After Ripley made his apologies and left with Alix, Aiden and I ended up hanging around, just in case Raj needed backup.

We should have known that he wouldn’t. Raj’s effortless warmth and enthusiasm, the genuine excitement in his voice as he takes Floyd and Spencer through the place - Floyd and Spencer are not immune to these things. In fact, I’d say they’re the kind of people to appreciate it the most.

Before long Floyd is eagerly chatting with Raj, and Spencer smiling, having lost some of his nerves. Raj takes his time walking them through all three floors of the attached apartment, then through their potential bookshop space again. When he offers to show them around his and Ripley’s showroom, they accept immediately, although Ida doesn’t seem to feel the need to investigate. She stiffly heaves herself up onto the wide wooden sill of the shop window, then dozes off under the warmth of the display lights.

When Raj wraps up his tour and leads everyone back to the empty bookshop space, Floyd and Spencer huddle up to speak quietly to each other. Noah and Ralph took off a while ago, so Raj comes over to me and Aiden. He’s nervously twisting his wedding band around his finger, but there’s a hopeful look in his dark brown eyes.

“Think that went pretty good?” he says quietly, with a hint of a question in his voice.

“Definitely,” I whisper back, beaming up at him. “We obviously can’t say anything for sure, but they seem pretty stoked about this.”

Raj grins happily as he clasps my shoulder, then Aiden’s shoulder when he nods in agreement. “Anything I forgot to show them, or are we all pau?”

“No, I think you’re good.”

Raj flashes us a thumbs-up, then turns back to Floyd and Spencer, who are still engaged in their quiet conference in the back corner of the shop.

“Hey, guys!” Raj calls brightly, waving at them. “I’m gonna give you some time to look around on your own, yeah? Without me hanging over your shoulder. I’ll take the keys. I don’t really mind leaving the place unlocked for one night, since there’s nothing in it.”

Floyd and Spencer come over to join us, smiling warmly at Raj.

“We appreciate it, all the - the - everything,” Floyd tells him earnestly, his silver braid and flyaways bouncing as he enthusiastically shakes Raj’s hand again. “Really, Raj! And tell Ripley for us, too, won’t you?”

“Sure thing, uncle!” Raj fixes him with his signature beaming smile. “Let me just show you where the light switches are for when you want to close it down. Oh, and - hang on, I had the realtor give me a copy of the paperwork for you to take. It’s got all the details you probably need to know before you make a decision.”

Floyd and Raj set off together, chattering away. Spencer moves to go after them, but Aiden quickly catches his arm.

“Can we talk to you, Spencer?” he rumbles quietly. “Team Ghost Office could use some help from the Research Department. Specifically from you.”

Spencer blinks hard behind his rectangular glasses, then nervously runs a hand through his silver hair in pleased surprise. “I - you need me?”

Aiden casts a quick glance at Raj, then beckons to Spencer and tosses his head at the door. The three of us group up out on the sidewalk, where the falling dusk is gradually growing richer and darker.

Spencer stuffs his hands deep into his pockets, glancing between us. “W-what’s going on, boys?”

We’re hoping Spencer will assume that when Aiden says he sensed something, he doesn’t mean through secret magical powers that he has. That’s the assumption we think anyone would make, so -

“Aiden sensed something at the ruins of the farmhouse,” I explain, drawing Spencer’s startled eyes to my face.

“Sensed something?” His eyes brighten with that same wild, electric sparkle of excitement that Floyd gets when he’s talking about cold cases. He catches a sharp little breath, then eagerly fumbles his notepad out of his shirt pocket and unclips the pen. “What did you sense? Be as specific as possible.”

“No, um-” Aiden gently but firmly stops Spencer’s hand before he can click on the pen. “You can’t write down anything we say about supernatural or magical stuff, alright? I’m sorry, man, but that’s a hard and fast rule around here.”

Spencer glances between the two of us, his eyebrows slowly drawing together. I can see the open curiosity in his eyes, and I know that he’s having a fierce internal struggle to keep down the urge to ask us some follow-up questions. I also know how much he loves to take notes on everything, but - we just can’t have him doing that.

I let out a breath of relief when he slowly, regretfully tucks his notepad away.

“Okay, no problem, understood,” he says, making a visible effort to be totally chill and breezy about it. “What did you sense?”

Aiden glances around, then lowers his deep voice to a soft, confidential volume. “A presence.”

Spencer is unfazed by this, although he does have to stop himself from automatically reaching for his notepad again. “Where exactly, Aiden?”

“Right near the treeline, where the forest begins around the ruins of the old collapsed farmhouse. The spirit wasn’t visible, at least not on any plane I can see. Maybe… maybe on another one. I couldn’t tell.”

Spencer nods as he listens, his expression very serious. “Did it seem threatening? Did you feel any sensations like a sudden cold current, or chills, or-?”

“No, and it definitely wasn’t a ghost. I actually think me and Jamie scared it away. It was something small, and fast.”

Spencer nods again, like he’s making a neatly-organized mental list. “And what else?”

“I thought it might be watching us, but it ran off when we got closer.” Aiden hesitates, then gives his broad shoulders a sheepish shrug. “That’s… all I’ve got.”

“Ah.” Spencer’s brows furrow thoughtfully. He slowly puts his hands back in his pockets, taking a moment to think. “Well, that’s - not a whole lot to go on, boys.”

“We know,” I answer, wincing apologetically. “We weren’t expecting you to be able to identify it based on that, but we thought - maybe you could give us some ideas about how to draw it out again?”

Spencer chews the inside of his cheek as he thinks.

“Sounds to me like you’ve already drawn it out once,” he murmurs, running his hand over his jaw. “It either came out from the forest to find you, or it inhabits the ruins, and you startled it into the forest. But either way, it chose to stay and watch you. It only left when you approached it, right?”

Aiden and I exchange a fast, startled glance. I don’t think it occurred to either of us that we had scared the spirit out of the ruins and into the forest. We assumed it had come out from the forest.

“But if the thing lives in the ruins, why didn’t I sense it there again?” Aiden asks, voicing my exact thoughts. “Jamie and I went back to the farmhouse on our way home from Port Sitka to see if it had come back. It wasn’t there.”

Spencer absorbs that for a moment before he takes a stab at a theory.

“If it is a little thing, and you think you scared it - maybe it’s too afraid to go back to the ruins, now.”

Aiden and I both draw back, then look at each other in dismay.

“What - really, Spencer?” I press my fingertips to my cheeks, my eyes widening. “We scared some poor helpless little thing out of its own home?”

“Hang on, now!” Spencer hastily spreads his hands at us. “This is all speculation based on a very small amount of information. There are magical and supernatural beings of legend who make their homes in places humans have forsaken, yes. But we can’t say anything for sure about this one. And I’m not sure I would jump right to calling it helpless, either.”

I tilt my head to the side, caught by surprise. “Why not?”

“Because Aiden said it wasn’t visible on this plane, but clearly it saw you two existing on yours. Those with the ability to move and see between planes are traditionally beings of significant power. It may be small, it may be shy, but - that doesn’t change how powerful it could be. If we’re going by what the lore says.”

Aiden and I both fall silent, looking at each other uncertainly.

“How did we draw the spirit out the first time?” Aiden asks, turning back to Spencer. “Talking to it only scared it off, so it wasn’t that.”

Spencer gazes at the ground with unseeing eyes, thinking hard, then lifts them to me and Aiden again.

“Kids in Port Sitka go to the farmhouse ruins when they want a spooky place to tell each other ghost stories,” he murmurs. “They have for years and years. They haven’t frightened off whatever you sensed, or felt its distinctly non-ghost presence themselves. Something about you two specifically is what caught the attention of this little spirit. You drew it out. You might be able to do it again just by - being in the right place. And you said it retreated into the forest.”

I look up at Aiden and find him running a hand over his stubble beard, his breathtaking blue eyes deep in thought.

“We have reason to believe there’s some unresolved magic in the forests of Port Sitka,” he tells Spencer.

Spencer lets out a quiet laugh, spreading his hands at us. Based on his expression, he’s wholly unsurprised and more than ready to agree.

“There’s a reason the forests around our little town go mostly unexplored. People come back with - stories.” He shakes his head thoughtfully, pushing his hands back into his pockets. “I don’t know what it is. Maybe the trees growing all the way up into the clouds like something out of myths. Or maybe it’s all the fog with all that greenery, or all the secret places there are to find. Or - maybe there really is still some old magic left in the old-growth. Who knows?”

He gives himself a shake, then adds - “Regardless, people tend to come home from hiking and camping there with all sorts of wild tales to tell. Why, what are you two planning to do?”

I let out a heavy, pained sigh. “Hike. Camp.”

“Oh.” Spencer blushes anxiously, then flaps his hands at us. “Well - I hope what I said won’t deter you! I’m sure it’ll be just fine! I have a book in my stock somewhere, a field guide to camping in places of high supernatural activity-”

“Don’t worry, we won’t let it go uninvestigated,” Aiden reassures him, slapping his shoulder fondly. “And we appreciate your help.”

“A lot,” I add gratefully, bracing Spencer’s arm.

Spencer breaks into a slow, startled smile. He fidgets with his silver hair for a second, then opens his mouth to say something. The door opens before he can, and Raj steps outside.

“Spence, you want to have one more walk around?” Floyd asks from the doorway, reaching out for him.

Spencer catches Floyd’s ringed fingers, flashing me and Aiden a hopeful smile.

“You’ll keep me updated?” he asks quietly.

Aiden and I nod, then affectionately wave goodbye to Floyd and Spencer before they disappear inside. Raj locks up the showroom, then nods for me and Aiden to follow him as he sets off down the sidewalk.

“I’ll drop you at your car,” he tells us over his shoulder, unlocking his truck.

“Thanks, man,” Aiden says brightly, hopping up into the truck bed.

“No, thank you for linking us up with those two.” Raj leans his elbows against the back of the pickup, grinning happily. “Should I call Ripples, tell him how it went?”

“Nah,” Aiden answers, around a huffing laugh. “Pretty sure he’s busy.”

Raj and I glance up at Aiden in confusion, then turn as one to see what he’s looking at.

Further off down the sidewalk, Alix and Ripley are rushing towards the workshop. Both of them are laughing, out of breath. Ripley gets his keys out of his bag when they reach the door, but his colorful fingers fumble with the lock until Alix takes them from him, blushing. She unlocks the door and turns to say something to Ripley, but she’s cut off as he rushes forward and kisses her, walking her backwards until they both disappear inside and the door swings closed after them.

“Yep, nevermind,” Raj laughs. “Guess their talk went well, huh?”

I cast a little smile at the showroom before I hop up into the truck with Aiden.

Ripley is a private person, so he doesn’t tell us too much about his relationship with Alix. But he doesn’t have to say anything out loud for me to know the depth of his feelings for her. As for Alix, well - we can all tell how she feels.

Ripley fills the whole room, for her.

~~~~

“Is it okay that we came by unannounced?” I ask, looking over the roof of my car at Aunt Sarah’s house. “Without calling her first?”

“Don’t we pretty much do that all the time?” Aiden straightens up and settles his snapback over his hair, his sweet blue eyes confused. “I’m fucking dying to tell her we found another Guardian, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but - look.”

I point to the car parked in Aunt Sarah’s driveway. Aiden’s eyes flit to it, and he stops, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

It’s an old, mud-spattered pickup with a weathered bumper sticker on the back that says: DEFEND FAIRY CREEK.

“I don’t recognize that truck,” Aiden murmurs quietly.

I glance at him in surprise, then walk up to the truck and peer in through the driver’s side window. There’s a cross on a chain dangling from the rearview. Heavily weathered seats. Mud, grass, pine needles, and crumbling bits of lichen are scattered on the car floor, left there in bootprints. A worn paperback book has been left on the passenger’s seat, something titled Nature’s Temples. A huge coffee thermos has been left in the cup holder.

“Yeah, your aunt definitely isn’t driving this,” I tell Aiden, lifting my head to look at him. “This is a truck for someone big. I actually think you could fit in the driver’s seat without crumpling up like a shopping list.”

Aiden stares into the truck, baffled, then turns his gaze to Aunt Sarah’s house. The lights are switched on, glowing softly through the windows, and a curl of smoke is slowly winding up from the chimney.

“So who the fuck…?” Aiden murmurs beneath his breath.

Without warning, he swiftly sets off up the driveway.

“Oh - Aiden!” I rush after him, anxiously seizing hold of the back of his shirt to keep up. “Should we really just go barging in? She’s got someone visiting her.”

“Who’s visiting her that I don’t recognize the car at all?” Aiden picks up speed, his blue eyes increasingly darkened with worry. “I’m just gonna make sure she’s okay.”

I bite back the rest of my objections and follow Aiden up the door. It’s unlocked, so Aiden lets us into the little entryway, then silently shuts it after us.

Aiden stops where he is, then lets out a breath of relief. A soft wave of Aunt Sarah’s laughter just drifted out from somewhere in the house, warm and bright and relaxed. She sounds like she’s in high spirits, in fact.

Aiden starts to take a step forward, then stops again as another voice reaches us. A deep, rough-edged, warm voice. A man’s voice.

“You’re full of surprises, Sarah,” he’s laughing.

“Oh, I - really don’t think so,” comes her answer, and I can almost hear her blushing.

Aiden and I whip around to stare at each other, our eyes wide with surprise. We both know who that other voice belongs to.

As one, we silently lean around the corner to peek into the living room. And there he is.

Father Leo.