of it?”
A lone light illuminated its weathered clapboards. “No. Somebody mentioned the nutty ancestor thing. Wald, I think.”
“The house in 1872 was like any other house. Summers were normal too. Until 1888. Everything changed that year. Now things happen here every summer that bend one’s reason.”
Like ghosts murdering folks and stealing their heads. Daelin crossed her arms, peering into his face. He remained completely serious. “Most of the town behaves as if they don’t notice. Why aren’t they out here wondering what’s going on?”
“It’s part of life here. Most people have lived here all their lives.” He shrugged. “This is a normal summer night.”
Normal had the most bizarre definition in Settler. “Charming knows better. So do Earl and I.”
The shadow of a smile played across Culver’s mouth. “Charming is one of us, like me, a protector. You saw us all battling Hawley. Earl is Earl. I greeted him when he first came through the gate.” He said it so matter-of-factly.
Of course her sister battled ghosts. And where had Earl come from? “He’s not from here?”
“I’ve said too much. Let’s get you home.” He guided her onto Charming’s porch.
He couldn’t stop talking now. She needed more.“So how many of you are there? People who defend against ghosts?”
He studied the pavement under his feet, sliding his hands into his pockets, hiding the strange watch he wore on his wrist and the odd tattoo around it. “You’ll have all the answers shortly, I promise. But not yet. Can you sleep? I could stay if you need company.” His dark gaze sparkled earnestly under the waning moonlight.
“If the phantom is scared of me, I’ll be fine. I need some time to think.” She needed to ditch him and talk to Earl.
“Of course.”
The strange items on Charming’s workbench in the garage made more sense and the item Earl had taken to Dante. Well, sort of. “My sister does what you do. Is that why she’s not here? She’s off battling monsters?”
The ground continued to fascinate Culver.“I really shouldn’t say—”
“Please. I need to know if she’s OK or not.”
He glanced in the direction of the obsidian pillars then met her gaze. “I don’t know, and I don’t know much. After Haw Shot is dealt with, I promise you’ll have your answers. Bargain?”
What? Daelin didn’t want to make deals, she wanted answers. Maybe she had been shot three weeks ago and lay in a coma in the hospital. That made more sense than scaring off a ghost who collected heads. “If you break your word to me, I’ll tear off your head.”
His lips curled into a sweet smile. “I’ll sit on your porch for awhile so you can feel safe.”
“No need. It’ll only keep me up worrying about you.” Daelin let herself into Charming’s cottage and shut the door, spying out the window to make sure Culver left.
Getting closer to finding out what had happened to her sister felt awful, yanking off a rotting head awful. Dirt and ick covered her hands. The rest of her couldn’t be any better. A quick spit bath and change of clothes was all she could manage. She didn’t want to leave Earl in the closet much longer.
She hadn’t expected his silly crystal bullet to lead to a fight with a phantom and the discovery the town had secrets deeper than the thoughts of a philosopher. “In all the dictionaries.”
hapter 