“I’m just going to comment now,” Felix mutters, crossing his arms, “talking about me like this is weird. Makes me feel like…”
“A ghost?” I supply evenly.
“Yes, oh-so-sensitive-one,” he replies, squinting at me.
“Bloody hell, I’m talking to thin air,” she mutters under her breath. Her gaze is slightly off center from where Felix is standing. “You listen to me, young man. If you can help Callie, I’m grateful, but if you harm her, I’ll make hell seem like a vacation spot to you.”
Felix visibly swallows and rubs at the back of his neck. “I know she can’t see me, but damn, Callie’s aunt is scary as hell.”
“He says not to worry,” Nolan supplies, lying out his ass. “He’ll take good care of our girl.”
Donovan snorts.
“What he said,” Felix adds, before taking a deep breath. He bounces on his toes and looks at Kaleb. “Okay, so what do I do? How do I become one with Callie’s mind? Is it like Vulcan mind melds, because I don’t think I watched enough Star Trek for that?”
Kaleb groans, again pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Why is he groaning?” Mildred chirps, her gaze flitting between all of us. “He should not be groaning right now.”
“It’s fine,” Nolan soothes. “Just a bad joke. He does that when he’s nervous.”
“Bad joke?” Felix gasps. “I’ll have you know all my jokes are hilarious and amazing.”
Debating about Felix entering Callie’s mind, I shake her again. Desperation starting to creep back in, and I murmur against her hair, “Por favor, te despiertas, mi tesoro precioso. Te necesitamos… Te necesito.”
I need you to explain to me why… what is it about you? Why do I feel this way about you?My wolf is indifferent to my confusion. He doesn’t care why we must protect this girl, only that we do, but that’s not enough for me. She appeared in my life, and now it feels like her wellbeing is twisted into my own. I don’t just care that she’s okay. Ineedher to be.
“As far as I understand it,” Kaleb explains to Felix, cutting into my thoughts, “It should feel intuitive to you… similar to how you know how to jump between anchors.”
Felix furrows his brow. “You’re all just there. I feel for you and bam I’m there.”
“Well, try feeling for Callie,” Kaleb supplies.
Donovan flashes a look of disbelief at Kaleb. “That’s real helpful of you there.” He rolls his eyes. “Feel for her.”
Kaleb returns an exasperated expression. “I’ve never been a ghost, so I can’t very well walk him through it.”
“I got it, alright,” Felix interrupts. “Just give me a chance.”
He kneels down in front of Callie, his hand hovering just over her shoulder. “Okay, pretty girl,” he whispers. “Help me out here.” He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath with no sound, and reaches into her. Within moments, he’s gone.
Chapter 16
Felix
“It worked… I think,” I mutter to myself looking around the room.
I’m standing in the foyer of a really swanky house that has a deep love of the color white. White tile. White carpets. White walls. What isn’t white seems to be beige or brown, and everything is extra bright due to every light in the house being on. Looking out a nearby window, it looks like a desert wasteland with the closest neighbor a shadowed speck on the horizon of the night sky.
The air feels cold from an overactive air conditioner and smells like cleaning products. For a moment I stand transfixed, lost in the sensation of actually feeling and smelling again. I’m wearing my jeans and t-shirt from earlier, and looking down, there are literal goosebumps running along my arm.
“Damn it, focus. Callie needs us,” I grumble, upset that I literally just did what Kaleb warned me about. As real as everything feels, it isn’t, and somewhere here Callie is trapped within her own mind.
“Callie? Callie, where are you?” I shout, walking farther inside, but I don’t see or hear anyone. “The fuck? Did I screw this up, and I’m lost in some vacant part of her brain?”
I pace and rub at the back of my neck, once again surprised because I can feel both my hand and neck. I’ve been lucky as a ghost that I don’t go through myself, but I still don’t feel anything because that requires a body-- and nerve endings.
“Okay, Felix, think. What would Kaleb tell you to do?” I take a deep slow breath.Oh my god, air in actual lungs. Yeah, I can see how this can get addictive quickly.
