Page 67 of Starrily

“Does that mean I can get out of here?”

She nodded against the glass, and Simon exited the room.

“Hey,” he said, turning her face to him. “You tried. I couldn’t ask for more.”

“You should go home and take care of yourself.” Even she was exhausted—she couldn’t imagine how he felt.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” He winked at her as he walked toward the door. “Let’s get back to normal.”

His words haunted her into the evening and chased her into a restless sleep. She twisted and turned in her bed, pulling the sheets down, then up, then back down again.

Back to normal.She’d love that more than anything—but it wasn’t possible. Deep within, she knew it. There was something wrong with Simon, and it wasn’t going away.

And she was all out of ideas. At least those that could be supported and proven by science.

I’m turning into a ghost.

Impossible. There were no ghosts. Unless …

There were some facts she couldn’t deny. All existing energy had to go somewhere. It could transform into another kind of energy but never disappear. Humans were energy. Maybe there was something left after death—another type of energy that neither humans nor infrared cameras could perceive. Something outside the scope of known science.

Callie didn’t need Theia to wake her up that morning; she was up bright and early and headed to the kitchen, where she made her tea and stared into a spot on the wall as she slowly sipped it.

She couldn’t help Simon. She knew nothing of ghosts and the paranormal. No, that wasn’t true. She knew something. But she’d chosen to forget as much of it as possible a long time ago. One half of her heart begged her not to do it—to not open all those old wounds, to not let the pain back in. The other half … it knew that might be Simon’s last chance if what he’d assumed was true. If he had died once and was brought back—and now being taken away again.

Away from her.

Decide, Calliope, his voice echoed in her mind.Decide.

She arrived at work first and managed to act almost normal. She put her bag on the desk, got another cup of tea, checked her email—all to maintain her steady routine. But her fingers shookas they hovered over the keyboard, and her stomach was tied into knots.

“Good morning,” Simon greeted as he entered the office. He looked crisp and clean like he hadn’t spent the past three days as a lab rat. “What’s on the schedule today?”

She stood and wrung her hands.Out with it—there was no point in delaying. “We need to go visit my family.”

Simon lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”

She took a deep breath. “Because they’re the ones who speak with ghosts.”

Chapter 16

It had been a rough few days for Simon, but while he knew something was wrong with him, he was sure his hearing still worked. Which made Callie’s statement all the more nonsensical.

“Your family,” he repeated, “talk to ghosts.”

“They are … well, it’s complicated.”

“Mediums?”

“If you wish. They deal with the paranormal and anything adjacent. Card readings. Cleansing through herbal concoctions and chants. And, yes, contacting ghosts.”

“What the—how?” His pitch rose at the last word, and he leaned on the desk with one hand.

Callie shrugged. “It’s how they’ve always been.” She hugged her middle, avoiding his eyes.

Simon had assumed Callie’s family members were in similar fields. Doctors, scientists, something sensible and logical. Perhaps she had a problem with them because of something superficial, like going to her father’s rival university.

Now, plugging the new information into the equation, this made way more sense. They weren’t the same as her. They were the opposite.