time,” I said savagely. “But what about next time? The attack in Boston, the retirement center, the cemetery… none of us are safe!”
Anthony looked at us worriedly. “This is where I put on my lawyer hat and remind you that withholding information from a criminal investigation is a crime.”
Teag met his gaze. “Even if the perp is somehow connected to ghost-eating supernatural monsters?”
“And a powerful sorcerer who can call up fallen angels?” I added.
Anthony knocked back the rest of his wine in a gulp that didn’t do the vintage justice. “Is there any way you might be able to rephrase that if your testimony was required?”
“No.” Teag and I spoke in unison.
Anthony sighed. “Assuming that I actually heard you say something just now – which I didn’t – and understood what you said – which I didn’t – theoretically, would that situation have anything to do with what we might or might not have seen happen on the ghost tour?”
“Yeah,” Teag replied, finishing off his glass. “This is the part we weren’t going to mention to keep you from worrying.”
Anthony said something pointed which was not the kind of phrase they teach at law school. “And you two are involved because, why? You’re antique dealers, not paranormal vigilantes…”
His voice trailed off as he realized what he had just said. Teag and I looked back at him, neither confirming nor denying.
“Oh, no. Please tell me that I didn’t just –” A series of emotions crossed Anthony’s face. I could tell he was putting the pieces together, especially when the last expression was one of horror.
“Those explosions out at the Navy Yard a while back… how badly you were hurt, you said…”
Teag reached across the table and took Anthony’s hand. “Do you remember when you were working on that case about the whistleblower who outed the crooked financial firm? Remember the death threats you got – at the office, and here, where I heard them on the machine and almost had a heart attack?”
“I remember,” Anthony said in a choked voice.
“I asked if you would consider dropping the case,” Teag said quietly. “And you told me that it was part of your job to take risks. That someone had to take the unpopular cases, the ones that resulted in rulings that could change things for the better. And that you had to do it, because not everyone could.”
“I meant me, dammit!” Anthony said with a glare, his voice rising to a shout. “Not you!”
Teag gave a sad smile. “I’ve found a calling of my own,” he said with gentle determination. “Something much bigger than I ever expected to be part of. Something that makes a difference, even though if we do it right, no one will ever know. We aren’t alone. We have colleagues – powerful ones. But we’re saving lives, Anthony. Because of what we do, lots of people get to live.”
“You go up against those things?” Anthony said, not bothering to hide the fear in his voice. “Angry ghosts? Bad magic?” He shook his head. “Isn’t there someone else?”
Teag met his gaze. “I have to do it, Tony. Because not everyone can.”
Anthony wrapped his arms around Teag and hugged him fiercely. And then, unexpectedly, he reached out and grabbed my hand as well. “Now you listen to me,” he said urgently. “I don’t like this. I don’t understand it. And frankly, it scares the shit out of me. But I love you,” he said, looking toward Teag, “and you’re one of my best friends,” he said, meeting my gaze. “And I am not – not – okay with losing either of you. So just don’t let that happen. Okay?”
Teag managed a teary smile and hugged Anthony tightly. “Okay,” he said, although all three of us knew the promise wasn’t really within our full ability to keep.
“Okay,” I replied. And I really hoped it would be.
I LEFT SHORTLY after that. Teag and Anthony had things to discuss, and I was a third wheel. I drove the rental car I’d gotten from the insurance company home on the main streets, steering clear of any landmarks with particularly dark histories, and was pleased to find a spot on the curb right in front of the door onto my piazza. Pleased, but not completely surprised. I had asked Lucinda to put a distraction warding on the parking place, something that doesn’t so much keep other people from taking the spot as it keeps them from noticing it’s even there.