Chapter 4
FOUR
“We should consider that she and her brother may be manifesting it.” I swiped my glucose monitor patch with a Q-tip soaked in baby oil. “Because of the sleepwalking.”
We stopped on the side of the road; dry air and baking desert sand surrounded us.
Octavia was ahead of us on the shoulder.
She stayed in her truck, talking on the phone.
December stood at the front of the RV, trying to figure out why it emitted a concerning amount of steam.
Jonah was beside her with an open toolbox in hand, ready and waiting for her command.
“And you see this,” she said to him.
“I think so…”
“You think you see something?” she asked, confused. “Do you need glasses?”
“No, no. I see it. I definitely see it.”
“There’s nothing wrong with needing glasses,” she told him honestly.
“Swear, I see it.”
Nico and I exchanged smiles. He stood in front of the RV steps, holding a weather-testing device he’d made from scraps of a secondhand radio.
Getting new gear was pricey, and even with our decent income, we couldn’t imagine keeping up with the Guild’s arsenal.
So, we improvised…Well, Nico improvised because he was the only one with the head for it. The rest of us reaped the benefits.
“God, let’s hope not manifestation. I hate those jobs.” Nico banged the side of the device against his palm when a weird buzzing sound started. We ran a very technical ship.
“Complete buzzkill,” he murmured, still hitting the device. “Why don’t they ever manifest something magical?”
“Like what?” I gently tugged at the patch, trying to take my time and avoid a painful removal. “A unicorn? Theme park fast pass?”
“Your idea of magic is a weird-looking horse and a trip to a consumerist slush pit?” Nico raised a brow.
“Isn’t everyone’s?” I joked.
He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m more of a genie in a bottle, three wishes kind of person.”
“I rest my case.” I gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “That could be found in the consumerist slush pit.”
“No, I’m talking about the real thing.”
“It’s real enough if you just believe.”
He nudged his chin toward Octavia’s car. “Tell that to our new client over there. Her video’s legit, by the way. There’s no evidence of someone doctoring it.”
“Did you have time to pull anything on the family?”
Nico stuffed his device into his back pocket and retrieved a vape from the small, obnoxiously orange pouch hanging across his chest. “Her mom and dad died about twelve years ago. An article said they were on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon.”
He moved closer as he spoke, settling on the step below mine.
I finished the removal of the patch, wiping up the bit of adhesive left on my skin.
Because of my sweat and the lingering dust in the air, I took extra care in disinfecting my skin before reapplying a new CGM.
The heat in this part of the state was downright rude this time of year.
I’d discarded my top long ago and worked in a gray sports bra.
“The brother was a physics professor at Stanford.” Nico changed the cartridge of his vape. “Until about two years ago, after a car accident—that’s how he became paralyzed.”
“Can you tell if they’re close?”
“On a surface level, it sure seems like it,” he said. “Octavia was in all his wedding photos. And she’s the only person he still posts photos of on socials after the accident. From what I can tell, the guy’s single now. He moved in with Octavia after they purchased the ranch.”
“Jeez,” I murmured. “No parents, a newly divorced brother, and a haunted horse ranch. This woman’s going through it.”
“Rough patch.” Nico nodded and took a drag from the vape. “How much do you want to bet we’re looking at an ancestral spirit?”
I shook my head. “No betting until we get there.”
“You’re becoming a stick in the mud, you know that?”
“How do you feel about going with December when we split up?” I asked.
Nico’s smile dropped. “I was kidding. You’re really kicking me out?”
I laughed. “No one’s kicking anyone out. I think having just Jonah there will help with his learning. You and December are good. Too good, sometimes, and it hinders him from making a mistake.”
Nico frowned. The air smelled of cherry from his exhale. “No. We’re not splitting up.”
“It’ll only be for a couple of days.” I gathered my cleanup supplies, tossing them into a plastic grocery bag.
“We did your coin toss.” Nico gestured to me. “We accepted this job. You’ve had your way, and now, it’s my turn. I don’t enjoy splitting up. Especially on isolated jobs like this.”
“We’re passing by a city on our Hotspot list. I just need you and December to check in, take some readings. It’ll take a day, two tops. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet up with you two in the middle?”
He blew out a breath, and I poked his shoulder.
“Hotspot monitoring was your idea,” I said.
“Yeah, I know, but…I don’t like being apart after Atlanta.” He tugged up his sleeve, showing me his forearm. “I get hives every time I even think about it.”
I squinted. “There’s nothing there.”
Nico huffed, and I swallowed a laugh.
“They’re there,” he promised.
“Stalkers don’t come around often,” I murmured.
We had a close call earlier this year. Some weird guy who’d followed all our socials and started private messaging me questions that began polite and devolved into confessions of adoration and obsession.
He’d cornered me in a Wendy’s parking lot with a wilted bouquet in hand. When I didn’t recognize him at first glance, his irritation was instant. The bruise he’d left on my wrist after trying to pull me to his car took a couple of weeks to fade.
It should have shaken me up more than it had.
People could often be as dangerous as the supernatural.
And yet, all I could think of was how exposed his skin had been.
He’d worn short sleeves to an attempted assault.
When he grabbed me, he hadn’t guarded any part of his body like my parents taught me to when fighting.
He hadn’t expected a fight or a worthy opponent.
“And Octavia’s not one of them.” I clicked my kit shut. “Trust me.”
Nico sighed, pressing the vape to his bottom lip but didn’t take a drag. Didn’t say a word.
“Come on, it’ll be a perfect time to test out your Remnant scanner,” I encouraged. “The ranch doesn’t need four hunters for an assessment.”
“You really want this? Or are you just sick of December and me?”
I remained silent for a bit and laughed when his gaze snapped to mine.
Truth was, I’d probably wither away after a week of not being in their presence.
After leaving my sister’s team, I only briefly played with the idea of being a solo hunter.
The thought lasted for all of three seconds.
Solving cases was far more rewarding alongside other people.
“No, I’m just trying to do what’s best for everyone. And to see if what we’re doing…is actually helping. Your scanner can help prove that we’re moving the needle. Changing things permanently.”
Nico tilted his head to the side, studying me. “What are you talking about? Of course, we’re helping.”
I nodded quickly. “Right.”
“Rae.” His face softened.
My nose twitched, and I switched my gaze to our not-qualified-but-willing mechanic at the front of the RV. The smoke billowed from the open hood blocked my view of them. Getting lost in the fumes seemed far more appealing than getting lost in Nico’s attempts at comfort.
“How are we?” Nico asked in a gentle voice.
I laughed under my breath. We. That’s what Nico and I have always been, ever since we’d met at six and five.
We’d lived together at the Guild headquarters from thirteen to eighteen.
We were roommates for a stint (before Nico went on testosterone and wanted more privacy), literally tying ourselves at the hip for field day just to prove to our mentors we were better together.
But “we” weren’t questioning our decision to leave the Guild.
We weren’t questioning whether these freelancing jobs made a difference.
We weren’t questioning whether we were wasting our time pushing a rock up a hill only for it to fall again the next day.
If we weren’t questioning whether we were good enough to keep pushing.
Because he was building. Nico flourished without having to set aside his research and experiments to fully focus on a job.
He’d learned how to repair almost every standard paranormal instrument with no budget and Gorilla Glue.
Nico wanted to start an offline database for people outside the Guild. He was building, and I was—
“It’s a good book,” he said. “Don’t let some rancher from the middle of nowhere make you believe otherwise.”
“No, it’s not that.” Not all of it, at least. Octavia had simply added fertilizer to my seed of doubt. But I’d planted it a long time ago. Watered it every day.
“Then, what is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Rae—”
“I don’t,” I snapped and then squeezed my eyes shut and covered them with my hands. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay.” Nico was quiet. He touched my knee, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting it go. “If this whole thing isn’t what you want anymore, you realize that’s okay?”
“This is what I want.” I dropped my hands from my face, meeting his gaze.
Nico watched and waited, offering me his hand again. We used to hold hands whenever one of us wanted to cry because hugging always seemed to make the waterworks last longer.
“Of course it’s what I want,” I whispered while looking at my hand in his. “There’s nothing to complain about.”
“The shared bathroom, not one?” he teased.
“Or the dumping of said shared bathroom? That’s a top-tier complaint for me.
Especially after we’ve all caught up on our fiber now.
December’s new diet plan is great, love the lowered risk of colon cancer and all, but…
damn, it takes forever to air this place out. ”
I laughed. “Maybe one thing to complain about.”
“Why are you being so modest and positive? You’re never modest and positive.”