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“What happened to finally clue you in?” he asked. He seemed genuinely interested in my story, but of course, he probably saw me as a potential client and needed to know everything. I was glad someone believed me.
“I did a test.” I hid a smile as I recalled the giddiness I’d had while coming up with this plan. “I made Dean a steak, done medium rare, with mashed potatoes with tons of butter and nothing green at all. And for dessert, I made an extra dense cheesecake with strawberry topping.”
“You cooked him food?”
“Yeah. I did.” I remembered Dean’s face and tried not to smirk.
“That sounds like an amazing meal.” Did he look suddenly hungry?
“It was. A good steak with mashed potatoes is my favorite, but I was never allowed to eat it unless it was my birthday.”
“How was that a test?”
“I made him everything that Mother hated.” I beamed.
Eamon’s rumbling laughter filled the room. This time, Nugget mimicked him, laughing from my hoodie. That was a good sign. It meant he’d passed the Chicken Nugget test. Dean had not passed the test. Nugget had always clammed up when he was around, and once she’d even attacked him, going straight for the eyes. She was my canary in the coal mine. I was sure she could sense Mother’s spirit a mile away.
Nugget poked her head out from the top of the zipper, right under my chin. “Hahaha! You’re a cutie!”Cutiewas her favorite word.
I gave her a scratch on the head. “Dean wouldn’t eat any of the cheesecake, so I ate an extra-large portion. That had him, or her—ugh, you know what I mean—furious about me ruining his body, like it belonged to him or something. You know, like he—she was going to take it over.”
It was hard to separate Dean and Mother, even though I knew he’d had a life before she took over. It was like that person was gone forever. And despite knowing it was Mother inside, it was hard to ignore the fact that the body was male. Not to mention, I had no idea if the original soul or spirit had a gender.
“That is quite suspicious. So he failed twice in one test.”
“Three times. He failed this test in three ways. When he yelled at me, Dean called me Tansy. He’d known me as Danie for months, and I never told him my real name. It was proof beyond doubt for me. As long as Amrita’s soul exists, I’ll never be able to trust anyone new that I meet, unless I know exactly where her soul is.” I looked Eamon in the eyes, trying not to get lost in their depths. “I can trust you, because I know that she is still inside Dean’s body.”
“And you want me to protect you.”
“Yes and no. I want you to protect me while I figure out a way to get rid of her once and for all. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life worrying. I don’t want to run.” I set my jaw. “I want to fight.”
“We provide both physical and magical protection. Protecting against bodily takeovers from a malignant spirit is right up our alley.”
“I don’t think she can take me over yet. Even if she had enough rest from taking over Dean, I don’t think she can. I think she has to wear me down first, weaken my will. Or else, she would have done it already. But I’ll be glad to have wards as well. Maybe I’ll finally have a good night’s rest.”
Eamon hadn’t asked me how I planned to pay yet, so I saved myself the wait and brought it up. I hated waiting. “How much are your services for something like my case?” Before he could name a price, I added, “I don’t have much under my name, but I have some pieces of jewelry. I got them appraised; I just haven’t sold them yet.”
I took the pouch hanging around my neck out from my hoodie and removed the necklace Dean had bought me. Now that I knew who he really was, I realized the jewelry hadn’t been for me at all. They were Amrita’s future gifts to herself. Just like putting me through school had been enriching her future brain, especially since she got to retain all the information, when she took over a body, without ever doing the work. I’d never wanted to take business courses, anyway.
I put the piece on the desk. The large diamond set in the pendant gleamed, every facet reflecting the lights from above. Eamon picked it up and dangled it in the air, but his face showed little interest.
“There’s also matching earrings and a diamond ring.” My engagement ring. I reached for my wheeled luggage. “I have the appraisal papers.”
“No need. I believe you. I’m not sure I can take this knowing that Amrita cut you off from your savings. How are you living right now?”
I’m not.
I was struggling. I had about a few hundred bucks I’d earned by skipping classes to do odd jobs around the campus, and that was it. That was what the fake ID had been used for: to open a bank account. I had no credit, though. Lucky for me, I’d never told Dean about the bank account and he’d never asked, so Mother didn’t know about it.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m not starving.”
He frowned. “You are not a good liar.”
I let out an unladylike guffaw. “Yeah, I know. But I need to do this, or else I’ll be stuck hiding for the rest of my life. I can’t live like that.”
“I still can’t take this or your money.” He handed the necklace back to me. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night, knowing they are all you have.”
“What about if I work off the debt?” That was my backup option. If he didn’t agree to this, I didn’t know what else I could offer.
