Page 25

Chapter

Twenty

“ A nd then he dumped the salt on the weird drawing on the floor and screamed, ‘Demon get out! I command thee!’,” Gent finished, and Sebastian had to clap a hand over his mouth to stifle his giggles.

The guys were all lounging around, drinking beer and decaf coffee and eating the pie that Gent had brought along with a cookie and a toy from Xavi’s coffee shop. The toy, an alien with googly eyes, had made Abby squeal.

She had played with it until Sebastian had put her down for bed. And she was clutching it in her sleep even now. He knew because he’d checked on her.

Thankfully, the guys were being pretty good about keeping the noise to a dull roar, even if they were telling terrible tales on Colton.

“And did the ‘demon’ leave?” Sebastian asked.

Colton snorted. “It did. I scared the fool so much that he made a full confession about how he’d set up the whole thing.

The problem was, the sigil he’d drawn on the floor was actually the real deal, and something was trying to get through.

Salting it allowed us to destroy it, though, and seal off any entryways. ”

“It was wild, but not like your house, Sebastian,” Iago put in. “This one has been the craziest.”

“Thanks!” Sebastian said brightly, grinning. Not that he meant thanks, but hey.

He got it. His house was a real hub of ghost activity.

“So has it always been this busy in your house?” Gent asked, and Sebastian shrugged.

“I mean, it…it never was ugly, but there’s always been—like we knew there were ghosts here. It was sort of accepted. It’s not a big deal, you know? The meanness, that was new and awful, but I grew up knowing that the ghosts were here and living with us.” It was like breathing.

“So, is the whole town haunted? I mean, everybody seems to have their ghost stories.” Law was sitting on the floor, leaning against Iago’s leg. These guys were so comfortable with each other, easy in their skins, and Sebastian liked that.

“It’s a mining town, I think, so I imagine every place has got its tall tale. There are so many little spots where life happened. This was part of the Old West, right?”

Mason nodded to them, looking very serious. “I think we should do a series out here, boss. I mean, bosses. I like it out here. It’s quiet. It’s solid. And we could literally do mining towns and Colorado ghosts for years.”

Iago nodded. “Hell, I’m in. If we come out here, we could rent a big house, and just chill. It’s so much cheaper than the city. Everything’s cheaper than California, but…”

Law glanced up at him. “Are you sure? I mean, there’s not a Starbucks. I want to be really clear. There’s not a McDonald’s. There’s not a Walmart. And when it snows, we’re going to be really cold.”

Sebastian noted that no one suggested that some people could come here, and some people could stay in California. It was a one for all type of situation apparently.

“Hello, guys. I’m from here,” Gent interrupted.

“Let’s do it. I’ve only been based in California because that’s where Colton was.

If we’re going to come here, let’s make our base out of Hot Springs Junction.

We can put a nice little bump into the economy.

I mean, we’ll what, double, triple the size of the town? ”

Sebastian cracked up. “Not quite, thanks, but yeah.” He shook his head. “Oh, Lord. Well, I can tell you that one of the houses next to us is for sale. There’s a lot of places that are looking for a little love and a little life.”

Mason grinned at him. “Yeah, but are they haunted?”

He fought not to roll his eyes. “Abraham built this town. All these houses are the same age really. There’s a couple on either end, and obviously the hotel is a little newer, but not by much.

Maybe a couple of years. You’ve got the old mines all around here.

You’ve got the springs. I mean, you know how active it is down at Secret Springs with Hank. ”

Colton shrugged. “I don’t want to influence you guys. You know I would love to have you here, but I will tell you that I’m not leaving. This is where my family is.”

It made Sebastian blush, and it pleased him down to the bone.

Gent’s lips twisted like he was fighting a smile. “Your family, huh?”

“Yes, my family.” Colton grinned at Gent. “She’s amazing, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, man, she’s really cool. She’s a neat little girl, so smart, and the alien was a good call. That guy at the coffee shop?—”

“Xavi,” Law interrupted. “His name is Xavi.”

“Well, he told me that she needed a toy, so…”

“It was a good call. She’s sleeping with it right now.” Sebastian leaned harder against Colton.

“So, are we really discussing this, guys?” Iago looked at them all. “I mean, seriously, we’re going to move our ourselves here? Because that’s a big thing, and I need to know. I’ll come where you are, because you’re my team, but I need to know what we’re doing. I don’t like it when things are off.”

Gent looked at Colton, who looked back, and they both nodded. And apparently that was that.

Sebastian couldn’t imagine. He’d lived in the same place his whole life. He couldn’t fathom just picking up and leaving. He wasn’t sad; in fact, he was tickled, but it was weird. And he wasn’t sure that he would be able to do it, so he’d be grateful.

“Well, tomorrow, we’ll start looking at real estate and packing.

I want to get the footage started on the editing process, so I want to find somewhere pretty quick so that we can get settled.

” Gent tilted his head. “Maybe we’ll just buy a place and have that be our headquarters as far as working, instead of a number of home offices. ”

Colton nodded. “That sounds great to me. If we get one of these places, and just set it up where we can have our footage, we can have offices. It gives us a space where we’re not stealing all the bandwidth out of a bunch of people’s houses.”

Sebastian just sat there and listened to them. Wow. They could mobilize like crazy. They were a team, a real one, and he kind of felt like they were letting him into a club without any kind of initiation, though maybe the ghost thing counted…

“You okay with all this, baby?” Colton reached for his hand, squeezing it.

“Are you kidding? I always dreamed about having brothers and sisters.”

Iago beamed. “I like that. Brothers and uncles. That’s us.”

“It is.” Law chuckled. “We’re just gonna spoil that little girl to death.”

“Hey, who did the alien?” Gent said.

“Xavi,” Colton teased. “Don’t take credit for anything he does. He and Xander are fierce.”

He would swear her heard a sound that came from Law that was basically, “Rawr.”

“There’s room in her little heart for all of you,” Sebastian reminded them. “Especially if you stick around.”

Gent nodded. “That settles it. I’ll look at the one house you sent me tomorrow, Colt, and look for something for me, too.”

“Good deal. Now, you all need to go away so I can have some me-time with my omega,” Colton said.

Sebastian gasped, smacking him.

“We’ll do the dishes and then leave quietly,” Iago said. “Come on, Law.”

“Yep.” Law hopped up, and they headed to the kitchen.

“I’ll take all the glasses and shit they missed,” Mason muttered, shaking his head.

Sebastian glanced at Gent. “Are you serious about coming here?”

Gent snorted. “These guys are all hardcore misfits who have been searching for a home for years, but it never gelled in Cali. I can’t wait to give them what they need here. It will stick. I can feel it.”

A window flew open, and all three turned to stare as a little dust-devil-type motion brought a rose into the house to land at Gent’s feet.

Sebastian laughed as Gent and Colton stared. Well, that was…sure. “Welcome to the neighborhood, Gent. I think you might be on to something.”