She clung to his gold-washed eyes for the resolution she needed to give him her list. “I need to stay away from powerful magic users who are witches, vampires, fae, and werewolf Alphas,” she told him. It was a safer thing to talk about. Sometimes she woke up whispering that list to herself.
“I see,” he said, as if he did. “I imagine you want to talk about something else.”
“Oh yes,” she agreed wholeheartedly, feeling a rush of relief. “Please.”
“Were we going to meet your team?” he asked.
She blinked at him, having lost track of their conversation somewhere. “I’m sorry,” she said, not quite sure why she was apologizing.
“There is nothing to be sorry for, surely,” he murmured.
His eyes were very dark, and they seemed to hold safety in their depths.
And she wasn’t supposed to stare into his eyes—he was a dominant werewolf and they viewed such things as a challenge. She dropped his gaze and swallowed. “Uhm. The team. Right.”
The ornate staircase was less ornate as it rose from the second to the third floor, where servant rooms had been remodeled into a kitchenette and two bathrooms marked with “Ladies” and “Gentlemen” signs. Most of the floor was a grand ballroom. The family had been renting it out for events for years.
Her team was gathered here.
Alan looked up and waved from the floor before turning his attention back to untangling The Beast, a carrying bag with eight one-hundred-foot electrical cords that liked to turn into one large Cthulhu-like monster. That they hadn’t even managed to get the cords untangled meant they were experiencing technical difficulties.
The others were huddled around the newest of their cameras, its innards spread out across one of the folding tables. They’d bought it used, and when it decided to run, it took really terrific video. But it was huge and cranky. Miranda was the only one who didn’t have trouble with it, but she was working today.
“Hey,” Ruby called, and they all looked up, their faces reflecting various states of frustration, except for Becky’s. Becky never got ruffled. “Everyone, this is Asil, my date today. Asil, the grumpy old guy in the Seahawks shirt is Terry.”
Terry held out a hand and Asil shook it, smiling. “Good to meet you,” Asil murmured. “Sorry to interrupt.”
Terry grunted. “Glad to meet you, too. ’Bout time Ruby caught some luck. Probably good to have an interruption before someone tossed that old thing into the nearest wall.”
“And Max,” said Ruby.
Max had huffed a laugh at Terry’s words and held out a hand. “Good to meet you.”
Asil shook his hand, too. Ruby watched Max’s face—sometimes Max caught things when he touched people. But nothing but casual pleasure showed on his face. At least he hadn’t run screaming, which he’d done on one memorable occasion. They never did figure out what was wrong with that guy, but they hadn’t let him join their team either.
“And last but not least, our computer guru, Peg.”
Peg did not reach out to shake hands. She didn’t touch people unless she had to. In her case it wasn’t any psychic sensitivities but shyness. Asil won points by giving her a simple bow that smoothed over any awkwardness caused by her mumbled welcome.
“It is my pleasure,” he said, and it felt as if it might be the truth.
Ruby took a step toward the camera—not that she knew as much as Peg or Terry—but the compulsion to try to fix somethingother people were struggling with was an inborn condition she was afflicted with as much as anyone else.
“Aren’t you going to introduce him?” Asil asked in tones of mild puzzlement, his eyes focused just beyond Peg.
Peg said with sudden animation, “That’s my twin brother, Dusty. Most people can’t see him.”
Ruby was the only one of the team besides Peg who caught more than occasional glimpses of Dusty, who’d died in a car accident when he and Peg had been thirteen. In fact just now, Ruby couldn’t see him herself. When she and a couple of friends had started ghost hunting, Peg had been their first client. Asil gave Dusty the same shallow bow he’d given Peg. “Pleased to meet you, too, Dusty,” he said.
A notebook fell off the table where it had been sitting next to the dissected camera. Peg giggled as though she were still thirteen instead of fiftysomething. Sometimes Ruby’s teammates were the creepiest thing they ran into during ghost hunting.
Terry cleared his throat. “So?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ruby shook her head. “He hasn’t asked.”
Alan gave a soft laugh. “Pay up.”
Max collected from everyone—Ruby included—and Alan was four bucks richer.
