A Midwinter Fantasy - Leanna Renee Hieber [19]
“Oh, no, the spirits,” Michael murmured. He thought he had time, that the ghosts would come at night, that he might prepare her. “I should have warned you! Rebecca, can you hear me?”
On his feet, he reached out his hands but found nothing; no pews, no Rebecca, only darkness. He’d failed. His cowardice had doomed them both to what surely would be a harrowing, ghostly course. Would she be ready for it? Or would it at last break her?
What in the Whisper-world were they in for?
Chapter Five
Percy was startled by Billy bursting through the wall, his torn clothes flapping about him where he floated in the air of the Rychman estate parlour. “It’s begun, Miss Percy! They’re at the academy. Are you comin’ to be the guardian angel for the headmistress, then, like Miss Constance said?”
Percy rose to her feet. “Oh, yes, Billy, but I wasn’t expecting it so soon.”
The ghostly urchin shrugged. “It’s one.”
One in the afternoon. Perhaps it was a ghostly joke. This wasn’t Dickens’s story, this was their reality, so either way Percy could not expect it to play out in the grand tradition of famous literature.
“Do be careful, Percy. It’s a danger, bringin’ the Liminal threshold down on the living. Might trap us all if we’re not careful. We’ll need that light of yours to keep us from turnin’ Whisper forever . . .”
Percy nodded. The spirits had explained the Liminal to her, and she knew she could not control it like she did other portals to the Whisper-world. But she was undeterred, despite her aversion to the Whisper-world and its contents.
The bell of the grand clock down the hall tolled, and she rushed into her husband’s study. “Alexi, it has begun. I must go to Athens. What horse shall I take?”
He rose and closed the distance between them. “You think to go alone, that I’ll not be by your side? Danger may come in an instant. The headmistress is my friend, too, you know. My best friend. I wish to help. I’ll be on hand,” he declared in a tone that clearly brooked no argument.
“Darling,” Percy said in a soft murmur, her hands on his shoulders. “Don’t you see you may do more harm than good? All I ask is that you leave me to my task.”
Alexi’s stern brow furrowed in confusion.
Percy explained what she felt was obvious. “If the headmistress were to see you during this vulnerable time . . . well, it wouldn’t be without its complications, considering her feelings for you, it would likely set the task back. Come with me if you must, but please remain in your office. I’ll run to you the moment the spirits are done. Though I’ve every faith in the couple of the hour, it’s just best . . .” Her eyes glittered with sudden tears. “Oh, my dear, don’t you see? I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to fall out of love with you. Thank God I don’t have to,” she murmured, cupping his chin and kissing him.
Alexi’s cheeks coloured slightly, and Percy found it the greatest treasure in the world that she could make such a man blush. Fate be damned, true love was the only power she craved—and it was her own. She hoped the spirits would help grant it now to her friends.
“Come,” she said excitedly. “While I keep watch, you must send Withersby and Josephine to the property, and you must plant the letter—”
“It will all be done according to plan, my dear,” Alexi stated, and went out to ready the carriage.
Despite the delay in their trip, he seemed to have taken to the plan they’d discussed and to leading part of the charge. She didn’t doubt for a minute that he wished his friends the very best and would do whatever he could to assure it. Percy had not mentioned the specific dangers the spirits discussed, lest Alexi worry maddeningly over her in ways that would not be helpful. But where the Whisper-world was concerned, one could never be entirely sure.
She bit her lip. So much of her life had been throwing herself toward things she did not entirely understand or trust, events where she was fearfully