Dustin rubbed the back of his head. A grimace carved lines into his features. “Mrs. Lyon does have a rather extensive list of ideas,” he replied weakly.
“I bet she does,” Jett muttered, keeping well away from Fluffy, who’d only now noticed my wraith-wolf.
Sage’s attention snapped to the tiny dog, and a line of hackled fur rose down his ridgeline. I shifted my stance nervously. I wasn’t sure if my wraith-wolf wanted to eat it or play with it.
Sage bounded up to Fluffy, skidded to a halt, and let out a howl. The two dogs sniffed noses and erupted into an excited, playful dance, facing off each other with wagging tails.
“Looks like they’ve just become friends,” Dustin said to me with a lopsided smile.
“Fucking figures,” Jett muttered.
I realized the younger Crowther was silently considering Dustin. His narrowed eyes became shrewder, as if he were reassessing the man in front of him.
A cold feeling rattled my nerves. What was he up to?
Jett crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his weight to one leg. “Do you really want to help with this party?”
“Yes, sir,” Dustin replied eagerly. “If I could have a moment with Miss Crowther, I can go through Mrs. Lyon’s ideas with her.”
“We’re keeping the party simple this year,” Jett said. I stopped myself in time from rolling my eyes because the party was centered on my birthday. Jett spoke slowly, as if he were relishing every single word. “We could use your help in bringing us a case of absinthe from the Wormwood Driads.”
I knew absinthe was potent alcohol, practically moonshine of the magical variety. The Wormwood Driads were strange elemental creatures, and it was from their swimming holes that absinthe could be collected.
Dustin’s voice rose an octave. “The Wormwood Driads pool?”
Jett nodded with a flash of a quick sly smile.
“But that’s out of state, and it’ll take me days to get there and back,” Dustin protested.
“Best you get going straight away.”
The other man blinked, his mouth agape. “You mean now? It’s nearly midnight.”
“No time like the present. And take the overgrown rodent with you.”
“You’re not kidding, are you?”
Jett smiled a wolfish grin. “Nope.”
Dustin hesitated a moment before kneeling to scoop up Fluffy. When he rose, I realized he was also holding the book that had accidentally slipped from his grip when Sage had scared the hells out of him. Instead of tucking it under an arm or putting it away, he offered the old tome to me. “You dropped your book.”
No, I hadn’t even touched that book. My gaze shot to him, and he smiled back politely. I reached out and took it from him, perplexed as to why he’d wanted me to have it.
He inclined his head to me, and to Jett he said, “Mr. Crowther, I guess I’ll be seeing you in a few days.”
Dustin left, and it wasn’t until we heard the library door closing that Jett cast a look over his shoulder to the soldier standing behind him. “Well, that was fun and takes care of Fluffy the Fourth along with my aunt.”
Annoyance sparked in my blood. I had a feeling that Dustin was going to be sent off on random, purposeless missions from now on, and I might not have the opportunity to speak with him again.
Jett strode lazily toward me.
Sage silently stalked him, his ghostly fur rippling as it hackled upward.
My fingers tightened on the book Dustin gave me.
“So my brother did allow you to roam,” Jett pondered in a conversational tone. He glanced around the room, black brows slashing forward. “What are you doing here?”
Let them see what they want to see.
