I shot him a look and then refocused on the unexpected visitor. I might be here to find the Harbinger, but helping ghosts and spirits was important to me. For many of them, I was their only chance to impart a message or to get aid in crossing over.

Out of everything I was capable of, helping the deceased move on or communicating a spirit’s message was the most amazing gift I had in my arsenal. At least, I thought so.

As I neared the island, the shape changed without warning. Clothing appeared. A black-and-white flannel shirt thrown over a T-shirt with words on it was suddenly filled out by a chest and arms. Features formed. A roundish, almost boyish face. Messy brown hair that looked slept on. Glasses perched on a straight nose. He was around my age, give or take a year or two.

And he was a spirit.

I knew this immediately, because his skin carried an ethereal glow that told me he’d seen the light and gone into it. But I’d never seen a spirit do what he had just done—change from a black, shadowy form into a full-bodied apparition.

“I don’t like him,” Peanut whispered. “I don’t want him here.”

The spirit focused on Peanut. “You’re not very friendly for a ghost.”

Peanut gasped. “I am not Casper, you insolent fool.”

“Funny you mention Casper,” the spirit replied, head tilted. “Did you know that when Casper was first created, he was a ghost of a little boy who died, but then the creators worried that a dead child was too dark, so they changed him to where he was always a ghost and gave him ghost parents, because in their minds, ghosts having ghost babies was less hard to explain?”

I blinked.

“What?” Peanut vocalized my confusion.

“Exactly.” The spirit nodded. “I mean, if you ask me, the idea that ghosts are born and capable of procreating is way more disturbing, but what do I know?”

Okay.

I had no idea what time it was, but I could safely say that it was way too late or too early for this nonsense. Holding up my hand, I waved the dagger. “Hi. How can I help you?”

The spirit’s eyes widened behind his glasses. “You can see me?”

“Dumb question,” Peanut muttered. “Because duh.”

If I could smack Peanut, I would have. “Uh. Yeah. I can see and hear you. Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“Holy crap,” the spirit whispered, and then flickered out.

My brows lifted as I lowered my dagger. The spirit didn’t blink back into existence.

Peanut drifted over to where the spirit had been standing. Hovering a few feet off the ground, he stared down. “He’s not hiding back here.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered.