Thrill of the Chase (Hunters & Heartbreakers 1)

XVI - Wells

^^Above: A ghostie from the series Lockwood & Co. (unfortunate it was cancelled, because the books are sooo good). Maybe this one could be one of the Selling ghosties? P.S.: The Drowned Man is not known ghost lore. I made that one up.^^

The Ghosts of Selling House

Compiled by: A. & S. Selling

21 May.

Those bloody Sellings were going to ruin everything. Even my chance at happiness — no matter how small it was. I'd seen the way Marjorie was clinging to Wilkes as we explained what had happened to her parents. Worse, perhaps, was the expression on his face. He'd appeared to like it.

"She kissed him," said Naomi, when I mentioned it at breakfast that morning. "Langdon doesn't think I saw it. But I did."

"But why would she—" I protested. "I didn't even think—"

"Look," Naomi said tiredly, and I saw the sadness in her eyes. "Langdon has a different station than us. He has a reputation to uphold. I think his father would be much less scandalised to hear of Marjorie Selling kissing his son in a carriage than discovering his son in a snicket with another man."

I saw the reasoning, of course — what Marjorie had done was the subject of idle gossip. What I had done could shame Wilkes's family, stain his reputation, and send us both away for life. And if Wilkes was going to play both sides of the aisle and get away with it, there was quite literally nothing I could do to stop him.

"They are a good-looking couple," I admitted.

"Yes, they are," she agreed. "Quite."

"Bloody Sellings," I grumbled, throwing my napkin down angrily.

"I asked Marjorie if she wanted to learn how to hunt," Naomi said offhandedly. "She said no."

"Sometimes, I can't blame her," I said. I leaned back and crossed my arms. "Hunting's not all it's cracked up to be."

"She can ghost-speak, Wells," she said.

I sat forward. "Really?"

"Yes. It's why I asked. That's a rare ability even by hunting standards. I think she could be an exceptional hunter. But she refused because of who her parents are and who her family is. The Sellings pride themselves on male hunters. Not female."

I shrugged. "And according to Norton, Marjorie's the only girl in the family."

Naomi shook her head. "I know something about how that feels."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. It was either irritation at the Sellings or the fact that it appeared that I'd lost Wilkes's undivided attention that I felt pricking at me.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Naomi snapped at me. "Is it so wrong for me to want a female friend, Wells? To have someone to talk to who might understand what I'm going through as a woman in a man's world?"

"I understand—"

"You don't," she said. "Not fully. Of course you make an effort, and that's really all you can do, being a man yourself. Maybe you're not the picture of hyper-masculinity all the time. But when it comes down to it, you have no idea what it's like for me. No idea."

"What we do doesn't exactly allow for a lot of friends, female or otherwise."

"I disagree," she said. "Hunting's all about teamwork. Why do you think the Guilds send out groups of four or five hunters at a time? Each one with a different area of expertise? Because no matter what creature they encounter, they've prepared for it. What we do...it's twice the work. We have to know twice as much, because it's just two of us."