Page 84 of Grave Beginnings

“Is it because I’m SV and he’s a shifter? I don’t want to be like one of those necromancers in the war.” I’d only started reading the book last night, but had gotten far enough to know the whole thing had been a nightmare.

“Hmm,” Wade said. “How about you and I try?” He pointed at the wall.

Angel growled low in his throat, and I blinked wide eyes at him.

Wade held up his hands. “Just seeing aura, nothing else.”

“Sure,” I agreed, and handed the scanner to Bobby, then made my way to the wall. While I could sense Wade’s shifter magic, and it didn’t snap at me like Xavier’s had, it wasn’t warm and fuzzy either. Cooler, like a strong northern wind in January. I shivered as we stood less than a foot apart, waiting for the photos, then took a few steps away.

“Got those. Let’s do you and me now,” Bobby said. “It’ll be good to have a range with our variances.”

“Okay,” I said, and Wade left the wall to switch with Bobby. Angel stood beside him with his arms crossed over his chest,eyes half lidded, watching me. I met his gaze. “You okay?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said.

I didn’t call out his lie. Years as a homicide detective gave me a really good read on people. But maybe he really didn’t like the idea that our magics interrupted each other? Not that we knew much right now.

Bobby’s magic felt strange. Like I could grab hold of it and coax it to life. I clenched my hands at my side and stared at Angel, hoping the scanner wasn’t showing my power being an asshole without my permission. The elevator at the end opened as we were finishing up the pictures of Bobby and me on the scanner.

Ezra stepped out with a confused scowl on his face. “Are we taking selfies like teenage girls?”

“Don’t be jealous, Ezra. We didn’t get to the part where we figure out which aura filter is the most flattering. I think ‘bold glamor’ is right up your alley,” I said, annoyed at his constant picking.

“Aura overlap,” Bobby answered, taking the scanner back. Angel took two giant steps to my side.

“Did my aura mesh with anyone else?” I asked, since Angel had seen the pictures.

“Your aura overtakes mine,” Bobby said. “Mine vanishes completely beneath yours.”

I flinched, as that had been what I felt. But I didn’t feel the same when Angel stood next to me.

“Bobby and Wade will run through theories when we get back to the office,” Angel said. “Let’s see if we can find this purple line you saw.”

“I’m going to go talk to the Thayersons again,” Ezra said, headed for their door.

“Uh…” I hated the idea of bothering them.

“That kid talked,” Ezra said. “He spoke to you. We have it on video. Either they are lying to us, or something else is going on.”

28

Ezra vanished into the Thayersons’apartment after giving them lots of smiles and friendly banter I had yet to encounter from the guy, and we searched for the line. The fact that we’d caught the kid acting strange on camera, and it hadn’t been only me to see it this time, weighed heavily on my mind. Distracting, to say the least.

We wandered the halls, Angel and I purposely keeping our distance to see if he was muting my magic somehow, but neither I, nor Bobby’s scanner, found any trace of the line. Angel grew more agitated the further we explored, his gaze often warming my back as I took the lead. Was he worried I’d run into something? Each time I glanced his way, he seemed to calm, and always offered a tight smile.

“Let me test my understanding,” Bobby said as we browsed the storage area, wandering between the cages now that we had a key from management. While we couldn’t get into each unit, we could see and scan into each one, and so far, like everything else, we’d found nothing. I had a sinking feeling that this was a wild goose chase that would end in everyone being disappointed with me. “You saw the line in the lobby first.”

“Yes,” I said.

“Then when you got off the elevator on the Thayersons’ floor.”

I nodded.

“Then followed it all the way down here, but it was fading the whole time. Like the energy was waning, maybe?”

“Sure?”

“What if we go up?” Wade asked.