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“And some of those big club chairs in soft leather.”
“And books,” Dane said with a chuckle. “I don’t recall seeing any books in the library.”
“Yes, lots of books.” Clay scratched his chin as he stood in the aisle with Dane, staring up at the lights hanging overhead on display. “I think Grey said he had a big collection. We could have his moved from Oregon. Then we can get more. I’ve been using an e-reader app on my phone for a few years now, but I prefer the feel of a book in my hands.”
“Me too.”
“If we’re going to do English-manor-meets-murder-mystery, you know what the room is missing?”
“What?”
Clay’s smiled widened. “A secret passage.”
“Seriously?”
Clay nodded. “Oh, yeah. One of the bookshelves swings out and reveals a narrow walkway or maybe a ladder that goes up to the second floor or down to the basement.”
Dane shifted from one foot to the other as he folded his arms over his chest. His eyes were directed at the floor, but Clay guessed that he was actually seeing the layout of the house in his mind. “There’s one spot where we could change the wall a bit. It’s the section of wall that’s shared with the bar in the billiards room.”
Clay made a noise in the back of his throat. “I can’t believe we have a billiards room.”
“It doesn’t have to be a billiards room. You could always change it into something else.”
“Oh no, don’t get me wrong. I love that we have a billiards room.” Clay held up his hands like he was trying to halt any crazy suggestions Dane was about to spit out for their precious billiards room. “I just never thought I’d live in a house with one.”
Dane chuckled. “Okay, fine. We don’t change the billiards room. But if you want the secret passage, we’d need to move the wall. Probably take about a foot or so off the bar. Or we would need to change the wall in the library. I’m not sure without seeing either the blueprints or at least standing in the house.”
“Okay, no big plans until we get home, but I’m saying that we need to seriously consider a secret passageway.”
Dane chuckled. “Agreed.” He led the way down the aisle, his head tilted up as he looked at the lights on display. Clay smiled at the easy grin on his lover’s lips and his loose gait. He was relaxed and happy, a combination he was unsure he’d ever see in Dane.
Clay’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he sighed. Who the fuck could be disturbing his time with Dane? Okay, maybe all his time was becoming Dane’s time, but he wanted to spend all his free time with Dane. He was tempted to let the call go to voice mail. How likely was it that the world was ending?
Then he remembered that Baer and Grey were leaving for a grocery run the same time that he and Dane had left for the hardware store. So maybe it wasn’t the world ending. More likely it was Baer checking to make sure he didn’t need anything from the store. The aunts had left another pile of money in the kitchen that morning—though they probably expected them to have groceries delivered.
Pulling the phone from his pocket, he frowned to see it was Grey calling him. The moody Soul Weaver didn’t reach out to him often. Barely fucking talked to him when they encountered each other in the house. He seemed more at ease around Baer, but Clay wasn’t sure if it was because they had the same goddess claiming them or simply Baer’s easygoing manner.
“What’s up?” Clay said when he answered the call.
“Baer’s in trouble,” Grey replied, sounding out of breath.
Clay’s entire body froze up as the world around him disappeared. There was no hardware store, shoppers, or even Dane. There was fine trembling that went through him, and for a moment, he didn’t give a shit if his control on his powers slipped a little. No one hurt his brother. “What? How? What happened?”
“We were attacked while loading the groceries in Jo’s truck. The pestilents. We didn’t know they were there until it was too late.”
“What?”
“The wind. They fucking stayed downwind of us. They stabbed Baer and threw him in their SUV. I’m following now.”
A hand landed on Clay’s shoulder and he blinked, seeing Dane’s worried expression. “Were you hurt?”
“My bell was rung. I’m seeing double a bit, but I’m not stopping. I can’t lose Baer.”
“Where are you? I’m still at the hardware store with Dane.”
“Fuck,” Grey muttered something under his breath Clay couldn’t quite understand, and then he was back again. “It’s some fucking rural road.”
“That’s a whole hell of a lot of Georgia,” Clay snarled.
“No shit.”
Dane squeezed his shoulder again and motioned toward the front of the store with his free hand. Yes, they needed to start walking toward the car. The sooner they could get on Grey’s tail, the sooner they could get to Baer.
