tbo canon
He didn’t think he’d change his mind again so quickly. Going down into the basement, being haunted by the phantoms of hands on him, and then set upon by real phantoms.
Utterly terrifying. Charlie finds himself wondering if the story he heard as a kid is true, about the haunted room in his home at Roseview. But what outweighs the supernatural is how quickly they put Thandi out, and he has to watch as she gets knocked unconscious by these creatures.
He drops his rapier and gets down on his knees, yanking her to his chest. She’s still breathing, and he can still feel her pulse. Good. He presses his hand to her stomach and presses his face to hers, willing her to heal. With more gusto than he usually reserved for these distasteful battles.
He pours in life as thick as he could muster, palm warming against her. There’s the feeling of her fingers on his and his heart jolts back to life. He opens his eyes and she’s looking at him in a way that he’s never seen anyone look before. It warms him as much as the magic does and he smiles at her, hoping he reflects even half as much of this feeling.
Gods, he’s so relieved. She’s squeezed and helped up, legs shaking slightly. He wishes desperately that she would officially take him back. So he could just.
Kiss her better.
And his heart aches when she’s approached again, the literal life being pulled from her like a loose thread. Thandi pales and he pulls her back, wielding his rapier.
“Just kill it,” he hears Thandi say. Well. It’s already dead, anyhow. His sword cuts through the ghost like tissue paper and he watches it dissipate in front of him.
This is much easier than he thought.