I groan when I wake up in the morning, immediately clutching my pounding head and rolling over in the blankets that are spread beneath me on the bathroom floor.

I pant a little, working my sticky tongue in my mouth, desperate for some water – but god, every time I move it’s agony –

I moan, disgusted with myself and in absolute physical agony. My wolf gives a sad little yip, laying prone in my soul.

A few minutes pass as I clean myself up, brushing my teeth with a toothbrush I find by the sink and guzzling down a few glasses of water. That done, I allow myself to sink back down to the floor, staring up at the black marble ceiling, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do next.

God, things have gotten very bad very fast, haven’t they?

I mean, I don’t regret coming to save Blythe and I’m still determined to do it, but even if I do win the Prince’s hand and get the wish, I’ll just be sending Blythe back to life when I’m stuck here.

How does that solve anything?

I press my eyes shut, feeling sick and alone and overwhelmed.

I miss my mother with a sudden urgency that surprises me as I remember her face, the fear on it when she saw me make the deal and disappear. Because my family will be frantic now and even if I did want to leave royal life – I never wanted to hurt them.

As I think mournfully of my mother, who I know would do anything to help me right now, I remember quite suddenly that temple I was taken from isn’t dedicated to just any Goddess – it’s to my grandmother, the woman responsible for blessing my mom with her healing magic.

That lineage has got to be good for something, right?

“Um,” I say, sitting up and feeling awkward as I call out to the air around me. “Grandma?”

I look around, feeling foolish when there’s no response from the Goddess, who hasn’t exactly been present in my life. But then I press my eyes shut, thinking that there’s no real harm in a little prayer. “Um, I’m…all alone here and kind of in a sticky situation. I know that you’re busy but…if there’s anything you can do to help me?”

I hold my breath for a second, but when silence reigns I just sigh and lay down on the ground, disappointed and exhausted. My head still pounds so I keep my eyes shut, letting my mind turn over my problems while my body rests.

I start a little at the sound of a windchime tinkling in the air, thinking that’s a bit of a strange accessory for the Underworld. But I let it slip out of my mind, yawning, letting my eyes drift open and turning my head back towards the ceiling.

But the ceiling isn’t there.

No, instead, I find myself staring up into a huge pair of eyes staring curiously down into mine.

I shriek in terror, skittering away from the gigantic blue wolf standing with his muzzle just inches from my face.

He flinches too, leaping back as I scurry to the wall of the bathroom, pressing my back up against it. Panting with fear, I stare at him, completely shocked – because how the hell did a wolf get in here!?

But as he stares back at me I realize that he’s not snarling or even moving towards me. And he’s also not even…real.

My mouth falls open as I peer closer and realize that the wolf is…transparent, and blue, the visible lines of his body and his fur traced out in shining blue and white light. That he’s also a little bit…sparkly. “What…what are you!?”

The wolf lifts one huge paw, moving towards me, and I shriek again, my hands flying out to protect myself.

The wolf jumps at the sound, freezing, and then, hesitating, takes a step back.

We stare at each other for a long time before he sits. And then he lays down, resting his face on his paws with a sigh. I turn my head at him, my face twisting in confusion because…can wolves sigh?

He turns his head, looking away towards the door and I suddenly notice that he has – of all bizarre things – a blue ribbon around his neck.

And attached to it…a note.

Slowly, I force myself to inch towards the wolf, terrified. But he just watches me come, making no move. Keeping an eye on his muzzle, surely filled with razor-sharp teeth, I reach for the ribbon. My fingers pass right through the wolf’s fur where I touch it as if it’s just light and air.

But the ribbon is solid. I untie it, sliding the note off of his neck and into my hands.

Then, fascinated, I plop down on the floor next to the wolf, unfolding the little note and reading it with wide eyes. He lifts his head, likewise interested, peering at the script.

A gift for my granddaughter.

I turn the note over, looking for more but…there’s nothing.

“You’re for me?” I whisper, a little awed, looking up at the wolf.

He huffs, rolling his eyes, but makes no protest.

Cheer and hope fill me and I bite my lip, grinning at my wolf. “Please don’t bite me,” I whisper, leaning forward towards him.

He huffs again, turning his face away like he thinks it’s a stupid request. I hesitate but then stretch my fingers out, trying to stroke his fur. And while I feel the barest tingle on my skin, my fingertips again pass through him as if through air. My own wolf peers at this strange ghost before us, frustrated when she can’t get a whiff of his scent because, of course, it doesn’t exist.

I take a deep breath, grinning at my weird present, getting to my feet and suddenly feeling much better. It can’t mean nothing, right, that the Goddess heard my prayer and listened?

Perhaps things are looking up.

Quite suddenly I want a bath - to be clean and fresh. Once that’s done I’ll figure out what this wolf can do and come up with a plan.

I turn towards the corner of the room where a huge tub sits – nearly the size of a pool and built into the open wall of the terrace. I sigh happily, infused with hope, stepping towards the tub and flipping on the taps to fill it. Then I reach for the laces at the back of my dress.

A nervous whine sounds behind me and my inner wolf turns towards it, curious. But I concentrate on unlacing my gown, which slips down over my shoulders.

“Um!” The word rings out behind me, incredibly anxious.

My eyes flare wide as I spin towards the sound, my jaw dropping open when I see not the ghost wolf standing in the bathroom behind me where I left him.

But, in his place – likewise shining blue and transparent – a boy.

A boy!

I gasp, clutching my dress to my chest, appalled.

“Please,” he says, holding out a hand and grimacing. “You…you might not want to do that.”

“Who the hell are you!?” I shout, horrified, stumbling back.

“I’m – I’m the wolf!” the boy sputters, gesturing at his tall, lanky form which is indeed made up of the same shining blue and white light as the wolf.

“You’re a guy!?” I gasp, appalled.

“I…yeah?” he responds, giving an awkward shrug. “I’m…sorry?”

I glance down at my loosened dress and my temper slips its lead. “You asshole!” I snap, striding forward and swatting a hand at him, enraged. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re really a boy before I started to get undressed!? God, you creep –“

He gasps as my hand passes through his incorporeal body, his eyes flaring wide.

“Hey!” he snaps, glaring at me. “I did tell you! And you aren’t even undressed, you just started –“

“You could have told me earlier!” I shout, smacking again even though it doesn’t do anything. “You could have announced it when you first showed up! Ew, I petted you! You –“

“Hey!” he snarls, taking a step towards me and glaring down into my face, his own temper flaring. “I’m new to all of this too! If I’d known I could shift into my human form, obviously I would have done it sooner!”

Something about this makes me pause. “You – you didn’t know?”

“No,” he snaps, standing straight and sketching an ironic bow my way. “Newly dead, your highness – first five minutes as a ghost. So, please forgive me if I also don’t know what the hell is going on!”

“You’re…dead? You’re a ghost?” I ask, my voice a whisper, my eyes moving up and down his body.

He’s tall – almost as tall as my dad and my brothers, but much slimmer than them. And not a boy, I realize, though his features are boyish. No, he’s older than me, somewhere in his twenties. Still, he’s handsome, with dark hair that falls into his face and a long, straight nose. As I look at him, tilting my head to the side, I can’t help but think that it’s rather a shame that he’s dead.

And then my heart sinks as I realize that he had the same fate as Blythe - that they’re both just two young men dead way before their time. Grief sinks in me and I sigh, looking up into the boy’s face, all the anger and vigor going out of me at once.

“Well, who the hell are you?” I grumble, working hard to rekindle my anger so I don’t cry anymore.

“I’m Anton,” he says, his smile softening as he takes in the emotions passing over my face, the grief I’m feeling for him, the confusion for myself. Anton presses a hand to his chest and dips his head. “At your service, highness.”

I sigh, studying him, wishing quite vehemently that neither of us was here in this horrible place. “I’m sorry that you died, Anton.” I say the words very quietly, hoping he takes them as earnestly as I mean them.

Slowly, Anton lifts his eyes to mine. “It was for a good cause, highness,” he says. “I wouldn’t take back the act that made me lose my life.”

I turn my head at him, curious, but when he drops his eyes and looks away, grief sweeping over his features, I let him have his space. Perhaps, later, when it’s not so fresh, he’ll tell me about it.

“How do you know who I am?” I ask.

“What?” He turns his face back to me, confused.

“You called me Juniper,” I say, straightening my shoulders. “How do you know my name? Did my grandmother tell you?”

The ghost boy just stares at me for a long moment. Too long.

I narrow my eyes at him further, my lips pressing tight together, my anger starting to coil again. I mean, is he another trick? Was he not sent by my grandmother, but by someone else eager to see me fail?

“Juniper,” the ghost boy says, his face bursting into a grin. “I mean, to begin, you’re a princess – you’re basically a celebrity. How could I not know who you are?”

I go still for a second but then my shoulders slump in embarrassment. Because of course he’s right. Everyone in Moon Valley – maybe our entire world – knows who I am. A blush flushes across my cheeks and his smile widens.

“But also…yeah,” he shrugs. “Your Grandmother told me she was sending me to you.”

“Really?” I ask, stepping closer, staring up at him. “What happened?”

“Um,” he glances down at me with a little grimace. “Can you like…not be as undressed as you are while we have this conversation?”

I gasp, glancing down at myself, bursting into another blush as I realize that I am kind of just clutching a piece of fabric to my chest. “Oh, go away,” I snarl, shoving at his shoulder and then stumbling a little as – of course – my hand passes right through him.

Anton laughs at me again goodheartedly, stepping away as I straighten up, grinning when he sees my blush deepen. “Listen, I’d love to let you have your privacy, but I don’t think I can go away.”

“What?” I ask, clutching the dress a little tighter.

“Um, I’m like…tied to you, Juniper,” he says with a shrug. “Even when you went a quarter of the way across the room, I felt like…a tug, pulling me with you\. And when you start to go further, it gets…scary. Like if I don’t follow you I’m going to disappear.”

I just gape at him, horrified at the idea that he could just disappear but also…kind of appalled that I apparently can’t be alone anymore.

“How long is the…tether?” I ask, searching for a better word.

“Like a few feet?” he says, grimacing. “I mean, we can experiment with it but,” he shrugs. “I’d prefer not to puff away to dust. I’ve already died once recently. Not trying to…repeat the experience.”

My heart sinks at the joke. Anton tries hard for a smile, but that falls away too.

“Okay,” I say with a sigh, looking longingly at the bath as the taps stop automatically, very much wanting to climb into it.

“Look, I’ll turn around,” he says. “I’ll even like…hum? If you want? So I can’t hear anything?”

I whip my head back to him with a frown. “Why would it matter if you heard something?”

“I don’t know,” he says, his eyes going wide as he spreads his hands out in front of him, “I don’t know what girls do in baths –“

“Oh my god, Anton,” I cry, scowling at him as I storm to the side of the tub.

“You are making this way dirtier than it needs to be, Juniper!” he shouts after me. “I didn’t mean anything like that – I was just being nice, trying to give you privacy –“

“Around, Anton!” I snap, turning to glare at him and twirling my finger in a circle, indicating that he should do the same. “Pets must be obedient, after all. And silent.”

Anton stares at me for a long moment, clearly appalled at being referred to as my pet.

But I just grin at him, a little wicked, and he blinks once before he huffs a low laugh, his face breaking into a smile. “Yes, your highness,” he says, dipping into a mocking little bow with his hands spread wide at his sides.

And then, to my distinct pleasure, he sighs and turns around.

“Good boy,” I murmur, making him laugh and shake his head again as I drop my wedding dress to the ground.

The moment I get into the bath, I take a deep breath and duck underneath the steamy water, sinking all the way down to the depths until my ass hits the bottom.

Because I still haven’t found my fiancé, and I’m apparently competing to marry another man, and my grandmother has sent me a pet ghost to…what?

Help me out?

I run out of air before I come up with any answers and push myself to the surface, breathing in deeply and pushing the long strands of my dark hair back from my face.

“You alive in there?” Anton asks, his voice terribly dry.

“Are you?” I return, snappier than I probably mean to be.

But to my surprise and pleasure, he laughs.

“All right,” he says on a sigh. “I walked into that. You were just…under there for a long time.”

“So, fill me in,” I say as I find a lemongrass-scented bar of soap and pull into the bath with me. “What did my grandma say?”

“She said that I’m supposed to be your…” Anton sighs and shakes his head, letting it hang a little. “Your handmaid.”

“My handmaid!?” I burst out laughing, grinning towards the back of Anton’s head.

“Listen, don’t get me started,” he murmurs. “Apparently it’s a loophole – royalty are, historically, allowed to bring the dead spirits of their handmaidens to help serve them in their afterlife. She said to tell you that she heard your prayer and this was the best that she could do.”

A little smile comes to my lips as I listen, because I was feeling very, very alone just a little bit ago. But knowing that my grandmother has an eye on me and is sending me aid? Honestly, it helps more than I thought it could.

“So, what’s your like…job?” I ask, glancing over at his glowing blue form.

He laughs, I think a little rueful. “Your idea is as good as mine, kid. I’m just supposed to help. What do you need help with?”

I purse my lips, considering, flicking my eyes over to him. “How do I know I can trust you?” I ask, suspicious. Honestly, after last night, my willingness to trust strangers I meet in the underworld is very, very low.

Anton just laughs and stars to turn, making me squeak in horror and dip my head lower into the bath so that just my eyes peer over the edge.

“Oh for heaven’s sake, Juniper, I can’t see anything –“

“Seriously!? I ask you how I can trust you and you immediately betray my trust by trying to sneak a peak!?”

“Sneak a…a peak?” he asks, crossings his arms and fighting his grin. “You seriously think that’s my priority right now?”

I just narrow my eyes and glance around, noting that the sides of the pool-like tub are indeed quite high. I give up my offended stance and lift my chin higher, letting him see the frown on my mouth. “How do I know I can trust you, ghost boy?”

He just smirks at me. “You can’t know for sure. You should just do it.”

“What!?”

“Just do it,” he says, laughing a little. “Trust me. I’m trustworthy.”

“Which is exactly what an underworld minion would say,” I murmur, suspicious.

“Nah, I’m cool,” Anton sighs, brushing my suspicion off like it can’t possibly matter. “But come on – fill me in. What is this thing I’m sent to help you with? Surely you’re not just hanging out in the underworld for the luxurious bathing facilities.”

I smirk a little, my wolf turning happily in my soul and giving me a little nudge, urging me to trust him. So I sigh and give into it, trusting her and considering that what I’ve got to say is basically public knowledge at this point.

“I’m kind of in a competition.”

He raises an eyebrow at me.“What happens if you lose?”

I wrinkle my nose in distaste. “I think I…die.”

His mouth drops open.

“I mean, it’s unclear!” I shout out, glaring at him over the edge of the tub.

Anton groans, turning away and covering his face with his palms. “Juniper!”

“What!?”

“How the hell did you get involved in this!?”

“I kind of…agreed to it! By accident! I mean, they completely tricked me, but there’s a really good prize at the end!”

Anton turns back to me, his face quite stern and serious, and listens carefully while I fill him in on the rules of the competition and the details of the powerful wish given to the victor at the end – powerful enough to bring a soul back from the dead. His expression turns completely at this, distracted, his mind at work. Quietly, while he considers the details of this stupid deal I got trapped into, I finish washing myself, feeling much fresher as the minutes tick past.

“Listen here, Sinclair,” Anton says, and I jump a little when I turn and see him kneeling by the side of the tub, close enough to meet me eye-to-eye but not high enough to peer over the edge and spy on me.

Still, my eyes go wide and my breath stops, because this is the closest I’ve ever been to a guy without any of my clothes on. Blythe and I never got that far.

And, I mean, Anton’s a ghost but…he’s still a boy.

He smirks, his eyes traveling over my face, sensing my anxiety.

“What?” I snap, splashing him with the bathwater, making him laugh as the water droplets move right through him.

“What’s your plan for that wish?” he asks, turning his head to the side.

I go quite still, because even if my wolf has decided to trust Anton, I’m still wary yet. “I’m not sure I’m ready to divulge that information, ghost boy.”

He shrugs. “Fine. But do you think you can work me into it?”

I move a little closer to him despite myself, folding my fingers over the edge of the tub and looking curiously into his face. “What do you mean?”

“Whatever the wish is,” he says, holding my gaze steadily. “When you win it, do you think you could find a way to wish me back to life alongside whatever else it is you’re wishing for?”

I turn my head as I stare back at him, considering it. “I honestly don’t know, Anton.”

“Well, if I offered to go along with your grandmother’s plan and help you out with this weird wedding competition, would you be willing to try? If it were possible?”

The corners of my lips turn up. “Don’t you kind of have to help me anyway, handmaid?”

A silent little laugh shakes his shoulders, making my smile deepen. “I don’t have to do anything,” he says, sounding quite profligate indeed. “I can just lay around in the underworld, lounging uselessly. Heckling you from the sidelines.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I hiss.

He just grins. “Try me, Princess.”

“Fine,” I say, grinning back at him, meaning it. “I swear it, on my family name. If I can use the wish to bring you back alongside my other intentions, I’ll do it. Gladly.”

“Then we’ve got a deal,” he says, holding out his hand. I reach for it instantly, intending to give him a nice hearty shake.

But, of course, my hand moves right through his.

“Good enough,” Anton says, seating himself more comfortably on the floor and lounging back, leaning his weight on his palms. “So, tell me – who’s this guy you’re trying to marry?”

“I know he’s the Prince of the Underworld,” I say, “We find out more tonight, though – I have to go to the Palace for the Selection Ceremony.“