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Travis rubbed his chin. “You’re right. It’s been long enough, and we can’t keep letting him try to do this alone. If you think back, it’s only gotten worse. When the familiar first attached to him, he was better off than he is right now. He helped heal you. Now he acts as if it’s a chore to be around you.”

My hands turned to fists. “Thanks for that.”

He shrugged. “It’s the truth.”

I’d had my fill of Travis time for the day. We went inside, and I immediately climbed the stairs. We’d been doing so well, too, but apparently, I still had my limits when it came to him. I headed to Randy’s room, but when I opened the door, he wasn’t there. I stopped at Liam’s room next. I stuck my head in and found him sitting on his bed with his laptop in front of him. He looked up when I came in. “Have you seen Randy?”

“He left to get Gabe from practice since you and Travis were busy.”

It wasn’t so much the words he’d said, but how he said it. I stepped in and closed the door behind me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He kept his bloodshot eyes on the laptop screen. My patience was wearing thin. A few hours with Travis could do that to anyone. I sat down on the bed and put my hand on his calf. “Come on, Liam. Talk to me.”

“I told you this morning there really isn’t anything to say.”

“You also said a bunch of other crap I don’t believe either.”

He looked up at me, the shadows under his eyes darkening. Before he could turn back to his laptop, I shut the screen and tossed the whole thing to the side of the bed. “Liam, this is getting serious. Everyone’s worried about you and you won’t talk. We just need to know what’s going on. If we don’t know what’s going on, how are we supposed to help you?”

“I don’t need help,” he said, sighing, and reaching for the laptop again.

I grabbed his hands and pulled them to me. He tried to yank them from my grasp, but I squeezed tighter. “Not happening. Liam, I miss you.”

His hard exterior chipped a little. It was a brief flicker, but then the shadows grew over his face again. “Miss me, huh? Is that why you’re outside doing magic with Travis?”

My mouth dropped. He’d never so much as raised his voice to me before. I gritted my teeth. “I’m outside doing magic with Travis, so we can both practice. We hadn’t practiced together before. You know that.”

“Yeah, and suddenly he can stand you now? He’s not biting your head off at every turn.”

I resisted the urge to release his hands because I had a feeling that was exactly what he wanted. It was clear that this wasn’t Liam saying these things. He was trying to push me away. “Yeah, it seems you guys have traded places.”

He visibly flinched.

I saw it as my opening. I dropped my voice to a whisper and worked my way closer to him. “Liam, Randy and I are working on something. Just stay strong for a little while longer. You’re doing great. You’re so brave.”

His hands relaxed in mine. I retreated to look in his eyes and it was almost as if I was staring at the old Liam again. His jaw clenched. “Please,” he said.

That was all I needed to hear. We needed that damn book. Or an exorcism.

An exorcism? I hadn’t thought of that before. Maybe that would get the damn thing off him.

I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. This time, he let me, his eyelids drooping low for a brief second.

I stood to leave him alone when a soft pull started in my stomach and then grew and grew. I whipped around to face Liam. “I feel it too,” he said. “Faint, but it’s there.”

I sighed in relief. At least he felt it and wasn’t the cause of it. That was all I could ask for now.

Chapter Eight

I turned toward the door only to hear the thump, thump, thump of someone running up the steps. I met Travis at the top of the stairs. His eyes were wide. “I feel something.

“Me too,” I told him. “Bad.”

Liam came around behind me and I moved so my back was to the wall. He was giving me off a creepy vibe all of a sudden. I hated to admit it, but it was true. Liam wasn’t being the Liam I knew. Not at all. “Well, are we going or what?” he asked, his tone clipped, almost exasperated.

Travis peeked at me and then back to Liam. “Let’s go.”

Liam pushed past us, and Travis and I gave one another conspiratorial looks. The sooner we could get that fucking serpent familiar off him, the better. He was taking a nose-dive into moodyville. He wasn’t my shy, safe, Liam anymore. “We should probably call Randy or Gabe.”