Chapter 4
Dan didn’t breathe.
He didn’t need to—but the reflex still existed, a leftover habit from being human. He gasped anyway, hands shaking, staring at the space where Colette’s hand had passed through him like fog.
“A ghost,” he whispered. “You’re a ghost.”
Colette looked down at herself, translucent now, edges blurring like bad reception.
“I didn’t want you to find out like that,” she said. “Especially not like that.”
Dan backed into a library table, knocking over a chair. No one else noticed. Students kept studying, laughing, living.
“I almost—” His voice broke. “I almost killed you.”
“You couldn’t,” she said softly. “That’s the problem.”
“The problem?” His laugh came out sharp, hysterical. “You’re dead.”
She flinched. “I know.”
Silence swallowed them.
Then Dan did the stupidest thing possible.
“When?” he asked.
Colette hesitated. “Junior year. Car accident. Hit-and-run.”
Dan’s stomach dropped.
“That night,” she continued, “you skipped study group to go to a party.”
Guilt punched him in the chest.
“I stayed because you asked me to help you prep for finals,” she said. “I was walking home.”
Dan slid down to the floor.
“I didn’t even know,” he whispered.
“You weren’t supposed to,” Colette said. “Ghosts aren’t meant to interfere.”
“Then why are you here?” he demanded.
She looked at him, eyes glowing faintly blue.
“Because of you.”
Ashley found him on the roof after sunset.
Dan sat with his knees pulled to his chest, staring at the city lights like they could explain anything.
“Rough day?” Ashley asked casually, hopping the fence.
“Don’t,” Dan snapped.
She raised her hands. “Okay. Fine. I deserved that.”
She sat beside him anyway.
“You kissed her,” Ashley said. “Didn’t you?”
Dan glared. “How do you—”
“Ghosts ripple the air,” Ashley shrugged. “It’s annoying.”
He turned to her. “You knew.”
Ashley’s jaw tightened. “I suspected.”
“You let me fall for a ghost?”
“I didn’t let you,” she snapped. “You’re not exactly subtle with the whole longing stares thing.”
Dan scrubbed his face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because ghosts are dangerous,” Ashley said quietly. “Especially ones that don’t know they’re dead.”
That made him pause.
“What does that mean?”
Ashley stood, wind tugging at her fur coat. “It means she’s tethered to something.”
“To me?” Dan asked.
Ashley didn’t answer.
Instead, she pulled her sleeve back.
Her wrist was scarred. Burned. Old.
“This,” she said, “is why I wear fur.”
Dan frowned. “Fashion crime?”
“Protection,” she said flatly. “Silver-lined traps. Witch blades. Ghost bindings.”
Dan stared. “Why would you need—”
Ashley’s eyes flicked to the shadows behind the bleachers.
“Because your family isn’t the only monster in this town.”
The air shifted.
Someone was watching them.
Dan’s training intensified.
His uncle Victor stopped pretending he had a choice.
“You hesitate,” Victor snarled as Dan slammed into the dirt for the third time. “Hesitation gets families killed.”
“I’m not a weapon,” Dan shot back.
Victor grabbed him by the throat and lifted him effortlessly.
“You are exactly that.”
Dan’s eyes burned red.
Something in him snapped.
He threw Victor off him—hard. Cracked stone. Shocked silence.
Mark stared. “Dan—”
Victor rose slowly, smiling.
“There it is,” he said. “Power.”
Dan backed away, horrified. “I didn’t mean—”
“You did,” Victor said. “And you liked it.”
Dan ran.
Straight into Colette.
She hovered near the treeline, glowing faintly, fear written all over her face.
“They’re coming,” she said urgently.
“Who?” Dan asked.
She shook her head. “I can’t see them clearly. Something’s blocking me.”
The woods went quiet.
Too quiet.
Then the ground split.
Figures rose from the earth—pale, armored, eyes burning gold.
Ashley appeared beside Dan instantly, blades in hand.
“Rival house,” she hissed. “The Ashen Court.”
Dan’s family emerged from the trees, fangs bared.
Victor smiled like he’d been waiting for this.
“Protect Colette,” Ashley said under her breath.
“How?” Dan shouted.
“Figure it out!”
The fighting exploded.
Fire. Blood. Screams.
Dan moved on instinct—faster, stronger than ever. He tackled one vampire mid-air, snapping its neck.
Another lunged—
And froze.
A blue glow wrapped around it.
Colette stood there, hands raised, eyes blazing.
“I said,” she whispered, voice echoing unnaturally, “stay away from him.”
The vampire shattered into ash.
Everyone stopped.
Victor stared at Colette, stunned.
“A revenant,” he breathed. “Impossible.”
Colette turned to Dan, terrified.
“I didn’t know I could do that.”
Ashley swore. “That’s bad.”
“How bad?” Dan demanded.
Ashley’s face was pale.
“It means they’ll never stop hunting her.”
The ground shook again.
A deeper presence pushed into the clearing.
Something ancient.
Something smiling.
A voice echoed through the woods.
“Bring me the ghost,” it purred, “and I’ll spare the boy.”
Dan stepped in front of Colette without thinking.
“Over my dead body,” he snarled.
The voice laughed.
“Oh, Daniel,” it said. “That can be arranged.”
