“Is that normal?”
“Is what normal?” she asked in a distracted voice.
The lights flickered again.
“That. The light flickering.”
“They’re not flickering,” she said looking up.
They flickered again and then shut off, leaving only her lamp on.
“That’s odd,” she said, marking her page in the book. “I don’t think this has ever happened before.”
I touched the gun at my hip, feeling only slightly reassured by the feel of metal. Had the draugr somehow found me? I gave Caroline a worried look. If I’d thought coming to her would involve her in the crazy parts of my life, I would have stayed far away.
“Where have you been?” an irate teenage voice asked from the shadows.
I released the gun. As annoying as the sorcerer was, he wasn’t on the same level of threat as the draugr. Especially with that cuff still on him.
“Whatever you’re doing to the lights, stop.”
He sighed. The lights flicked back on. He definitely had a thing for theatrics. His grumpy teenage face glared at me from a few feet away.
“I’ve been looking all over the city for you since last night. You were supposed to check in. This wasn’t what we agreed to when we made our deal.”
I gave him a humorless grin. “Since I didn’t exactly agree to anything, I’d say we’re about even.”
“Look, you fanged leech,” he started.
I cleared my throat and nodded my head at Caroline. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to reveal more than he should.
His gaze swung to my friend’s blond beauty and got stuck as he stared, mesmerized.
“Friend of yours?” Caroline asked with a quirk to her lips.
“No.”
“Yes,” he interrupted, sticking his hand out. “I’m Peter. Peter Barrett. It’s so nice to meet you.”
Peter? So original. The boy who never aged. Wonder where he got that from.
She gave his hand an arch look and turned to me. “These books won’t read themselves.”
“Got it.”
“You know,” Peter started.
“Can I talk to you a minute?” I asked tightly.
“Go talk to yourself,” Peter retorted.
I grabbed him by the back of the shirt and hauled him after me. He swore and tried to swat me away, missing me entirely.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped when I felt we were far enough away that Caroline couldn’t hear us.
He craned his head back towards Caroline, giving her a charming smile. I shook him a little bit, and he leveled a nasty glare at me.
“What do you think I’m doing here?” he shot back. “I’m checking on your progress.”
