anymore.
“My name is Ethan Lance,” he said. “And I know I’m a ghost right now, but I didn’t die. I was shoved out of my body, and someone else took over!”
“What?” I said again. Maybe he was a dead mental patient?
“My body is alive,” he said, his blue eyes fixed on me as though he was willing me to believe him. “I’m just not the one walking around in it.”
Chapter Five
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Of all the tales I’d heard from ghosts I’d tracked over the years about why I shouldn’t rein them in, this one took the cake. Had to give Ethan points for extreme originality.
Then again, he had resisted the absorption runes, and unless something was suddenly wrong with the stones, then something was wrong with the ghost. So the least I could do was hear him out, then decide what the hell I should do with him.
Ethan took a deep breath, though being that he was a ghost, it was more like a leftover human gesture than his actually needing a calming breath. I frowned when I noticed something about him. “You’re touching the ground,” I said. “And you’re not that cold. Nor is your glow extremely bright.” Three things ghosts weren’t capable of unless they were wearing rune stones or a necromancer was channeling energy into them. Ethan’s aura felt cool, but nowhere near as cold as ghosts were supposed to feel. Still, when I touched him without channeling energy into him, my hand went though. So he was a ghost…but he wasn’t behaving entirely like a ghost.
“Does this mean you’ll listen to me?” Ethan asked hopefully.
I nodded, too shocked to speak. What the hell was going on here?
“A few days ago, I was walking home from a friend’s house,” he started. “It was pretty late and there wasn’t anyone else around. I had my headphones on, so I didn’t hear whoever it was come up behind me, but the last thing I remember happening while I was in my physical body was this burning hot pain go through me. After that, everything went dark, and when I came to, I was lying on the sidewalk.
“At first I thought I was attacked, but when a woman walking her dog came down the block and walked through me, I knew something was wrong. I thought I’d been killed, but I didn’t see my body anywhere, nor did I see any blood. I didn’t know what to do, so I just went home and freaked out all night, but the next day I saw…I saw my body come back and come into my house. He had my wallet and keys on him, of course, and he took a bunch of my clothes and left. I tried to confront whoever it was, but he couldn’t see me. I followed him, but I lost his trail when he went into the subway.”
“Wow,” I said. “That…that’s a lot to take in.”
“You don’t believe me,” he said despondently. “I can see it on your face.”
“It’s not that,” I said. “I mean, something is definitely going on. I can’t use my rune stones to absorb you, and the characteristics that go along with being a ghost are a little off in you.”
“I’m telling the truth,” he said. “I came here because I thought I could find a necromancer who could help me, but then you started chasing me, and I panicked because I thought you were going to blast me away.”
“Necromancers aren’t really in the business of blasting away ghosts,” I said. “Unless they become a beastie or we really can’t help them. But Ethan, if what you’re telling me is true, then I think we have a serious issue on our hands. I’ve never heard of a living person having their soul shoved out so someone could take over. It sounds like…” I frowned as I tried to think this through, becoming alarmed when I realized where my thoughts were leading me.
“Sounds like what?” Ethan prompted, sounding both afraid and hopeful.
“Reanimation,” I said. “Sort of.”
Ethan’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard about that.”
“Yeah, reanimators have the power to take a living soul and put it into a
“My name is Ethan Lance,” he said. “And I know I’m a ghost right now, but I didn’t die. I was shoved out of my body, and someone else took over!”
“What?” I said again. Maybe he was a dead mental patient?
“My body is alive,” he said, his blue eyes fixed on me as though he was willing me to believe him. “I’m just not the one walking around in it.”
Chapter Five
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Of all the tales I’d heard from ghosts I’d tracked over the years about why I shouldn’t rein them in, this one took the cake. Had to give Ethan points for extreme originality.
Then again, he had resisted the absorption runes, and unless something was suddenly wrong with the stones, then something was wrong with the ghost. So the least I could do was hear him out, then decide what the hell I should do with him.
Ethan took a deep breath, though being that he was a ghost, it was more like a leftover human gesture than his actually needing a calming breath. I frowned when I noticed something about him. “You’re touching the ground,” I said. “And you’re not that cold. Nor is your glow extremely bright.” Three things ghosts weren’t capable of unless they were wearing rune stones or a necromancer was channeling energy into them. Ethan’s aura felt cool, but nowhere near as cold as ghosts were supposed to feel. Still, when I touched him without channeling energy into him, my hand went though. So he was a ghost…but he wasn’t behaving entirely like a ghost.
“Does this mean you’ll listen to me?” Ethan asked hopefully.
I nodded, too shocked to speak. What the hell was going on here?
“A few days ago, I was walking home from a friend’s house,” he started. “It was pretty late and there wasn’t anyone else around. I had my headphones on, so I didn’t hear whoever it was come up behind me, but the last thing I remember happening while I was in my physical body was this burning hot pain go through me. After that, everything went dark, and when I came to, I was lying on the sidewalk.
“At first I thought I was attacked, but when a woman walking her dog came down the block and walked through me, I knew something was wrong. I thought I’d been killed, but I didn’t see my body anywhere, nor did I see any blood. I didn’t know what to do, so I just went home and freaked out all night, but the next day I saw…I saw my body come back and come into my house. He had my wallet and keys on him, of course, and he took a bunch of my clothes and left. I tried to confront whoever it was, but he couldn’t see me. I followed him, but I lost his trail when he went into the subway.”
“Wow,” I said. “That…that’s a lot to take in.”
“You don’t believe me,” he said despondently. “I can see it on your face.”
“It’s not that,” I said. “I mean, something is definitely going on. I can’t use my rune stones to absorb you, and the characteristics that go along with being a ghost are a little off in you.”
“I’m telling the truth,” he said. “I came here because I thought I could find a necromancer who could help me, but then you started chasing me, and I panicked because I thought you were going to blast me away.”
“Necromancers aren’t really in the business of blasting away ghosts,” I said. “Unless they become a beastie or we really can’t help them. But Ethan, if what you’re telling me is true, then I think we have a serious issue on our hands. I’ve never heard of a living person having their soul shoved out so someone could take over. It sounds like…” I frowned as I tried to think this through, becoming alarmed when I realized where my thoughts were leading me.
“Sounds like what?” Ethan prompted, sounding both afraid and hopeful.
“Reanimation,” I said. “Sort of.”
Ethan’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard about that.”
“Yeah, reanimators have the power to take a living soul and put it into a
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