Spell Bound

Archer, you have…Actually, what do you have?”

“You,”

Thus slowly, one by one, Its quaint events were hammered out— And now the tale is done, And home we steer, a merry crew, Beneath the setting sun.

I had a sudden urge to burst into tears. Couldn’t our relationship be easy and happy for more than a couple of hours at a time?

“I don’t know, Mercer. Maybe it’s that I’m not completely crazy about the ghost of my ex-girlfriend occasionally inhabiting the body of my current girlfriend.”

I backed up another step and ran into another shelf. Something fell off and thunked against the dirt floor. “Whoa, I’m your girlfriend now?”

Archer shrugged. “We’ve tried to kill each other, fought ghouls, and kissed a lot. I’m pretty sure we’re married in some cultures.”

I couldn’t help but snort with laughter. “Great. So we’ll all go have our mental breakdowns, and then we’ll somehow get ourselves out of this mess.”

As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t just throw my arms around his neck and kiss the heck out of him. And I really wanted to. So I settled for lacing my fingers with his and pulling him slightly closer.

“As soon as we’ve saved the world from a demon invasion, it’s you, me, and Applebee’s.”

“Um…Mercer? Haven’t seen you in nearly a month. I was expecting something like, ‘Oh, Cross, love of my heart, fire of my loins, how I’ve longed—’”

“You’re dead,” I blurted out, pressing a hand against my stomach. “You’re a ghost, and you think—”

And then, from behind me: “I thought about you. Every day.”

I froze,

Izzy sat up straighter. “Well, whoever Cal is, he was wrong. There are only Brannicks back at the compound.”
Find Mom. That had been the only thing I’d focused on from the moment Cal turned to run into Thorne Abbey. Because if I could find Mom