Page 49

Somehow, she knew what I was just by looking at me. “I am.”

“Then why do you need me?”

“The souls we’re looking for aren’t showing themselves to me.”

Her gaze slid to Rome, taking him in from head to foot. “And who’s this.” She liked him, there was no missing it. A lot.

“This is Roman, my friend.”

She held out her hand. “Roman, nice to meet you.”

He took it. “Call me Rome.”

“Come on in.” She opened the door wider for us to follow her inside.

Rome nudged me, and I looked up. “Told you.”

I rolled my eyes, and he chuckled as he followed me in.

Zara made us tea. She was open and honest about her gift, but unfortunately wasn’t able to help me.

I left the house twenty minutes later with a stash of herbs that I’d been struggling to find and one of the candles she made. Rome left with her number. She’d slipped it into his hand before we walked out.

I really liked the female. She’d told me to come by anytime, and I was actually contemplating it. She was one of those people who hid nothing, and you felt it. She was who she was, and she was extremely cool.

Rome started for the bike. “Where to next, Jazzy?”

I fished out the address as my phone dinged. I quickly checked it. A client I’d been trying to connect with could finally see me. I had a message for her that was important but sensitive, and not something I wanted to give her over the phone. Part of the job, for me at least, was being there when you delivered the kind of news I needed to deliver to her. It was irresponsible to hit someone with something potentially devastating when you had no idea where they were or if they were on their own.

“I actually have to be somewhere else. Can we pick this back up later this afternoon, if you’re free?”

Rome frowned. “Something up?”

“Just a client I need to see. They don’t live that far from here. I’ll walk.”

“I’ll take you.”

I hitched my bag. “I’m good. It’s literally just a few blocks away.”

“How long you think you’ll be?”

I shrugged. “Probably a couple hours.”

He flashed his teeth. “I can work with that, I’ll just”—he looked back at the cute pink house we’d just left—“find something to keep me occupied until you’re ready.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Well, you have fun, and I’ll text when I’m done.”

“You need me before that, call, yeah?”

“Will do.”

Rome winked and strode back up to Zara’s veranda, and I headed off down the street. I realized after several blocks that I’d underestimated the distance. I texted to let my client know I’d be a little late, and they replied with an apology that something unexpected had come up and asked to reschedule again. Dammit.

I quickly replied and shoved my phone in my pocket. Now what was I going to do? There was no way I was going back to Zara’s house. The last thing I wanted to do was interrupt her and Rome—if what I thought was happening was happening. Which meant I had at least two hours to kill.

I pulled the piece of paper from my pocket and typed the address for the next person on my list into my maps app. It was literally a block away. I headed off again. I wasn’t going to go in, but no harm in doing a walk-by. I pulled the paper back out as I walked and checked the name again.

Xavier Rush. I’d met the male before at Rose and Ronan’s place. He was a dhampir as well, someone Ronan had met during some business dealings. They’d become kind of friends. He was a little odd, but then Ronan had been as well when we first met him. Ronan was a good male. He wouldn’t be pals with the guy if he was a homicidal maniac, right?