Page 126 of The Haunting of Lockton

God, Paxton’s voice was so gentle. I’d never heard it like that before. I met his gaze, and that lump in my throat swelled even more. Tears stung my eyes. “That’s not my brother.”

“What do you mean?”

I shook my head, and a stupid tear escaped my eye. I set my mug beside his on the table and put my hands over my face. “He’s not acting like himself.”

I had seen Julian tired before. I had seen him cranky and upset. But I’d never seen him so… depleted of everything that made him who he was. Like it wasn’t just his energy that fled but his whole damn personality too. Like all the emotion had been zapped from him, leaving only anger behind. It was a strange thought.

It was a terrifying one too.

“I feel it too,” Alan said as he materialized by the living room window. “Something is off about him.”

“What do you feel?” I asked, hoping his ghostly intuition or whatever would have an answer because I sure as fuck didn’t.

“His light is dimmer,” Alan answered. “More of a flickering candle now, as though his magic is being drained. There used to be a gentleness to him as well. It’s not there anymore.”

“Whatever he did to Owen messed him up,” I said, and guilt stabbed at my rib cage, the knife skating across bone and finding every vulnerable crevice. “All because he was protecting me.”

His change in behavior had to be related to that incident. It was the only explanation.

“Should we call Callum?” Paxton asked. “He may be able to tell us what’s wrong with him.”

“It couldn’t hurt.”

I didn’t have Callum’s number, so I texted Taylor. My phone vibrated as it rang a minute or so later.

“Hey,” I answered.

“Why do you need Cal’s number?” Taylor asked. “Is Julian okay? When I called him last night, he seemed…”

“Off?”

“Yeah. Like, really tired and kind of out of his head a little. I don’t know. He said you guys are staying with Paxton?”

“We are,” I said.

“Cool. Um.” He breathed into the phone. “Did something happen at Lockton a few days ago?”

“Jules didn’t tell you anything?” I asked. I understood keeping it from Val, but Taylor knew about Julian’s power. I thought he would’ve at least confided in him about the situation with Owen.

“No. He just said y’all were done investigating. It shocked me, to be honest. When I asked about Roy and stuff, he kinda snapped at me.”

Further proof Julian wasn’t acting like himself. That didn’t sound like him at all. He snapped atme, sure, because we were twins and bickered all the time. But Julian never acted like that toward anyone else. Certainly not someone like Taylor, who’dbecome a close friend during our time in Ivy Grove. A friend he felt comfortable enough to have sleepovers and go to bars with.

The tightness in my throat lowered to my chest. “Something’s wrong with him, Taylor. It’s too complicated to explain over the phone, but I need Callum’s number. I think he’s the only one who can help.”

***

Snowflakes wafted into the house as Callum Gray stepped across the threshold, the end of his coat billowing behind him as a breeze caught hold of it. Flurries stuck to his black hair but began to melt once meeting the toasty interior of Paxton’s home.

“Thanks for coming,” I told him.

Callum removed his coat and draped it over his arm. “You should’ve called me sooner. Preferably right after it happened.”

After Taylor gave me his number, I had called him and briefly explained the situation. Callum hadn’t provided any answers over the phone, but he hadn’t hesitated in saying he’d be right over. Roughly an hour later, there he was.

“I can take that,” Paxton said, motioning to Callum’s coat. He then hung it on the hook by the front door. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Perhaps later.” Callum surveyed the foyer. “I sense him, the spirit who dwells here. A soldier.”