Ghost's Stories, part five

"Chris?" Elyssa sat up in bed as he closed the door gently behind him.The clock on the microwave told him it was 3:03 in the morning, and if he and Antoinette didn't have any new assignments then he was going to need to be awake for practice and training before much longer. 

Elyssa, of course, was going to need to meet with Julius Thornblade and do the same: assignment, or training and practice. "It's me," he told her quietly. "Go back to sleep."

There was a pause, and then she asked: "How did it go?"

Chris sighed and walked back into the bedroom. His sleeping bag was still there on the floor beside the bed, and he wanted nothing more than to climb into it. "I'm not sure yet," he told her. "We'll see." He held out the necklace. "Will you wear this for me?" 

"Oh," she said, studying it closely. "Yes. Yes I will." She set it around her slender neck, fumbled for a moment with the clasp, and then locked it in place. "Thank you." 

"Elyssa," he said, settling himself on the edge of the bed near her feet. "What happened to you in the pool... I think it was because of Julius."

"Julius?" She frowned, suddenly awake and ready to kill. She didn't move, though; none of the ROs were permitted to move against the magi, except in immediate self-defense or as part of their official duties. The geas saw to that, and every Registered Outsider was subject to that geas. "Chris... will you be my boyfriend? If he asks, I mean. After the way he was yesterday, I think maybe I should have a boyfriend. To discourage him."

"Yes," said Chris, meeting her eyes. "For that, I'll be your boyfriend." He paused. "Do you trust me?" 

She nodded. "You've been nothing but... kind. Helpful."

"If anything happens with Julius, take the necklace off and hide it. Try to put it somewhere where the magi won't find it, or won't think anything of it if they do. And don't say anything about it unless you have to."

She reached down, raised the medallion, studied the crossed swords that were etched into it. "You're not supposed to have it, are you?" 

"No." Not the way it was now.

"All right. I won't tell anybody unless I have no other choice." 

Chris nodded. That was all he could ask; the Magi could compel truth, force answers, but only if they knew the right questions. If nobody knew about the amulet, nobody could ask about the amulet; and if nobody asked about the amulet then the vengeful ghost would just be a vengeful ghost. 

...You hope, he thought. There were so many ways this could all go wrong, and if it did then he'd be exposed. If he were exposed, he'd have to leave... and if he had to make his own way out, he would forfeit any chance of living legally in the Mundus. He'd be hunted, possibly all the way out into the Grey. He'd likely have to kill people that he really didn't want to. At the very least, he'd have to assume some other identity and try again. It was a huge risk...

But he couldn't just let this go. He couldn't deny Clarissa her vengeance. He couldn't let Elyssa be raped and possibly murdered just to keep himself hidden. 

He'd arranged things as best he could. Now he'd just have to see how it all worked out... and deal with the consequences as needed.