“I thought I heard footsteps.” She shut the door behind her with a firm click. “How was dinner?”
The change in our clothes was noted, but she didn’t ask, and we didn’t tell.
“Delicious.” Asa patted his flat stomach. “We ate too much.”
“My cousin has a similar headset.” I pointed to hers. “He’s a gamer. Plays Mystic Realms, I think.”
“One of my grandsons plays that.” She slid the headset off and hid it down by her side. “My hearing isn’t what it used to be, so I use the Bluetooth to do those Facechat calls with my kids and grandkids.”
Had I not lived with the world’s foremost expert on Mystic Realms, I might have believed her, but I did, so I didn’t. Not to brag, but I was somewhat of an expert on orc death cries, screams, and bellows. What we walked in on reminded me of the orc horde Colby and her guild slaughtered to steal their emeralds. I was willing to bet Ms. March and her guild had been trying (and failing) to liberate precious gems too.
“Do you mind if I ask you about something we heard in town?” I rubbed my arms and hunched my shoulders. “Maybe I should wait until morning. It’s getting late, and I don’t want to upset your sleep.”
“Nonsense.” She reached for my hand and patted it. “You mean the murder.”
As expected, she made the leap in logic and stuck the landing.
“Yes.” I pretended relief that she put it into words for me. “Has that ever happened here before?”
“You’re perfectly safe.” She made a sandwich of my hand between hers. “You don’t have to fret.”
That wasn’t an answer, and her too-warm, too-soft hands were making my palms sweat.
“Oh good.” I broke from her and tucked myself under Asa’s arm. “We’ll let you get back to your game.”
“My call,” she corrected me, a flush in her cheeks as if she were embarrassed to have been called out for playing. “You two enjoy the rest of your night.”
“We will.” I faked a yawn. “Ready for bed, honey bunny?”
A twitch in Asa’s cheek betrayed his amusement as he took my elbow and guided me into our room.
Once the door shut behind us, I set about warding the space and soundproofing our side. I had done the spell so many times at this point, it was as natural as breathing. I didn’t register pulling on the bond with Colby, but it was too big of a spell for me to do alone. I chalked it up to practice and didn’t sweat it.
To avoid losing the entire night, always a possibility with Asa, he and I took turns in the shower.
After we got clean, we climbed in bed with our laptops, and I dialed Clay, switching on speakerphone.
“That video was intense,” Colby answered, proving we were on speaker too. “I might never sleep again.”
“She beat me to the clip,” Clay explained. “And she’s smiling, so don’t believe her.”
Thanks to Camber and Arden, Colby had developed a taste for horror movies. I never let her watch them, but somehow she always knew the plots the next day. I suspected she crawled along the ceiling in her smallest form and camped out in the shadows so I wouldn’t catch her.
“This is like Game Over.” Her mood soared. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.”
“That sounds like the title of a movie I would never agree to let you watch.”
“It does,” she agreed gleefully. “Let’s rent it.”
“Are you sure that’s a good use of our time?” I regretted my skepticism was showing when she was finally perking up again. “Can’t you give us a summation?”
“You need to see this,” she urged. “We can use the group watch feature.”
“Rented,” Clay chimed in, not waiting for my answer. “Click the link I sent you, and you’re in.”
“Thaaanks.” I did as I was told. Might as well. I was outvoted. “Do we synchronize watches or what?”
“It’s automatic,” Colby assured us, proving her vast experience with the app. “Just tell us when.”