18. Shane
CHAPTER 18
SHANE
Arch had parked behind Rory’s SUV, so we were following him heading to the highway. Not that I would’ve expected him to let someone else lead.
Ellis probably sensed my thoughts through our connection. “I’m sorry about Arch. He’s always been like that.”
Rory chuckled. “Half dickhead, half defender?”
Ellis relaxed. “More like three-quarters dickhead, one quarter defender. My dad was always holding Arch up as an example of the kind of man he wanted me to be. It didn’t make for healthy sibling relations.”
I reached over the seat and patted Ellis’ shoulder. He put his hand on mine, and something inside me eased. “He seemed to want to be there for you. Or something. He didn’t have to come.”
He sighed. “Except when your boss tells you your brother’s been attacked by vampires, you can’t very well act like it’s no big deal. Even if he hadn’t wanted to come, he wouldn’t want to look bad in front of Dominic.” He turned his head toward Rory. “Dominic is exactly like Dad wished I’d turned out to be. Hell, he would’ve traded Arch in if he could’ve had Dominic for a son.”
Rory reached over and put his hand on Ellis’ knee. “What’s so great about Dominic?”
I smiled. I was looking forward to being bonded to Rory. Hell, I was looking forward to the bonding itself.
I shifted in my seat. Ellis squeezed my hand, no doubt sensing my lust through the connection. “Sorry,” I said.
Rory shot me a frown. “Sorry for what?”
I hesitated, but Ellis let go of my hand. “Show him.”
Well, okay. But Ellis was going to fucking participate.
I looked around for any state troopers, but Ms. Jackson must have been keeping them away. I unlatched my seat belt then scooted over to sit on the middle seat so I could reach between Shane and Rory’s backrests. I leaned forward and put one hand on Ellis’ shoulder and one hand on Rory’s. I made sure at least one of my fingers was touching their skin under the collar of their shirts.
“You know how we told you we’re all connected?”
“Yeah?”
“The connection is stronger if we’re touching. Especially skin-to-skin.”
“And that means we can feel what the others are feeling?”
I tightened my grip on him. “Exactly. And a minute ago, I was thinking I was looking forward to being bonded with you.”
He met my eyes in the rear-view mirror. “Yeah? ”
“Definitely. But that got me thinking about the actual bonding part, and Ellis felt my reaction.”
I remembered how Rory looked naked. Then I imagined Rory and Ellis naked together, kissing and writhing against each other, their hands and legs never still, touching and gliding together.
Rory gasped, stiffening in his seat. “Fuck!”
Ellis patted my hand. “Tone it down, Shane, he’s driving, remember?”
I let go of both of them. “Sorry.”
Rory squirmed in his seat and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “Um, no worries.” His voice was a little higher than usual.
I caught Ellis checking out Rory’s lap. I wanted to do the same, but I decided to behave myself, sliding back in the seat and buckling myself in.
Ellis cleared his throat. “Ah, speaking of bonding. Simon said we need to do it soon. Not to, I guess, kill the romance or anything, but what are we going to do about your jobs?”
Rory scrunched up his face. “What do jobs have to do with...? Oh, wait. You mean the thing where you and Shane were having to stay within a few feet of each other?”
“Yeah, it can take weeks before you can be apart for more than a couple of hours. Can you work remotely?”
He shook his head. “The boss likes to see us in the office. But honestly I’ve been making more money from the investments Grandfather’s been helping me with. I wouldn’t be sad to pull a Shane move.” He raised his eyebrows at me in the rear-view mirror .
Ellis looked back at me questioningly, so I told him how Ricky had called me at the wrong time, and I’d let him have it.
Ellis laughed. “I’m so proud of you. I wish I’d been able to see it.”
I didn’t tell him that if he hadn’t been kidnapped, I didn’t know if I’d have ever found the courage to quit.
Ellis reached back and patted my leg. “We’ll find you something better, something that’ll make you happy.”
“Thanks, Ellis.”
I rubbed my chest where the two hundred connections clamored to be noticed. Ordinarily District Monitor connections were pretty quiet, only calling attention to themselves when the Wonder was stressed or afraid. But it was starting to feel like every one of them was on high alert, even though when I focused on an individual connection, nothing was wrong. It wasn’t a problem with the connections, it was that I didn’t have enough magic to maintain them all.
“Guys, would you have any issues if we did the bonding tonight?”
Ellis twisted in his seat to look at me again. “Simon was right, huh? No, let’s do it. Your little experiment a minute ago woke my libido up like you wouldn’t believe. Rory? This’ll be the biggest change for you.”
Once again, Rory met my eyes in the rear-view mirror. But this time they were full of heat. He swallowed, and I watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down. A jolt of lust came through the connection.
Ellis swore.
“Yeah, tonight’s good,” Rory rasped out .
I was about to reply when my phone rang. I checked the screen, half-expecting it to be Ricky. “Oh, shit!” I couldn’t help the panic in my voice.
“What is it?” Ellis turned around again. I had a stray thought that we should buy one of those ancient trucks with the bench seat in the front so the three of us could sit together.
I held my phone out so he could see the screen. “It’s Mr. Yamamoto from Akagi Inc. He was one of our clients. I used to do all of his designs, but of course Ricky told him he’d done them. I only really dealt with him during installation. Shit, should I answer?”
“I’ve got it.” Ellis took the phone from me and swiped to answer the call. “Shane Costa Landscaping, this is Ellis speaking. How may I help you.”
I stared, my mouth hanging open. Did he really do that?
“Yes, sir, Mr. Yamamoto. I’m so sorry, but Shane is meeting with a client right now. However, I’m in charge of sales. Is there something I can help you with?” He tilted his head as he listened, then he smirked. His amusement came through our connection loud and clear. Rory kept glancing over at Ellis, so he must’ve felt it too.
Ellis did drop the smile as he replied. “Yes, sir, that’s correct. All of the designs Ricky told you he drew up were in fact done by Shane.” He gave us a thumbs up as he nodded at whatever Mr. Yamamoto was saying to him. “Of course. If you’ll text the address of the new property to this number, we’ll come see it tomorrow. Does 2pm work for you? Excellent. We can have an estimate to you by a week from today.”
After a few more pleasantries, Ellis hung up the call. He grinned as he handed me my phone back. It buzzed with a text message. Mr. Yamamoto had sent the address .
“Ellis, you... I can’t... I don’t know how?—”
“Breathe, Shane.” Twisting around again, he reached through the gap in the seats to pat my knee. “You can do this.”
I threw up my hands. “I mean, sure, I can do the design. But how much should I charge? Where am I going to get the plants? How will I pay for the plants before Mr. Yamamoto pays me? What if I don’t charge enough? I don’t even have a laptop to send an invoice!”
Ellis squeezed my knee. “Shh. It’ll be fine. That’s what I’m here for. I can solve all of those problems for you.”
“And me.” Rory waved a hand from the driver’s seat. “If you need working capital, I’m your guy.”
“But... but I can’t ask you to do that!”
Rory glanced at Ellis, then back at me in the rear-view mirror. “I’m offering. But either way, you absolutely can ask me to do that. From what I’ve gathered, we’re about to be effectively married. What’s mine will be yours.”
Ellis, still twisted through the gap in the front seats, nodded. “And it’s not like we have much else to do with our time these days. Let’s get you set up as a business. Hell, maybe landscape sales is my new calling. Who knows? Either way it’ll be fun to help you out.”
My head spun with how much work it’d be to set up my own company. I didn’t even know where to start. I didn’t know how to do any of it. My heart raced. “I just... I don’t....” I rubbed my chest. The connections took up so much room, I didn’t feel like I could take a good solid breath.
“Shane? Shane!”
Ellis’ voice came from far away.
“...should bond right now. You said we could do it without sex.” Rory’s voice was tense and higher than usual.
“Let’s give him a minute more. His pulse is steady, and Ms. Jackson said he’d wake up soon.” Manny sounded like he was repeating himself. “You know, when I gave you alone time in the car together, I expected you to, like, get to know each other better, maybe flirt a little. Making Shane pass out was not part of the plan.”
I wrinkled my nose. Making me pass out? Had I passed out? “There, see? He’s coming around.” I opened my eyes to see Manny smiling down at me. I was stretched out on the second-row seats of Rory’s SUV and he was crouched in the footwell next to me.
“Shane! Are you okay?”
I looked upward, which meant toward the open passenger-side door, where Rory and Ellis were crammed into the opening. They both gave me bright, fake smiles.
“I’m sorry.”
Their smiles fell.
Manny held up his hand to stop them from saying anything. “You have nothing to be sorry about. It was probably a panic attack, and Ms. Jackson said the extra strain on your magic made it worse.”
I nodded and rubbed my chest. “It was hard to breathe.”
“Understandable. You wanna sit up?”
“Yeah.” With Manny’s help I got upright in the seat.
“Psst! Shane! ”
I looked over at Pia, who had crawled into the front passenger seat.
“Uncle Arch said I couldn’t stress you out, but I wanted to make sure you weren’t gonna die.”
Yikes. I smiled as I rubbed my chest again. “I’m fine. I’m sorry I scared everyone. It’s just all this extra magic. As soon as we get bonded it’ll feel a lot better.”
Rory opened his mouth, then looked at Pia and shut it. A wisp of amusement came through our connection. I shot him a glare, and he shrugged with a cheeky grin. At least he wasn’t freaking out anymore.
Manny jerked his head at Pia. “Off with you. I need to talk to Shane for a minute, and then we’ll get back on the road.”
“Okay. Bye, Shane! Glad you’re not dying!” She slid out of the seat and bounced over to Ms. Jackson, who escorted her to Arch’s SUV, parked several yards ahead of us on the shoulder. Her connection to Ellis had been restored, and I was surprised to see she’d also formed one with Manny. Would it fade as Ms. Jackson’s magic faded inside him?
But of course Manny couldn’t see it. He grimaced. “Being overly focused on death is a common trauma response.”
I smiled. “It’s okay. I’m pretty glad I’m not dying too.”
Ellis slapped my arm. “No talk of dying! We’ve all had enough stress this week!” A huge mass of worry and fear rolled through the connection.
I winced. “Sorry, y’all.” I looked between Ellis and Rory. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Manny slid to the other end of the row of seats. “ Hombres , you need to get bonded A-S-A-P. Emphasis on the ass.” He pointed at his own to make sure we took his meaning. “I’m going to do you a solid and take another one for the team.” He eyed us significantly. “That’s your team, by the way. Arch, Pia, Ms. Jackson, and I will spend the night at Rory’s apartment. No way is my place big enough for Arch’s ego plus the rest of us. I won’t be able to keep Pia away much later than 10am tomorrow morning, so do what you need to do before then.” He stared each of us in the eye until we nodded and confirmed we’d agreed. Then he opened the door and jumped out of the car.
“I’m so sorry, Shane.” Ellis wrung his hands before reaching out to pat my leg. “I didn’t mean to stress you out. It just seemed perfect for you, since your old client reached out. But you don’t have to do it. We can find you some other job.”
“I don’t know. I should probably look at all my options.”
Rory hesitantly put his hand on my shoulder, so I reached up and grabbed it. Some of the tension coming through our connection eased. “I’ll help. We can go over your finances to see what kind of salary you need. I’m guessing the stipend or whatever you get for being a District Monitor isn’t enough to live on?”
I stared at him, and Ellis hooted. He slapped Rory on the back. “Hah! We don’t get anything for that. It’s a completely volunteer position. Even when we have socials or other celebrations for the Wonders, we have to do it potluck, because none of us can afford to foot the bill.”
Now it was Rory’s turn to stare. “Nothing? But you give up your free time, and your magic....” He gestured at me with his free hand.
I squeezed his fingers. “Cal found out some of the states have Financial Wizards—they’re magic carriers whose gifts allow them to make really smart investments, but they’re pretty rare. Anyway, those states have a fund for their District Monitors, and their Hunters don’t have to be paid out of the rescue groups’ budgets.”
“What’d I miss? Why are you stopped?”
Pia’s shrieks had nothing on the one I let out as I ducked down and away from the elderly man who’d appeared in the front passenger seat.
“Holy shit, this one can see me!”
I cautiously examined the slightly transparent figure. “Fuck me, you’re a ghost!” I turned to Rory, who was slack-jawed and glancing back and forth between me and the ghost. Next to him, Ellis was as wide-eyed as I probably was.
Rory leaned into the car. “You can see him?”
“I sure can.” I patted my chest like it would slow my racing heart. “Um, hi. I’m Shane.”
The ghost smirked. “I know. I’ve been standing right next to you since Monday night.”
“Grandfather!”
The ghost turned to Ellis. “What about you? Cat got your tongue? Or was it my grandson?” He chortled.
“Uh....” Ellis rubbed his chin and gave Rory a side-eye. “I’m Ellis.”
Rory sighed. “This is my grandfather, Carlyle Blackbourne.”
“Hi, Carl!” I put on my perkiest Manny-esque voice. “It’s so cool to meet a ghost!”
He wrinkled his see-through nose. “It’s Carlyle.”
Arch honked his horn, and we all jumped. Except for Carlyle, of course .
“We should get on the road.” Rory backed up and herded Ellis away from the car as well. He shut the door and headed around to the driver’s side.
Ellis pulled open the front passenger door. “Excuse me, Carlyle, but I’d like to sit here.”
“I was here first, kid. There’s plenty of room in the back next to your other boyfriend.”
Rory rolled his eyes as he put his seat belt on. “Don’t listen to him, Ellis. Just sit in the seat and if he doesn’t like it, he’ll move.”
Personally I was more worried about whether Ellis wouldn’t like it than Carlyle. I shivered as Ellis hesitantly climbed into the seat. Carlyle rolled his eyes—he was definitely related to Rory—and popped from the front seat to the seat on my left.
Fuck. This close, I could feel a chill.
“Grandfather, I thought you were going to meet us in Houston.” Rory pulled out onto the highway behind Arch’s SUV.
“ Hmmph . That billionaire is going to buy another Wonder. The auction’s Friday night.”
As the rest of us gasped, Carlyle poked me in the shoulder.
“Hey!” I wasn’t expecting his finger to feel solid.
“Hah! I can touch this one!”
I rubbed my shoulder and regretted choosing the middle seat. Ms. Jackson was probably keeping the cops away, so I could unbuckle my seat belt and move to the seat next to the window.
“Grandfather, stop that. Tell us about the auction. ”
He crossed his arms. “No. Not until one of you tells me why you were stopped on the highway.”
I rubbed my forehead. “It was for me. I got stressed out and the connections made it hard to breathe.”
Carlyle patted my leg. Again, it felt like a live person, though much colder. “I know just what you need. Be right back.” He disappeared.
“Uh, is he always like that?”
Rory huffed out an exasperated sound. “Yes.”
And then Carlyle was back. But he wasn’t alone. He’d reappeared on my left, where he’d sat before. But now on my right was a woman I’d know anywhere. My mouth hung open, and I couldn’t speak.
Granny patted my cheek. “Shane, my boy, it’s so good to be able to touch you again.” Then she slapped me not-so-gently on the same cheek. “What’s this about you holding too many connections? When are you planning to bond to those hunka-hunkas of yours? You’ve got two of them now—plenty of magic to handle those connections.”
“Granny?” I wrapped her in a hug—a very chilly hug—and blinked back tears. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”
She made a scoffing noise. “Where else did you think I’d be? You think I’d leave you to live on your own? It’s a miracle you haven’t starved to death or burned down the house by now.”
“Hey,” Rory called from the front seat. “Sorry to interrupt, but we really need to know about the auction.”
I sat back in my seat but kept an arm around Granny.
She patted my leg. “Blondie’s right. We can catch up later. Now we need to make a plan to take down that Randolph guy.”
Grandfather harumphed. “And my fuckhead son.”
Ellis turned around in his seat. “Maybe the planning part should wait until we can talk to my brother. He’s trained in that sort of thing. But what do you know?”
Granny rolled her eyes. “What, they don’t have speakerphones where you’re from?”
“Granny! Pia’s in that car. I’m not sure she should hear about this.”
She blew a ghostly raspberry. “That kid’s got more balls than you do. She’ll be the better for helping take that asshole down.”
Rory held up a hand. “Dimi might have a point. Why don’t we ask Pia if it’ll make her uncomfortable to listen to us talk about Randolph? I’m sure Ms. Jackson will keep an eye on her.”
We all agreed. Since Rory’s phone was paired with the car, Ellis picked it up, entered Arch’s number, and dialed.
“Go for Arch.”
Ellis glanced at Rory, who gestured for him to talk. “Hey, it’s Ellis and... everyone. Um, we have news, but Pia? Are you okay hearing us talk about Randolph Chamberlain?”
“Yeah, I can handle it.” Her voice was clear and firm.
“Great. Uh, Rory’s grandfather is here, and he says Randolph Chamberlain and Hugo Blackbourne will be attending an auction on Friday night. A Wonder auction.”
Ms. Jackson—or someone at least—made a growling noise .
“Fuck—er, fudge. That’s... soon.” Arch paused then said, “What exactly do we know?”
“Hey, it’s Rory. I’m pretty sure you can talk to my grandfather directly now. So this is Carlyle Blackbourne.”
Carlyle puffed up importantly. “Yes, this is he. You may call me Carlyle.”
There was a shocked pause, then Arch sputtered, “I’m sorry, what? You’re the ghost? We’re talking to a ghost ?”
Carlyle curled his lip. “I’m still a human being, you know. I’ve just moved on to the next level, or whatever the video game reference is, in case that makes it easier for your tiny brain to understand.”
Granny sniffed. “This new generation has no respect for their elders.”
“Wait, who’s that speaking?”
“I’d like to introduce you to Shane’s grandmother, Dimi Costa. She’s joined us too.” Ellis was losing his patience. “Something about our connection seems to have given Rory the ability to make ghosts visible and audible to others.”
“Holy shit! Um, I mean, wow.”
“I’ve heard swearing before, Uncle Arch. Don’t worry about it.” Pia’s voice dripped with all the disdain of a teenager. Damn. And she was only thirteen.
Granny disappeared.
Carlyle cleared his throat. “Right. As I was saying?—”
Granny popped back into the seat next to me. “I went over to their car, but they couldn’t see or hear me.”
“Good to know. Thanks, Dimi.” Rory glanced back at her with a smile .
“Wait, one of the ghosts was over here? I—” Ahead of us, Arch’s SUV slowed down, and I felt Rory take his foot off the gas so we didn’t crowd them.
Manny intervened. “Arch, shut it. You can have your ghost crisis later. Let Grandpa talk so we can take down Randolph Chamberlain.” I was a little worried about whether Manny would murder Arch if they had to spend the night in the same apartment. At least Ms. Jackson would be there.
“Ahem. Thank you, Manuel.” Carlyle glared out the window at the other SUV. “As I was saying, my friends Garfield and Mercy, who were Wonders before their passing, have been following?—”
“You mean haunting!” Manny called out.
Carlyle gritted his teeth for a second before continuing. “They have been following Randolph Chamberlain and my son, Hugo Blackbourne. Just before Pia’s rescue, Chamberlain showed her to Hugo, and we overheard Hugo ask Chamberlain to help him acquire a Wonder of his own. Since Chamberlain has had trouble, ah, keeping his captives alive, we believe he will get Hugo to take over the care of his next Wonder.”
“Wait. Sorry, excuse me for interrupting.” Arch must’ve taken a manners pill while Carlyle was speaking. “How did Chamberlain react to Pia’s disappearance? Did he search for her?”
Carlyle cackled. “Nope. Some of the staff helped Rory get Pia out, and they put some dead branches in the cage where she’d been held. Chamberlain didn’t question it.”
I chuckled along with everyone else.
“Anyway, today Chamberlain told Hugo he got a text from his contact for the auction. And, we can’t touch his phone without killing it, but, Arch, if you can hack into it, Mercy knows when the text came in so you can trace it.”
“Probably a burner phone, but it’s worth looking into, thanks.”
“He called Hugo right away, and they’re going to the auction together. Chamberlain’s already wired a deposit.”
I felt sick thinking of the Wonders who were being held prisoner and sold.
“Where’s it going to be?”
“He didn’t say the address, but it’s a warehouse on Chappell Street on the East side.”
I snorted. “Yeah, that makes sense. The cops don’t go down that way after dark.”
“Okay, thanks, Carlyle. Anything else?” Arch was in full professional mode now.
“Just that they’re supposed to get there at 10pm.”
“Got it. I’ll call my team. Thanks, and let me know if you find out anything else.”
Rory ended the call. “Thanks, Grandfather. I’m glad you ghosts hung around Chamberlain and Uncle Hugo.”
He grinned. “It’s been fun. We’ve all enjoyed playing spies.”
Granny patted my arm. “I’ll see you at home. I think you three need some alone time.”
“Uh.” I looked out the window so I didn’t have to see her expression. “It’s good to see you, and I want to spend more time with you, but maybe don’t show up until tomorrow. Um, like noon? We’re going to bond tonight. ”
“Oh, of course!” She gave me a chilly hug. “Come on, Carlyle! Time for us to leave these lovebirds alone!” She vanished, and Rory’s grandfather followed.
I slumped back into my seat. “Wow, that was a lot.”
Rory exhaled loudly. “Yeah.”
Ellis, however, turned in his seat so he could look back at me. “Now would be a great time to talk about our relationship histories.”