Page 9 of The Shop on Hidden Lane

For a moment it was as if a silent treaty had been established between their warring auras, and the currents of their energy fields settled into an exhilarating resonance and a glorious sense of discovery.Where have you been all my life, Luke Wells?

In the next instant the elation gave way to confusion and disbelief.

“You’re okay,” she said, amazed.

“I’m not sure that’s the right word to describe my current condition, but I guess it works,” Luke said. A wicked amusement lit his eyes. “You look shocked.”

“I was expecting a different outcome.”

“You were anticipating disaster, weren’t you?”

“Well, yes, to be honest.”

“Based on prior experience?”

“There have been a couple of failed experiments, you see. I suppose you could say I’m gun-shy about physical contact when I’m coming out of a trance.”

“Can I assume the failed experiments are now exes?”

She flushed. “You could say that.”

“On the plus side, I can’t help but notice that you are no longer shivering.”

“No. I’m not.” She took a breath. “What about my eyes?”

“You have very nice eyes.”

“That’s not what I meant. Do they look weird?”

“Defineweird.”

“Never mind.” Bewildered, she pushed herself up off his chest. That proved embarrassing because now she was sitting astride his hips and very aware of his heavy erection.

She lurched upright and grabbed the back of the sofa to steady herself. She looked down and got another jolt. The front edges of Luke’s leather jacket had fallen open. For the first time she saw that he had a small case attached to his belt. It was the kind of case people with severe allergies use to carry emergency auto-injectors filled with epinephrine.

Luke sat up slowly and uncoiled to his feet. The jacket fell back into place, covering the auto-injector case. “I knew it would be hot,” he said. “But not that hot.”

Four

“What just happened?” Sophy said,trying to make the question sound logical. Detached. Just a matter of scientific curiosity. Or something.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Luke said. “Your aura is back to normal and I survived the process. Yay, me.”

He appeared almost as unfazed as Bruce. The hellhound was stretched out on the sofa, having seized the opportunity for a nap.

Sophy studied Luke.

“You’re not taking this seriously, are you?” she said.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Luke said. He began to prowl the room. “I am taking it seriously. But we don’t have time for a discussion of bio-metaphysics. We’ve got a few loose ends to clean up here and then I need to do some thinking.”

“What loose ends? I fulfilled my part of the deal.”

“Not completely,” Luke said. “Ah, here we go.” He took a small plastic baggie out of his pocket and crouched near the window.

“What did you find?” she asked.

“A couple of cigarette butts.” He bagged his find, straightened,and went to the sofa. “You said it looked like Deke left something here.”