Chapter 27 Callisto
CALLISTO
I pace Jack’s office, back and forth so fast I feel the air shifting behind me. The tapping of keys digs into my skull—sharp, repetitive, mocking me.
We’ve been at this all fucking night. Karma is curled up in the spare chair, her little head perked up and tracking my movements.
I’ve ripped through every tracking spell I could find—the scent of incense still clinging to my hair, reminding me of my failure.
None of it worked.
None of it even came close.
I can feel my magic buzzing under my skin with no direction, and I can’t seem to get it to settle.
“Have you found anything, Jack?” I ask again, for what feels like the hundredth time.
“If I find anything, I’ll tell you,” he mutters, exhaling hard—frustration bleeds into his voice, and I know it’s from both the situation and from me.
“Can you at least tell me what you’re doing?” I ask, my tone tight, eyes sharp with my own bubbling emotions.
Jack stops typing and the silence stretches—long and loud enough to press against my eardrums.
“Calli,” he breathes, trying to keep his cool. “I’m trying to pin his last-known location. I’m in Benjamin Teller’s system. I’m combing through everything: logs, messages, even fucking cached browser data. I’ll find something. Just please let me work.”
His voice is controlled, but I hear the undercurrent of words not spoken. He’s scared, too, and he’s trying not to show it.
“They need him alive,” he repeats again. “Take that as a good sign.”
That doesn’t help. Alive doesn’t mean okay, and it sure as hell doesn’t mean safe.
“This is Cade, Jack. My brother. And they have him!” My voice cracks, fear a raw and hot thing in my throat. “I can’t just keep sitting here with my thumb up my ass and pretend any of this is going to be okay!”
Jack’s jaw twitches, but he stays locked in place, his fingers flexing on the keys as he watches me unravel before him.
“Benjamin wants out and Cade is his ticket. That means he’s useful. That he’s leverage. We don’t know yet if the Covenant has him or if Ben’s working alone. Something’s blocking me from accessing his full system, but I’ll get through it.”
“You have no idea what’s really going on here, Jack! You have no idea what he’s really up against…” I run my fingers into my hair, gripping the roots as I try not to fall apart.
“What are you talking about, Calli?” Jack asks slowly, eyes sharp on my face in that calculating way of his. “If you know something, you need to tell me.”
I need him to believe me… I think, and even my inner voice is hysterical. He needs to know what we’re really up against. My decision made, I close my eyes and focus—allowing my emotions to take over.
My eyes open wide as the lights begin to flicker, Jack’s monitors blinking in and out—his own eyes darting from me to his computer.
“Calli…” he says, paranoia lacing his voice as he shoves away from his desk, “What’s happening?”
“It’s no longer safe for you not to know,” I say, my voice seeming to echo eerily around the room as the air vibrates with energy.
“Know what, Calli?” His voice is raised now. “What the fuck is going on?” I can tell he’s scared, can almost taste his fear in the air—but I need to show him. Cade is in more danger than any of us know.
If the Covenant has him—their God isn’t far behind.
I inhale sharply, feeling the buildup of power in the base of my spine expand—static crawling up my arms and into my fingertips. Every light bulb in the room shatters with a pop, Jack’s computer screens going black as his PC begins smoking.
“Is this you…? Calli! Stop!” His voice is high with panic as he stumbles farther from the desk—away from me.
I don’t stop. The air vibrates more as I allow the built-up energy to flow out of me, my hair lifting in a nonexistent wind.
“Calli, stop!” Jack yells, but I ignore him, my head falling back, eyes closed. I don’t want to stop. A euphoric feeling sings through me, pulling me into something dark until—
“I’ve got you…”
I feel large arms wrapping around me from behind, gripping me in a tight but tender embrace—one hand pressing against my chest, right over my pounding heart.
“Come back to me, I need you to come back to me, Calli.”
His voice is gruff and deep and comforting, my eyes shooting open as I drag in a deep breath—exhaling slowly. The chaotic energy in the room syncs with my heartbeat as it slowly calms and then fades altogether, leaving me trembling in my demon’s arms.
I turn around to see Alabaster placing his finger to his mouth, telling me to stay quiet.
I look back at Jack to see he is now standing pressed against the back wall, papers, pens, and other items strewn about the room. He can’t see Alabaster—the look of horror on his face is because of me.
“Jack,” I breathe out, my eyes watering at the look of fear in his eyes as he stares at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know I—”
He cuts me off, his shaking voice tight with demand. “What the fuck was that, Calli?”
“It’s the reason the Covenant wants me,” I confess, my eyes lowering to the floor.
“But—no. That doesn’t— Does Cade know?” he asks, stumbling over his words as he shakes his head, like clearing it will make this all make sense.
“He does now. He found out recently, actually…” My own voice is soft as I watch him struggle to come to grips with his whole world changing under him.
“So the Covenant—the God—it’s real…” He trails off, staring at the wall with unseeing eyes.
“Yeah.” I hesitate, worrying my lower lip. “If they have him, Jack… He isn’t safe.” There’s a plea in my voice as I beg him to try and understand. “I have next to no information on the God they worship, but I know he is their only means of finding me.”
“No…” He shakes his head again and shoves away from the wall, skirting past me. “This is fucking crazy.” He leaves the room quickly and I follow, my hand reaching out for him when he spins.
“Stop,” he commands, hands up, as if to hold me back, and I freeze. He’s… shaking. “I—I need a minute.” I bow my head and he turns, stumbling his way down the hall, not looking back. I stand in the doorway. Defeated.
“I didn’t mean to scare him,” I whisper, wrapping one arm around myself. “I don’t know what happened. I thought that if I could show him, he would let me help.” I rest my other hand over my forehead, my eyes falling closed.
“Five more minutes and you could have killed him,” I hear Alabaster say from behind me, his voice tight.
“Please—don’t say that.” I sigh, keeping my back to him. “I don’t even know what I did.”
“You’re scared for your brother and you have too much power built up inside you. You’re basically a walking energy bomb right now.”
“I just wanted to show him… I—I didn’t know…” My voice cracks as I take a step into the hallway. “I need to talk to him…”
“Let him go,” he says seriously, large hand clasping my arm. “He needs to process, and you need to ground yourself. For both of your sakes.” Tears begin streaming down my face and I drop to my knees, a wounded sound ripping from my throat.
I’m finally able to access my power, and I almost killed my best friend with it. I’ve only ever done anything like that by accident, as a kid. One of the many reasons my parents kept me away from everyone—including Cade.
I choke back a scream, my head bowing, my nails curling into the rug.
Why didn’t he listen to me?
Why the fuck does he have to do everything alone?
My blood feels too hot in my veins, my skin too tight, and my magic is coiling in my gut like it wants out—like it wants violence. Alabaster is right… I need to leave Jack alone until I get a handle on myself.
Stumbling to my feet, I head toward my room before I do something even more reckless, my feet dragging against the hallway floor. The house feels smaller than usual—like it’s closing in around me…
I need to focus.
I can’t lose myself. Not again.
As I stand in the middle of my room, I look around and I feel all of my jagged edges… The memory of the day my parents carved the mark on me flashes to the forefront of my mind.
It was a Sunday morning. I remember I was so excited because my mother had brought me a beautiful pink dress to wear.
She had brushed my hair and helped me get ready.
It was the most time I can remember ever having spent with my mom.
She told me we were going someplace special before she placed the sack over my head.
She told me we were going to play a game and I was to count to five.
One, two, three, four, five.
I felt a prick on my shoulder—it stung, leaving a dull ache in my muscle.
“Mommy, that hurt!” I had whimpered.
“Shh. It’s okay, Callisto,” she said while caressing my hand. “It’s all part of the game.” She spoke the words softly as my eyes got heavy and I fell asleep.
When I woke, I was in a chair in a strange room. The marble floor was covered in intricate markings that flowed in a big circle—with me at the center. My mouth was covered in a soft cloth that was tied around my head.
I looked up with hazy eyes and saw dark figures entering the room—chanting something I couldn’t understand. One of them held a dagger in their hand as they approached me and let their hood fall down. It was my mom.
“My little girl,” she cooed so sweetly. “I am so proud of you. You have shown us that you were meant for great things, that you will be the one to usher us into the next era.”
I tried to tell her I was scared, but my pleas were too muffled.
They all surrounded me as my mother, wielding the dagger, went behind me. I felt them grip a large handful of my hair and force my head down. I cried out as I felt the blade begin to carve into my skin—
I rip myself from the memory, instinctively reaching for the jagged scar on the back of my neck.
I wasn’t supposed to live long enough to be able to use this power…
I sigh as I plop down on my bed, flinging myself back and pulling the covers over my head.
Fuck me… I grumble in my head, I’m so selfish… Cade is in danger and here I am thinking about myself… I’m not helping anyone right now… If anything, I’ve only made things worse… I just destroyed Jack’s computer and his perception of reality all at once.
“Get out of your head,” I hear Alabaster say above me, and I clutch the blanket tighter.
“No… I need to think,” I mumble, turning to bury my face in the pillow.
“No, you need to act. You have all of this energy, so use it—when directed it can be useful,” he says, pulling the blanket off my body. I glare weakly up at him.
“I didn’t even know I was capable of that kind of power until five minutes ago!” I can’t help but whine, my words bitter. “How the hell do you expect me to know how to use it?”
“You may not realize it—but you are far more capable than you believe. Materializing that mask, for example? You didn’t think, you wanted it, and you gave it to yourself.”
“But I didn’t want to try and kill Jack,” I counter. “You fail to prove your point.”
“No, you wanted to show your power, and that you did.” He says it calmly, not at all rising to the bait of my attitude.
He’s right, I realize. Everything I’ve ever done has been on instinct. I shake my head before speaking, my words softer now.
“How? What can I possibly do right now?”
“Use them,” he says, pointing to seemingly nothing. I look around, confused.
“What the actual fuck are you talking about?”
“You’ve been around me for too long. My energy must be hiding them from you.” He sighs, taking a step away from the bed and then fading into the shadows. “Focus. We aren’t alone here,” he says softly.
I cock a brow and sit up, curling my legs under me and closing my eyes as I attempt to search the room in my mind’s eye. My spine goes rigid as I feel a faint, gentle presence. One I have felt before.
You…
I snap my eyes open to meet Alabaster’s burning gaze as he once again steps from the shadows.
“The spirit attached to Cade? Why are they here?” I breathe, my voice hushed like I might scare them away.
“You called them for him. You are both bound to them,” he tells me, his tone matter-of-fact. “But your brother has formed a soul tie with them, tethering the two to each other. If you can manage it—and if they’re willing—you can create a temporary soul tie. You should be able to see him.”
“Is that even possible? Why haven’t you told me about this before?” I ask, my voice laced with accusation.
“I had no reason to.” He shrugs. “And honestly, I didn’t think you would be able to perform such a ritual. You proved you had the power in you last night when you asked about the mask and I realized that you had conjured it. Now it’s worth trying, considering you’re currently out of options.”
“I’m willing to try anything if it will help Cade,” I tell him, determination making me sit up straighter. “How do I do it?”
“I’ve never done something like this personally,” he admits, “but do you remember how you let me take control when I was trapped in your body?”
“How could I forget?” I mumble in a low tone, goose bumps prickling along my arms at the memory.
“You need to let the ghost in like you let me out. If they’re willing—it will work. You just need to focus your intentions,” he says. His voice is soft and he’s looking at me like he believes in me. I try to hide the self-doubt in my eyes.
“Close your eyes.” He sighs, bending down on one knee and placing his hand on my thigh. “Picture the presence and focus on it.”
I close my eyes and steady my breathing, searching my mind and—
“I see… an iridescent smoke,” I say with soft surprise in my tone.
“Tell them what you want,” he says quietly, his fingers gently tightening on my thigh, as if to ground me.
I pause, trying to think of the right thing to say, knowing I need to get this right…
“Show me Cade,” I say with intent, my voice ringing with power. “Please…” I add mentally.
The smoke begins to pulse, becoming brighter and brighter as my head throws itself back. I feel pressure in my eyes, and the bright light fades into the image of a dark room…
“I—I can see him…” I gasp breathlessly. “I’m with him.”