Last Summer
“We should bond right now. Ellis, you said we could do it without sex.” Rory’s voice was tense and higher than usual as he clutched the edge of the SUV’s doorframe. Ellis’ worried face peered under Rory’s arm.
“Let’s give him a minute more. His pulse is steady, and Ms. Jackson said he’d wake up soon.
” I tried not to sound tired of repeating myself.
Rory was understandably worried. “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.” Shane’s nose wrinkled, and I pointed.
“There, see? He’s coming around.” I smiled down at him as he opened his eyes.
He was stretched out across the second-row seats of Rory’s SUV, and I was crouched uncomfortably next to him in the footwell.
“Shane! Are you okay?” Rory and Ellis were hovering next to Shane’s head in the open passenger-side door. If they leaned in any farther, we’d bump heads, which would not end well for them.
“I’m sorry.” Shane sounded like he was going to cry. Rory and Ellis both opened their mouths, but I held up my hand.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. I think you had a panic attack, and Ms. Jackson said the extra strain on your magic made it worse.” Apparently District Monitors weren’t supposed to carry connections for more than one District, but when Ellis had been kidnapped by the vampires yesterday, all of his connections had been cut and dumped on Shane.
I focused on Shane to avoid thinking about what the vampires had cut on me.
He nodded and rubbed his chest. “It was hard to breathe.”
“Understandable. You wanna sit up?”
“Yeah.” I helped him sit upright, and I gratefully moved to sit next to him.
“Psst! Shane!” Pia 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.”
Shane’s expression was slightly horrified behind the smile he gave her.
“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.
” Once Shane, Ellis, and Rory bonded, Ellis would be able to share all the District Monitor connections again.
And apparently bonding didn’t make Rory automatically become a District Monitor. You either were one or you weren’t.
I jerked my head at Pia. “Off with you. I need to talk to Shane for a minute, and then we’ll get back on the road.” Too bad I couldn’t use Shane’s panic attack as an excuse to ride in this car. Arch and I were being civil for Pia’s sake, but things in his SUV were fucking tense.
“Okay. Bye, Shane! Glad you’re not dying!
” She slid out of the seat and bounced over to Ms. Jackson, unapologetically in their tiger form on the side of the highway.
None of the cars driving past us seemed to notice though.
Ms. Jackson kept themself between Pia and the road as they escorted her to Arch’s SUV, parked several yards ahead on the shoulder.
I grimaced. “Being overly focused on death is a common trauma response.” At least no one in our little group had died yesterday. That would’ve probably been too much for her to deal with on top of everything else she’d been through.
Shane smiled. “It’s okay. I’m pretty glad I’m not dying too.”
Ellis reached through the open door and slapped his arm. “No talk of dying! We’ve all had enough stress this week!”
Shane made a face. “Sorry, y’all.” He looked between Ellis and Rory. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Aww, they were precious. But they really needed to bond tonight, which meant it was time to do the right thing again, dammit.
Shane’s house had two bedrooms, but who wanted to have threesome sex for the first time with a thirteen-year-old in the next room?
I slid over to the door on the driver’s side so I could get out.
“Hombres, you need to get bonded A-S-A-P. Emphasis on the ass.” I pointed at mine to make sure they got the point.
“I’m going to do you a solid and take another one for the team.
” I glared at them. “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.
” I made sure each of them made eye contact with me and nodded in acknowledgement before I opened the door and jumped out of the car.
Rory’s place was a one-bedroom, but I’d figure out the sleeping arrangements when we got there. First I had to endure another ninety minutes in the car with Arch. At least Rory had a giant TV with two gaming systems and a dozen streaming services. No talking required.
I climbed into Arch’s SUV and got myself settled with my seat belt on. Pia and Ms. Jackson were watching another episode of Supernatural, which, well, wasn’t the worst thing they could’ve chosen.
We still weren’t moving. I looked at Arch, who was scowling into the rear-view mirror. “They’re just standing outside the car, yakking! Can’t they talk and drive at the same time?” He honked the horn, which had the desired effect of making Rory and Ellis get into the car.
We got on the road, and I was informing Arch that we’d be staying at Rory’s condo tonight—though of course he was welcome to get a hotel if he’d be more comfortable there—when Arch’s phone rang over the car’s speaker system.
“Go for Arch.”
“Hey, it’s Ellis and... everyone. Um, we have news, but Pia? Are you okay hearing us talk about Randolph Chamberlain?”
She leaned forward in her seat. “Yeah, I can handle it.” I gave her a thumbs up.
“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.”
Next to Pia, Ms. Jackson growled.
“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.”
“Yes, this is he. You may call me Carlyle.” My mouth dropped open. I would’ve recognized Rory’s grandfather’s voice anywhere. How had they done that?
Arch clenched his hands on the steering wheel and sputtered, “I’m sorry, what? You’re the ghost? We’re talking to a ghost?”
Carlyle’s voice dripped with disdain. “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.”
A woman’s voice came over the line. “This new generation has no respect for their elders.” It took me a second to recognize Dimi Costa’s voice, but then I grinned. I couldn’t wait to catch up with her when we weren’t surrounded by other people.
“Wait, who’s that speaking?” Arch ran his hand over his bald head. Was the skin as smooth as it looked?
Ellis sounded impatient and I turned my attention back to the conversation. “I’d like to introduce you to Shane’s grandmother, Dimi Costa. She’s joined us too. 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 snickered at Arch’s attempts to keep things PG for Pia. It was kind of sweet, even if he was otherwise an asshole.
Pia’s tone matched Carlyle’s almost perfectly. “I’ve heard swearing before, Uncle Arch. Don’t worry about it.”
Carlyle cleared his throat. “Right. As I was saying—”
Dimi interrupted him. “I went over to their car, but they couldn’t see or hear me.”
Rory didn’t seem bothered. “Good to know. Thanks, Dimi.”
“Wait, one of the ghosts was over here? I—” Arch’s head swiveled around to scan the inside of the car, and he took his foot off the gas.
I intervened. “Arch, shut it. You can have your ghost crisis later. Let Grandpa talk so we can take down Randolph Chamberlain.”
“Ahem. Thank you, Manuel.” Carlyle’s voice was dry as the desert, and I snickered. “As I was saying, my friends Garfield and Mercy, who were Wonders before their passing, have been following—”
“You mean haunting!” I corrected.
Carlyle sounded like he was gritting his teeth.
“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 task Hugo with taking over the care of his next Wonder. ”
Arch held up a hand, even though no one in the other car could see him. “Wait. Sorry, excuse me for interrupting. How did Chamberlain react to Pia’s disappearance? Did he search for her?”
Carlyle cackled. “No. 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.”
Cunning of them. I approved.
“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.” Arch ran his hand over his head again. Damn, why did I want to touch it so badly?
“He called Hugo right away, and they’re going to the auction together. Chamberlain’s already wired a deposit.”
“Where’s it going to be?”
“He didn’t say the address, but it’s a warehouse on Chappell Street on the East side.”
Shane snorted. “Yeah, that makes sense. The cops don’t go down that way after dark.”
“Okay, thanks, Carlyle. Anything else?” Arch was giving off serious cop vibes. It suited his officious, holier-than-thou manner.
“Only that they’re supposed to get there at 10:00 p.m.”
“Got it. I’ll call my team. Thanks, and let me know if you find out anything else.”
Now I had an auction to worry about as well as tonight’s sleeping arrangements. Maybe I should just stay awake. At least then I wouldn’t have any nightmares.