Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
KIERAN
“It’s not that bad,” Skye assures me as he strips the wet bedlinens while I try to soak some of the water from the carpet with a towel.
It’s absolutely soaked, and I want to prevent having more seep through to the ceiling below if possible.
A paint job is one thing, but I’d like to avoid having to replaster.
“It’s really not,” Josh adds, “but I don’t think buckets are going to do the trick here. The drips are too spread out. A plastic tarp might be a better bet, now that they’ve slowed down.”
“I think you’re right.” I sit back on my haunches and study the sopping wet carpet. “We’re going to need to rip up this carpet too.”
“Not tonight,” Skye says. “Call the insurance company tomorrow and get them out to look first.” He hesitates. “The mattresses are wet.”
I close my eyes. Of course they are. “How wet? Dry in a few hours wet, or future health hazard wet?”
“Somewhere in between. I say check them again tomorrow and see if they’re still damp or not. But you won’t be able to sleep on them tonight.”
The sound of footsteps overhead makes us all tip our heads back.
Daniel and Ewan are up there, checking to see what the problem is.
I tried to convince them to wait until morning, but they swayed me with the reminder that it might rain again.
Fortunately, one of the gables in the storage room has a small door built in to give them access to the roof.
It was done as part of the renovations twenty years ago for situations just like this, since it’s easier and safer than a ladder that spans three stories.
“Please don’t let them fall off the roof,” I mutter, and Josh laughs.
“They’re not going to fall. Relax, Kier.”
“My thoughts aren’t all that positive right now,” I tell him. “I can’t believe all the crap that’s happened in the past six days.”
“It’s been a wild week,” Skye agrees. “I don’t want to add to your stress, but where are you and Connor going to sleep tonight?”
“I’ve already thought about that.” Okay, it was my first thought when I walked in and saw the mess, and it’s the only positive to have come out of this: no more sharing a room with Connor.
“He and Gabe can share, since they’re friends, and I’ll take the sectional in the Garden Suite.
” Am I thrilled to be sleeping mere feet away from the gateway?
Nope. But there aren’t a lot of options, and at least Gabe’s done his mojo thing. It’s safer now than it’s ever been.
“That should work,” Josh agrees. “Okay, let’s shove the beds as far to the sides as possible and find a tarp to lay under this drippy area.”
While they maneuver the beds, I go to the storage room next door to find a tarp.
I know there are some there because they’re on the inventory list. We keep a bunch of heavy plastic tarps near the roof access in case the roof starts leaking.
Given how prepared we are for this exact situation, I really shouldn’t be surprised that it happened.
Ewan’s grabbing one of the tarps when I step in. “Hey,” he says. “Everything okay?”
I explain, grabbing another. “We don’t have enough buckets, so we’re improvising.”
“Good plan. We found the problem—a broken tile. It’s hard to tell with just flashlights, but there’s an abandoned birds’ nest there too, so I think it might have got moved around a bit after it cracked. We’ll tack the tarp down for tonight and get it fixed properly tomorrow.”
“Do I need to call a roofer?” Daniel and Ewan handle a lot of the small, one-off repairs around the estate because they’re both handy and their employment contracts allow for it, but I’m very firm about not taking advantage of them for bigger stuff. It’s not their job.
He shrugs. “Probably not, but let us have a look in daylight and see if there are any other issues. How long since the last time the roof was done?”
“I’d have to check. Before my time.” Something else to keep me up tonight.
Ewan must read my mind, because he pats my arm. “Don’t worry about it for now. Let’s see what it looks like in the morning.”
That seems to be tonight’s motto.
Skye hands me a mug of coffee, and I sink into a chair at the table in the break room. “It’s not usually this crazy,” I tell Gabe. “I think Mercury must be in retrograde or something.”
He smiles calmly. I’ve barely met him, but already I can tell he’s one of those unruffled people who just takes everything in stride.
He’s got a friendly, open face, framed by shaggy brown hair, and his whole manner just screams “approachable.” Kind of like Daniel, though Daniel doesn’t have that air of calm.
Like Connor, he’s got thick black leather cuffs buckled around his wrists, and I wonder if it’s a dress code of some kind. They haven’t told us much about the people they work for, but maybe it’s a uniform thing, so other hunters will recognize them?
“This is nothing,” he says. “Believe me, I’m used to crazy.”
That’s not as comforting as he thinks.
“Before we start,” Josh says, leaning against Ewan’s giant arm, “Connor, we’ve brought your stuff downstairs. We thought you could share with Gabe tonight. The crash room isn’t habitable right now.”
Connor, who’s been oddly quiet, frowns. “Where are you going to sleep?” he asks me.
“On the sectional in the Garden Suite.”
“No.” Connor and Gabe say it at the same time, getting everyone’s attention.
“No?” I ask.
Gabe shakes his head. “I’m not comfortable with that, not when the gateway’s not properly guarded. I’ll sleep on the sectional, and you can share with Connor.”
I want to protest, but it seems my throat has locked up. I swallow frantically to clear it. “Oh, I don’t—”
“That’s an easy solution,” Skye interrupts. “Kier hates the idea of a guest sleeping on a couch, but we really don’t have any other options. If Connor doesn’t mind, of course? I figure since you’ve been sharing already anyway…”
Sharing a room, not a bed! This is a completely different situation.
But Skye’s right about there not being other options, unless I go home, which I don’t want to do while things are so volatile.
There’s the couch at Ewan and Daniel’s place, but it’s only a two-seater and won’t be comfortable.
Or one of the bunks in the school camp dorms. Except they’re currently not in use because of a bug infestation.
The exterminator is due at the end of the week.
So… that would be scraping the bottom of the barrel.
There’s the couch in Josh’s studio, but since Ewan will be with him, that feels very creepy third wheel.
“I don’t mind,” Connor announces.
“Great!” Josh declares.
“Settled!” Skye adds. They both sound positively gleeful.
Daniel looks from Skye to me. “Why do I feel like I’ve missed something?”
Skye rolls his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. Now, Gabe… welcome! We didn’t really get to say that earlier.”
Gabe smiles. “Thanks. This is a great place. The energy here is amazing.”
My inner hope perks up.
“It’s wonderful,” Josh chimes in eagerly. “The best decision I ever made was coming to work here.”
I try not to wince. That might have been a bit heavy-handed.
Nodding agreeably, Gabe says, “I’m sure it was. So, I’m sure you’re all wondering what happens next.” He glances at Connor. “What has Con told you?”
“Not much,” he says. “There hasn’t been time.
This place is like Grand Central Station on the weekend.
But I did mention that if you don’t feel this is the right fit for you, we’d find someone else.
” He meets my gaze. “We’re not going to abandon you—you won’t have to deal with this alone ever again. ”
His blue eyes are intent and steady, and a tiny piece of the stress I’ve been carrying breaks away.
“Yes,” Gabe agrees. “From now on, there will be someone here to guard the gateway, and they’ll be able to help with anything else that comes up.”
The stress snaps right back into place, as though it was on a rubber band. “Anything else? What else?”
Gabe holds up both hands. “I’m sorry, I phrased that badly.
I just mean that with the estate having such great energy…
Well, you have a concentration of ghosts here already, and the house is comparatively not that old.
You also seem to be attracting people with psychic gifts.
” He gestures to Josh and Skye. “And my understanding is that your issue with the gateway began because someone recognized that this would be a good place to try summoning a demon. They may not be the only person who’ll ever have that thought.
But you won’t need to worry about that,” he hurries to add, probably because of the look on my face.
“We’ll have someone here who can handle situations like that and call for backup if necessary. ”
Okay, that’s enough waiting. “Could you tell me more about this ‘we’? You two obviously work for someone, what with your expenses being covered and there being people who can be assigned and… everything. What exactly would I be inviting to Mannix Estate?”
Gabe glances at Connor.
“You’re doing fine,” Connor says. “Go ahead.”
Gabe laughs. “Nope. This is your birthright.”
“We could get Uncle Norval to tell them,” Connor muses, and I instantly regret asking.
“The short version,” Gabe says, taking pity on us, “is that we work for a non-profit organization that’s dedicated to protecting Earth from the otherworld.
The details are very… detailed, because there’s a thousand years of history and a bunch of different specialties and a whole lot of information about the otherworld that ties in.
But what it comes down to is that we’re here to help, and we won’t ask anything of you in return. ”
“Except maybe courtesy and cooperation,” Connor adds. “There was one time someone asked for help with a demon and then made me banish it from outside their property line because they didn’t want their neighbors thinking they knew ‘someone like me.’”
“Your personality doesn’t help,” Gabe tells him, and I can’t hold back a snort of laughter.