Page 124 of The Curse of Redwood
“Precisely. However, a full moon on Halloween is rare,” Callum continued. “It occurs only once every nineteen years. When I realized Ezekiel stayed behind, I knew I had to do all I could to help him. And I had to do it quickly, before the clock struck midnight.”
“That’s why you stayed at the mansion when I left. It wasn’t to sage the place, but to perform the ritual.”
They both nodded.
“Halloween was over a week ago,” I pointed out, feeling another prickling of anger on my scalp. “Why are you just now telling me?”
“There were… complications,” Callum said, holding his hand. “The ritual worked. Breath filled his lungs and his heart began to beat. Blood rushed through his veins. But with me already being weak from the banishment, something went wrong. He didn’t regain consciousness. I stayed as long as possible, doing all I could to wake him, but then I realized it was something that couldn’t be forced. He had to find the strength to awaken on his own. So, I brought him to my home and waited. Days passed and still nothing. The day I ran into you and Taylor, I was on my way back home to him.”
“When I finally woke up, I had no memory,” Zeke added. “I didn’t know my name or his. I didn’t know where I was.”
“He nearly destroyed my loft,” Callum said, narrowing his eyes at Zeke. “He was like a large frightened beast. I then began working with him, trying to get him to remember.”
“Then he mentioned you,” Zeke said, softly smiling as he looked at my hand. He traced a design on my knuckles. “I knew your name and I could remember every detail of your face… but it took me longer to get a grasp on my own mind.”
“And here we are now,” Callum said, standing from the table. He went over and grabbed a bottle from the freezer.
“Vodka?” I asked.
“I need a shot. It’s been a long ass week.”
I blinked in surprise, not used to Callum speaking in such an improper way. It was kind of funny. Yeah, he definitely needed a nap. A long one.
“I will always be in your debt,” Zeke said to him.
“Don’t worry about repaying me,” Callum said, after downing a second shot. He put the vodka back in the freezer and wiped at his mouth. “Just go live your life, okay? Don’t take a single day for granted.”
“I won’t.” Zeke threaded our fingers together.
“Hey, Callum? Quick question.”
“Isn’t there always?” he said, sighing.
“If you have the ability to turn ghosts into humans… could you do it again? My best friend, Ben, fell for the ghost in his manor and they’re making the relationship work as best as they can. But if there’s a way to—”
“I’m sorry, but no,” Callum cut in. “As I said, the ritual can only be performed during a full moon on Halloween. We won’t have another for at least nineteen more years.”
Knowing Ben and Theo, they would wait for each other. One day, they could have the kind of life they dreamed of.
A loud gurgling sound broke through the silence, and Zeke placed a hand on his stomach. “Hunger is such a strange sensation. I had forgotten what it was like.”
I smiled. “We should get you some food, so you don’t waste away.”
If you would’ve told me that morning that I’d be taking my former ghost lover now turned human home with me and eating dinner at my kitchen table, I would’ve called you a crazy asshole. Yet… there we were, stuffing our faces with salty fries and cheeseburgers we’d picked up from the café.
“You keep staring at me,” Zeke said, before dabbing his mouth with a napkin.
“I keep expecting you to disappear. Because I can’t be this lucky. You can’t really be here.”
“Once my memory returned, I didn’t believe it either at first,” he responded. “What Callum didn’t say earlier was he nearly died performing the ritual. It took a lot from him and wasn’t nearly as easy as he made it sound. He may be short-tempered and cold in attitude, but he truly does have a good heart. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be with you right now.”
There was definitely more to Callum than I’d believed. He was mysterious, kind of a jerk at times, and way too serious. But he’d not only saved my life, he had also saved the life of the man I loved.
“What are you doing?” Zeke asked, as I stood from the table.
“Not taking the moment for granted,” I answered, straddling him on the chair.
He gripped my waist and tilted his head back to meet me for a kiss. Our lips softly met. Being the same body temperature was weird at first, but as the kiss deepened and his hands slid under my shirt, I got used to it real fast.
