I paused at the top of the stairs, and movement to my right tugged me in that direction. A swoop of long silk sleeves, bare feet, and a long skirt that swirled. My heart picked up as I chased the image of Gran into her bedroom.

She spun and smiled at me. “Took you enough time.” Her long gray hair was loose, wildly messy as it hung in waves to the middle of her back, and eyes the same light green as my own blinked back at me. That was the only part of her I’d inherited, despite what Crash had said.

“Are you really here?”

“Can you see me?”

“Yes, but I can also currently see a skeleton named Robert from time to time. I just figured it’s because I’m so close to dying, advanced in years as I am,” I drawled.

She snorted and waved a hand at me. “You’re saying that because of the death card? It’s always been attracted to you, since the first time you had your cards read.” She sighed and beckoned me to come farther into the room. “Nothing is what it seems here. There are dangers at play that you can’t possibly understand, and that I’m not able to speak of. They slip in and out of my memories like fireflies.”

“Of course not, that would be totally logical and helpful.” I couldn’t help the bite of sarcasm. “Don’t worry, if some crazy maniac comes after me, I’ll be sure to lock myself in a basement where he’ll never find me. You know, like all the smart girls do in the horror flicks.”

Her glare was sharp. “Don’t sass me. I might be dead, but I can still put you in your place.”

I laughed at her. “Pardon me if I’m not terrified of my ghostly gran. I’ll be with you soon enough—you can smack me around then.”

A frown flashed across her face, there and then gone. “What in God’s name is that supposed to mean? I’ve read your lines; you’ll be long-lived, just like me.”

I didn’t want to dissuade her of the idea. Funny how this felt more normal to me than my life had been back in Seattle. Like that had been the dream for nearly twenty years, a fantasy that wasn’t real.

But here, talking to a ghost in what was now one of many haunted old houses in Savannah, accompanied by a guy named Crash, who I was pretty sure was some sort of critter . . . that felt normal. I sighed. “Gran, Himself is selling the house. If it’s the last thing I do, I don’t want it to end up in the wrong hands.”

She put her hands on her hips. “I would hope not. I left things for you here, but you have to live here to get them.”