She swallows, nodding, her eyes searching mine, looking sweet. “Lately? Or just the last twenty-four hours?”
Okay, she has me there.
“Dex,” she says patiently. “I know you like I know the back of my hand. I’ve watched you through these years. I know how you were when we were doing the show, I know how you were after. You have always been easily excitable, even on medication, but I haven’t felt…this,” she gestures with her hand at me in a circle, “I haven’t felt this in a long time. And I know it’s less about the money now, less about the excitement of how that will change our lives, and more about fucking around with the dead. In fact, if Harry called and told you he wouldn’t be able to pay us tonight as planned, you’d probably still want to do it for free. Wouldn’t you?”
I don’t have to say anything. She knows.
“And that’s fine,” she goes on. “I get it. I know you. I wouldn’t expect anything less. But it’s all connected.”
“Are you saying that dealing with the supernatural, or just the thought of it, is turning me into raging horndog?”
She laughs, her eyes crinkling at the corners. Such a beautiful face.
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. I feel like I’m dealing with the old you. And that’s not a bad thing, but that’s what’s happening. You’ve got so much fucking adrenaline in your system that it has nowhere else to go.”
I know Perry is right about all of that, but I also know that it goes a few layers deeper too. It was what I was thinking last night. That this is about establishing a connection between us before we need it the most.
I just refuse to let myself think about why we need it the most.
“And look,” she goes on, wrapping her hands around my neck and staring up at me, “I don’t want you to think you can’t have me when you want me. You can. Believe me, I’m…well, let’s just say I welcome it. Part of me is feeling this too. But I just need a little time to adjust. So until then, just keep it in your pants, okay?”
She gives me a teasing smile and then reaches down, pressing her palm against my erection, eliciting a groan from my mouth.
“That’s not fair.” I practically whimper, grinding against her hand. “You play a dirty game, Perry Foray.”
The apartment buzzer goes off.
She looks at me triumphantly. “Told you they’d be here.”
She gives me one last hard squeeze and then heads over to the buzzer.
She’s right, but that doesn’t mean my hard-on is disappearing anytime soon.
That is, until she opens the door and Ada and Jay walk in. One look at that wankhammer and I completely deflate.
“Surprise!” Ada calls out, lifting Target shopping bags high in the air.
“What now?” I grumble.
She looks up at Jay with a mischievous smile, but I swear the big redhead looks pained. “I got us Halloween costumes!”
“You did what?”
“It’s Halloween, you guys,” she says, looking at us like we’re totally out of touch. “And so, I got us costumes. Obviously.”
I cross my arms, feeling mildly amused. “Ada, what do you think is going to happen tonight? This isn’t a Halloween party. We’re not going trick-or-treating.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she says, plopping the bags on the counter and rummaging through them. “You guys are in such weird moods, I thought I would lighten things up. This can be fun, you know.”
“We’re not in weird moods,” Perry protests.
Ada glances at her through her blonde hair that’s fallen over her eyes. “Uh huh. You keep telling yourselves that.” She jerks a thumb at me. “This guy over here, well, let’s just say I’m glad I can’t hear what he’s thinking.” Her eyes go to Perry. “And you, well you’re putting up your tough front, but I know how scared you are about doing this.”
Don’t let her, don’t let her.
I close my eyes, trying to bury those words, almost as if I’m hearing Ingrid say them herself.
“Dex?” Jay asks.
My eyes pop open to see him staring at me, brow furrowed.
“Yes, what?” I say, trying to play it off.
Except, shit. What if what Ingrid was telling Daniel really was about tonight?
Oh god, I’ve never done well with conflicting feelings.
On one hand, we need the money, and I want, need, this to happen.
On the other hand, maybe it’s a bad idea.
Maybe it’s a really bad idea.
I clear my throat. Everyone is already looking at me. “Jay,” I say to him. “Since we’re all here talking, relatively safe, haven’t fully committed to anything we can’t back out of…I’m going to need some supernatural reassurance from you.”
His brow raises. “What do you mean?”
“Ever since I told you about this…have you had any pushback? Any bad feelings? Any voices from the other side telling you that it’s a bad idea?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
That should make me feel better, but…
“You still haven’t told Jacob,” I point out.
“He hasn’t been around,” he says, eyes narrowing for a moment.
“But would you if he hadn’t gone off to close some demon portal?”
“He’s doing what now?” Perry interjects.
Jay ignores her. Wiggles his jaw. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because he gets too involved,” Ada says quickly. “Now don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts.”
I raise my hands. “I wouldn’t be a very good man if I didn’t. I just want to make sure that we’re all one hundred percent on board and that none of us have any doubts. Or warnings that you’ve brushed off. Each and every one of us are tapped into something bigger than us, the unknown, the Veil. Whatever you want to call it. We each have some sort of ability or, fuck, affliction, when it comes to dealing with the dead. Obviously some of us here aren’t even mortal or human. I won’t mention names. But I think if we’re going to be successful tonight, and safe, we all need to be honest.”
I know I’m the one not being honest. That I’m carrying Daniel’s secret with me. But since I don’t know what the hell Ingrid meant, then I can’t say it has anything to do with tonight. If it did, I’m more than certain one of these three would have felt something.
Right?
“Well, I think the whole thing will be fun,” Ada says. “I don’t have any gut feelings telling me this is wrong or dangerous or something.”
Hmmm. That doesn’t really help. Ada would be the type to have gone to Hell and come back thinking it was a fun trip.
I look at Jay.
He shrugs. “I don’t have any issues with this. I’m here just in case, but it sounds pretty straightforward to me. Go in the house, try to summon his wife, ask her some questions, and leave. You don’t need to open up the Veil. In fact, to make things even more simple, if you can’t contact her, just leave it at that. You don’t have to go looking for trouble.”
I know I find Jay sketchy sometimes, and that’s due to the nature of what he is and my own personal experiences with “Jacobs,” but I believe what he says.