to him before his brain could swell too much,” Caleb’s deep voice rumbled.
I grimaced as Dr. Sam giggled delightedly and totally inappropriately.
“Why on earth did they attack Gus?” Anyan asked. He was sitting on his fireplace ledge across the room from me.
“Who knows?” Nell replied, rocking away in the littler rocker she apparated everywhere with her. “But it was definitely a coordinated attack. Phaedra got my attention and kept Anyan and me busy while her entourage went after Gus.”
“They weren’t after Gus,” I interrupted. “They were interested in his rock.”
“His rock?” Anyan asked. “Why on earth would they want Gus’s rock?”
“Why on earth would they want Gus?” Trill countered, voicing what we were all secretly thinking.
“A great big fucking Zen garden?” Dr. Sam questioned the universe.
“Maybe,” I conceded to our stoned doctor’s wisdom. “Or maybe there’s something on or inside that rock we’ve never noticed. I’m betting it is, or it houses, one of the locks. We need to check it out, carefully.”
Caleb nodded. “Definitely. But how about in the morning? We’re all tired, and it’s not going anywhere. Plus, I left Iris alone.”
None of us missed the plaintive note in his voice, and Nell smiled at him.
“Home you go, Caleb. Thank you for your help.”
Caleb’s magic gathered as he gave Gus one last once-over before saying his good-byes. After which Nell apparated him back to Iris in a burst of magic, tousled-blond hair, and enormous schlong.
Lucky Iris, my libido sighed, jealously.
Then I nearly jumped out of my skin as a hand brushed beneath my hair to grip my nape gently. Anyan (to whom, I reminded myself for about the twentieth time, I need to attach a bell) tilted my head away from him to reveal the vulnerable shell of my ear, just a little, as he leaned down toward me. My whole body shivered.
And not in a way that has anything to do with Graeme, my libido purred, although my brain was still swirling around discontentedly.
“Don’t leave with the others,” Anyan growled into my ear. “I want to know what happened.”
Trill got up from the chair, giving us some space as she gave me a cheeky side-eye. Then she went and whispered to Nell.
“Can we leave Gus here for the night?” the gnome asked, nodding at Trill’s words as she stood up from her rocking chair. She walked over to the stone spirit, placing a small hand on his forehead. “I could apparate him, but he’s so peaceful. And I’m not entirely sure where he sleeps.”
“It’s fine, Nell. Let him rest,” Anyan said as his hand began to massage the back of my neck in a way that neither my overactive brain nor libido could argue with. My eyes closed as my body relaxed. His touch was so strong and possessive, and I felt almost hypnotized by my desire to submit…
Just like Graeme made me feel.
I sat bolt upright, dislodging Anyan’s hand with the force of my movement. He cast me an iron look just as we heard a thud.
Dr. Sam, giggling, had ended up ass over teakettle from where he’d tried to sit in Nell’s rocking chair. His long, scaly green limbs waved in the air as he chortled, his lei tangled around his head.
Nell sighed and wiggled her fingers. Dr. Sam poofed out, no doubt apparated back to Amy and her famous five-foot glass bong. Then the little woman nodded her goodbyes to us and poofed away herself and the kelpie.
Leaving me alone with Anyan.
I raised my eyes, slowly, to meet his. He wasn’t looking at me like he was angry. Instead, his face betrayed a hint of confusion but also a stubborn look like he just wasn’t having any of what I was dishing out.
And since what I was dishing out were undoubtedly the lies of a known psychopath, I couldn’t blame him.
“Outside?” he asked, inclining his head toward where Gus slept. The little stone spirit had had enough drama for the day. He didn’t need to be involved in our little Graeme-inspired soap opera.
I nodded, and we headed toward Anyan’s front porch. Once there, he took one corner of the railing to perch on, and I took the opposite side. Our knees were almost touching, and we could see each other’s faces, but otherwise we had space.
“What’s going on, Jane?”
Anyan was never one to beat around the bush.
“I’m just skeeved out from my run-in with Graeme, earlier. He was in my head. I still feel… dirty.”
“Tomorrow we’ll work on some mental shields for you. Graeme’s