Darius paced outside Chad’s condo, unable to keep still. As he moved back and forth, back and forth, he noticed the blinds of the unit next door twitching as the person inside watched him. Normally, he’d be worried about that person. He would have tried to settle their fears, prove that the big hulking man in the yard wasn’t dangerous. Not to them. But he couldn’t stop pacing for fear that his emotions would burst out of him in other ways. Like manifesting stingers and chiton.
So many things could be happening to Rebecca right now, and none of them were good. When Audra had made her comment about hoping to find Chad and Rebecca in bed together, he’d only half agreed. But now, seeing Chad so broken up, he would have given everything to find them together. Naked. He’d give them his blessing and leave quite happily.
What had happened to break Chad like that? He’d only met the guy once, but he felt fairly confident in saying that Chad wasn’t really the hysterical crying type. Something had happened in the short time since they’d seen him at the restaurant. Something bad. And now Rebecca was gone.
The worst part of the entire situation was that for a moment, when Darius saw Chad quaking in his bed, he’d thought that maybe Rebecca was behind all of this. That she’d taken the lamp. Hurt Audra. Created all of this mess. That they’d been wrong to suspect Chad this whole time, and his best friend and the person he trusted most in the world was behind it all. Of course she wasn’t. Rebecca wouldn’t do something so terrible. The fact that he’d even thought it made him a terrible person. And so he paced and worried and berated himself, and the neighbor watched on until Audra came out of the building.
He whirled to face her, trying to keep his instincts under control. He hoped that whatever happened, he got to fight something. He needed that release.
“What did you find out?” he demanded, taking a step forward and looming over her.
“I’ll tell you as soon as you cool down,” said Audra calmly.
The simple way she said it stopped him cold. He was being ridiculous. He had reasons to be ridiculous, and he wasn’t going to apologize for it, but he had to stop. He closed his eyes for a moment, ignoring the urgent mental voice that told him they didn’t have time for this, and concentrated on his breath. The familiar calming exercise worked its usual wonders. It only took a few breaths before he quit feeling so agitated.
He opened his eyes and said, “Thanks. I needed that.”
“You’re welcome,” she said. While she didn’t smile, her voice was kind. Maybe the news she had wasn’t the sort of thing that would make him want to smile either. “Let me tell you what’s up. But let’s move into the car. I think Chad’s neighbor is about two inches from a full on coronary.”
She glanced at the window, and the blinds twitched again. Darius shot an apologetic glance in the same direction, but really, he hadn’t done anything wrong. He hadn’t trampled any flowers or messed up the yard. But he knew he was scary, and he knew Audra was right. She led the way to the cramped car but didn’t turn on the engine.
“Chad’s not exactly coherent, but he says Rebecca has the lamp,” she said with deliberate gentleness. “I don’t know the details. But…wait a minute! I hadn’t thought about this before. Maybe she took it from him to keep him safe? She knows what it is, and she knows it’s dangerous. So he stole the lamp from me, just as we thought, and then when she found out about it, she took the lamp from him. The djinn maybe tried to make her stop, but she could have powered through it. And then Chad was left all torn apart because she took it away from him by force. He probably saw the djinn for what it really was, and it scared the crap out of him.”
He brightened at this suggestion. “You know, that does make sense. Although you’d think she’d call one of us right away so that we could dispose of it. Here, I was feeling all guilty for suspecting her, but of course that’s what she’d do.” He paused as another thought occurred to him. It made him so relieved that he chuckled out loud. “And I bet I know why she hasn’t called yet, either.”
“Why’s that?” asked Audra.
“She’s been trying to talk me into asking you out ever since the night we met you. She’s probably trying to give us some alone time,” he said, blushing.
“Oh.” Audra sat quietly for a moment, long enough that Darius got a little worried. But when he looked over, a tiny smile played over her lips. “Well, if that’s her intent…”
Before he could react, she leaned across the shifter and pressed her lips to his.
She tasted like toothpaste, and her lips were soft and warm. His tongue touched her lips. The little delighted noise she made killed what remaining self control he had left. If there had been space, he might have tossed her into the backseat and gone for it. It was probably good that there wasn’t. Instead, he contented himself with running his hands down her back and feeling her shiver.
After not nearly long enough, she pulled back. Her hand cupped his chin, and now she did smile at him.
“I’d like to continue this, but there are two problems,” she said.
“What’s that?” he rumbled with uncharacteristic impatience.
“First of all, we should probably find Rebecca and get that lamp away from her before it can cause any more trouble. I’m sure she’s fine, but I know I’d be much happier if it was stored away safely, and I imagine you feel the same.”
He immediately retreated back into his seat.
“Yeah, you’re right.” As he put his seatbelt on, a thought occurred to him. “What’s the other reason, out of curiosity?”
“This car is too damned tiny,” she declared. “I might have to trade it in after all. So we have space in the future.”
The glance she shot at him was full of heat, and he felt it in all the right places.
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” he said. “Maybe we should rent a variety of vehicles and try them out. We wouldn’t want to choose poorly.”
“I like how you think,” she said in a very serious voice.
“I have priorities. Let’s find that lamp, and then could I take you on a real date?”
His voice sounded pitifully hopeful to his ears, but he found that he didn’t care. Audra didn’t seem to mind that he was a bit on the shy and introverted side, or that he could sometimes be awkward. She certainly hadn’t been ruffled when he’d turned into a giant scorpion. In fact, she’d barely blinked when he’d puked on her shoes, and they’d had open toes.
He didn’t carry any illusions that she was perfect. She seemed to have a history of throwing herself at all of the wrong men. And despite all of her skills, she was really hard on herself. All she saw was her mistakes and not her successes. He didn’t know why that was—what kind of horrible past she’d had that would make her feel so down about herself. But maybe he could be a part of the healing process. If only he could make her see herself the way he did, she’d realize how amazing she was. Not perfect by any means, but maybe perfect for him.
Although if they were going to date, either she needed to replace her car, or he would have to drive them everywhere, because he’d been back in the car for only a few minutes and he already had a crick in his neck.
“A real date?” she asked. Then she tilted her head and looked at him coyly out of the corner of her eye. “I’ll accept on one condition.”
His stomach sank. “What?”
“We make out in the car after we go wherever we’re going.”
Relief overtook him, and he grinned.
“Only if we can take my truck. Funny, I was just thinking about that.”
“It’s like we’re on the same wavelength or something.” She threw the car into gear. “No offense, but I’ve suddenly realized how uncomfortable it is to be having this conversation in my ex-boyfriend’s parking lot. Let’s put it on hold for now and get the lamp? We keep getting distracted.”
But she didn’t seem angry about this. In fact, she seemed delighted. Ever since he’d met her, she’d seemed—tense somehow. Like she was weighing every single thing that came out of her mouth. But now, it felt like all of that tension had dissolved like a deflated balloon. Was that because of him? If so, he couldn’t wait to see what happened on their date, or later on when she realized that he wasn’t like those other guys who were looking for Miss Right Now. He wanted the One. Emphasis on the singular.
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” he said. “But you’re distracting. In a good way, of course,” he added hastily.
“Right,” she teased. “So where am I going? If Rebecca was trying to stay on the down low with a magic lamp, where would she go other than her apartment?”
“I have no clue, but I know how to find out,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking clearly earlier, or I would have suggested it in the first place. We need to go to my office. Head over to Tropicana and take a left, and I’ll give you directions from there.”
“Yes, mawster,” she said, and he laughed as she pulled out of the parking space.
When they pulled up to Carson Contracting a short while later, Darius couldn’t keep from wanting to show off just a bit. He’d built this company himself from the ground up, not taking any help from anyone, and it was a matter of pride for him. His employees were well taken care of, and they liked working for him. His construction designs had even won a few awards. And somehow, that came all spilling out of him in a long and drawn out monologue about the office building.
“We built our own offices,” he said, “Because I think that really speaks to our aesthetic. I wouldn’t hire a contractor who worked in some windowless brick of a building, personally, because that’s not the kind of design I’m attracted to. And when you mostly focus on luxury homes and offices like I do, I think it’s even more important. People come to me because they want something unique and beautiful in their designs, and I want them to feel confident that I can deliver that the minute they look at my office building. That’s why I spared no expense. This courtyard here is Italian marble, and that’s an original sculpture done by a spectacular Native artist I found right here in Vegas. I’m not entirely thrilled with the landscaping, though. It feels…”
“Too minimal,” said Audra. “You know, I used to dabble in landscape design when I lived in Ohio. Beef’s family owned a landscaping business, and I worked for them a bit.”
“If I wasn’t interested in dating you, I’d offer you a job,” he said soberly. “Is that terrible?”
She laughed, shaking her head. “No. Not really. Besides, I think I’ll stick with the shop. If it closed, that would be a pity.”
“Yeah, the closest arcane depository would be in…I don’t know. San Diego or something?”
“I think you’re right. But if you ever want an opinion on a landscape design, maybe I could help with that.”
“I’ll take you up on it. You have a good eye, I think.”
She took that as an invitation and let her eyes roam him. Based on her expression, she liked what she saw. Although he really wanted to get up close and see what happened, this was not the time. He took a deliberate step back and said, “Let’s go inside.”
“Sure thing.”
As late as it was, the office should have been dark and empty, but the light in the reception area was still on. Hex, his new receptionist and a shifterkin, sat typing away at one of the computers with a pair of headphones on. She was bopping her head along to the music, making her spiky pink hair rattle audibly from all of the hair product she’d put into it.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, knowing that her augmented senses—not quite as sensitive as a shifter, but still heightened—would pick up his voice even if he didn’t raise it.
Her eyes flicked up, and she pulled the headphones off her ears, resting them on her neck.
“What are you doing here, boss?” she asked, eyeing Audra with a grin.
“I need to…never mind that. What are you doing here?” he repeated.
She sighed. “I’m taking night classes. Don’t make a big deal over it, because that’s the entire reason I’m keeping it a secret. But I am, and I’m working on a paper, and I didn’t think you’d mind if I used the computer. Do you?”
“Oh. Of course not.”
“Good. By the way, I’m Hex.”
The stocky girl thrust her hand out toward Audra, who shook it firmly.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Audra.”
“Hex, can you bring up the phone plan?” asked Darius. “I’m sorry to be rude, but we’re in a hurry.”
“Sure thing.”
Her hands flew over the keyboard, and her fingers clicked the mouse, and soon enough she gestured to the screen like a magician producing an animal with long ears from a hat.
“Voila! The phone plan,” she said.
“And can you track Rebecca’s phone?” asked Darius. “It’s going straight to voice mail, and I can’t find her.”
Curiosity flared in Hex’s eyes, but she didn’t comment. Instead, she typed some more.
“Phone tracking?” murmured Audra. “Why didn’t we do that before?”
“Because I don’t like to invade my friends’ privacy,” he replied. “And also, because I forgot I could do it.”
Audra chuckled as Hex punched the mouse button one final time, and the printer rattled immediately to life. She took the page off the printer without even glancing at it and handed it to Darius.
“Here you go,” she said.
“Thanks. Good luck on your paper.”
Darius glanced at the map and let out a sigh of relief. Rebecca was at the M’Bala construction site. Of course she was. The lamp had been kept there safely for years, so it was a logical place to return with it. They’d drive down there and pick up the lamp, and Audra would store it, and then they’d plan their date.
It would be easy.