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one condition. No Tori. The last thing we need is her whipping a fireball at Royce. ”
“All right. ”
I went upstairs to get Tori down for breakfast. I took her into our confidence and asked for her help by keeping Margaret busy and letting us know if Andrew showed up. She’d have rather come to the summoning, but she seemed okay with that.
After breakfast, we decided to do the summoning in the basement-far from Andrew, without the dangers of the roof. And, I’ll admit, Simon and I were eager to get a look down there.
For the first time in my life, I walked into a basement and shivered only from an actual draft. It was exactly as Derek had described it-two big rooms full of stored stuff and a small workshop. Simon joked about secret passages, but Derek squelched that idea.
I did my usual thing-closed my eyes and knelt. I could imagine Dr. Banks from his photo. Austin was tougher, because I kept seeing his bloodied body, and that didn’t help me relax. So I mainly focused on Dr. Banks, concentrating to the point where I could sense that inner alarm ready to go off, saying it wasn’t safe to go farther.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Simon said. “You twitched. ”
“Try it again,” Derek said.
I did, and still nothing happened, but Simon said, “Yeah, that was a definite twitch. Your eyelids moved, like you saw something. ”
The next time I tried, I did feel it, a little spark that made me flinch. I sighed and shifted.
“Take your time,” Simon murmured. “No one’s going anywhere. ”
I summoned, fighting the urge to crank it up another notch. There was a spirit present. I felt that same hyper-awareness that I did with bodies, like I was straining to hear a voice too faint for my ears to detect. Goose bumps speckled my arms.
“I want to take off my necklace. ”
I braced for a fight, but Derek only nodded. “Lift it over your head slowly, and keep it in your hands for now. See if that makes a difference. ”
I closed my eyes and grasped the necklace.
“No!”
I jumped, then looked from Simon to Derek, but I knew it wasn’t one of them.
“She’s back,” I said. “The woman. ”
When I summoned again, the sensation returned, stronger now, and it took all my willpower not to ramp it up and yank the spirit through.
“Careful,” the voice whispered.
My goose bumps rose higher.
“C-can I see you, p-please?” My voice wavered. I cleared my throat and tried again, but still stammered through it.
“Chloe?” Derek said.
I followed his gaze to my hands. They were shaking. I clenched the necklace and took a deep breath.
“Is it your aunt?” Simon asked.
I shook my head. “No. I-” I was about to say I didn’t know who it was, but I couldn’t get the words out. I knew who this was. I just didn’t dare believe it.
“Listen, baby…Have to listen…”
Listen, baby. I knew who called me that. I knew this voice.
“Mom?”
Twenty-six
“WHAT?” SIMON SAID, SHIFTING forward. “Your mom’s here?”
“No. ” I shook my head sharply. “She’s not. I-I-I-” I took another breath and clenched my shaking hands. “I don’t know why I said that. ”
“You’re exhausted,” Derek said.
“What if it is?” Simon said.
I caught the look Derek shot him, telling him to be quiet. Still, he asked me, “If there’s a ghost there, do you want to keep trying?” He met my gaze. “It probably isn’t her. ”
“I know. ”
I closed my eyes. I wanted this to be my mom. From the day I’d learned I could speak to the dead, I’d been pushing this possibility from my mind as hard as I could. Even thinking about talking to her made my chest tighten.
“
But I was terrified, too. My mom was a distant, cherished memory. She was hugs and laughter and everything good about my childhood. Thinking of her was like being three years old again, curled up on her lap, completely safe and loved. But I wasn’t three anymore, and I knew she wasn’t the perfect mom of my memory.
My mother had put me in this experiment. She’d wanted a child so badly that she’d enrolled in the Edison Group’s study. Yes, they’d told her they would fix the side effects that led to her brother’s death. But still, she’d had to have known she was taking a risk.
“Chloe?” Simon said.
“S-sorry. Let me try again. ”
I closed my eyes and forgot all of that. If it was my mother, I wanted to see her, no matter what she really was, no matter what she’d done.
So when I summoned, I allowed myself to picture my mother, to call her by name.
“-hear me?” Her voice came again, so soft I could catch it only while I was concentrating. I pulled a little harder.
“No!…enough…not safe. ”
“What’s not safe? Summoning you?”
Her answer was too weak to make out. I opened my eyes and peered around, searching for any sign of a ghost. To my left, I caught a shimmer, like heat rising off the floor. I held my necklace out for Derek.
“No!” the voice said. “…put it…not safe. ”
“But I want to see you. ”
“…can’t…Sorry, baby. ”
My chest clenched. “P-please. I just want to see you. ”
“…know…can’t…necklace…safe. ”
Derek gave it back. I lowered it over my head, but resumed summoning, stronger now, pulling-
