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“He terrorized your boyfriend.”
So she’d listened to that part too. “Ex-boyfriend,” I corrected.
“That’s hardly the important part of this discussion.”
“It is to me. And if you were listening, you’d know that, as well as cheating on me, Tyler tried to lock me out of my house. Caligo got rid of him for me.”
“Caligo?”
“That’s his name.”
She nodded. “You need to call an exorcist or something.”
“An exorcist?” I couldn’t help laughing. “He’s not a ghost.”
“They get rid of demons as well.”
“He’s not a demon either.”
“He has horns and a tail!”
Laura was getting more and more upset. It reminded me of that first day in rehab when she’d literally been screaming. If I didn’t de-escalate the situation quickly, I had a feeling we might end up back there—and neither my neighbors nor I would appreciate it. “He’s not a bad guy.”
“He’s not a guy. He’s a monster.”
“Okay. He’s not a bad monster.”
“He followed you here, Rowan. You’re in danger. You must be able to see that. The only reason I haven’t run out the door is because I’m trying to make you see sense. You might think that he’s on your side now—”
“He is on my side.”
She shook her head. “He isn’t. He’s cast a spell on you or something.”
“I don’t think he can do spells.” My attempts to fall back on humor kept going badly. So badly that I vowed not to do it again. “If you talked to him—”
“He talks!”
“Of course he talks.”
“He never spoke to me. He just stood there.” She shuddered, clearly remembering every second.
I made a decision and hoped I wouldn’t live to regret it. “Caligo, can you make yourself visible? We need to show Laura that you’re not the big bad she thinks you are.”
I waited a few seconds.
Nothing.
I gave her a slightly embarrassed smile. “He’s probably busy.”
“Doing what?”
Since I didn’t have an answer, I shrugged. “He’s not a dog. I can’t just call him and expect him to come running.”
“Good, because I never asked you to call him. I’ve seen him enough times to last me a lifetime. I never want to see him again.” She started edging toward the door.
“Laura―”
She shrank back as Caligo appeared in the doorway, then darted around to the far side of the table as if it might offer her some protection. Fear quickly gave way to confusion. “Why doesn’t he have horns or a tail anymore, and why are his eyes almost normal?”
