Page 5 of The Valiant Knight (The Ravensmire Chronicles #2)

The Next Morning

Ravensmire Castle

Nine A.M.

F or Gabby, it had been a long night. She’d had that nightmare, which turned into a weird dream, and she’d not been able to get settled since. It shook her to her core, and made her uneasy.

No matter how much she tried to stop dreaming the same thing, it always kept coming back to her.

Over and over again.

Honestly, the one she really felt horrible for was Bark Twain.

The poor dog didn’t sleep either. All of her tossing and turning kept him up. In fact, every time she jerked awake, he did too, and the barking began.

She hoped he didn’t wake Tony and Graham. Yeah, Bark had been that loud most of the night.

Now, she was showered, dressed, and ready to work. When she went to Tony’s room, knocking, he opened it, and was on the phone with someone.

It was his wife.

Instead of saying anything to her, he motioned her inside of the guest room, and continued his call with Jaxon. From the sound of it, the call must have been important. It was the middle of the night back home.

Or his wife was working.

“I’ll walk you through it,” he said. “Do you want me to give you the directions?” he asked his wife.

Tony was taking a video call, so Gabby could hear everything.

Jaxon laughed.

“Anthony, I know how to put beetles in a plexiglass box. You realize we’ve worked together for a while now, and I actually have a degree or three also.”

He grinned.

“And you’re sexy with those degrees, but those are my pets. I worry about them.”

Gabby actually laughed.

Yeah, the mystery was solved. Jaxon had to be working, since this was about beetles. Of course, Tony would be worried about his ‘pets’ .

He had an irrational attachment to them, and the flies, and the spiders, and the...

When he turned the phone, Jaxon waved at the woman to say hello.

“What’s going on, Jax?” she asked.

The woman laughed.

“My husband likes to think that I can’t dump beetles onto a body, Gabs. Tell him that he’s insane.”

She snorted and sat on his bed. The whole time, Tony looked frazzled—like his kids were in danger.

Someone was out of his mind.

“Oh, he’s insane alright,” she admitted. “We all know that,” she added.

From where he stood, Tony rolled his eyes.

“Those bugs…”

His wife shut that down.

“Anthony, do you want to have more babies with me?” she asked.

He grinned.

“I mean, what kind of question is that, and should Gabby be hearing this?” he asked, that masculinity in his voice. Someone loved having children with his sexy wife, and she only had to ask him once.

Jaxon loved her husband. He was insane, but that added to the fun of it all. Plus, he was incredible in bed, and knew how to make her quake.

“What I’m saying, Anthony, the love of my life, the father of our babies, and my soulmate, is that if you don’t calm down, we won’t be having more kids.”

He gasped.

And he knew that she was kidding.

Tony was completely secure in his marriage. No one had ever loved him like Jaxon, and no one ever would either.

“You’d do me dirty like that, my wife?” he asked, grinning at her.

Oh, he couldn’t wait to get home to his wife, and get her tucked under him for a few rounds of sexy fun.

She rolled her eyes.

No, she absolutely wouldn’t.

“Don’t worry about the beetles, and don’t call me unless it’s to woo your wife. I don’t need instructions on how to do your job, since we have THE EXACT SAME JOB ,” she warned.

Tony just smiled.

His wife got him all giddy. Being away from her was always the most difficult part.

“Maybe I like you all riled up. It gets the husband juices flowing.”

Jaxon was well aware. That went for her too.

Someone was a total Top in bed, and she liked him that way.

“I love you, Anthony Magnus, but if you get in trouble there, Elizabeth is going to kill you. So behave and don’t get arrested by the Polis.”

Oh, he’d try.

Only, it was so damn difficult. All he wanted to do was have some fun in Scotland.

How many times was he getting the chance to mingle with his people?

“I love you, Jaxy. Kiss Jack and Sam for me. Tell them daddy loves them so much,” he stated.

She blew him a kiss.

“I will.”

“Oh, and don’t forget to feed Morticia,” he said. “Since you’re still in the office.”

Jaxon stared at him.

Wait.

What?

“Where is Morticia?” she asked, keeping her voice low. Jaxon honestly hoped and prayed that he didn’t mean his spider that Elizabeth hated.

Morticia’s mother bit the big one when it got out, and Ivan squashed it. If Elizabeth found out that he’d hatched an egg and raised her offspring, he was a dead man.

She’d leave him in Scotland for the rest of his life.

Tony shrugged.

“She’s in my desk.”

His wife glared at him.

“Anthony! In your desk? In the morgue?” she asked, sitting at her desk in THE MORGUE .

He nodded.

Gabby shook her head.

“Oh, he’s a dead man,” Gabby admitted. “Elizabeth is going to see that spider, and lose her goddamn mind. She’s calling out the Marines on it. Ivan enjoyed taking out Eve a little too much.”

Oh, Jaxon was aware.

Then, her husband sulked for WEEKS .

“Just don’t open the drawer,” he said. “She sits in there and has her little den. I drop a bug in once in a while, and she gobbles it up.”

“Tony,” his wife began.

Only, she stopped.

Why?

They heard a scream.

“I’m going to kill him!” Elizabeth shouted from the morgue.

Uh-oh.

Jaxon confessed.

“Elizabeth asked me where the reports were about ten minutes ago. I told her your desk.”

Tony facepalmed himself.

“Oh, no! She went in the wrong drawer,” he said. “The reports are in the other drawer.”

Jaxon shook her head.

“You better go,” she said. “Hide in Scotland, because she’s going to find you and hurt you. You know she hates spiders and snakes almost as much as she hates killers!”

Oh, he was aware.

When Elizabeth’s voice came over the phone, he knew the jig was up.

“Are you talking to…?”

Only, his wife ended the call to save his life and buy him some time before she sent out the Marines to slap some common sense into him.

As the call ended, Gabby was amused.

“You just won’t learn,” she said. “We try to save you each and every time, but you get yourself in so much trouble with her. When are you going to stop tormenting the boss?” she asked.

He.

Was.

Aware.

Only, he’d never stop.

“Want to know a little secret?” he asked, tucking his phone away and pulling on his boots to work.

Gabby wasn’t sure what he was going to say.

“What?” she asked.

“I do it on purpose. I love riling her up. We’ve been doing this for years, and it’s kind of our thing. When she gets all crazy, it reminds me of our youth. So, to answer your question, never.”

Gabby shook her head.

“You’re insane and have absolutely no survival skills whatsoever.”

Probably, but he knew Elizabeth.

She loved it just as much as he did. If she didn’t, he’d be dead already. Deep down, if you could amuse the savage boss beast, you were in like Flynn.

When she looked at her watch, Gabby was curious as to when they were going to get this started. She wanted to take in some sights while here.

But work came first.

“Ready to head down?” she asked. “I’m just your assistant,” she admitted.

He grinned.

Nothing made him happier than working on a new set of bones.

“Of course, I am,” he said, as they closed his door and headed down the stairs to the kitchen. They could hear banging not far away, and that meant that the tower had workmen dealing with the construction.

From the dusty debris, they were pulling down barriers that kept the tower blocked off.

In the kitchen, they found Graham behind the island, and as soon as he saw them, he began pouring coffee for both of them.

“Morning,” Gabby said, cheerfully.

Graham was curious.

“I hope you slept well,” he said. Last night, the castle had been unsettled. He could hear doors slamming, and music. Honestly, he didn’t think either of the two people were partying.

They both sat.

“I had some wild dreams,” Gabby admitted. “It must have been the jet lag. I couldn’t get out of one of my dreams and wake up.”

That was alarming.

To get them caffeinated to start their day, Graham put the coffees down in front of them.

“This castle does creak and make noises,” he said. “Maybe that influenced your dream.”

Maybe.

Gabby was still unnerved by it, and the stranger she’d seen in her dream. Honestly, she wouldn’t mind dreaming about him again.

“What can I make you for breakfast?” he asked.

Gabby waved her hand dismissing that idea. There was no way she could eat.

“Pass. I’m good. I’m a coffee girlie,” she admitted, as Graham picked up her dog. “I live on adrenaline and caffeine.”

“Same,” Anthony said.

That was fine by him.

“Well, there are some scones that were delivered from the local bakery. I’ll leave them here on the counter in case you need some sustenance.”

That worked for them.

Beside her, Tony was edgy.

“Why are you fidgeting?” she asked him.

He was honest.

“I want to see the crypts and get this started. I can’t wait to get my hands on the bones.”

Graham scratched Bark and stared at him after that comment.

“Uh, okay.”

Gabby was amused.

Yeah, Tony was an interesting character.

“Ignore him. The only things that he loves more than his job is his wife and kids. If Jaxon would let him keep remains in their house, on their dining room table, he’d do it.”

Tony grinned.

“Of course I would. What anthropologist doesn’t want to bring their work home with them?”

Graham wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not, since he’d never have the family or the need to bring his work home, but he understood.

He lived where he worked.

“Well, as soon as you get some coffee in you, and fuel up, I can take you down to the crypt,” he offered. “If you want, I’ll keep Bark Twain busy for you,” he added. “I don’t mind the company.”

Gabby paused.

The last thing she wanted to do was saddle anyone with her dog. He could be annoying.

“Are you sure? He’s a menace.”

Oh, he didn’t mind.

Really.