Page 77 of The Ghost and the Graveyard (Knight Games 1)
"First you'd accept your power back from Rick and Prudence. Then you'd give me a name and command my soul in one direction or the other."
"I've already given you a name."
"It has to be my full name, and you have to accept the power first."
"Then how do I accept the power? How do I become the witch?" I asked.
My ghost looked at the floor. His body flickered between levels of transparency. He didn't answer me.
"What are you keeping from me, Logan?"
"I just don't think you should be forced into something you might not want to do."
I slapped my hand on the counter and asked again. "When you say I need to accept the power back from Rick and Prudence, what does that mean?"
Logan looked me in the eye. The thing about knowing a ghost is that you see straight through to their soul. Logan seemed to want nothing but the best for me.
"Please, Logan. Let it be my decision. Tell me."
"You have to have sex with the caretaker."
It took a moment for that to sink in. So that's why Logan had been so interested in my physical relationship with Rick; if I'd had sex with him, I might already be the witch. The thought of sex with the man who turned into that thing, that monster, made me nauseous. It must have shown on my face because Logan wrapped his hands around mine, a gesture that sent a soft vibration through my skin.
"You don't have to do it," he said again.
"Sex? That's the only way?"
"It's not just sex, Grateful. It's what the sex means. Because of what he is, he will take your blood. He will give you his. It's a lifetime commitment to this role, to this state of being."
I grimaced. "Blood? Why does he need my blood?"
"The caretaker is an immortal. He drinks blood, and drinking his blood will give you power."
"What, like a vampire?"
"No, vampires are from the underworld. They live on blood like leeches and are not nearly as powerful as a caretaker. Rick can feed on blood, or the undead, or sex. He will drink your blood to bind you to him, not for nourishment."
My body stiffened. I was chilled from the bones out. More than anything, I just wanted to go home, to my first, real home with my dad, where everything was safe and taken care of. I didn't want to be the Monk's Hill witch. I certainly didn't want to "do it" with a blood-sucking immortal who turned into a zombie-eating beast after dark. It was disgusting enough that I'd had oral sex with him.
I stared into my finished hot chocolate, but there were no answers at the bottom of the mug. "Is it true that I was married to Rick? In another life?"
"Yes. That is true. But you don't have to make the same commitment in this one. You don't have to make the same choices."
Logan's face was close enough to mine that his energy created a static charge that pulled me toward him. His expression was pure concern. Ghost or not, Logan was an honorable man.
I understood what he was saying. I even agreed to a certain extent. But I was a product of my upbringing, and I'd been taught not to shirk responsibility. I was in this mess because I'd decided not to file bankruptcy, to take full accountability for what happened with Gary. It wasn't in my nature to take the easy way out.
"Logan, what happens to you if you don't get sorted?"
He flickered in front of me but did not answer. The mug became much more interesting to him, and he refused to meet my eyes.
"Tell me."
"If I'm not sorted, I stay here forever. The longer I stay in this state, the more attached I become to this life. By the time a new witch comes, it may be too late."
"I'm so sorry, Logan. How horrible for you to be at the mercy of my choice."
"No, don't think that. I've enjoyed this time with you. It doesn't scare me anymore to think of spending more time here, especially if you are here."
