Snatching the other half of my toast, Dave looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Don’t tell me.” Holding his finger to his temple, he closed his eyes tightly. “We have to find Xvair and kill him.”
“How did you know?” Rolling my eyes, I got up from the bed, reaching to take my top off before I realised what I was doing.
When I turned back to Dave, his eyes were glued to my bare stomach. Tugging my top down, I awkwardly laughed to myself as I grabbed my outfit for the day, ready to retreat from the room.
“Your mother wants to see you.” His gaze had dropped to the breakfast on the bed.
Taking a deep breath, I tried not to let my shoulders slump. “She’s not going to let me find Brianna. I have to combine the two if I want to save my friend and the Earth.”
Getting up from where he sat, Dave grabbed the tray and headed towards the door. “Well,” he said, flicking my hair as he walked past. “Before we can do anything, you need to get dressed.”
My phone started ringing again, the urgency clearly coming from my mother. Grabbing it, I pressed the button and greeted her with a grunt.
“Agent Gemma Abbott,” she said, rather officially. “You are requested to join me in my office within the hour.”
The harsh words were followed by beeping. Apparently, my mother had ordered me to the Paranormal MI5 building before hanging up the phone. Nice woman.
“Told you she wanted to see you,” Dave said, rushing out of the door before I could throw my phone at his head.
Not bothering to shower, I threw on my clothes and rushed through my morning routine. For my mother to call me by my official agent name meant that something was wrong. As soon as I had found out that Brianna had been kidnapped by Lucien, my gut instinct had told me to try and find her before anything else. Now that the ancestors had intervened, I would have to find a way to do both.
Tempted to flash to the building without Dave, I forced myself to stop just as his heavy footsteps came back up the stairs.
Meeting him at the bedroom door, I grabbed his hand and flashed us with the magic that the ancestors had kindly provided.
When we landed onto the pavement outside the building, Dave almost stumbled. He scowled at me, his firm chest rubbing against my ear as I steadied him. Taking a moment to compose himself, he tied his soft hair into a man bun, winking when I shook my head.
“I wonder what she wants,” he said, trotting ahead of me.
Dodging the pedestrians, I joined him as he went through the doors and into the old library.
A pang clenched my chest every time I walked into the historical building. If only I could have seen it in its former glory. My books were my life, but my life was suddenly very complex.
“Straight up to the top.” Dave indicated that I follow him to the elevator.
My skin tingled as I caught several pairs of eyes glancing at me, their stare intent as their gazes followed me across the foyer. I pulled on my leather jacket, trying to close it to cover the T-shirt that I had chosen. It read Please don’t ask me out, my book boyfriend might get jealous.
“Kate stayed at the scene last night to use her seer powers,” Dave said as we hustled into the lift. “She’s written what she found in a report, but the Harveys went back to hiding their actions with the blurry scenes. Kate did, however, mention that Archie Roberts could do with a visit. I happen to agree with her there.”
The doors pinged shut and the elevator started to rise. Running a hand through my hair, I tried to get it to look as if I had bothered to make an effort.
“I agree.”
Glancing at Dave, I froze as an overwhelming urge to hug him fizzled through my body. I managed to stop myself from reaching out, but he watched me, a frown on his face. Taking his arm, I linked mine through it.
“You’re pleased I’m not dead, aren’t you?” The tone of his voice was playful as he leant his head sideways and rested it on mine.
The intimacy made me close my eyes, unable to look at our reflection and see that we were sharing a moment. The tall illusionist witch agent had become far too important to me. I hadn’t realised until I had seen his head pop off of his body. It was a good job that he was a great illusionist, otherwise I would no longer have an agent partner.
Smiling at him, I nudged him in the ribs as I replied. “Who else would I-?”
“Marry? No one, I agree. Although, you did have a perfectly willing man just yesterday morning.”
Slapping his arm, I bit my lip as I tried not to laugh at his reference to Lucien.
Unfortunately, when he stood straight and did an impression of Lucien - by getting down on one knee - I couldn’t help but giggle.
When the doors slid open, my mother barked an incoherent request. She was standing in the corridor, her hands on her hips. Her disgust at our immature behaviour was obvious as she spun on her high heels and marched into her office.
“Oh dear,” Dave said, thrusting up to his feet. “The boss is not happy.”
Following my mother, I zipped up my leather jacket. Her anger was pulsating from her as we slunk into her office and stood in front of her desk. What was wrong with her? Why was she so mad at me?
“Did your team tell you the full details?” I asked as I went to sit.
Pointing at the chair as she took her own, she wagged her finger. “No sitting, you won’t be here long.”
Frowning, I glanced at Dave who swallowed hard and shrugged.
