Duely’s eyebrows drew together in a deep frown. “He vanished?” If anyone else was telling Duely this, I doubted he’d believe them. The power to vanish was that of fairytales told to children.

I nodded my head once and kept my eyes locked on his. Did he really not know anything about this man?

“That’s serious shit,” Cat. “Are you sure you didn’t smoke my doobie?”

Rolling my eyes, I let out a sigh of frustration. “I know what I saw and I know what I feel. There is a dark and very powerful protection around the house.”

Duely looked around us slowly then shrugged. “You can ask your mother,” he suggested, it knowing I was battling that idea. “But she might not talk. If you’re not high… and my bet is you’re not, then there is some secret we don’t know and they don’t want us to.”

“I’ll figure it out. He might have been someone who crossed my mother once and was coming back to get his revenge. Or possibly an ex of Geneva’s.” Both were ideas I’d toyed with but doubted them. Obviously, the man had left when he went up in a puff of smoke. The guests were almost gone now and all without an issue.

“Did you ever think he was here to see you?” he paused and shifted his feet a little as if thinking through what else he was about to say. “You’re more than you realize. I’ve tried to tell you that already. I, uh, I don’t think you are who you think you are,” he stopped abruptly then just gave a shake of his head. “You don’t want to hear what I think. Just do me a favor and don’t underestimate your power. You may not agree, but my mother,” he said then pointed at me “and your mother… they are scared of you. There is something we don’t know. But I read people well, and those two are careful not to push you too hard. When you were younger they weren’t as careful around you but the closer you get to twenty-one, things are changing. There is a power shift and you’re so used to the way things have been all your life, you don’t see it.”