“No, no. Well, yes, I want to leave, but for a reason. I’m thinking I might be more help if I keep looking into thisritual, call some more people, see whether I missed something. I could go back to the hotel room with Jeremy and Savannah, make my calls, and help them man the control center.”
“Manning the control center, hmm?” I said with a grin. “Sure, that sounds like a plan. Go for it.”
“I didn’t mean that,” she said, reddening. “Seriously, I think I’d be more use checking out this lead, don’t you? Okay, the control center probably doesn’t need extra manning. Maybe I should make the calls from our hotel instead—”
“No, go stay with Jeremy. That’s safer all around, and you can bounce ideas off him. He might not know much about necromantic ritual, but he’s a smart guy and he’s very easy to talk to.”
“He is, isn’t he? I mean, for a werewolf, and an Alpha werewolf at that, you’d expect the guy to be all high-and-mighty, brawn-over-brains, but he’s not, and he just seems like such a—” She buried her hands in her face with a moan. “Oh, God, I’m too old for this shit.” She peeked up at me. “Lack of sleep. It’s lack of sleep…and emotional trauma. I’ve been traumatized by this vamp-spook, and I’m not thinking straight.”
“Exactly.”
“Right. So, I’ll just go over there and start making my calls. If Jeremy can help, that’s great, but otherwise, I’ll just do my thing, and he can keep Savannah company. He’s great with Savannah, isn’t he? I mean, other guys would tell her to go off and play a video game or watch TV, but he pays attention to her and—” She inhaled and exhaled. “Okay. Fine now. Leaving now. If you need me, I’m heading straight to the hotel.” She paused. “Well, after I swing by my hotel room for a quick shower—I think I spritzed myself with your hairspray earlier and I’m all sticky. So I’ll shower, change my clothes, and then head to their hotel.”
“Got it,” I said, biting my cheek to keep from smiling.
“First, I’ll find Elena and tell her I’m taking off. She seems nice. We haven’t really talked, but she seems nice. Down-to-earth.”
“She is.”
With that, Jaime left, and I headed back to the party. I found Lucas near the buffet tables, holding the promised champagne flutes.
“Your dad hasn’t shanghaied you yet?” I said.
“He’s heading in this direction, but keeps being way-laid by other guests. In light of my new strategy for paternal relations, I am not using the situation as an opportunity to initiate a game of hide-and-seek, but standing firm and allowing him to make his way here, however long that may take.”
I told Lucas about Jaime, and he agreed there was little for her to do here. Between the vampires and the werewolves, security detail was covered.
“I’ll admit, I am concerned that Edward has yet to make an appearance,” Lucas said. “Given the time constraints he’s under, this would be the opportune moment to grab my father, and quite possibly the only chance he’ll get before morning.”
“Maybe he’s having trouble getting past security,” I said. “It is tight.”
“It appears to be tight,” he said. “Yet the others had no problem getting past it and they’ve been skulking about the perimeter for nearly two hours now without incident.”
“It doesn’t help that this is a masquerade.” I looked out over the crowd. “But Elena or Clay would still have scented Edward, or Aaron and Cassandra would have sensed him, so—”
“Champagne, I see.” Benicio appeared at Lucas’s side and clapped a hand on his shoulder, beaming a smile. “May I assume that congratulations are in order?”
“They are. Paige has agreed to join my investigations on a permanent basis.”
Benicio’s smile faltered, but only for a second. “Well, that’s a start, then. You’ve made an excellent team so far, and working together will certainly give you more time together, which I know was one of your concerns.”
Lucas snuck a look at me. “It was,” he murmured.
“And the house?” Benicio said.
“We’re buying a house,” I said. “Maybe the one in Portland, maybe not, but we’re definitely buying a house.”
“Good, good.”
We braced ourselves, waiting for Benicio to start offering advice, but instead he turned to me.
“May I have a dance?”
“Uh, sure.”
We walked on to the dance floor.
“Have you considered Seattle?” Benicio asked as we launched into our dance. “If you like Portland, I’m sure you’d