I nod, taking in the information. The sandwiches are good, but they’re not extraordinary by any means. His senses seem to be heightened in some way. I wonder if Calliope’s spell has had some kind of unseen effect on him that we weren’t aware of.
“Anything else different?”
Keagan glances around the room. “Not really. I feel pretty normal otherwise, it’s just like—I don’t know—everything tastes better, and my appetite for things is stronger.”
“Interesting. Something we’ll keep an eye on it. Finish eating. We’ll talk more later.”
“And fuck. Don’t think I forgot.”
“How could I?”
Keagan’s smile is bright, and he looks more alert than he has since Calliope cast the protection spell. That little nap did something to him. Exactly what it did is yet to be discovered. Not that I’m complaining that he’s interested in being physical withme, but I have a nagging sense that there’s more going on than meets the eye.
Chapter 17
Keagan
It’s taken me a while to snap out of whatever overtook me earlier today when I jumped all over Wilder, but I can’t say it wasn’t worth it. In fact, it was kind of amazing. I’m just not exactly sure how it started.
I step into the shower in the hallway bathroom, closing my eyes as the hot water falls around me, and try to remember everything that happened earlier. Obviously, I remember what I did, what I wanted to do, but I don’t remember how I got from taking a nap to climbing all over my hot savior. He didn’t seem to mind though, so I guess that’s okay.
My moods are scattered still, swinging from hungry to horny and back again. I press my hands to the shower wall, letting the steamy water work out the knots in my neck and back, and I drift back to the strange dream I had earlier, but it’s already fading, almost like it didn’t really happen.
I want to go back to my house and see what’s going on, but at the same time, I kind of don’t. If what Wilder and everyone is telling me is true, then I’m some kind of magnet for spirits, and that doesn’t sound like a good time. But I’ll have to face it eventually. I can’t hide out in Wilder’s house forever. Probably.
After my shower, I wrap a towel around my waist and plop down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating how I got here. In some ways, it’s all my dad’s fault. I never would have pursued any of the occult stuff if it hadn’t been for what happened with him. All I wanted was to know the truth, and I’m still very far from that. Leave it to an absent father to still fuck things up for me, even after death.
Doesn’t matter though. It is what it is, and I’m hoping if I go back to the house, I can get the answers I need before Wilder does his job. And I have to let Wilder do his job. It’s not like my dad can just stay here now that he’s dead, even if he doesn’t believe he is.
As soon as I think that, my chest tightens and a stabbing pain moves to the center of my back. I gasp, clutching my chest, wondering if somehow, at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, I’m having a heart attack.
Before I can panic too much though, the air turns blurry right before my eyes, like I’m looking ahead on the highway on a hot day, and the outline of a man appears.
I immediately recognize it as my dad.
“Dad, how did you get here?”
My mind reminds me that there’s supposedly a protection spell on this house.
“You think that witch can keep me away from you?” His body is hazy, but his voice is as clear as day.
I squint to make him out a little better. It’s like he’s standing in thick fog. I can see him, but he’s obscured.
“What do you mean?”
“That so-called spell she pulled isn’t strong enough to keep me away. I’m stronger than she thinks.”
“How?”
“I have you. It was you summoning all those other spirits that helped me out. I was able to use their energy. Now I can go anywhere I want.”
“Oh, that’s good,” I say, even as foreboding spreads through me. “Um, how are you?”
Is that a thing you can ask a dead person?
“Listen, Keagan, we’re wasting time. We need to get going on this project, and the sooner you get out of captivity, the better.”
“I’m not being held captive, Dad.”
