When she was finally within reach, he grabbed her from behind and encircled her body, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing her back securely to his chest. He tried to inhale her, pull her inside him where she’d be safe. Protected. Warm.
She didn’t struggle, just sagged against him.
“Why did you run from me?” he asked.
“I wasn’t running from you,” she said. “After the chandelier fell, I saw someone—someone who wasn’t you—standing there looking at me.”
“Thomas,” Jace guessed.
“You don’t sound surprised,” she said. “Why don’t you sound surprised?”
“I don’t think it’s Thomas you need to worry about.” He was pretty sure it was Katherine slamming doors and ripping light fixtures from ceilings.
“He scared the shit out of me. Do you know what’s going on? Am I losing my mind?”
“If you are, we both are,” he said, pressing his forehead to her shoulder. “Aggie, I think I’m being haunted.”
“Well, that makes two of us,” Aggie said. “Any idea what we should do about it?”
“Not a clue.”
Chapter Ten
Aggie rubbed the stiffness from her icy fingertips. She’d almost shit a brick when she’d seen some stranger standing in Jace’s place on the dance floor. Almost being beaned on the head with a chandelier had been nothing compared to that.
“Do you think we should leave?” she asked. She hated to cancel their wedding, but this was some freaky shit they were dealing with, and she was not keen on being the mark of some crazy, dead Queen of England.
Jace sighed and his arms tightened around her. He felt so good behind her. So solid and real and… and un-ghost-like. She shuddered at the thought of what she’d seen back in the castle.
“Maybe we need to help them reconcile. That should make them leave us alone. I think I’m the one who brought Thomas here from the Tower of London, and she’s been here waiting for him all this time.”
Aggie shook her head, glad her senses were returning. She’d completely freaked out in the ballroom, but now she was half-convinced that she hadn’t actually seen Thomas Seymour’s likeness. It made a heck of a lot more sense to think she’d just imagined it.
But Jace was talking about both of them—two ghosts—as if they were real.
“Okay, this is just too bizarre,” she said. “I don’t believe in this kind of thing at all.”
“Me neither, but it’s kind of hard to deny it’s happening when you’re living it.”
She begged to differ. “I am perfectly capable of remaining in denial, thank you very much.”
“Have you heard the voices too?” He squeezed her as if trying to force agreement from her lips.
“No, I just see things. You can hear them?”
“Unfortunately. I hear him a lot. I even hear her. And I see her sometimes. In you. I thought I was losing my mind.”
Aggie shuddered. “Maybe you are.”
“Maybe.”
“Then I am too.” Aggie turned in Jace's arms and clung to him. “I don't have much experience with this kind of thing."
He snorted through a small laugh and nuzzled her neck. “Does anyone?”
“Maybe the guy from Crossing Over.”
“I always thought that was fake.”
“Me too.”
“I don't think these two intend any harm,” he said, pulling her tighter. “Or I didn't until that chandelier came crashing down. It could have killed you.”
“I'm okay,” she assured him. “Not something I'd like to repeat, however. Maybe we should let them talk this out.”
“And how do we do that?”
She shrugged. “No idea. Like I said, I don't have much experience with this kind of thing.”
“Where's a good ghost whisperer when you need one? Or maybe an exorcist is better qualified for the job.”
She chuckled and pulled away so she could turn to stare into his eyes in the dim light of the lanterns that lit the garden. The snow had changed over to a dreary drizzle, and she began to feel the cold seeping into her skin. Before, she'd been too freaked out and juiced up on adrenaline to notice the temperature. She snuggled close to Jace again, telling herself she just wanted to be next to him for warmth, not because she was afraid of things she didn’t believe existed and because Jace made her feel safe.
He seemed to be more sensitive to this bizarreness than she was, so she asked, “When did you first hear the voices?”
It was infinitely easier to talk about it if it was his problem, not hers.
“When we stepped out of the car five months ago.”
She stiffened. “You heard them the first time we visited? Is that why you were acting so strange that day?”
“Yeah.”
“And you agreed to come back to this place? I'd have run for the hills.”
“I felt drawn to this place. I still do.”
“So have you been possessed by the spirit of Thomas Seymour your entire life?”
Aggie felt the lift of Jace's shoulders as he shrugged. “Never met him before that last visit. I think he's using me as some sort of guide. He can't find this place unless I'm here.”
“But why you?”
“Hell if I know. It isn't as if he tells me his plans or how these things work.”
“And you see her too?”
“Sometimes,” he said, “when I look at you. And I'll be honest, it freaks me the fuck out.”
“I still think maybe we should just leave. It isn't as if Thomas bothers you when we aren't here, and our chandeliers at home are brand new.”
“You don't think we should try to help them? They want to be together, but they suck at communication.”
Aggie laughed and gave Jace a squeeze. “We used to struggle with that.”
“Are you guys out here?” Eric yelled from the steps of a side entrance.
“Yeah,” Jace called.
“Is she still breathing? We banished the evil chandelier from the dance floor. You can come back now.”
“We’re sort of busy at that moment,” Jace returned.
“Are you two having sex out there?” he asked. “Can I watch? It's been a while since I’ve watched anyone but myself and Reb.”
“No and no,” Aggie yelled.
“Dammit,” he muttered before turning away. “You should come back inside soon. It's cold.”
Aggie covered Jace's chilled ears with her hands. “I hardly noticed,” she whispered. “I'm kind of afraid to go back to the ball. People must think I’m crazy for running out like that.”
“I’m sure they just think you were rattled from a chandelier attempting to kill you.”
“We
ll, I guess that’s better than what really has me rattled,” she said.
“Let’s walk the gardens for a bit. I’m not ready to face the crowd or the questions.”
He was staring at her with a rare intensity. If she wasn’t mistaken, his eyes were misty.
“What’s wrong, baby?” she asked.
“When that chandelier came crashing down, I thought…” He swallowed. “I thought I might lose you.”
“The night before our wedding?” Aggie said. “You should be so lucky.”
Aggie moved away from Jace and took his hand. She could definitely feel the cold now that he wasn't pressed firmly against her. She couldn’t believe he’d been suffering with this in silence. Actually, she could believe it. And she suddenly felt like a complete jerk for intentionally messing with him earlier.
“Jace, I have a confession. And an apology.” She squeezed his fingers. “I’m sorry I tried to scare you. If I’d known that you really were hearing things and seeing ghosts, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“Scare me? When did you scare me?” he asked.
“I wrote that message on the mirror. A kind of Halloween practical joke. I figured we’d get a good laugh out of it tomorrow, but I don’t think it’s funny anymore.”
Jace kissed her soundly on the lips. “Thank God it was you. I was starting to think these ghosts could do real damage. Maybe that chandelier falling right after I said I didn’t love Katherine was just a coincidence.”
“Maybe,” she said, but she kind of doubted it.
“But we need to make sure,” he said, drawing her to a halt at the steps of the chapel.
“Why are we here?”
“We’re going inside. To visit Katherine’s tomb.”
Aggie stopped in midstride. “Oh no, we’re not,” she said, shaking her head vehemently. “I’m not going in there on Halloween night.”
“Why not? You don’t believe there are really ghosts in there, do you?”
“Maybe. I’d love to say we could explain all this away, but if they’re talking to you and you’re seeing things…” She patted his shoulder. “Let me put it this way, I’d rather believe in ghosts than believe you’re crazy.”
“Good. Because I need to deal with this, this haunting or whatever it is,” he said. “Now that you know what’s been happening to me and you haven’t called the loony wagon yet, I feel like I can face the problem head on. I want to face it. With you. Does that make sense?”