City of Ghosts

Cassidy is left speechless when Lara calls herself a ghost hunter. Lara has the same glow in her chest that Cassidy has, but hers is rose-colored, and Cassidy’s is blue. Both girls confess they sensed something different about each other the first time they met. Cassidy confides she thought she was the only one who could cross the Veil. Lara calls the Veil the “in-between” (133), and Cassidy assumes Lara cannot see Jacob. They hear ghosts approaching as they quickly exit through the Veil, but Jacob grabs Cassidy and warns her about Lara. He is frightened, having seen her turn the ghost to ash. Cassidy closely follows Lara, anxious to see if she has answers to her questions about the Veil, but Jacob does not follow.

Lara explains she also feels the heaviness of Edinburgh: “I thought in-between back in London was bad, but there’s something about this city, can’t you feel it? Like a lead blanket—” (134). Lara explains that her job as a ghost hunter is to find spirits who are stuck in between and set them free; it perplexes her that Cassidy doesn’t do the same. Lara also reveals she can see Jacob, and she tells Cassidy she needs to do something about him.