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risk.”
    “I’m already involved. Don’t push me out of your life, Riley. I couldn’t stand it.”
    “I don’t want to push you out of my life. I want you.”
    He reached out and grabbed hold of my face with both hands. “Then let me help you.”
     

Chapter 5
     
     
    Kade invited me over Sunday for brunch. I wasn’t at the castle for five minutes when Cait walked into Kade’s room and took me by the hand, telling him she needed to borrow me for a few minutes.
    I followed Cait up the stairs to her room.
    Madison, Cait and Kade’s twelve-year-old cousin who lived with them, sat cross-legged on the rug. Seeing me, she grinned and jumped to her feet. “I’m so happy you’re back together with Kade.”
    I adored Maddy. She had attitude, and it didn’t hurt that she could also see the dead, especially Hanway, a ghost who had been living at the castle for centuries. The two had a tight bond.
    I gave her a hug. “Thanks, Maddy. I’m happy we’re back together, too.”
    Cait shut the bedroom door behind her.
    Maddy sat down on the bed beside me, her gaze skipping to Cait, who had pulled the desk chair close to the bed and took a seat. She leaned in toward Maddy. “We need you to ask Hanway what Laria wants from Riley…or from any of us, for that matter.”
    I was glad she didn’t mention anything about Laria’s threat to kill all of us.
    Maddy frowned. “I can’t just summon him and he appears like a genie.”
    She could have fooled me. I remember when Randall had shown himself in the dining room, and how Maddy had called for Hanway and he’d been there within seconds. When Ian was here, there had been times I had called to him and he had appeared; and yet other times, like when I’d been locked inside the mausoleum, when he hadn’t shown at all.
    Maybe one day I would figure out all the complexities of spirits.
    “Let me see if I can get him to answer,” Maddy said, closing her eyes.
    Cait and I shared a look. This twelve-year-old girl blew me away.
    I felt a cold chill in the air, but I didn’t see Hanway. Apparently Maddy did, though. She glanced toward the far corner of the room. I could tell she was communicating with him, the way her focus stayed there.
    I struggled to focus…to see if I could at least hear him.
    Maddy watched the corner of the room intently. “He keeps showing me woods.”
    I swallowed hard.
    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I want to go across the river, toward the woods.”
    Cait frowned. “What does that mean?”
    I was reminded of the dream I’d had last night. Before I spoke up and said anything, I wanted to see what else Hanway had to say.
    Maddy put her fingers to her temples. “Rumor says she was buried across the river, up on the hillside in the dense brush. They buried her there, forgot about her, and made sure she would never be found.”
    My breath caught in my throat.
    “Does he know where exactly she’s buried?” Cait asked.
    Maddy shook her head. “Hanway can’t leave the castle, so he wasn’t able to follow the family and the servants who buried her. He watched from the castle tower, though, and saw them enter the woods beyond the river. Torch light could be seen high up on the hill.”
    Cait frowned. “Wait, why can’t Hanway leave the castle?”
    Maddy looked toward Hanway. “He said that some spirits become trapped in a location and there’s nothing they can do…but hope one day to be sent to the white light.”
    Like Ian had been sent to the white light. I had to wonder if maybe Maddy was holding onto Hanway versus helping him to the light. I also wondered if the day came to let him go, if she would.
    Maddy glanced at me and I had the feeling she was reading my thoughts.
    “How did this whole seeing spirits start for you, Madison?” I asked.
    “I had a dream about my great-grandma when I was like three. She came to me the night she died and said she had a stroke. I didn’t even know what a stroke was. I told my mom that she