With a barked laugh, he clapped Clyde on the shoulder. “Guess that means I get to drive.”
The flat look Clyde gave him was enough to pull me from my state of embarrassment. “You don’t have a license yet. I drive.” The last bit was said with a growl.
“Break it up, you two, or I’ll drive,” Dutch said. He shook his head. “They’ve been like competitive children all morning. I’ll see if Gloria either needs anything from the city or wants to go.” He pushed his chair away and stood, giving the two men one last look before heading for the house.
Finn rose into the air, giving me a slight bow. “I’ll go back to the mound and let the queen know what’s going on. The water fae have always been good allies to us, so she will want to lend whatever help she can.” With a wave, he flew toward the treeline in the distance.
“Well, it looks like we’re heading to town.” I stood, lifting Zara into my arms. “Tess, would you let Danai know what’s going on, please?” I didn’t think the healer would want to accompany us, but I still wanted to give her a choice. “The rest of us will meet in, what, twenty minutes out front?” I looked around questioningly.
“That works.” Sam gathered up her notes and followed Tess into the house.
Rand and I were alone.
Ahem.
Rolling my eyes, I set Zara on the pavers that made up the terrace. I’ll keep my shields open.
I would prefer that you keep your shields up, Roxanne. Just check in with me regularly, please. Sebastian is discussing whether he will stay or go with Danai now. She trotted lightly into the house.
Not knowing what to say, I started to follow her. Rand’s voice stopped me. “Are you okay with me going along?”
“Yes, of course I am. Sam may need you for signatures anyway.” Trying to sound indifferent just felt . . . wrong. The gaze he leveled at me told me he knew it, too. “I just need to grab my purse and a few things from inside.”
He raised his brows, but didn’t call me out. “I’m going to go spend a few minutes with Toby, then. I’ll see you out front.”
I didn’t trust my voice, so I nodded and somehow managed to keep my pace even as I escaped to the house.
Chapter 6
The hunt begins
The atmosphere in the Hummer during the trip into town wasn’t exactly awkward, but it was close. Dutch and Clyde were both up front, unusually silent, while the remaining four of us sat in the back—Sam and I on one bench, Tess and Rand facing us from the other. Sebastian decided to stay behind, reluctant to leave either Danai or the kits.
Rather than allowing the silence to stretch, Sam, Tess, and I decided to use the travel time to organize our plans. Sam would spend the rest of the afternoon at the office, working and probably going over everything in more detail with the people she was sending up to Michigan. Rand and I would accompany Tess to Jeremy’s to find out more about Margo. Tess would stay to question Wade and Gretchen. The Draftman brothers would do a brief check on the shifter community, then come back to retrieve Rand and I and take us to Margo’s shop. Everyone would be in protected areas, for the most part, until we went to Margo’s. I would be in the company of Clyde, Dutch, and Rand at that point. The three of them, along with my magick, should be more than enough to handle anything that might happen in the city.
Once we’d dropped Sam off at Lido Law, staying long enough to see her safely inside, we went straight to Jeremy Crow’s Haunted Resort. Twenty minutes later, Tess, Rand, and I stood and watched the Hummer pull away from the resort office.
“Are we ready?” I asked, turning away.
“Are we ever ready for Jeremy Crow?” Rand responded, his voice laced with amusement.
With a rueful laugh I walked through the door Rand held for me. As usual, there was nobody at the front desk, so I called out, “Jeremy? Sorry to just drop in on you like this, but we’re hoping you can help us with something.” When there was no answer, I wondered if I should have called ahead to warn the crow shifter we were coming.
Almost on cue, Suzette’s head popped through the wall that divided the office from the general store. “You again?”
“Hello to you, too, Suzette. Where’s Jeremy? We need to speak with him and it’s rather urgent.”
Her eyes disdainful, she scoffed. “Isn’t it just always, with you? He’s busy.”
I opened my mouth to tell her we didn’t have time for this, when Rand interjected. “Suzette, this is extremely important.” Then gave her a smile charming enough to stop her in her ghostly tracks.
She looked at him, her eyes widening appreciatively. Then she narrowed them. “Hey, don’t I know you? You look kinda familiar.”
Although Tess could neither see nor hear Suzette, she knew I considered Jeremy’s ghostly girlfriend to be downright obnoxious, and only rarely helpful. She exchanged a wide-eyed glance with me over this turn of events. She mouthed, “He can see her?” I gave a small lift of my shoulders in response, then turned back to the exchange.
Suzette came fully out of the woodwork, walking through the desk, and sidling up to Rand, her eyes roving over him with blatant interest. He watched her calmly the whole while, his smile never faltering. Did she realize he wasn’t actually a ghost anymore?
“Well, aren’t you just the finest specimen I’ve seen in a long time?” Her voice dropped to what she probably considered a sultry tone, her
