“In anyone. Viktor’s the center of her universe. Kinda sad.” Wyatt rubbed his chin. “I love Keystone, but I don’t love it enough to be celibate. A man has needs.”
“Maybe she has those needs filled when you’re not around.”
Wyatt snorted. “I doubt it. You start to notice a person’s habits when you go out drinking at the bar. She keeps to the pack, so to speak.”
“Maybe she’s asexual.”
Wyatt stood up and stretched, the pain reigniting in his ass. “That’s a therapy session I ain’t got time for. Feel like crashing the pool party?”
“Gem said she wanted to be alone.”
Wyatt’s lips sputtered in a noisy retort. “Don’t let the girl fool you. She’s a people person. Maybe we can take our beers to the hot tub.”
“You have a hot tub?”
“Follow me.” Wyatt headed down the hall, Switch not far behind him as he descended the stairs to the first floor.
A born night owl, just thinking about a hot tub party was giving Wyatt the munchies. Maybe while the tub was heating up, he could forage for snacks. What he needed to do was go grocery shopping and buy a giant bag of tater tots and french fries. Kira liked making everything from scratch and cooking it the healthy way.
God forbid the woman deep-fry anything and serve it with cheese. To Kira’s credit, she tried. Wyatt had Viktor translate recipes, and she’d become less restrictive than when she first moved in. But Wyatt still had to buy his own soda and snacks.
“This is the easiest way to the pool,” he said, approaching the courtyard door. “There’s another one down the hall that leads directly to the hot tub. You’ll get used to this place. It’s like a castle.”
As soon as Wyatt opened the door, he could smell the chlorine. “Hey, Gem. Company!”
He stepped over her kimono and approached the edge of the empty pool. “Where the Houdini is she?”
“Maybe she’s in the hot tub.”
Wyatt looked down the veranda to the dark spot where the hot tub was. There were no lights on, and the cover was still in place. “Gem? Come out of the bushes, it’s just us.” He circled to the other side of the pool. “Maybe she had to pee.”
“Look at this.”
Wyatt turned around and wondered why Switch was kneeling.
“There’s a lot of water here. A pool of it.” His eyes followed the water trail that led toward the other side of the dark courtyard. Switch stood up. “Something’s not right. There’s too much water.”
Without warning, he shifted into a wolf.
Wyatt jumped back and almost fell into the pool. He windmilled his arms, regaining his balance before getting the heck away from that mongrel. The last thing he needed was to get his ass chewed up by that dickish wolf. Viktor said he’d deserved to get bit after tugging on Switch’s tail and cracking a joke, but people needed to lighten up.
Switch’s animal raised his head and drew in several quick inhalations before sniffing the ground. In a blur of movement, he took off down a trail that cut between clumps of New England asters.
Wyatt peered into the pool as if Gem might be hiding at the bottom, but the lights exposed every corner. She could have gone to the bathroom, but it wasn’t like her to leave her robe lying on the ground, and she would have locked the door behind her.
On the plus side, he didn’t see her ghost wandering around. As a Gravewalker, Wyatt had a different view of death than most people. When you saw with your own eyes that there was another realm with more destinations to come, it took the fear out of finality. It made it easier for him to not get emotionally attached to life. Dying was dying, but it wasn’t the end.
When Switch’s wolf came barreling toward him, Wyatt stumbled backward and crashed into the pool. Wyatt sank right to the bottom. Something caught his eye, and he picked it up before kicking toward the surface. Switch grabbed his hand and hauled him out. Soaking wet, Wyatt crawled in front of Switch, who was buck naked. That was the one thing he loved and hated about Shifters.
Loved it about women, but he took a hard pass on all the male nudity.
He flipped back his wet hair, and a spray of water arced over his head. “What did you find?”
Switch reached for his clothes. “My wolf picked up two other scents on the property. What’s that?”
Wyatt stood and held up the coin. “I don’t know. Never seen it before.”
“I’m gonna search for a trail. You better call your boss.”
