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I jerked forward, my head swimming just a little, and reached out to take Dev’s hand. “Stop it. Don’t be stupid. This is myjob, Dev. This is what I chose to do with my life. You didn’tmakeme do anything, and it’s certainly not your fault. You only try to help people. Be it by proving to them that they need to call a contractor and get some shit fixed or giving them something to believe in so they can calm their fears. This isn’t like any other case we’ve done. There arewaymore unexplained things going on here than usual. But, again, not your fault. So, stow the guilt. It’s misplaced.”
“Thanks for saying that,” he said and flashed me a smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
I took a breath, feeling Pax’s hands tighten on me where he still touched me. “Okay, so . . . beliefs aside, I want to at least try to understand whatyouall think. You’re saying that this dark entity—god, I feel stupid even saying that out loud, andwhydo people who don’t even believe in gods still use that turn of phrase? Anyway . . . —you’re saying that this thing has affected me enough in some way that I am now going all X-Men when I don’t even realize it?”
“Simple but effective thought process and description there, Sky. I like it,” Hanlen said, and Dev just shook his head.
“In the simplest terms . . . yes. And I think that opening you so much with the hypnosis and the spell backfired a bit and made you even more susceptible temporarily. When you were out, Lark and I did some energy work on you, and we think we calmed things down, but we honestly won’t know for sure until we test it out.”
“And how do we do that?” I asked, a bit of a scoff in my voice, even though I liked the idea of experimentation.
“I need to let you go,” Pax said, and I felt a weird shift in my belly. It had nothing to do with what was going on and everything to do with the completely unrelated meaning to those words. I shoved it into the back of my head with all the other things I’d need to work through later and turned to him a bit more.
“Okay, let’s test it.” I moved away a little and stood, still holding Pax’s hand. Dev, Harper, and Hanlen took up places around me, assumably to protect me in case anything happened. I looked down at Pax and met his eyes as I slowly slipped my hand from his.
I felt a bit of pressure in my head and chest, but things were quiet, and I seemed okay.
“So?” Dev asked.
“It’s like it was before. Like it’s been. I get a weird pressure, and it causes me to feel a little tired—kind of like having eye strain but in your whole body—but I can function fine.”
“Okay, good,” Birdie said and nodded her head, a look of relief sliding across her face.
“I really don’t want you there tonight,” Pax said, and I looked at him again where he still sat on the couch.
“Well, it’s a good thing that it’s not your decision, then.”
“Schuyler . . .”
“Paxton,” I mocked, and the corners of his lips quirked as he shook his head.
I flopped down on the couch next to him and took his hand, looking him square in the face. “I appreciate your concern, I really do.” I looked around at the others. “All of you. But this is my fight now. More than I ever wanted it to be. I don’t know what will happen. I don’t think I’ll understand most of it. It’s probably going to keep my mind occupied for ages after this investigation, trying to figure out the whats and whys and hows, but I’m in this now. This involves my history, something I didn’t even know I had until recently, but I need more details, more facts, more evidence. I need to gather as much intel as I can to research later. This is what I do. It’s who I am. I need to be there. Can you understand that?”
He nodded slowly and looked down, quickly brushing his thumb across the back of my hand. “I can understand it,”—he looked back up into my eyes—“but I don’t have to like it.”
“That’s fair,” I said and let go of his hand, standing again to test out how I was feeling. I would be okay. I felt pretty much like I had earlier in the day—sadly. That hypnosis high had been freaking nice. It sucked that it had gotten ripped away so fast.
I checked my watch. We didn’t have much time before we needed to convene at Lamour. “I need to go and clean up before tonight, and I’m sure none of you will let me head home alone,” I rolled my eyes and then looked at Pax again. “Can I use your shower?”
“Of course,” he said and stood.
“When you guys get to the estate,” Dev said, “we’ll take a peek at the footage from the attic when you were dragged up there, Sky.”
“Gre-e-e-a-a-t,” I said, and everybody laughed.
Paxton and I said our goodbyes and headed out of Arborwood to Pax’s truck. He was quiet on the way to his place, but he didn’t let go of my hand.
Not even once.
CHAPTER20
~Paxton~
We pulled up to Lamour just as the sun was starting to turn the sky a wash of colors. It was gorgeous. God’s artwork more beautiful than any artist could capture on canvas. We grabbed our gear and headed inside, neither of us saying much.
When we entered the mansion, I felt a thickness in the air. It could have been a bit of anxiety. The fact that I knew we’d likely have an interesting night ahead of us could have played a role. But the very space itself seemed anticipatory. Like a murderer watching from across the street as his next victim walked in front of a bedroom window while on the phone, completely unaware of what lurked outside.
I glanced at Sky. She seemed to tense a bit as we entered the foyer, but she otherwise seemed okay. I’d have to keep an eye on her.
