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course.
    â€œOi!” I slapped the hem of the angel’s gown, abruptly outof patience. “You had something to say last night, so bloody well say it now!”
    A hot lance of fire speared through my head. It felt as though my eyeballs were burning. I clutched at my brow, moaning.
    â€œViolet!” Colin was down on his knees in front of me, kicking the angel with his boots. His hands closed over my shoulders. “Violet!”
    I pressed my palm to my third eye, as if I could seal it shut. I whimpered once. The pain finally faded enough that I could blink away the tears.
    Colin looked wild, his blue eyes desperate. “What happened?” He gathered me close before I could answer. His chest was warm and solid under my cheek. His hand stroked over my hair. “Don’t ever do that again.”
    I stayed in his arms, listening as the rapid beat of his heart slowed to normal. He kissed my forehead, where the pain finally abated.
    I smiled weakly. “Now I’m really cross with the old cow,” I said hoarsely. I pulled back, feeling pins and needles in my cramped legs. Colin helped me stand up again. The cemetery only spun around once, the sunlight darkening. I rubbed my eyes.
    And then my breath went cold in my throat.
    Colin stepped in front of me protectively. “She’s here, isn’t she?”
    â€œNo,” I replied. “Not her.”
    â€œWho then?”
    â€œEveryone else.”
    All around us, pale, cold spirits pulled themselves from their graves, sat up through the grass, and climbed from behind their headstones. A woman stepped right out of the weeping statue marked with her name. So much for not waking up the others.
    I shivered, feeling clammy under my dress. These were the same ghosts who had surrounded my bed in the middle of the night. I recognized the little boy, and the woman in the Elizabethan gown. The pearls in her dark hair glittered. The ghosts floated in our direction, all pale, translucent limbs and dagger-bright silhouettes. There were dozens more, dragging themselves free of the earth. Lady Jasper wasn’t with them.
    â€œThey’re all of the spirits laid to rest here,” I told Colin tightly. “They showed up by my bed last night.”
    â€œThe bloody cheek,” he muttered. “In your bedroom, mind.”
    I would have smiled at his disgruntled tone if the ghosts hadn’t all taken a step toward us. Frost traveled through the grass like forks of frozen lightning. The air went frigid.
    I grabbed Colin’s arm. “We might want to run.”
    â€œYou run,” he said, glowering about the red welt between my eyebrows. “I find I’m in the mood for a little violence.”
    â€œWe don’t have nearly enough salt to make a difference,” I pointed out.
    And then it didn’t matter anymore.
    There was nowhere to run to.
    The spirits surrounded us, pressing closer. My teeth chattered.Colin and I huddled next to each other, frost forming on the ends of my hair and the buttons of his shirt. They crept closer, trying to insinuate their cold, dead hands between us. The frost climbed up his collar, covered my rose brooch. There were so many hands, all trying to pry us apart. They tore at me, tugged on my dress, slipped over the back of my bare neck until I shivered. They shoved and pushed at Colin, and though he didn’t see them he fought the ice forming like armor over his arms.
    We held each other’s fingers more tightly, even as the cold mottled them white. My knuckles creaked with it.
    Finally, finally, a voice cracked the frozen moment.
    â€œWhat are you two doing in there?” One of the churchyard caretakers scowled at us over his wheelbarrow. I jumped. The frost faded at our feet, turning to dew so abruptly that I slipped in the wet grass. I grabbed the iron fence for support.
    The spot between my eyes flared.
    The spirits faded away, like wind blowing through tatters of