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- Herausgeber: The O'Brien Press
- Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
'Would you kill someone to survive?' he asked. 'It's not survival when you're already dead,' she replied. Paranormal Surveyance Ireland – PSI – are on the hunt for ghosts. When The Merrion Hub, a fancy new start-up, is gripped by strange and disturbing happenings, the owners ask Archer and his team to investigate. The gang are determined to prove to the world that ghosts are real, but tensions are running high: Éabha clashes with Raven over her new clairvoyancy gift, Fionn feels isolated by the team and Davis is frustrated by the journalist who's determined to expose them as frauds. None of that matters when there's a startling disappearance. Can PSI remember how to work together in time to save their friend from a horrific fate?
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Praise forWhat Walks These Halls
‘There is a creeping dread in What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin that builds with each page, absolutely loving it, very sharp YA for your shelves.’
Lucas Maxwell, former UK Librarian of the Year
‘Deliciously creepy debut YA title. An eerie abandoned mansion, a malevolent spirit, family secrets, paranormal investigators, secrets revealed … gorgeous, gothic & utterly gripping. If you liked Wednesday, you’ll love it!’
The Bookaneer
‘A great start to a new series that is as much about friendship, love, and found family as it is about the paranormal.’
Children’s Books Ireland in the Irish Examiner
‘A thriller story about a band of young investigators who are determined to discover the truth about a haunted house in their neighbourhood. Clarkin has created a wonderfully diverse group of characters with rooted backstories that makes them altogether relatable and each one of them unique. She has a real talent for building tension from one chapter to the next, making it next to impossible to put this book down. With the door left open for a potential sequel, this could be the beginning of series ideal for thrill-seekers. Recommended for ages 12 and up.’
Irish Examiner
2‘What Walks these Halls will warm your heart while chilling you to the bone. A thoroughly gripping story, of ghosts, legacy and chosen family. I adored it.’
Deirdre Sullivan, author
‘This debut has all the ingredients that fans of the genre will love – an eerie, abandoned mansion, a truly malevolent spirit, family secrets and a team of young paranormal investigators. But it also has a wonderfully diverse group of relatable characters with credible backstories … Skilfully told from multiple points of view … There is a real creeping sense of building menace, and one genuinely fears for the outcome for these engaging protagonists. The character dynamics are so enjoyably portrayed that I am sure readers would be delighted if this exciting debut developed into a series.’
Joy Court, Lovereading4kids
‘OMG Wayfarers! I LOVED this book! If you know me, you know that I love a good scary story/thriller, especially when it’s done well. And Amy honestly knocked it out of the park with this debut. I was transported into the story through Amy’s storytelling and loved every second. It felt as if I was there alongside the characters trying to get to the bottom of the mystery of Hyacinth House … I also thoroughly enjoyed all the representation within the storyline. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in reading ghost stories, especially if they want ones based in Irish lore. I’ll absolutely be looking out for future releases from Amy Clarkin. This novel has proved her talent for storytelling and building a multi-layered plot line to keep readers interested … fantastic.’
WayfaringBiblio
3‘Deliciously dark.’
@Serendipity_Viv
‘One of the best ghost stories you’ll read this year … Readers are sure to feel as invested in the characters as Amy is, and there’s an opening for them to return to solve more ghostly cases. Amy would love that and, as she points out, ghosts are having a moment right now. At one point in the book, Raven’s mother says that Ireland is a haunted country, and there’s certainly no shortage of inspiration for her, whether from the cultural scars on the country – from colonisation to the famine right up to stories of the Magdalene laundries – to the thousands of ghosts haunting hotels and castles.’
Books for Keeps
‘PSI, like many fictional organisations dealing with the supernatural, is more than just a company: it is a family, and a space that particularly welcomes those who, like Eabha, have been shunned by their family of origin. Clarkin, whose non-fiction writing has included explorations of disability, chronic illness and sexuality, handles inclusivity with a gentle touch. These young people may be growing up in a haunted Ireland, but they have already cast out any sense that the unfamiliar or different is to be feared – in part, of course, because being associated with “weird” things has already made them outsiders. This spooky novel has some sinister elements (certain chapters are best read with the light left on), but it is also endearingly hopeful and wholesome.’
The Irish Times
‘The plot whips along at a cracking rate and each of the characters is beautifully drawn. Older teens who enjoy a good scare will love it.’
Irish Independent
4‘Part coming of age story, part family trauma, part supernatural mystery … ALL gripping and chilling; it’s simply excellent.’
Fallen Star Stories
‘An interesting, modern take on a paranormal story following a handful of different characters, each with their own unique personality that shines throughout the story … What Walks These Halls is Amy Clarkin’s debut novel and I am looking forward to seeing more of her fiction in the future. She handles relationships, social dynamics and character building in a highly engaging and relatable way.’
Hanna-Rose Sullivan, Paper Lanterns
‘A spooky book with amazing ghosts and funny characters … will keep you on the edge of your seat.’
BotsBookShelf
‘The novel’s small cast of main characters becomes ever more closely knit, not only through their mutual connections to the house, but their various burgeoning relationships, which simmer so intensely that they threaten to overpower the paranormal plotline … a chiller with cinematic echoes of the Hammer House of Horror and has all the spooky ingredients required for torchlit reading by those whose imaginations thrive on things that go bump in the night.’
The Echo
‘A YA horror with some genuinely terrifying moments and a strong ghost haunting to propel the action. This heart-in-your-throat horror will leave you sleeping with the lights on.’
@scorpiobookdreams
5
7For Sib (Emma)
Thank you for being my best friend as well as my sister.
Waggle.
Contents
9A prickling sensation grew on the back of her neck, spreading up her scalp. It was the feeling of being watched. She whirled to face the doorway but it was empty.
Previously inWhat Walks These Halls
When Archer O’Sullivan started up his parents’ business again, Paranormal Surveyance Ireland, or PSI, instead of going to college as his mother hoped, his sister, Raven, wanted nothing to do with it. She was there in Hyacinth House in County Wicklow five years ago, the night their father died during a séance. She couldn’t remember what happened, but she was sure she was to blame.
Éabha McLoughlin grew up seeing and hearing things no one else could. But when she started college, she finally had the freedom to find out why. The daring Archer and his resourceful team seemed like a good place to start.
Real estate agent Cordelia Cassidy Cuevas was tasked with selling Hyacinth House. She called on PSI, hoping they could give the property a clean bill of psychic health. Archer and his friends, Fionn and Davis, couldn’t resist the chance to investigate.
But everyone, it seemed, had secrets, and they all led back to Hyacinth House. When the team confronted The Lady, the ghost that walked the halls of Hyacinth House, their lives were changed forever.10
Prologue
LOUIS ALREADY REGRETTED signing up for the night shift.
He should have guessed there would be a catch. From how the rest of the staff had shuffled and looked at the floor when Mark Campbell, one of the owners of the Merrion Hub, had announced there was a vacancy available in the night staff. And that it came with an extra thirty per cent on top of an already decent wage.
You didn’t turn down an opportunity like that. Not in Dublin, with a housing crisis and energy crisis colliding. Not with three-year-old twins at home, two kids whose future you already had one wary eye on. Not with a husband whose eyebrows knotted more and more tightly together as he did the monthly budget, whose sigh echoed throughout the apartment and his voice, soft enough not to draw the children’s attention, said, ‘We’ll make do. Somehow.’
Those were the things Louis reminded himself of as he walked the upper levels of the members’ club, wondering if he needed to wear a hat over his buzz cut to fight off the chill that seemed to exist only on the second floor of the building. He often looked down at the tattoo on his wrist – an infinity knot with his children’s names written in it – as he repeated to himself the list of reasons not to bolt from the old Georgian house off Dublin’s Merrion Square and never come back. He wasn’t a stranger to a nightshift. He’d worked security in places all around Dublin: 12hospitals, museums, nightclubs. He’d thought he couldn’t see anything more terrifying than Harcourt Street at 3 a.m. on the night of an All-Ireland Championship match. Louis was a practical, no-nonsense man, confident in the knowledge that, at six foot tall, with muscles that made even the most belligerent of revellers think twice before challenging him, he was a hard man to mess with. Which was why he didn’t take kindly to being unnerved by shadows.
Especially that one particular shadow that seemed to be following him.
It had taken him a few nights to notice it. How the batteries on his torch never lasted a night, the shadows in the building growing deeper as the beam faded rapidly. How sometimes it felt like he was being stalked from within those shadows. Even if the level of light or the angle changed, the sensation of being watched never eased. It was enough to make him start to look over his shoulder more often than he needed to. More often than he wanted to.
It was ridiculous. He was no stranger to darkened corridors and silent hallways, and was well used to his footsteps and breathing being the only sounds that filled his ears. He liked the quiet of the night, the stillness, how he could use the time to mull over his own thoughts. He just wished his thoughts didn’t take such an unsettling turn when he was here.
Wished he wasn’t slowly starting to figure out the cryptic comments some of the others had made. And why the night staff had had such a high level of turnover in the six months the club had been open. He’d put it down to how the hospitality industry in 13general was struggling to find staff since Covid and hadn’t thought there was any sinister reason behind it.
He was starting to second-guess that instinct.
The lights on the third floor were off now. This was where the meeting rooms were, and no meetings took place after 10 p.m. The four rooms filled with communal workspaces on the second floor closed at 10 p.m. too, while the private rooms for video calls and remote meetings on the first floor stayed open until midnight, since many of the members had clients or colleagues in different time zones. The bar and lounge on the ground floor, informal areas for a drink and a chat where everyone pretended it was a ‘friendly catch-up’ and not a gentle probing to see what this particular person could do for them, stayed open until 2 a.m. It was a space for business and posturing, as much to be seen in as it was to work in. Louis couldn’t imagine inhabiting that world of firm handshakes and doublespeak and had no desire to.
Though if he did, at least he wouldn’t have to roam these corridors with a torch whose beam quavered just slightly. He frowned at the light’s betrayal of his nerves as he shone it into each room to check they were truly empty before he locked them. Each room displayed nothing but sleek tables and comfortable desk chairs, gaping plug sockets waiting for cables, and stands posed open-handed for the next laptop to rest in. He reached the stairs and took a deep breath. He hated the next floor down.
He refused to hurry his steps as he descended. He would not be intimidated by how the air seemed to cool and close in around him. He would not notice how his torch beam seemed to dim the closer he got. How the eyes of the portraits that lined the staircase 14seemed to follow him, their eyes almost seeming to shine in the faint pools of light cast by the small individual lights on top of the frames. Lights that flickered and died one by one just as he passed them. He wished the timing didn’t make his heart pound. He reached the second-floor landing, almost reluctantly looking at the sole painting – a portrait – that hung there to his left. A handsome man sat in a high-backed leather armchair in a posh drawing room with oak-panelled walls, an identical but empty chair beside him, a small, gilded table between them. He had dark hair, blue eyes so light they were almost grey, and an expression that at once seemed secretive and smug, as though he was privy to information the viewer could only dream of and he’d take great pleasure in lording it over them.
Louis had disliked him the moment he saw him. He saw past the expensive clothes, the handsome features and the confident demeanour. Some instinct had whispered to him that this was a slippery man, a man who would charm you one day and throw you to the wolves the next, if the wolves could offer him something to sate his own appetite.
He glared at the painting.
The painting smirked back.
Louis jumped, his torch beam darting as he did, his back hitting against the staircase banister with a thud. The man in the painting … his lips had moved, hadn’t they? He’d seen it with his own eyes. How the smug set of his lips had curved ever so slightly, how he’d looked into the portrait’s eyes and it had silently told him, ‘I know what you’re thinking.’ He could hear his heart beating in his ears, the pounding of blood filling them.
15Paintings don’t move, Louis.
He peeled himself away from the banister and set off down the corridor on the second floor to check the rooms. He just needed to tick these off, then he could retreat to the warmth and relative comfort of the first and ground floors, the ones still teeming with life and noise. He could hear the faint sounds of the bar coming up the staircase, beckoning him with light and laughter. Only this floor, with its air of unnatural stillness that almost felt threatening, could make him want to be around tipsy business people.
Just do your job, and you’re done for another night.
Plus tomorrow was an evening off. It would be a blissful almost forty-eight hours before he’d have to stand on this dark landing again, before he’d have to listen to the echoes of his footsteps on this corridor.
There was something different about the familiar sound tonight, something that niggled at the back of his neck, like an itch trying to get his attention. He strained his ears as he walked slowly, trying to focus on the comforting, steady sound of his footsteps, his heavy boots thwupping against the hardwood floor under his feet.
There.
They were too long. The sound his steps made was drawn out by a half-second or so. When he listened properly, he could hear it, so subtle it would go unnoticed if he wasn’t focusing so intently on it.
Thwup-up. Thwup-up.
The sound echoed in his head.
Was this real?
He could have sworn that it was not one set of footsteps he was hearing – it was two, so close together that they almost blended, 16would merge unnoticed if he hadn’t spent years listening to the sound of his own steps.
He was being followed.
Though as sickening apprehension made his stomach clench, and an icy chill slithered down his spine, he decided that ‘followed’ was too gentle a word for what was happening.
He was being hunted.
Louis forgot about checking the rooms to make sure they were empty, forgot about anything but getting out, away from the sensation that there were eyes watching him from the shadows.
Until he made the connection that the footsteps following him were behind him and therefore between him and the staircase. His only exit.
He turned slowly as he reached the end of the hallway, no longer admonishing his hands for shaking so violently that the torch beam ricocheted across the walls, lighting up the deep blue wallpaper, the golden pattern shimmering in the light. The corridor was empty, lined by closed doors that seemed to pulse with the potential of menace. There were just four on this level, two doors widely spaced apart on either side.
Could someone be waiting behind one of them? Waiting for him to retreat and pass by, poised to leap out and grab him? Every instinct screamed yes. Four doors no longer felt like ‘just four’. It was four opportunities for him to walk, unknowing, past whatever – you mean whoever – stalked him on this floor.
You are a trained professional. You have taught self-defence. You can handle one drunken patron who has gone where they shouldn’t.
That’s who it must be after all. Someone who’d snuck upstairs, 17because so few people can resist a velvet rope with a ‘Do Not Enter’ sign attached to it, seen him and hidden so they didn’t get in trouble.
‘I know you’re there,’ he said out loud to the darkness, his voice steady, bolstered by reason. ‘Just come out, I’ll bring you downstairs. We can let it slide this once.’
Silence.
Then, the faintest scraping, shuffling sound.
‘Come on now,’ he said again.
He heard the shuffling again, though he couldn’t tell where it was coming from. He relaxed slightly, assuming the shuffling was the guilty feet of someone who knew they were caught. It strengthened him slightly. He started to walk down the corridor towards the staircase, opening each door as he passed. Room after room was empty, and his earlier fear was replaced by irritation. He just wanted to be done so he could go home, curl up next to his husband and get some sleep before the kids were up and clamouring for attention.
Another door opened.
No one.
And the last.
Nothing.
Louis was almost at the staircase now and he was out of doors, out of places for someone to hide. Maybe he hadn’t heard anything. Maybe the fifth night shift in a row had wrecked his brain a bit, alongside the suggestions from stories the others had alluded to getting into his head.
Louuuiis …
18The soft, creeping voice swirled around him, coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Louis didn’t stop to think. Abandoning all semblance of reason and dignity, he sprinted for the stairs.
The hissing whisper of his own name followed him all the way.
Chapter One
FIONN O’SHEA HAD BRACED HIMSELF to witness all kinds of potentially horrifying things on this investigation, but he hadn’t expected this: seeing two of his friends kissing enthusiastically in a hallway.
Sighing, he picked up one of the walkie-talkies he and the team used to communicate during a survey.
‘Eh, you guys know you’re on the cameras, right?’
‘Yeah, why?’ Davis’s reply was instant, his tone borderline irritated at what he obviously thought was an inane interruption.
‘Because Éabha and Archer seem to be under the very mistaken impression that they are in private.’
On screen, he saw Éabha and Archer spring apart, Éabha burying her face in her hands while Archer waved cheerfully at the camera. Fionn rolled his eyes and waved back, even though Archer couldn’t see him. Éabha and Archer had been together two and a half months now, but their new-relationship energy had yet to wear off. It wasn’t that he didn’t like seeing them happy; with everything Éabha had been through since she’d joined PSI – Paranormal Surveyance Ireland – being kicked out of her family home, being possessed by an evil ghost, nearly dying – he’d have to be a monster to begrudge her some happiness, and there was a lightness to Archer he hadn’t seen since before Pádraig, Archer’s father, died. But it could just be a bit … much sometimes.
20‘Very professional, Archer,’ Davis’s sardonic voice crackled in the walkie-talkie.
‘Currently breathing a sigh of relief I’m not on camera-monitoring duty,’ Raven chimed in. ‘That is right up there on my list of things I don’t need to witness, Little Brother.’ Fionn could see her on the monitor, silvery-blond hair shining in the grainy black-and-white footage, arms folded and tapping one heavy boot on the ground.
‘Why are you all blaming me? Éabha started it.’
Éabha’s indignant squawk echoed in the background and, on screen, Fionn saw her swat Archer playfully. Her pixie cut was a little longer now and mussed up either from one of the array of hair products she used to style her new cut or from what Fionn had just interrupted.
‘Can we please focus on the job?’ Davis interjected. ‘We need to make sure this data is airtight. I cannot deal with another storm of Instagram trolls calling us hoaxers if we find something.’
‘You know they’re going to call us that anyway, right?’ Fionn asked drily.
The media attention the team had got after Hyacinth House – their biggest case so far, and the only one with a genuinely paranormal explanation – had been both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, their profile had skyrocketed, inundating them with survey requests and putting them at the forefront of any discussions about the paranormal. On the downside, it had brought a whole cohort of people determined to prove they were hoaxers, fakers, exploiters of vulnerable people and arsonists. Davis had taken it the hardest. Determined to rid parapsychology of the scepticism that often accompanied it in the field of scientific 21research, he seemed to take every LOL SO FAKE comment as a personal attack. Which meant the rest of them had to deal with his increasingly unyielding and complex strategies for surveys.
‘Let’s gather the equipment and meet in the foyer, we’re done here anyway,’ Archer said.
‘Try not to get distracted on the way,’ Fionn said.
He tried to keep his voice light, but he knew there was an edge to it. No one seemed to pick up on it, though, and he watched the monitor as, one by one, each of the team deactivated the cameras in their section, the screen flickering to black.
Chapter Two
‘WELL, THAT WAS POINTLESS,’ Davis Williams sighed, slumping into an armchair in the O’Sullivan family home in Kilcarrig. He lived there with Archer most of the time, to keep him company, since Raven lived in Dublin and their mum, Emily, was constantly travelling, but he still couldn’t think of it as anything other than the O’Sullivan family home.
‘We figured out an issue that was causing distress and unease to an entire office and can reassure them that they’re not about to be murdered by a ghost, they just need to sort out an infrared issue. How is that pointless?’ Archer asked, flopping into the armchair across from him and running a hand through his blond hair.
‘Not to mention we’ll get some much-needed cash for it,’ Fionn added helpfully, lying on the floor between them and resting his head on a cushion.
It had taken them a while to figure out how to balance actually making a living from PSI without letting down or taking advantage of frightened people looking for help. So they’d decided on a sliding scale: any corporations or businesses were charged, while for households it was a ‘pay what you can’ approach, and if someone didn’t have the income to pay at all, they would take it on as one of their monthly pro bono cases. The whole team had been in agreement on that – no one who needed help would be turned away. After all, it was hard enough to find anywhere to live with 23the housing crisis, so people couldn’t exactly move easily if they had concerns about the home they were in. Cordelia, the real estate agent who had brought the Hyacinth House case to them, had also approached them on behalf of a potential buyer who had read about them in the paper and asked them to do a survey of the home before they went Sale Agreed, to confirm there was nothing spooky going on, and they were already brainstorming ways they could make that into an ongoing option for her clients. Considering it was just two and a half months since Hyacinth House, and about four since Archer had restarted PSI, they were flying. That’s what Archer said anyway.
Davis wasn’t sure he shared Archer’s optimism about how their business was going.
He knew it looked good on paper. It wasn’t like they were low on cases. It was just that none of them had had a remotely paranormal explanation. And no matter how many times Archer parroted back his parent’s words – that the cases without paranormal activity were just as important, because it meant when they did find something paranormal it was clear they weren’t making it up – it didn’t help that, until they started finding more actual hauntings, it would be impossible to shut down the constant claims that they had faked everything that had happened in Hyacinth House. All of their equipment had been lost in the fire, so the footage and recordings from the séance – and everything that had happened afterwards – were all gone. Without that, all they had was some footage of Davis nearly getting knocked out by a falling ceiling timber and the written notes of a few personal experiences. It wasn’t enough.
24And he was so sick of the jokes and sly remarks in college, of seeing the comments under articles about the team or on PSI’s social media. He wanted to get the data and lay it out piece by piece in front of the doubters until they had to agree he was right.
He glared down at his shoes as he thought about some of the smug, snarky comments he dealt with on a daily basis, before looking up to find Archer and Fionn staring at him in amusement.
‘That’s definitely his “I’m going to take over the world” expression,’ Archer said.
‘Or possibly his “I’m going to burn it to the ground” face,’ Fionn said.
‘They are remarkably similar,’ Archer agreed. ‘Care to share what ails you, O Grouchy One?’
‘I’m just sick of dead ends,’ Davis said. ‘I want a real case, one we can get actual evidence of the paranormal from.’
‘And hopefully not almost die in the attempt this time,’ Fionn added. He folded his arms over his navy knitted jumper, blue eyes sparkling behind his glasses even as he frowned in concern. ‘You do remember that part, right?’
‘Yes, Fionn, shockingly the memory of almost being burned alive by a vengeful spirit who possessed my friend and tried to kill us all has not left my brain yet.’
‘I’m just checking.’
‘Look, I’m not saying I want another case like Hyacinth House,’ Davis shuddered, the room suddenly feeling colder as he remembered the events of the previous October. ‘But an actual ghost would be nice. You know, a friendly, elderly grandfather or something.’
25Archer smiled and the rounded edges of the burn mark that curved along his cheekbone, a lingering relic from the Hyacinth House fire, shimmered in the light. ‘We understand, Davis. We want that too. And it’ll come, we just need to be patient. Keep doing what we do, and we’ll find another real case.’
‘Hopefully a less traumatic one,’ Fionn grumbled.
‘We can only hope,’ Archer said.
Davis smiled, but even Archer’s soothing words couldn’t contain the roiling impatience inside him. It was all well and good for Archer to tell him to be patient – he didn’t want to stake an entire scientific career on this. Davis was fed up waiting, and graduation was looming ever closer. He needed another case, now.
Chapter Three
‘LADS, THIS IS IMPORTANT. Can you please pay attention for five minutes?’ Archer’s exasperated voice cut through the sound of Cordelia Cassidy Cuevas’s voice coming through Raven O’Sullivan’s earphones. She was halfway through an enthusiastic voice note detailing her day in her new office. Hearing how happy her girlfriend – she still found it hard to believe Cordelia was actually her girlfriend – was in the new place made a warmth flood through her that she hoped no one could pick up on. Davis had caught her smiling at Cordelia’s name when it showed up in her notifications earlier, and his annoyingly knowing raised eyebrow had made her clamp down on any fuzzy feelings she was experiencing. It was affectionate teasing, she knew that, knew he was genuinely happy to see her happy. But there was something mortifying about having feelings, and being caught so openly in the act of having them was something that made her want to shove all those sensations into a box, then close the lid. And sit on it.
‘New case?’ Fionn asked eagerly.
‘New uniform,’ Archer said, spinning his computer around to face the others.
Davis groaned.
‘Is this those hoodies again?’
‘I just think it’s important to have something that marks us as a professional unit, a team,’ Archer protested.
27‘They’re pink.’
‘Pink is a great colour! It’ll make us stand out. And we all look good in it.’
‘I have red hair,’ Fionn said, pointing at his head for emphasis.
Raven snorted at his expression, his blue eyes pained behind his dark-rimmed glasses.
‘Whoever said redheads shouldn’t wear pink was sorely mistaken,’ Archer countered breezily, waving a hand.
‘Look, Archer, I’m all for getting rid of the outdated “pink is for girls and blue is for boys” gender stereotyping but don’t you think the team turning up in baby-pink hoodies to conduct a serious paranormal investigation might give the wrong impression?’ Davis asked.
‘That’s the patriarchy talking.’
‘And an awareness that just because we think the world should be a certain way doesn’t mean it always is,’ Davis said, crossing his arms firmly.
Raven felt a surge of guilt as he spoke. Davis had never really talked to them about what it was like growing up Black in Ireland, and while they’d always left the door open for him to – until she’d walked away from them all a few years ago, that is – he’d never stepped through it. It was understandable. There were some things they would never understand. And Davis shouldn’t have to explain it to them.
Archer opened his mouth to argue but his face softened as his mind clearly followed the same line of thought as Raven.
‘Can we at least keep the logo as it is?’
Raven got up and walked over to Archer’s computer, leaning in 28to look at the image he had on the screen. It was the outline of a house, with a small cartoon ghost hovering over it, and the words ‘Paranormal Surveyance Ireland’ underneath it. It was so Archer.
‘Is the ghost smiling?’ Davis asked, aghast.
‘I think it’s cute,’ Éabha said.
Archer beamed at her.
‘You’re biased,’ Fionn pointed out.
‘Just because I’m in a relationship doesn’t mean I’m not an independent entity capable of making my own decisions!’
‘Love blinds us all,’ Fionn said solemnly.
Éabha started a bit at the word ‘love’, her eyes darting to Archer as a faint blush rose on her cheeks.
‘I think there should be three ghosts and they should be dancing,’ Fionn continued, deadpan.
Archer tilted his head back and laughed, a loud, joyful sound, while Éabha tried to hold her own smile back as she took in the expression on Davis’s face. Raven shook her head and went back to her chair, curling up in it and wondering if she could get away with sneakily putting one of her earphones in to listen to the end of Cordelia’s message while the rest of them fought it out.
‘We’re supposed to be a business,’ Davis said.
‘The ghosts can carry little briefcases then.’
Davis put his head in his hands.
‘OK, let’s compromise: one ghost hovering over the house,’ Archer said, winking at Éabha.
‘That’s fair,’ Davis agreed. He frowned ‘Wait!’
‘No take-backs!’ Archer cried.
‘I can’t believe you are nearly nineteen years old and the CEO 29of this business and you just used the words “no take-backs”,’ Davis said.
‘I can,’ Raven piped up from the chair.
She immediately regretted it as the bickering group turned to face her.
‘Raven, be the voice of reason here,’ Davis said imploringly.
‘Reason is my middle name,’ Raven said wryly.
Éabha laughed softly, then looked alarmed, as though instantly worrying whether she had been supposed to – or allowed to – laugh.
Archer looked at his sister pleadingly, his brown eyes imploring like a puppy that had spotted a particularly delicious snack in their human’s hand. Davis stared steadily at her, as though he was trying to telepathically state his case to her.
He probably could to Éabha, a somewhat bitter voice told her.
‘Black hoodies with Archer’s logo. Black is professional and what people will expect from a business. The logo keeps the spirit of PSI – no pun intended – because after all, it is our business,’ she said decisively.
Archer and Davis both frowned slightly, then nodded in agreement.
Well, that was surprisingly simple!
Archer caved easily when it came to emotions, but when Archer and Davis butted heads over anything practical, both of them seemed to think the word ‘compromise’ meant ‘doing what I want to do’.
‘Everyone else agree?’ Archer asked.
Éabha and Fionn both nodded.
30‘I still think the pink would have looked great …’ Archer began, then grinned at Davis. ‘But these are going to look sick.’
‘Gotta love that sweet PSI merch,’ Fionn said with a wink.
While the others examined size charts on the printing company’s website, Raven slipped out of the room and sat on the stairs. She slid her earphones back into her ears and pressed play on Cordelia’s voice note, letting her excited, warm voice wash over her. Even though she’d chosen to come back to PSI, and the work they did excited her, sometimes she got jealous of Cordelia for having a normal job. One that promised a steady pay cheque and, for the most part, a relatively supernatural-free way of living. With the exception of the way they met of course, which had involved Cordelia hiring PSI to help her sell a haunted house, but that was a fluke, and Cordelia hadn’t even believed in haunted houses then. She knew the truth now, but she could retreat back into the world of negotiating offers on houses and office buildings, safe from supernatural surprises. After all, Cordelia was hardly likely to stumble on another genuinely haunted building to sell.
Chapter Four
CORDELIA CASSIDY CUEVAS’S HEELS clicked smartly on the tiles in the Merrion Hub, Dublin’s new members’ club for up-and-coming business people, as she walked down the ornate hallway. To her right, a broad wooden staircase curved up to what discreet signs called ‘meeting rooms’, ‘tech-free creative flow areas’ and ‘hot-desking spaces’. She headed towards the bar, which the Hub’s advertising boasted as the perfect place to meet clients and colleagues for coffee or lunch, or to network over a cocktail once the sun went down.
It was a smart idea; the rise in freelancers and people working from home since the pandemic had been steep, and while few people missed long commutes into the office, the lack of social interaction had started to weigh on them. Now there was a space that was both professional and social, carefully curating its membership while being accessible to people at all levels of business. All of Dublin was abuzz when it had opened last year, and she had been surprised when its owners, Mark Campbell and Dylan Kenny, contacted her to arrange a meeting. She hadn’t sold them the beautiful Georgian townhouse off Merrion Square and, if they were looking to expand, it would be unusual for them to change estate agent. Still, she wouldn’t say no to the opportunity, and her curiosity had been mounting ever since she’d got the call.
‘Maybe they just weren’t aware of what a superstar estate agent you are back when they were buying the first one,’ Raven 32had suggested, leaning over the back of the couch in Cordelia’s apartment to kiss her as Cordelia curled up on it, doing a deep dive on Google on the two business partners. Cordelia had rolled her eyes at her before kissing her back, strands of silvery-blond hair that had escaped Raven’s plait brushing against her face.
‘Superstar estate agent’ was a bold claim, considering the biggest property she’d sold to date was one that had literally had to burn down before she’d been able to sell the land it was on (and she’d had to prove to the insurance company that neither she nor the company she had hired to do a ‘paranormal survey’ of the house were the ones responsible for the burning-down part). Still, at least that hadn’t damaged her reputation, and she’d been headhunted by a new agency, Shannon and Burn. She’d jumped at the chance straight away, and even just a week into the new role she already felt happier and more respected than she ever had in Rafferty and Co. No one had asked her to do their photocopying or fetch them coffee, which was an unfortunately refreshing change. Though Fionn still hadn’t let her live down the fact that her new agency had ‘burn’ in the name.
Éabha had flinched when he said it, and Raven had snapped that at least their near-death experience was a source of amusement to him, her teeth bared and a sharpness in her voice that could have sliced through bone, but Archer had diffused the situation immediately, as always. Fionn had had the grace to look abashed, but Cordelia had noticed the shadow in his eyes as he made the joke – humour was a coping mechanism for Fionn. His breathing was still short thanks to the smoke inhalation, and his shoulder still stiffened up a lot. She often noticed him trying to subtly ease 33whatever pain was building, not wanting to draw attention in case it reminded the others of what they’d all been through. Part of her suspected that if he let himself think about the reality of what had happened, instead of making light of it, he’d never walk through the door of another investigation again.
Guilt still hit her when she looked at the burn scars Archer and Davis bore, heard Fionn wheeze or when Raven jolted awake in the middle of the night, sweating, and Cordelia had to hold her until her panicked breathing eased enough for her to fall back asleep. Even Éabha’s new haircut was a constant reminder of what had happened, never mind the haunted look that crept over her face at times when she thought no one was looking. Éabha was good with a mask – she’d had to wear one around her parents for so long it almost seemed like showing her emotions was the true challenge – but even she couldn’t always hide the truth. Cordelia felt responsible. No matter how many times Archer told her he would have found a way to investigate the house eventually, no matter how many times Raven told her in a quiet voice that, despite everything, she was glad to have faced it down and know the truth, Cordelia knew they would not have been in that house, Éabha would not have been possessed and they all wouldn’t have nearly died if she hadn’t barged into their lives because she was so desperate to sell a house.
‘Cordelia Cassidy Cuevas,’ a voice called as she stepped into the bar. It was a beautiful space, filled with wood panelling, soft lighting that was bright enough to read or see documents by but not harsh on the eye, booths with generous cushions and tables with a mix of armchairs and chairs with sturdy, curving backs on them. 34A long bar stood at the far end of the room, glasses dangling overhead and sparkling in the light, and rows of different spirits lined up neatly behind it. A bartender was shaking up a cocktail, their white shirt perfectly pressed, an untied bow tie dangling from their neck, in the perfect mix of artfully dishevelled and professional.
‘I recognised you from the papers,’ the voice continued.
The speaker was a tall man in his late twenties, with dark brown hair shaved close at the sides and warm brown eyes. His lips were curved in an easy smile and though his outfit of jeans, a shirt and a blazer looked casual, it screamed wealth.
‘Mark Campbell,’ Cordelia smiled, striding over to shake his hand. ‘I recognise you from the papers too,’ she added with a grin. Not to mention the Google images some of the others in the office immediately pulled up when they found out I was meeting you.
‘This is so unfair! He’s so hot and this opportunity is completely wasted on you – you’re taken,’ Sophie had sighed.
‘And a lesbian,’ Cordelia added drily.
‘Ah right, I wasn’t sure if it was a boys and girls situation or just girls. On the plus side, now that I don’t have to fight you for him, I don’t suppose you want to wingman a new work pal?’ Sophie had batted her eyelashes pleadingly at Cordelia, then pealed with laughter at her expression.
Cordelia could never have had a conversation like this at Rafferty & Co., even if there had been another woman working there. The men would have scoffed and mocked them for being superficial, giggly girls, not professional women. Yet, two minutes later when Sophie was on the phone, eviscerating someone who had tried to snake a client away from her, Cordelia couldn’t help smiling to 35herself. Maybe here she’d actually have co-workers who respected her work and who she could have fun with. What a concept.
‘The curse of a high-profile father,’ Mark winced.
‘And opening the hottest business location in Dublin,’ Cordelia added with a smile.
Mark Campbell was the son of James Campbell, one of Ireland’s most prolific property developers. It was his father’s significant financial help that had given Mark and his business partner, Dylan Kenny, the capital for the Merrion Hub. She had read a profile of Mark in the business section of The Irish Times shortly after the Hub opened, where he’d made it clear he wanted to succeed in his own right, and that his father’s contribution would be treated like any other business loan. He had quickly followed that statement with the traditional platitudes of recognising how fortunate he was to have that connection and capital available to him, and that it was ‘important to recognise my privilege’. She had wondered if the sentiments were genuine, or spoon-fed to him by a PR team.
‘That’s generous of you,’ Mark said.
He smiled, but there was a tension in the expression that made her wonder. Were things not going as well for the club as they would have people believe? He waved over to the bar as he led Cordelia to one of the booths, one in the corner, far away from the few occupied tables and impossible for them to be overlooked without directly circling the room.
‘I was delighted, albeit a little surprised, to get your call,’ Cordelia said as they settled on opposite sides of the table.
Mark opened his mouth to respond, stopping as the bartender approached with a tray bearing a plate of mini pastries and scones, 36another of delicate bite-sized cakes and several pots of butter, jam and cream. He placed them on the table.
‘Tea? Coffee?’ he asked.
‘A latte would be lovely, thank you,’ Cordelia said.
Mark waited until the bartender had crossed out of earshot before he spoke.
‘Before I begin, I need you to assure me of your discretion,’ he said.
‘Anything you say remains under the strictest of confidentiality,’ Cordelia said.
She took a mini scone and sliced it open, covering it first with butter, then jam, as she waited for him to continue.
‘I feel mad even saying this, but I also think you, out of everyone, are probably the most likely person to understand,’ Mark began.
The bartender returned with two lattes, placing them in front of them. Mark stirred some sugar into his, staring down at the spoon. This was very different from the polished confidence she’d seen him display in interviews.
‘I read the articles about Hyacinth House last November and …’
Cordelia felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Suddenly, she had a horrible suspicion why Mark had asked for this meeting. The bite of scone she’d taken became like a mouthful of coarse sand, and it took all her effort to swallow it. She took a long gulp of her coffee, barely noticing the hot liquid as it rushed down her throat, washing down the ashy layer coating it.
‘I want to know what happened to you there,’ he said, finally looking up from his coffee to meet her eyes. ‘Because I think something similar is happening here.’
37Cordelia’s heart pounded against her ribs. Was this how Raven had felt when she’d breezed into her brother’s office and casually pulled up a wreckage from her past? Had she felt this sick in her stomach?
‘If you’ve read the papers, you know what happened,’ she said, taking another sip of her coffee.
She gripped the cup tightly to stop her fingers shaking, afraid one tremor would send the hot liquid pooling onto the dark wood of the table.
‘I want to hear it from you. I know you won’t have said everything to the press.’
He wasn’t wrong. They’d left out the part where Éabha had gotten possessed and had single-handedly injured and/or nearly killed every member of PSI before Raven managed to knock her out, forcing The Lady out of Éabha’s body, her response to which was to trigger an electrical fire and burn the house down.
‘We want to be seen as paranormal surveyors, not insane,’ was how Davis had phrased it bluntly.
‘I’ve shared everything necessary,’ Cordelia said. ‘Besides, if you want to know about ghosts, why are you talking to me? I was just the estate agent.’ Who now knows far too much about séances, the supernatural and the veil between this world and the next.
‘I was going to reach out to the PSI team next. If what you said made it seem worthwhile. They’re pretty recognisable now, and we’re trying to keep this quiet. Archer O’Sullivan walking in here is going to make people think something is up, add speed to the whispers already starting to circulate. You, on the other hand …’
‘… could be meeting you to discuss finding a second location for 38an already thriving business,’ Cordelia finished.
‘Exactly,’ he said, relief spreading over his face.
‘No,’ she said, the words out of her mouth before she even registered them. ‘If the next step is getting the team involved, I’m not telling you anything.’
‘You know I could just approach them directly if I have to.’
She stiffened, narrowing her eyes at him across the booth. She knew she should be more diplomatic, more polite, maybe not alienate one of the most influential property developers in the country, but all she could think of was that she would not be responsible for bringing another case to her friends, another case where they could end up in danger and it would be her fault.
‘Enjoy the whispers becoming statements then,’ she said, shrugging.
She gave him her best ‘polite with a side of f– you’ smile and slid out of the booth, turning to walk away.
‘I can help your career,’ he called, a tinge of desperation in his voice.
She stopped and turned.
Emboldened, he continued. ‘Make you our go-to estate agent. Suggest you to my dad if he starts looking for new properties. You’d be the number one choice for everyone in Dublin.’
A surge of longing gripped her. She hated herself for it, but that dream hovered in front of her, shimmering in gold-coloured edges: successful, powerful, recognised for her talents and her skill … She’d get there. But not because some rich boy used to getting what he wanted bribed her. She’d do it because she was Cordelia Cassidy Cuevas and she was great at her job.
39His face shifted from hopeful smugness to crestfallen. Whatever was written on her face, she saw that he knew he’d tried the wrong tactic.
‘Thank you for the coffee,’ Cordelia said.
She turned to walk away again, a little part of her debating whether it would lower the impact of her dramatic exit if she grabbed a couple of the mini pastries to take with her, when suddenly he was standing in front of her, holding his hands like he was trying to stop a charging horse. She stopped abruptly, and he looked around the room, dropping his hands and shifting into a casual posture when he noticed the curious looks he’d drawn.
‘I’m sorry. I’m used to dealing with people who only want to know what they can get out of a thing. I didn’t mean to insult you or imply you could be bought.’
She nodded her head, a sharp movement that showed she accepted his apology but had by no means been won over.
