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“That’s nice. Vintage?” Sky murmured.
“It is! I love it. I used to have one just like it…years ago.”
“Really gorgeous.”
Maddox leaned close to peer over Sky’s shoulder at the picture. “Looks haunted. Probably easier to get rid of it.”
Sky stared at his friend as if he’d lost his mind. “It’svintage. Besides, haunted things can be made unhaunted.” He handed the phone to Gideon and smiled. “It’s very nice. You said the thrift store on Plum?”
Gideon nodded. “It’s a big store on the corner. You can’t miss it.”
“I’ll have to check it out. I love searching for treasures and bargains.” Skylar fell silent for a second, his eyes locked on the surface as he seemed lost in thought. He picked up his drink and took a sip, only to wrinkle his nose at the water.
After a final glare at his friend, he turned his attention to Gideon. “So, here’s the deal. Option one is, obviously, get rid of the trunk. It is the easiest option for you and would not require me to come into your home. If that’s what you want to do, trust me, no hard feelings. No one wants an unknown witch in their sanctuary, and I’m sure vampires are even more cautious.”
Sky took another drink and glared at Maddox. His friend huffed and pulled the drink out of his hands. “Stop drinking it if you’re going to just glare at me. I’ll buy you another when you get me a beer.”
With a roll of his eyes, he was straight back to business. “Option two is that I come to your place and do what’s called a consult. I charge a flat two hundred and fifty dollars for that, nonrefundable. I’ll come, check out the trunk and the ghost. The consult can last anywhere from five minutes to five hours, depending on whether the ghost is cooperative. If the ghost doesn’t come out and I have to return another time, I won’t charge you again. After the consult, I’ll figure out a list of options for getting rid of the ghost. Most of the time, it’s pretty simple to get the ghost to move on and release the item. But occasionally, they can be stubborn.”
“Can Ryder and I be present during the consult?” Gideon asked.
Sky immediately nodded. “Yes, definitely.”
“Can Fox be present as well?” Ryder added.
“Sure. I get it. You want a witch there that you already know and trust,” he agreed with a wave of his hand. “But three would have to be my limit. Too many people, and the ghost might not want to come out.”
“What will it cost to get rid of the ghost?”
Skylar paused, his nose crinkling up. “Well, that’s kind of variable. I’ll admit for humans, I usually charge a few hundred bucks. It kind of depends on how difficult the job is. However, when I am doing a job for others, like yourselves,” he said, nodding to him and Gideon, “I’m more open to different forms of payment.”
Maddox groaned beside him. “Fuck, you sound like you’re propositioning them to a threesome. Please tell me that’s not how you usually talk business.”
“What?” Sky squawked.
Gideon immediately fell into Ryder, laughing so hard he couldn’t catch his breath. Ryder sighed. The thought hadn’t crossed his mind, but Sky now looked horrified.
“No! I didn’t mean that!” Sky cried, punching Maddox in the shoulder as his friend laughed nearly as hard as Gideon. The necromancer sighed heavily and slumped in the booth. “What I mean is that others, like vampires, shifters, and witches, have access to things that humans don’t. Our friend, Red, does jobs occasionally for a wolf pack up north and they give him some of their wolf fur clippings. There are some baldness treatments that require shifter fur.”
“That’s so cool,” Gideon replied now that he’d stopped laughing.
“I usually have a running list of things I need or things I know others will buy off me. If you can get me something off the list, we’ll do a trade. If not”—Sky shrugged—“money works too. But I swear, we’ll agree on a pricebeforeI work. And even if it takes more than I initially thought, I won’t change the price.”
“He might sound like he’s an idiot, but he really is good at what he does and is always fair in his prices,” Maddox stated.
“Awww, I almost forgive you for ruining my drink,” Sky countered, smiling sweetly at his companion.
“But he’s still a petty bitch,” Maddox added.
Gideon cleared his throat, cutting off the last of his giggles. “Okay. Let’s do a consult.”
Both Gideon and Sky sat with their phones out, going back and forth. Gideon sent some money, and they worked on setting up a time when Gideon and Ryder were off work that coincided with Sky’s schedule. It was on the tip of his tongue to remind Gideon that Rafe would happily give him off any night he wanted to take care of this, but he didn’t want to disturb Gideon’s gleeful chatting or to throw around Rafe’s name. Just the mention of Winter had set off Maddox and Sky. Tossing out Rafe would make things worse.
“In the meantime,” Sky said as he tucked his phone away with a new client appointment, “do you have a place where you can stay?”
“He does,” Ryder interjected in a hard voice. His hand rested on Gideon’s thigh and squeezed.
“Do you think the ghost is dangerous?”
