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I stood there, hands clasped in front of , "It's okay It's okay," as the pit closed in on hiiven his life for mine I had to make that count And he'd loved Hex Hall Believed in it, taken care of it, called it his home The least I could do was restore it

For Cal

So when the witch looked straight at ret or dread that shot through me It was satisfaction

Mo for me when I came out of the ball roo, I took my parents' hands and said, "We can talk all the way hoh, okay?" Dad squeezedhis other arm around Mom's waist "Absolutely"

"Sure," Jenna said

Archer nodded "Do what you need to do"

I walked past them and out onto the front porch The steps hardly creaked under my feet as I walked down onto the lawn I ainst it to stare at the school

I was still standing there when I felt a presence ataround her face "Hi," I said softly

"So you're going to be the Big Boss Lady?"

I openedcaave a little nod "You'll be good at it But if you ever tell anyone I said that, I'll kill you" I chuckled "Fair enough" For a longthe house And then, very quietly, I said, "If you're ready for me toI don't know, set you free or whatever, I can now At least I think I can"

Elodie turned to o?"

"I don't know"

"Would you" She trailed off, and if I hadn't known Elodie better, I would've sworn nervousness crossed her face Then her lips moved so quickly that I couldn't make out any of the words

"Whoa, slon My lip-reading skills aren't that great"

She drifted closer "I said, if you're staying at Hex Hall, thenI want to stay, too" I blinked "For real? You want to stay tethered to me for all eternity? Because if you think for one second I'ot another think co"

"I don't want to be in your body anyross Anyway, I just want to stay here For now"

"Why?"

She threw up her hands "Because you'reyou and your loser crew these past feeeks has beenI don't know, fun And way ht I could have dead"

I eirdly touched, so I tried to keep et that And to be honest, the thought of you blinking out of existence makes h before saying, "But I can't have you tethered to me forever It's not fair to either one of us"

"Is there any way you could transfer the bond?" she asked "All the other ghosts around this place, they're linked to the island Could you do that for ht about it, and h my veins "Yeah, I could do that But, Elodie, that will mean you'll be stuck here on Grayhosts are still hanging around this place" Elodie vanished, and I rolled my eyes "Oh, come on!"

But then she reappeared several feet away, on the rise of the hill that led down to the pond Waving her arht

Heaving a sigh, I climbed the hill, and as I crested the top, I had to shadeoff the water "Wow," I said, co to a stop as Elodie hovered next to me "That the prettiest I've ever seen the pond look And look, the grass doesn't look so dead over-" Whatever I'd been about to say died in my throat, and I cla the edge of the pond Well, his ghost did, at least He was so faint that I could barely , easy stride He knelt down and ran his hand over a patch of the gray grass, and as he did, it bled back to a vivid, ereen