“No. It’s okay.” I glanced around, feeling the ghosts pressing in on me again. MEGY! “This place is crawling with the strongest ghosts I’ve ever encountered.”
Dave face was on the screen. “Can they hurt you?”
I thought about the face-gnawing ghost. “Not really. I can feel them and it’s uncomfortable, but they can’t really hurt me, not physically. I keep getting dragged into horrible memories of the abuses they endured, though, which is no picnic. Of course, it was far worse for them. I’ve also pissed off the local pack.”
I shrugged. “Nothing I can do about it, though. I was just trying to help, but now I’m the public face of the bloodsuckers and they have to hate someone, so… It’s fine. We’re almost out of here.”
“Sam,” Dave said, “you know I can be anywhere in the world. If you need me, you call me.”
My throat tightened and I nodded. We weren’t where we used to be in our friendship, not since I’d learned some hard truths about my mother’s death, but I knew he was doing what he could to look after me, whether I wanted him to or not. “I know. Thank you.”
He handed the phone back to Owen and resumed cooking. Owen gave me a concerned look but held his tongue, heading back to the bar.
“Okay, talk to Fergus one more time and then I’ll let you go,” Owen said.
He turned the phone and there was my handsome Irish Wolfhound, sitting like a good boy, eyes shining as he stared at me and whined.
“I know, little man. Not too much longer. I’ll be home soon, and we’ll go for a run on the beach.”
He jumped up and I recognized my mistake. He tore back and forth, from Owen to the stairs. I’d used the R-word and now he wanted to run.
“Now you’ve gone and done it,” Owen said. “I’ll call Alec. His lunch with Benvair should be done by now. He can run here and then run Fergus back with him.”
“Sorry and thank you, Owen. For everything,” I said.
“No problem. Alec’s probably looking for an exit strategy about now anyway. Take care of yourself and let us know if we need to mount a rescue mission.” The picture bobbled, as he had to get Fergus under control. The last thing we wanted was Fergus accidentally knocking over one of the elderly wicches in his enthusiasm.
The call ended and I sat staring at the black screen.
I flinched when the bedroom door opened. Beloved stormy gray eyes had me relaxing a moment later. “Did you find Sebastian?”
“I did.” He reached for my hand and pulled me up into a hug. “I’ve missed hearing you laugh.”
Head in the crook of his neck, I breathed in his scent. “You heard me?”
“Given my kind’s sensitive hearing and desire not to be overheard, we speak in hushed tones, so, yes, I heard you down the hall. It made me happy and wish I hadn’t been so selfish to bring you here with me.”
Holding me close, he kissed my ear. “You could be home with Fergus and your friends, unpacking new books.”
I warmed at the thought. “I do love all those things, but I love you more.” I squeezed him hard. “And if I wasn’t here, Aliz wouldn’t have been found and returned to her family.”
“Starting a war with the wolves,” he added.
I ignored him. “And you never would have become friends with Vlad.”
“I don’t believe friend is the word you’re looking for.”
“Sure it is.” I leaned back to run my finger down his chiseled jaw. “You like and trust him. Don’t pretend you don’t.”
Tilting his head, he caught my finger between his teeth, licking the tip. Letting it drop, he swooped in to kiss me. Clive’s kisses were potent things.
Head spinning, I finally surfaced and found myself on the bed. “How’d I get over here?”
“You really should be more aware of your surroundings, darling,” he chided as he pulled my top over my head, my bra being flung after it.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I thought that would be obvious,” he said, nuzzling my throat.
