“You’re still human,” Jeff assured her. “Just with extra powers. ”
“Like a superhero,” Samantha said, flashing a smile in his direction.
“Absolutely. ”
“It’s kind of a relief. Seeing all of them makes me not so afraid of dying. Not that I want to die. I really don’t want to experience the pain of it. ”
“Let’s not talk about dying. ”
“But it could happen,” Samantha said sadly.
Jeff lapsed into silence at her words. She felt a little bitchy for speaking the truth, but she was tired of hiding from it. For the last year she had lived a life of half-truths that had done nothing more than slowly wreck her life. Now she recognized she couldn’t allow herself to lie about the reality of her life. She was a phasmagnus and there was no going back. Even though her heart was still bruised from her relationship with Cian, she was beginning to love Jeff. He was sweet, kind, and goofy just like her. She loved his soulful eyes and floppy brown hair. When his thick brows arched upward, he looked so cute she wanted to smother him with kisses. The last few months while she had come to terms with her heartache over Cian, she had probably taken advantage of Jeff’s kind nature. She wouldn’t do that again. She was done pining over a lost fantasy.
The Land Rover pulled into the alley that led to the parking lot of the bookstore. A hunter-green van was tucked under the big cedar tree that shaded the rear entrance. The door was open and Alexia and Benchley were carrying boxes to the van. Jeff pulled up beside the van and parked.
“Sam?”
“Yeah?” Unbuckling her seatbelt, she twisted in her seat toward him.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, but I want you to know that I have no regrets. Even if things go really wrong tonight, I’m glad that I met you that day at the Spiderhouse. ”
The earnest expression coupled with his sincere gaze melted Samantha’s heart just that much more. Gripping his hand, she leaned over and kissed him. His lips were soft against hers and she marveled at how much she loved his kisses already.
Sharing smiles, they parted and slid out of the SUV.
“About damn time,” Benchley called out to them from where he stood next to the open side doors of the van.
Alexia leaned her head out to glare at them before ducking back inside.
“We agreed to meet at four o’clock today. We’re not late,” Jeff pointed out as he greeted Benchley. They clasped hands and briefly embraced even though Benchley looked decidedly grumpy.
“Yeah, dude, but we were busting our asses while you were. . . ” Benchley trailed off as he caught Samantha’s expression.
“Just shut up, Shark Boy,” Samantha said, playfully punching his shoulder. “If you could spend the afternoon getting laid, you would have done exactly that. ”
“Yeah. . . ” Benchley admitted. His crush on her was sweet, but she could see he was a little hurt by the reality that Jeff and Samantha really were together at last.
Samantha peered into the van. “Whoa. All FBI-ish and stuff. ”
Alexia was tucked under a console messing with wires. Monitors and computers were tucked into a custom-built workstation that could seat two. A bench lined the opposite side, complete with seatbelts. The seat was open to reveal weapons arranged carefully, cushioned by black foam. A thick black curtain separated the two front seats from the rest of the area.
“Still have more work to do on it,” Alexia admitted. She grunted as she crawled out from under the console. She was dressed in dark shorts, purple Converse sneakers, a purple tank top, and a lightweight sleeveless hoodie. Her short hair was messy and her glasses were crooked. “But it’ll do for tonight. ”
Jeff leaned against the doorway. “Looks good, Alexia. Got all the cameras set up?”
“Got it done this morning before sunrise. I have them set to start transmitting at ten when they meet with Rachon. I have four set up so we can see what is going on clearly. We can get the van a little closer than I thought because of a service road. We’ll have to off-road it a little, but Benchley assures me that his mods on the van will hold up. ”
“I know what I’m doing. Games and cars, those are my things,” Benchley said confidently.
“But what’s going on with Ethan Logan? That dude is fucking scary bad news,” Alexia asked worriedly.
“We don’t know,” Jeff admitted, “which is why I’m considering driving out there. ”
Samantha gave him a sharp look. “Huh?”
“I want to know what he’s up to. And if Innocente and Sergio are with him, I feel an obligation to go make sure they’re okay. ” Jeff met her gaze steadily. There was unexpected steel in his eyes.
Her stomach knotted. He was right. Though Sergio and Innocente didn’t live in Austin, they were a part of their crew.