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Nate listened to the front door close. A moment later, the car started. Only when it had pulled away did he relax a little.

Seriously, what the hell?

He put the ring on the table and looked at it. “Do you want me to put it in the pouch?” Nate asked.

Leo nodded. Nate picked up the little bag Caleb had left behind and eased the ring inside. He pulled the drawstring closed, then set it beside Leo.

“Okay?”

“Yes.”

Nate wanted to tell him Caleb wouldn’t be able to hurt him again. He wanted to promise that they could fix this now. But he didn’t know how to undo the binding. He hadn’t even known it existed until a few minutes ago.

Leo nudged the pouch. It slid an inch across the table. “It’s strange, isn’t it?”

“Which part?”

“That some of me is in there.” Leo frowned at the bag. “I thought being stuck in the seal was bad enough. Apparently I was in two things at once.”

Nate hadn’t thought of that. “At least we know where it is now.”

“Yes.” Leo drew the pouch back toward himself. “Your mother got me out of the seal. Do you think she can get me out of this as well?”

Nate’s throat tightened. “I’ll call her.”

He reached for his phone, but stopped when Leo spoke again.

“When she let me out of the seal, I ended up attached to you.” The ghost paused. “Could that happen again?”

It almost sounded like something he wanted to happen. Nate understood why; Leo would be able to leave the house if he wasn’t attached to it any longer.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Nate admitted. “But you only tethered to me because we were so far away from your original anchor.”

Leo considered this. “Maybe if I was whole again I could choose to attach myself to something else. If I was strong enough.” He paused, looking aside. “That’s why I wanted the basement memories back. To get strong enough to… leave here. With you.”

Nate swallowed. “I don’t know if that’s how it works.” But he badly, badly wanted it to be. “I’m going to call my mother.”

“Yes,” Leo said. “Please.”

Nate picked up his phone again and found her number.

Chapter

Fifty-Two

Nate’s mother hugged him as soon as he opened the door.

He’d expected questions or instructions. Instead, he found himself holding on for longer than he’d intended.

“I don’t know what to do,” he admitted.

“We’ll figure that out.”

He nodded against her shoulder, then let her go. He knew he was too old to expect his mom to show up and make things okay, but there was a comfort in having her here that he suspected no one ever quite grew out of.

Leo was waiting in the kitchen, his hands resting on either side of the pouch. He straightened when they came in.

Miriam took a thermos from her bag. “Give me a moment, please.”