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Skylar’s eyes popped up to Ryder and Gideon, his face turning bright red. “Shit! I’m sorry! So sorry! It’s okay. Everything is okay, I swear. Mad pissed me off by ruining a fifteen-dollar drink.”
“Where is it? Where did it go?” Gideon demanded, his voice trembling. He stabbed a shaking finger at the empty spot on the table.
“What?” Sky asked. His brows knitted together over bright-green eyes.
“That-that thing. The hand!” Gideon continued.
“Your little minion,” Maddox explained blandly.
“Oh! It’s gone. It’s not here. It was never really here.” As he spoke, Sky reached out and rubbed his hand through the remains of the water circle on the table so that there was no sign of it ever existing. “That was one of my helpers. They’re very food motivated.”
Gideon stopped trying to climb into Ryder’s lap, and the fingers digging into his scalp were less like claws. “What kind of food?”
“Normal, human food. They’ll do just about anything for a ham sandwich and a bag of chips.” Skylar leaned closer and smirked. “They also like Mad’s beer.”
“Fuck off, asshole,” Maddox grumbled, his arms folded over his chest.
“Okay,” Gideon mumbled. He slowly settled in the booth next to Ryder, but Gideon didn’t put his feet on the floor. He folded his legs next to him and leaned into Ryder, both of his arms wrapped around Ryder’s arm.
Maddox laughed suddenly. “Wow. Way to make a great first impression. This is why I had to come with you.”
Skylar shot his friend a look, but it fell away when he turned his attention toward Ryder and Gideon. “Sorry again. Not the first impression I wanted to make. I’m Skylar Wallace, but you can call me Sky. You’ve already met Maddox.”
“It’s okay. I was…startled. We’re friends with Fox, so we’re kind of used to weird things sort of happening,” Gideon offered, even giving both men a small smile.
Ryder’s heart flopped in his chest. How could he not fall for this sweet man at his side? The witches scared him, and now he was trying to comfort them.
“Wonderful! Fox is fun. I’m hoping that we get to meet in person.” Sky leaned forward, a somewhat devilish smile tugging up the corners of his mouth. “Can I ask a weird question? Can I see your fangs?”
Ryder didn’t hesitate to lower his fangs in a flash and even throw in a warning hiss. Both witches jumped away, crowding close to each other.
“Holy shit!” Sky gasped.
Gideon poked him hard in the ribs. “Be nice!”
“They scared you first,” Ryder complained.
“And they didn’t mean to. It was an accident. Be nice. I’m fine.” As Gideon spoke, his arms snaked across Ryder’s waist and he snuggled his head into his chest, effectively sucking all the irritation out of his frame. How was he supposed to stay angry when Gideon held him like that? It was fighting dirty. His fangs instantly receded and all the tension humming through his muscles dissipated.
“Yep. Sorry about that,” Maddox said.
“So, um…Fox says you have a ghost problem,” Sky interjected, his voice high and thin as his eyes kept darting to Ryder as he talked to Gideon.
“Yes! My bad. I’m Gideon and this is my boyfriend, Ryder.” The bounce returned to Gideon’s voice as he drew out the word boyfriend. “I recently bought this trunk at a thrift store and when I got it home, all these strange things began happening. Lights turning on, things moving, knocking sounds, the trunk opening and closing on its own, and giggling.”
“Plus, Winter saw the ghost,” Ryder added.
“Winter? As in Winter Varik? You know him?” Awe vibrated in every word Skylar spoke.
Gideon shared a glance with Ryder. Yeah, they were letting Fox deal with his Varik status. They were not falling on that grenade for him. They were also not going to share that they were technically part of the Varik Clan as well.
“Yes, Winter Varik,” Gideon confirmed. “He’s a friend. He’s familiar with ghosts, so he came over to my place and confirmed that was what the problem was. Winter said it’s a little girl, and it seems like she wants to play, but that was all he could tell us. He doesn’t get rid of them.”
“Hmm…the trunk? How big is it? Do you know where it came from?”
“We got it at the thrift store on Plum Street,” Ryder grumbled. At least Sky was getting down to business, his tone turning serious.
“But we don’t know where it came from prior to that.” Gideon shifted beside him and pulled out his phone. After a few taps on the screen, he turned his phone to show a picture he’d taken of it.
