enchanted mirror, fixed it up, and hung it on display. Got through a pile of paperwork and managed to firm up a few prices on some of Madam Callaway’s furniture. He emailed an acquaintance about the books, as he didn’t usually deal with them. As well as picking up some new clothes. Nothing fancy, just the basics, and he wasn’t even sure he’d be needing the new pajama pants. He didn’t want to be using them. But she might have changed her mind in daylight.
He glanced at Dylis lying on a sideboard, arm over her eyes like she was bored out of her walnut-sized head. She’d be dismayed that he’d broken the enchanted mirror and had seemed almost disappointed by the lack of Grey action.
“Give me five minutes to close up and you can come to Lydia’s.” He hoped he sounded more enthused about that than he felt. At least with Dylis if he was followed by Greys, there would be a measure of protection, plus she could find out more about Lydia’s ghost.
That got her moving. She peeled herself up with more grace than anyone he’d ever seen, as if gravity released her for a moment and she floated to standing. “Can’t wait to see what
Caspian ignored her and set about closing up the shop. When he was ready to leave, Dylis swung onto his arm and held onto his shirtsleeve as he went out the back to where his car was parked. As soon as he crossed the threshold of the shop he knew something wasn’t right.
“Do you hear that?”
“A humming?” Dylis climbed higher and stood on his shoulder.
He didn’t worry about compensating for her; she’d never once fallen off—even when he’d gone through a phase of riding a motorbike in his twenties. Her balance was unnatural.
“It’s not fairy-related. And yet…” She stopped, no doubt because she’d just spotted his car, like he had.
The car was humming. Vibrating. Swarming might have been a better description. The inside of his car was full of black-and-yellow-striped insects. He hoped they were bees and not wasps. But even then he wasn’t game enough to walk over, open a door, and let them out.
Dylis jumped down and walked over. Caspian took a step back. He wasn’t allergic to bees, but they didn’t seem like happy bees and he was pretty sure that a thousand stings would be fatal.
“Don’t open the car.”
“I wasn’t born last century.” She bounced onto the hood as if she were taking a single step and peered through the windscreen.
“He’s really gone all out this time. There’s a whole hive in there.”
“If he thinks this is going to work, he’s wrong.” He spun, looking for the Grey, as if he could be hiding in any shadow. He had to be nearby. “Hear that, Shea—I will not be bullied by you.” He’d been bullied by human children at school and he wasn’t going to be press-ganged into finding a very dangerous artifact for the Grey.
Caspian pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called a cab while his car shook with fury. Shea had done that while he’d been in the shop only yards away and neither Dylis nor he had noticed. Was he getting bolder? What would the next escalation be? He glanced through the shop window and swallowed. While his house might be protected, nothing else was. And Shea had proved he was willing to get close. There was nothing stopping Shea from slowly pulling apart his life the way he had done his clothes.
He couldn’t lose everything again. He’d worked too hard to get this far. There was only one way to stop the damage. Find the Window.
Lydia heard the car pull up and was at the front door ready to greet Caspian before he knocked. She’d gotten changed after work and had spent a bit of time bringing some of the things out of the stable, now used for storage. There was a lawnmower in there that looked like it hadn’t been used in fifty years. But there were also trunks of things that were too heavy for her to lift. It was like Gran had packed up but had never bothered to sort out. The good news was that Caspian would have to keep coming around for a while.
Seeing him was like a break from her real life. A slice of sunshine through stormy clouds. She needed more sunlight in her life.
Caspian walked up the path to her doorstep. “Hi.”
“Hi.” His gaze slid over her without pausing on any part, but no doubt noticing the dust smudged all over her clothing. “You started without me?”
“I’ve been unpacking the stable.” In the corner of her eyes something moved; she glanced over but there was nothing there. Odd, she thought she’d heard something.
Caspian turned his head and she thought she saw him flinch, but then he turned back to face her. “Let’s go in.”
A breeze blew a piece of paper down the street and a chill followed. She suppressed a shiver and stepped back. Caspian shut the door after himself and turned the lock. He was security conscious… of course he was; he dealt in antiques and things worth thousands of dollars.
“Did I see a cab pulling away?” She raised one eyebrow.
“My car was making an odd humming sound. I didn’t want to risk breaking down.”
“It does look like a storm is coming.” She glanced at him and smiled. “Good thing you’re staying.” That he’d turned up with his laptop and an overnight bag was enough to confirm he was sleeping over tonight. In which bed was the real question.
She hadn’t been able to get his kiss out of her head. It had been enough to feed her dreams and make her realize it had been too long between boyfriends. Her body bubbled with expectation, lust coiled in her belly.
Caspian nodded and placed his bag and laptop satchel by the wrought-iron hat stand. “Or did you want me to put it in a room?”
“That’s fine for the moment. We can sort out the rest later.” Why was she so nervous?
“Good idea.” He seemed to relax a little. Maybe this was just as odd for him—which was reassuring. If he’d sauntered in confident of his place, she might have changed her mind.
“Before you set up, can you help me get to some of the trunks in the stable? It might save us some time if they are just full of linen.”
“Sure. Then I’ll do the bedrooms?”
She nodded and tried to ignore the heat creeping over her skin.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know.” She pushed her hair back. “When I invited you to stay I didn’t know if I was inviting you to stay or
“That’s okay; I wasn’t sure which I wanted.”
More like he knew what he wanted but wasn’t sure if he wanted to go after it. She’d seen the desire in his eyes and felt the heat of his kiss, but she didn’t want to be pushing when he was hesitant.
“And now?”
“I still don’t know.” His fingers brushed her cheek. “But not because I don’t want you, because I do, but because it’s spectacularly bad timing and…” His thumb touched her lip.
For a moment she thought he was going to mention his ex. She held her breath, not wanting to be rebound-girl or cast in the exes shadow.
“It’s fast.”
“This is our third date.” Third meeting was probably more appropriate, but she’d had worse dates. Besides, they were talking and doing the other stuff that happened on dates—today was just as awkward as any
He smiled. “True, although we haven’t had dinner out yet.”
“Is that one of your rules?”
“I don’t know anymore.” He paused. “Maybe following the rules isn’t always the best thing to do.” Then he kissed her. Slowly at first as if testing to see if the spark was still there waiting to be fanned.
It was. Heat filled her blood and spread throughout her body. Lust consumed her and for a moment she wanted to forget the work that needed doing and just go upstairs. He pulled away almost reluctantly.
“Stables?” Caspian inhaled and straightened as if readying himself to face something awful. He wasn’t kidding when he said he didn’t like deceased estates. She reached out her hand to reassure him that she didn’t mind him poking around. His hand closed around hers. Warm and firm. She’d stayed up late the night before
