7
The bulk of my prep work was done as far as Colby was concerned, for which I was grateful. I kept her six months’ worth of pollen in the pantry, along with enough sugar to put the whole town in a sugar coma. I wasn’t a fan of her mixing sugar water herself, so I filled a bathtub with scalding water and created a huge batch in there. After sterilizing it. Magically. Colby might be a moth, but she had standards.
The go bag I kept ready would do me in a pinch, but it had become a comfort object of sorts. I decided to leave it and pack a suitcase for a week. I refused to be apart from Colby longer than that. If I had to drop in to grab fresh clothes and a hug, then go, I was fine with that.
“The wards are dialed up to the max.” I checked to be sure I had everything. “There’s food in the pantry. Sugar water’s in the tub. There are snacks in the cabinet.” I opened my arms and let her fly to me. “Be a good girl, and don’t spend the next seven days with your nose pressed to the screen. Get some fresh air.”
Left to her own devices, she might never take off her headset or vacate her custom chair.
“I will,” she said dutifully, but I don’t think either of us believed her.
After she fluttered off with an extra shake in her butt I didn’t trust, I wheeled my suitcase onto the porch.
I didn’t have to wait long for Clay and Asa to arrive in a different, but identical, SUV.
The rear passenger door swung open before the vehicle stopped rolling, and Clay popped out with a bounce in his step and a swing in his chin-length red hair.
“There she is,” he boomed, slapping his hands together. “Good to have you back, partner.” He winced. “I mean, former partner and current teammate.” He eyed my bag. “Still packing light, huh? Good deal.”
Less luggage gave him more room to play Tetris with his wig boxes.
“You’re good to go?” He jerked his chin toward the house. “I don’t want to rush you.”
But he ought to, given the stakes of the game I was once again playing.
“Colby is set.” I lifted my bag. “Can you open the back?”
Asa, who had been sitting behind the wheel seconds earlier, opened it for me. “I’ll take it.”
“Okay.” I handed it over, not caring who hefted it in there. The spell kit was what mattered, and I was wearing it. “Thanks.”
When I stepped back, I bumped into Clay, who locked gazes with Asa over my head. He waited until the daemon was in the SUV, with the doors shut, to frown down at me. There was nothing he could say that Asa wouldn’t overhear, which meant he kept his mouth shut, but his eyes said plenty.
Granted, I didn’t have the metric Clay did, but I wasn’t the only one noticing Asa’s peculiar behavior.
Ever the gentleman, Clay escorted me to the front passenger side and opened the door. I hopped in with a reassuring smile for him. He was such a softy and fretted worse than a mother hen for those he loved.
Pretty sure he broke speed records climbing in behind me, the angle better to keep an eye on Asa.
To keep tensions to a minimum until we found our equilibrium as a unit, I settled in to read the files. We had a long drive and a longer flight ahead of us. I wanted to be current when we hit the ground. I was in this now, fully committed, and—with Colby safe at home—I could throw myself headlong into the case.
As much as I wished Megara was wrong about how the hunt got my blood pumping, I couldn’t deny part of me had missed this camaraderie with those who understood, or at least appreciated, my struggle. The life I built for Colby and me was uncomplicated, downright wholesome, and everything my battered soul had craved for so long. But this…this felt right too.
Maybe I was wrong.
Maybe black and white weren’t the only options.
Maybe, just maybe, gray areas did exist for people like me.
* * *
We touched down in Asheville,claimed our new company ride, and drove to the scene of the crime.
Case details churned through my head, mixing with memories of the Silver Stag Slayings.
I had yet to see the bodies, but I already didn’t like this.
“Hold on.” Asa took a narrow road that led straight up, forcing our SUV to work for it. “Almost there.”