Ben gave a small poke of his stick to Radulf who was eating horse-dung. ‘It’s a house warming. He mentioned he might invite some…friends.’
‘Oh, God. Professors? Terrorists?’ He was tempted to ask if he'd be able to tell the difference.
‘This is why I didn’t tell you! They might be from the university, yes. Can you not—say things. Please.’
‘What do you mean? Say what? I shall be my charming self.’
‘That’s exactly what I mean. Don’t talk about the war. Or the government. Or thatAmerican Imperialistsfaked the moon landings and you can prove it. And don’t go off on a rant about anything.’
‘I am deeply offended. Well in that case, you don’t talk about the island. Or zombies.’
‘Why not the island?’
‘Because.’
‘Uh huh.’
Tim was waiting for them at the door. The dogs pushed past him, regardless of social niceties, and headed in, heads down on a food mission. Ben grinned at his friend and handed over a bottle of wine he’d carried in their overnight duffle.
Aleksey smirked inwardly and gave him a very small wrapped parcel. ‘Happy house warming.’
‘Oh, thank you. You shouldn’t have…well, obviously, I mean, it is your house after all…but thanks.’ He laid the little package down on the patio table. ‘Come in and meet everyone…Michael is, err…anyway…come in.’
Ben gave Aleksey a final eyes-narrowing of warning for good behaviour and they stepped in together.
* * *
Chapter Two
Aleksey was used to the sensation of entering places with Ben Rider-Mikkelsen now. He’d been doing it one way or another for fifteen years, after all. He was also not entirely unaware that Ben’s attractions were somewhat mirrored, enhanced, by his own. He hadn’t always thought this, had once deliberately kept himself physically and metaphorically in the shadows, believing that everyone who looked upon him would see what he saw in the mirror: a murderer wearing the face of his victim. But now he enjoyed the effect they both made. A pair. He liked enhancing Ben. He tried to do it often, was intending to do it that night as well, despite being in Timothy Watson’sspecial guestsuite. Ben didn’t do anything to draw all eyes to him other than walk into the room, but he had that kind of rare beauty that caused pauses in conversation. He, being also six-foot four, could hardly be overlooked either, and he supposed scarred, blond-haired, rangy Vikings were pretty rare for Devon as well.
Maybe they were all just alarmed by the dogs. A wolfhound and a husky helping themselves to a plate of cocktail sausages (which was not on the floor), would be something a little different for the averageprofessorialhouse warming.
It was fairly clear to Aleksey why Tim had been unable to complete his comment about his boyfriend. The moron was dressed in a suit, neatly shaved, hair styled, and was standing chatting to a group of what he assumed were Tim’s ex-University of Exeter colleagues. Squeezy gave him a tiny lip quirk and introduced him. ‘Sir, this is Madeline, an old friend of Tim’s from his department, and her husband, Austin. This is Aleksey, our boss in ANGEL.’
Aleksey was entirely floored how to respond to this, so murmured, ‘I think my age has finally caught up to me. Sorry, who areyou?’
Squeezy clapped him amusingly on the shoulder, old buddies and their jokes, and asked in his apparently new cut-glass English accent, ‘Can I get anyone another drink? Austin?’
He retreated to the bar which Tim had set up on the kitchen island.
Aleksey followed.
Squeezy, back to the room, for his ears alone, muttered, ‘Save me. Get me the fuck outta here.’
‘You actually do not appear to need saving.’
‘Nag, nag, nag. Don’t say this. Don’t fucking say that.’
‘Ah, I got some of that, too. I think they may have been conspiring.’
‘That’s not fucking fair. That’s what we do about them.’
They stared gloomily into their drinks for a while.
‘How come it’s always fucking us that has to not say things, hey? Fucking hell. I’d like to take these poncy prats and stick them in a shell scrape somewhere and see what their fucking topics of conversation would be then.’
‘Save me. Get me the fuck outta here, I’d assume.’
