Chapter Twenty-Four
Callum fidgets on the paper-covered bed in the examination room, his fists clenched at his sides and his knee bouncing. His phone dings, and he holds it up to show me. It’s a message from Jason saying still alive .
I touch his thigh to still his jittering leg. ‘You coping okay?’
‘Umm,’ he murmurs through a grimace.
‘Can I ask why you hate hospitals so much?’ He immediately stiffens. ‘Sorry. You don’t have to answer that.’
He looks at me with anxious eyes, then his tension drains away on a soft sigh.
‘It’s because of my aunt. She was sick for…
a while, and I used to spend all day in the hospital with her, reading to her as she slowly faded away.
She was always this powerhouse of a woman.
Full of life. This rock always there for me.
It was heartbreaking to see her like that, to know what she was going through and that I was losing her, my last shred of family. I still dream about it sometimes.’
I give his fingers a squeeze. ‘I get it. It happened with my mom too,’ I tell him. ‘I was younger, so Dad sheltered me and my sister as best he could, but I can still remember how awful it was.’
‘It’s the smell and the sounds, you know? All those bad memories come flooding back.’
‘I know exactly what you mean.’
He draws his hand away from mine and grips the side of the narrow bed. ‘Listen. Um… About everything that happened at the house. I, er…’ He rubs at the scruff on his chin and stares at the floor. ‘Holly, I think we should…’
My heart sinks to my stomach. I know where this is going; I saw his face in the cellar.
It’s that other shoe again, but this time it is dropping, and with a thud.
He can’t even look at me, won’t meet my eyes.
My weirdness is too much. The whole thing was too much.
I’d run from me too if I’d seen all of that.
‘It’s okay, Callum. I get it. It was a lot. After what happened in that house, I totally understand if you’ve changed your mind about giving this a go.’
His head snaps up, his face ever tenser than before. ‘That’s not what I was going to say. Is that what you’re thinking? Have you changed your mind about us?’
‘What? No, not at all. I just…’ I drop into a chair. ‘I panicked. I’m so used to expecting the worst.’
Callum puts a hand to his heart. ‘Don’t scare me like that, Holly.’
‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘It’s been a bit of a day, huh?’
He chuckles. ‘Yep.’
‘I’m so glad this job is finally finished. I’m looking forward to getting home.’ I scooch my chair closer to him and look up from under my lashes. ‘Which means… what was it, Jefferies? Bed to shower, bed to shower?’ I grin wickedly.
Surprise flashes across his face, quickly followed by a wide smile. ‘You’re a rollercoaster, Daniels.’
‘One you’re looking forward to riding?’
He bursts out laughing, grabs my face and plants a kiss on my lips, just as the doctor pushes open the door.
‘How are we going in here?’
Callum looks up with a huge grin. ‘Pretty fucking great, Doc.’
It’s a couple of hours until we’re finally back in our rooms. I head to mine telling Callum I’m going to pack for the morning, when what I really need is a moment alone to try to process what happened to me at the house.
I’ve always known that the rosary beads and holy water were only props – bang for my clients’ buck, as Gran used to say – and I’ve long suspected I didn’t have to say the Latin, only think it.
But maybe I don’t need the Latin at all?
Maybe it isn’t the incantation that gets the job done. Maybe it’s just me.
I drop to the bed, a T-shirt clutched in my hands.
I thought I was excited about the changes happening to me, but now I’m scared again.
Because what was that force that shot out of me, and what am I, if I can spark like that?
Maybe it was just a one-off, brought about by my connection to Elizabeth?
After all, she died in the room where my gift literally exploded.
I jam the T-shirt into my bag, suddenly exhausted.
I can think about all of this when I get home and away from here .
That’s if I’m not trapped in my bedroom with Callum, surrounded by takeout containers.
The thought makes me laugh. This investigation has been frustrating and confusing and terrifying, but it’s also been the best thing I’ve ever done.
I abandon my packing and head into Callum’s room. He’s angrily tossing clothes at his duffle bag.
‘That’s an interesting way to pack,’ I say.
‘Just frustrated. I want to go. Put this place behind us. I should have told Rosing to email the paperwork.’
‘It’s only one more night.’
‘One more night I could do without.’
‘I have a theory on Jason,’ I say. ‘If you want to hear it?’ He looks up. ‘What if he was possessed like you were and went to the house and chained himself up, and that’s why he doesn’t remember how he got there?’
‘Could be.’ Callum hangs his head and sighs. ‘I need to talk to you about what went on at the house.’
Oh shit . My stomach clenches. I’m not ready to talk about that.
I still haven’t wrapped my head around it myself.
How do I frame what happened in that cellar in a way that won’t terrify him, when it terrifies me?
But I don’t want to hide what happened from him either.
I want to share everything with him, even the freaky stuff. Just maybe not tonight.
His worried eyes search mine, his teeth tugging on his bottom lip, and I suddenly get that it’s not my electric fingers he wants to talk about, it’s what he nearly did to me.
I don’t want him feeling guilty for something he had no control over.
It wasn’t his fault; I should have sensed the spirit was there.
I’m the one who failed. I’m the one who didn’t have his back.
‘We’ll talk about all of it,’ I say. ‘I promise. But can we do it later? When we’re more relaxed. I’m kind of wiped out.’ I smile.
He chews his lip for a little longer, then finally nods. ‘Okay. Why don’t you go take a nap?’ he says. ‘I’ll wash up and come join you.’
‘Would you overthink it if I napped alone?’
‘Umm. Probably.’
‘I just know that I won’t nap if you’re with me.’
‘Really? What will you do?’
I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his neck. ‘This.’ Then I stretch up and kiss him.
He moans that lovely moan of his, low in the back of his throat, his hands instantly everywhere.
Pulling my hips, stroking my arms, dusting the edge of my breasts, slipping below my waistband.
I’ve never been kissed the way Callum kisses me.
So hungry yet so tender. It feels like he was made to kiss only me, as if his lips were created to fit perfectly with my own.
I slip my arms from his neck and press my palms to his chest, gently pushing him away. ‘This is why I can’t nap with you.’
He smiles and kisses the top of my head. ‘Okay. Go nap, Sunshine. I’ll shower and… er, amuse myself somehow.’ He gives me a lopsided smirk and flick of his brows.
‘Oh god. Too much information,’ I say, but I can’t deny the heat that image prompts between my thighs.