Page 81 of Haunting the Deep

“I think it is possible.”

I pull my legs up and wrap my arms around them.

“There is also the drowned man you saw in the restaurant to consider,” Elijah says. “And the Collector Redd warned you about.”

“Man, you really listen to everything the girls and I say, don’t you?”

Elijah hesitates. “When something is important, I give it my full attention.”

I can’t help but think about what Mrs. Brown said about love and time. I swallow. “What about my history teacher, Mr. Wardwell? Did you find any information that might tell us more about him?”

“He has an inexhaustible amount of historical research. His house looks more like a reference room than a home. It will take me some time to go through it all.”

“From being a museum director?”

“Yes, certainly. But also from his decade of teaching history and his lifetime of interest in it. I have not found any spell-related items, though.”

“What about Mollie Mullin or Ada Mullin? Have you seen anything about them?”

“Not as of yet. I will continue looking.” Only, he doesn’t blink out like he usually does when our practical conversations are over. He just stands there.

I look up at him, and for a split second I see the old Elijah, the one I used to tell everything to. “My dad wants to move back to New York.”

“Move?” He shakes his head. “I just cannot imagine it. You belong here.”

My breath catches in my throat. I nod.I do belong here.“This is the first place I’ve ever felt like myself. And I’m scared that if we go back to New York, I’ll lose something, you know? That I won’t be me anymore. Have you ever felt that way?”

For a fraction of a second he looks so sad. “Yes.”

“With Abigail?”

“And with my parents when they were alive.”

I know I should stop the conversation, go back to discussing Ismay or Wardwell. That after everything that’s happened between us, getting attached to Elijah again is a terrible idea. But right now I don’t care. “Were you close to your parents?”

“Very.” He looks out the window. “My mother was someone who embodied joy so absolutely that she made everyone around her brighter. We always told her that if she did not have a body, she would burst into the sky like the sun and light the world.”

“And your dad?”

“Serious. Quiet. I have often thought my mother was the only person who could make him laugh. Abigail and I used to try, and he loved us, but his face was never as it was when he was watching my mother.”

I wait for him to continue, but he stays silent.

“I must go now,” he says. “But I will return before you sleep.” And he blinks out.

I close my eyes and hug my knees.Just tonight. This is a one-time deal. No more personal conversations. It will only make things harder.

Isip my coffee and take a small bite of pancake topped with glazed walnuts and whipped cream. My eyes are on my plate. I can’t even look at my dad or Jaxon. Mrs. Meriwether tries to start a few conversations, but they mostly consist of polite answers and some mumbling before they peter out. Another minute of silence goes by.

Mrs. Meriwether dabs the corners of her mouth with her napkin. “Okay. Enough. This sulking has to stop. It’s Monday, and you’re eating hand-whipped cream sprinkled with freshly ground vanilla and cinnamon. I simply will not haveit.”

The three of us look at her, but no one says a word.

She scans our faces.

“I have to go. I have to pick up Niki—” Jaxon says.

“Well, it will have to wait a minute.” Mrs. Meriwether’s voice is stern. “We are practically family, the group of us. And there is clearly something going on, and I want to know what.”