“Oh god, did I do this? The ghost in there, was that my doing?”
“Yes and no. You didn’t create it, but by putting the talismans on the walls as you did, you opened up a path for it to come in.”
There was a muffled gasp that sounded like panic.
“Miss Rachel, you’re absolutely not in trouble for that. As I said, you didn’t create him. It would have settled in a place eventually and someone would have been forced to deal with it. But I need to know precisely where you put all the talismans and remove them. If I don’t seal the building off, it will invite other things in and give the malevolent an escape route. Do you understand?”
She still sounded a little panicked and beyond remorseful. “Oh god, I’m so sorry!”
“Shh, don’t worry about this. We’ll handle it. And I understand your fears, okay? My partner’s brother is terrified of ghosts, does unreasonable things sometimes to get away from them. Fears are fears. Just help me fix this mess.”
Rachel sucked in a breath, then another. “You can really undo this? Get rid of it?”
“Yes. I’m not alone, I have other mediums helping me. But help me, okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, okay. Um, first one was above the front door.”
“That one we found. And the one above the elevator. Where else?”
She was rattled, upset, perhaps crying, but Rachel walked us through each one. Mack didn’t blame her and as he steadily walked her through the building, I could hear her nerves settling. As it turned out, we’d missed two of them. I sat beside Mack, making notes of them all to double check.
Ignorance really could bring about a world of trouble.
We went back to the dorm building armed with the list and found the remaining talismans. Falisa burned them all before scattering the ashes, thoroughly putting that possible pitfall to rest. It was a relief in a way, but it didn’t really solve the problem.
None of us were particularly rested, so we left campus for dinner, caught a catnap, then returned. Hopefully with the nap and enough coffee we’d be alert enough to face tonight. As I drove us back to the dorm, I caught the expression on Mack’s face. He did not look thrilled, to say the least. “You don’t expect things to go well, do you.”
“I’m waiting for the fuckening.”
I’d not heard the term before but could guess what it meant. “Sort of like, the day is going too well, you don’t trust it, and you’re waiting for shit to finally go down?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly the feeling.” His nose crinkled up, hands tightening around each other. “I call it the fuckening. I wish I could really describe to you what that building looks like to me.”
“It’s not pretty, you’ve told me that much. And that’s all I really need to know.” I thought about not saying anything, but what kind of partner would I be if I let him walk into a situation blind? “Mack, one thing.”
He gave me a look that said, oh god now what?
“Delaney’s…uneasy around me. You somewhat, me especially. Or that was the vibe I got from him. I don’t know why. He was okay with us up until I called you honey, and then it was like a switch went off.”
“He’s not comfortable with us because we’re obviously together?”
I shrugged, as I honestly wasn’t sure. “Maybe. I can’t pinpoint it, as he’s not being obvious right now. But something’s bugging him, that’s for sure.”
Mack pursed his lips, clearly thinking. “I’ve never been out like this with a boyfriend. I guess I didn’t pick up on it.”
“You were distracted hunting for a ghost.” I found this news interesting, though. Mack still had a lot of background history he hadn’t filled me in on. For good reason—we’d been so busy training it hadn’t left us a lot of downtime. They’d passed me on a lot of things at Quantico automatically because of my SWAT background, so it wasn’t like I had to go over basic firearms training or anything like that again. But still, there was a lot of information to learn when you switched careers. I had multiple classes about ghosts, demons, basic first aid for supernaturally inflicted wounds, how to aid mediums and exorcists, etcetera. With that much information to cram into my brain in a matter of weeks, it hadn’t given me the time to focus on Mack like I’d wanted to. “You really never dated someone openly before me?”
Mack shrugged, and I didn’t think it was my imagination he couldn’t seem to meet my eyes. “I had a friend I messed around with in high school. One of the painters I worked with when I was nineteen, he and I sort of hooked up. Both experiences burned me bad about hooking up. I was invested. They weren’t.”
My heart ached even as my hands twitched, wishing for a throat to squeeze. I could look them up, right? I was in the right area to have a little chat with them.
His hand found mine, and he smiled at me, that shy smile speaking of affection. It made my heart twang again, in a different way, as that smile hit home. “It’s why I was really glad, that first night we were together, when you asked just what we were doing. You didn’t want to leave any confusion, you wanted to know. I appreciated that beyond words. It’s why I asked to date. I thought I had a good chance of having that with you.”
I tangled my fingers with his, and even though I was driving, shot him a quick smile. “I didn’t want to do some wishy-washy shit and lose the chance with you. I’ve made that mistake before. I was really happy you asked outright to date.”
“Didn’t think I’d have you as a work partner, too,” he admitted, still shyly.
Yeah, okay, that seemed a good segue. Even if we only had five more minutes before we reached the dorm, which potentially would bring trouble on our heads, I still wanted to get this out there. “Mack, I really like being your anchor. I don’t know if you need more time to decide, or if you want to give us a little longer, but I’m ready to make that official.”
His hand spasmed in mine. “Pull over.”
Okay, so we’re definitely talking about this now. I pulled over to the first spot I saw, which was an emergency fire lane, but it was fine for now. I put the car into park and turned to look at him. Mack’s eyes were so wide they consumed his face. I didn’t think what I’d said was that shocking. Surely he knew by now I adored him and didn’t want to separate?
Mack’s mouth moved, but no sound emerged. Finally, he croaked out, “You’re serious.”
I didn’t know how to take his reaction. He was stunned but didn’t look pleased. Was he not on the same page? Worry cramped my stomach and dried my mouth out. “You don’t want to?”
In a flurry, he was over the divide between the seats, landing sideways on my lap. I gave a soft grunt at the impact, hands reaching out to steady him. Mack caught my head with both hands and peppered kisses all over my face, making me laugh.
“You gorgeous man, of course I want you!” he said in between kisses. One of them finally landed on my mouth and I kissed him deeply, our tongues tangling in a hot glide. Pulling back three inches, Mack panted for breath, eyes searching mine. “You really mean it?”
Here There Be Insecurities. I reacted accordingly. “I really do. Mack, there’s never been anyone I’ve wanted as strongly as I want you. But more than that, I’ve never had someone I’ve enjoyed as much as you. You’re this amazing gestalt of the best friend I’ve ever had, an amazing colleague, and this sexy honey I’m constantly hot for. I’d be insane to not keep you. But I don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for, either. If you want to give us more time, we can wait. I really do not mind.”