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“Am I?”

“Veda.”

She exhaled through her nose. “Your strength is already diminished because Kaidence is gone.”

“You just gave me a whole seminar on that. I know.”

“Then you understand that whatever you are planning, you cannot sustain much activity on your own.”

“Hence the favor. I don’t really need you to touch anything. Just give me enough juice to work with.”

“Juice?” she retorted, clearly confused.

I almost told Miss Veda she knew what the fuck I meant, then remembered her ass had been dead… for God only knew how long. For all I knew, she thought I was asking for a glass of orange juice and wondering where the refrigerator was.

“Juice, as in power, energy… ghost steroids,” I clarified. “Whatever the hell y’all call it over here.”

Miss Veda’s mouth twitched. “Ghost steroids?”

“You understood me that time, didn’t you?”

She considered me for a few seconds before shaking her head. “I can temporarily strengthen your ability to interact with this property. I cannot make you fully physical, and I cannot restore the level of energy you receive through your son, but I can make it easier for you to affect the physical environment around you… lights, doors, smaller objects, things like that should become manageable. You may even be able to move something heavier if you do not overexert yourself, but do not mistake temporary access for unlimited power.”

I nodded. “Understood.”

She pointed a finger at me. “Also, those children are not to be traumatized.”

I glanced toward the teenagers. “They’ll live.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, and I got the distinct impression she was already questioning whatever part of her job description had led her to me.

When she opened them again, she raised one hand.

At first, nothing happened.

Then I felt the house answer me.

The change wasn’t something anybody living would have noticed.

Nothing shook, no lights flashed, and the walls didn’t suddenly start glowing. But from where I stood, the entire mansion seemed to wake up around me. The pressure that usually fought against every movement eased, and energy traveled beneath my feet, climbed through the walls, spread along the staircase, and threaded itself through every door, window, light fixture, and room until the place no longer felt like a prison I happened to haunt.

The house felt different around me almost immediately, not just familiar, but responsive in a way it hadn’t been since Kaidence and Lakelyn left. It still wasn’t the same as having them nearby—nothing had come close to that kind of strength—but the pressure that usually fought me every time I tried to move something had eased enough for me to notice.

I flexed my fingers and focused on a pen sitting near the edge of my desk across the room.

Normally, something that small would have taken way more concentration than it was worth, but this time the pen rolled several inches with barely any effort before tipping over the edge and dropping cleanly onto the floor.

A slow grin pulled at my mouth. “There we go.”

Miss Veda immediately pointed at me. “Reasonable.”

“Of course.”

“You’re smiling.”

“I smile all the time.”

“Why do I find that hard to believe?”