Page 72 of Grave Beginnings

Shadow people.That one gave me a few nibbles about abilities demons and a handful of other paranormals had to manipulate shadows. All records led back to something else, with no common ground that I could find to link it all together.

I tried a few more narrowing searches, looking for the kids or the sound, but still had thousands of results, some listed as mythology and some as proven. I read through two dozen before snapping the computer shut, knowing I was giving myself more nightmares.

“Just what you need, dumbass,” I chided myself as I left my light on and headed back to bed. Peanut Butter perched at my side, his gaze on me, purring softly. I reached out to pet him. “Thanks, buddy. I’m glad both of us don’t think I’m an idiot.”

He gave me a high-pitched meow.

“Okay, fine. You think I’m an idiot. Noted.” Not that I disagreed with his assessment. “Will you keep an eye out for me?” I asked as I crawled between the blankets, put on my eye mask, and pulled a pillow over my head. Peanut Butter snuffled down beside me. His little nose pressed to my chin, and his purrs helped me drift off to sleep for the second time.

24

I leaptout of bed at the familiar sound of the front door opening. Voices trickled through my space as I really debated becomingthat guyand having my gun in the bedside drawer. Peanut Butter’s chirpy cries sounded excited as I tiptoed toward the open bedroom door, thinking it was time to put a baseball bat beside it. Ivan sat on the floor in front of the couch, watching a video on his phone. Had I overslept?

“Hey,” Nikki said, as she snuggled my cat and sipped an iced coffee.

Angel stood beside the kitchen island with a coffee carrier and a paper bag. I blinked at the two of them, confused, as I knew they didn’t know each other, and then at the clock, which said it was five after six in the morning.

“Ran into him in the lobby,” Nikki said. “Coming in with coffee. Asked if I knew you.” She blinked, and her eyes went wide. “He’s not a creeper, right?” She mouthed to me,He’s hot.

“Uh, standing right here, and no, I’m not a creeper.”

They both stared at me. Was I still dreaming?

“Is he always like this in the morning?” Angel asked Nikki. “A zombie?”

“Beeeans…” I moaned instead of brains.

“Before coffee, yeah,” Nikki agreed as she gave Peanut Butter more snuggles and a dozen kisses. “Anyway, I gotta get to work.” She mimicked a phone receiver with her hand and mouthed,call me.“Nice to meet you, Angel.” She turned toward the door, throwing a look my way.

I stood there in my pajamas, eye mask on my forehead and heart starting to slow a little, my mind struggling to catch up. “Am I late for something?”

“Xavier asked me to pick up Ivan, and I thought you’d want to ride with. We can head to work right afterward.” He glanced around the apartment, seeming to notice all the lights on. “Everything okay?” He held out a cup of coffee for me and I took it, staring at him, bright-eyed and looking way too hot for this early in the morning.

Ivan’s gaze went from one to the other, but he said nothing.

Angel crossed from the kitchen to Ivan’s side, squatting down. “You must be Ivan. I’m Angel, Jude’s partner. I’m also a shifter. Xavier is a friend of mine. He asked me to make sure you get to the community center, and I know Jude has never been there.”

Ivan studied him, but said nothing. His gaze flipped to me in question.

“You okay with going to the community center?” I asked Ivan.

He gave a slight nod. Had my parents made him this skittish? I hesitated to ask and bring up any painful memories for him.

“I wasn’t sure if you drank coffee,” Angel said. “So, I brought a hot chocolate for you, and a breakfast sandwich.” He rose to his feet and returned to the counter to pass out treats.

I lifted the coffee to my lips and sucked down half the contents, the heat and caffeine slowly chugging through my sleep deprived brain. Angel set a wrapped sandwich beside me, leaning in close to whisper in my ear, “He’ll be fine. You okay?”

Was I? Maybe. Had last night been a dream? What about yesterday? Angel’s proximity and the soothing touch of his magiccaressing mine eased a lot of the anxiety that had ridden me hard all night.

He reached up to tug the sleep mask off my head, a tiny smile curving his lips.

“Don’t tease,” I said, too raw this early in the morning to hear anything bad.

“Never,” he agreed with a hand over his heart.

“Ivan doesn’t like red meat. Did you get him…?” I tried to think of breakfast sandwich options and if I could make something to feed him before we left. I really needed to get in the shower if we were leaving this early.

“Turkey sausage and egg,” Angel said. He slid his arm around my waist to rest his hand on my lower back, soothing and warming all at once. Like he could pull me into a hug and ease my racing heart if it flared up again. I didn’t know why I reacted to him this way, but it was nice. “Xavier’s instructions. He takes good care of shifters.”