Three

My phone pinged with a message as I struggled to get the pain under control, and I barely needed to look to know who it was. Janis had been in constant contact with me the past few weeks. She was so connected to the paranormal realm it didn't surprise me she would know something was wrong. Before I could read the message my phone rang.

"Jordan, are you okay?"

"Yes, just a lot of pain today."

"Has something changed?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

"I don't think so. My father thinks we have time before the wraith tries to make a move to slip into this reality, but I'm not so sure." There was so much I wanted to say to her, and to Bran. But I knew it was better to hold back.

"Your pain has increased, and it doesn't seem like anything is helping now. Is there a spirit that's connected somehow?" Janis asked.

She always knew. There was no point in trying to hide anything from Janis because eventually she would find out. "I keep dreaming about Edith," I blurted out, and looked in the direction of the morgue door hoping Bran was still busy.

"The old woman that has something she needs to tell Bran?"

"Yes. She was always screaming at him, and because she'd never tried to talk to him, he thought she was senile. In my dreams, she says she has something she needs to tell him, but he won't let her."

"Do you know if he's blocked her?"

"He said he's blocked her out of the morgue because he can't work with her constantly yelling. He tried to lead her to the light, but she wouldn't go. I guess if someone was screaming in my face all day, I wouldn't really want to help them either. I'm not sure why but I feel like there's more going on and if he does help her then we might find out some information that could help us."

"What do you know about her when she was alive?" Janis asked.

"I don't know anything. Bran said she died at the hospital after being here for a long time. She had no family or anyone to claim her body so all we know is what was on her medical record, which wasn't much."

"Jordan, I think you should do some research on her. There may be more to her than just a screaming ghost."

"I'll see what I can find out," I promised.

"Have you spoken to Bran yet?" she asked, and I knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Not yet. I know I need to, but I don't know how to bring it up. He's been very busy, and with trying to learn more about his abilities I—well I just don't want to add more stress."

"I know your family has always lived by the rule of secrecy, but you can trust him. He won't judge you, and he'll support you any way he can."

"You're right. I know you're right. But it's hard to go against what I've been taught my whole life." When I'd drowned it changed so much for me, but it also gave me a lot of insight into the secrets my family kept. Not only were we almost guaranteed to inherit empathic abilities if we nearly died, but we were predisposed to being the reincarnated spirit of one of my long dead relatives. Which it turns out was quite possibly my situation.

Bran was in touch with the other side of the veil, but he had no idea he shared his bed with the spirit of an ancient Celtic pagan. There were so many times I'd experience déjà vu or had dreams which felt like memories, but I knew for a fact were not. Memories of ancient rituals in the wilds of Ireland, and of a man who was not Bran, but had his same abilities.

"Jordan?" Janis said, bringing me back to the present.

"Yes, sorry, Janis. I'll talk to him soon, I swear."

"If he finds out you're keeping things from him—well, Jordan, I don't think Bran needs more reasons not to trust those he loves. His mother showed him he can't trust everyone." She hung up then, leaving me with my thoughts.

Buddy pressed against my leg. He'd heard our entire conversation, but so far, he wasn't the type of spirit who would betray secrets he was entrusted with. He was faithful to Bran and a good friend to me, and even if he couldn't talk and I couldn't see him, I always knew he was there.

"Let's see what we can find out about Edith," I mumbled more to myself than to Buddy. I tapped her information into the computer, and it opened her medical files. She'd been admitted many times through the years, mostly for exhaustion or for a mental hold based on her behavior. But she hadn't been diagnosed with any mental illness. "Strange."

"What's strange?" Bran asked as he walked out the door from the morgue and over to my desk.

"Nothing, just seeing what I can find in Edith's medical history. There has to be a reason she's still bothering us."

"I haven't been yelled at in weeks, she's not bothering me at all. Has she been disturbing you?" he asked, not knowing she had in fact been letting her presence be known, one way or another.

This was as good a time as any to admit what I'd been keeping from him. "I keep dreaming about her. I think she's trying to tell me something, but I have no clue what it is. I didn't know her at all while she was alive, so I'm not sure why she's trying to contact me now," I said, and hoped Janis was right and he wanted to know.

"She shouldn't be able to do that. I put a binding spell on her spirit to keep her away from both of us, and Buddy too. You say she talked to you?" he asked, and sat on my desk.

"Yes, she keeps saying the same thing, but it doesn't make sense. When I tell her I don't understand, she gets more annoyed."

"What exactly does she say?" Bran asked.

"That I can see if I choose, that I have the ability." I waited for his reaction, but Bran had a very good poker face and his expression didn't change as he mulled over my words.

"What do you think she means?" he asked again.

"I think she wants me to see her, but I can't, I don't have that ability. No one in my family has had that ability except—" I stopped then as a memory washed over me. I was transported back to the past and was part of a ceremony. All of us wore masks, and we were thanking nature for the bounty of food we'd harvested that year. The whole village celebrated as we danced around a huge bonfire, but then something unexpected happened. A spirit walked out of the flames, right up to me, and tapped their finger on my forehead. My eyes opened and, at that moment, we were not alone in our celebration. The spirits of our lost loved ones and our ancestors danced with us, and for the first time, I could see them all.