Whisper of Spirits (FSID Agents Book 1), page 8
Guess we haven’t been as discreet as we thought.
“We wouldn’t do that, besides we’ll be heading back to D.C. after this case is solved, so we aren’t going to be getting involved like that, regardless of whether we want to or not,” Knox explained. The pen lifted from the desk, and there was more scribbling, followed by the paper being torn off the pad and floating up in front of Mason.
“Then stay away from her and don’t lead her on. She had a shitty life growing up. She is finally happy, and I don’t want any of you breaking her heart because you want to have a one night stand.” Angry growls laced Mason’s words as he finished reading Ric’s response. “What are you going to do about it, ghost?”
Oh, good lord. I shook my head at him. Always stirring up trouble. Mason’s head jerked to the side, smashing into the desk with a loud thud, and he stumbled away from the table from the force of the hit. A grey translucent hand gripped Mason’s inked neck forcefully, lifting until his feet dangled in the air. The gray coloring spread down the lean muscled arm into a short sleeve shirt, jeans, and the rest of a young man with short hair. His chiseled face was hard, his lips pulled back in a harsh snarl.
“I might be a ghost, but I’ve had years to grow more powerful through my connection with Cas. Do not test me when it comes to her, or I will make your life a living fucking hell. Am I understood?” His voice wavered with rage as he took away all semblance of personal space, leaning his face so close to Mason’s that they almost rested against each other. He waited for one of us to acknowledge his promise, having no care for Mason whose skin had started to change colors from lack of oxygen.
“Yes, let him go,” I agreed, choosing the only path to diffuse this mess that Mason’s antagonism had created. While not agreeing with Mason’s brash attitude toward Ric, I didn’t want him to get hurt. Ric dropped him, leaving Ryan and Knox to catch Mason’s shoulders as his legs gave out. When Ric stepped back from my teammates, he faded. “Well, that went well. Good job,” I chided Mason who was rubbing his neck and coughing slightly. At least he’s standing up on his own.
“Shut it, shadow boy,” he coughed out at me. The sound of the bathroom door opening pulled us from talking about Ric or Cas anymore. Knox grabbed the notes from Ric and stuffed them into his pocket before she could see them.
“So, who pissed off Ric?” Cas’s melodic voice filtered into the kitchen from the small hallway. I raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh, don’t act like I’m an idiot, he only pulls that much power when he’s pissed off. So, who was it? Never mind, let me guess.” She shook her head, her damp strands whipping around her freckled cheeks and neck. She looked from one of us to another until she finally eyed Mason. “Of course.” She rolled her eyes with a scoff. Her arms crossed as she addressed him specifically. “What’d you do?”
“Why do you think I did it? And what did you mean ‘pulls power’?” Mason countered, gesturing to himself with both hands, his voice cracking slightly. Her face fell into one hand while the other stayed crossed over her chest. She rubbed her forehead and eyes with a groan.
“It’s too damn early for this. To answer your question, I don’t really know how he can do it, all I know is that he’s able to pull power and energy from me. It’s why he can interact with objects and turn visible. It doesn’t hurt, but if he does it for too long, it drains my energy. To answer your first question, you’re you.” She shrugged, dropping her hand. He rolled his eyes in a perfect imitation of her.
“Yes, he did it, but why doesn’t matter. We got it all settled. Now let’s get ready and get some breakfast,” Ryan interjected, glaring at Mason like a wife would a husband after she found the item in the fridge that he said he couldn’t find sitting in the middle of the top shelf. Mason, for once, had the right idea and kept quiet.
“I’m all good. I’ll just hang out on the couch bed while you slowpokes finish getting ready.” She chuckled and headed back to her temporary bed. We finally scattered away from the kitchen to get on with the morning, happy to leave the ghostly drama behind.
Casper
My stomach growled as the tantalizing scent of pancakes and eggs welcomed us into the café. The one benefit to Sundays was that I was able to come in later, like nine, because most detectives took Sunday off, or at least worked half days. Lucky for me, this meant I was able to get breakfast when the café opened at eight. The guys had let me pick where to eat since I was a local, and they had no idea where to get breakfast. We sat at a corner booth with me sandwiched in the middle between Mason and Flynn. Ryan was seated on the end so he didn’t bump elbows with anyone else since he was a leftie, and Knox rounded out the rest of the group on the edge of our table.
The waitress took our drink orders and left us to look over the menu. I was hungry, but for some reason I wasn’t feeling overly good. Please don’t be getting sick. I finally decided on a small breakfast combo which was two eggs, a slice of toast, and some fresh fruit. I passed my menu to Knox, seeing he had also put his down.
I gave him a small smile. It felt right sitting around the table with all of my agents. I knew Ric was leaning against the wall near our booth keeping an eye on them, and whatever they had said really struck him because I’d only seen him like this three other times before. Part of me was curious, but at the same time, I wasn’t because his hottest button topic was me, and I really didn’t need that drama in my life. But still, the curiosity is kind of killing me. The waitress came back to our table and took our orders quickly, and the café was filling rapidly with other customers as I made my decision.
“So, do I want to know what you did to piss off Ric so much? Because he’ll tell me later.” I hitched a thumb over at Ric while I looked at Mason, whose lips thinned as he rubbed his neck slowly.
“Long story short, he told us to behave with you, and if we didn’t, then we’d be living in hell,” Mason ground out, avoiding my gaze. I felt my eyebrows raise as I looked over at Ric.
“Seriously?” I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be upset with that overstep in boundaries or not. It isn’t the first time he’s done this, I reminded myself as I turned to glare at Ric.
“Really, Cas? Of course! I told you before, I see how they look at you, and don’t think I haven’t noticed how you look at them either. I just laid out what would happen if they hurt you, and Mason decided to be his usual dickish self. Don’t worry, I handled it.” His look transformed from chiding to smug, a proud smirk curling his lips while he stood with crossed arms and pulled back shoulders. I readied myself to give him a piece of my mind, but he must have taken the annoyed look on my face as a warning because he faded from my senses, but not before he gave Mason a last glance.
“Ugh,” I groaned and rubbed my face, a chill sliding down my body. Nooo, a fever! I shivered, feeling the chills settle in my limbs.
“You all right, Cas?” Ryan questioned as he saw my slight tremble. I nodded, stuffing my hands between my thighs.
“I think I’m getting sick. I was out late working on Wednesday, and Thursday morning I had to go dumpster diving for evidence, so I spent a good chunk of my week outside and not getting enough sleep,” I explained. Knox took off his coat and handed it to me over the table. I slid it on, reveling in the lingering warmth that seeped into my body. “Thanks, Knox. I didn’t feel it until about ten minutes ago. I’ll pick up some medicine from the store before work.”
“You do realize you have a doctor sitting right here, right?” Ryan leaned against the table as he responded to my statement.
“Oh, right.” I laughed. Totally forgot. “Do you have medicine for a fever and chills?” He pulled his bag onto his lap and started digging around, pill bottles rattling as he searched. After a few moments, he found the bottle he was looking for and handed over the dosage he wanted me to take. Our food arrived right after I took the medicine. We ate in a peaceful silence; unfortunately, I could only stomach a few bites of toast, so I pushed my plate away from me.
“That’s all you’re having?” Flynn asked when he saw me lean back in the seat. I nodded slightly.
“Yeah, I can’t eat when I’m sick,” I explained, feeling worse by the minute. I was cocooned as much as I could be in Knox’s coat when Mason shifted closer to me.
“Lay your head on my shoulder, Cas, you look like shit,” he expressed, looking at me from the corner of his glacier eyes. I barked out a laugh at his bluntness.
“You sure know how to make me feel special, Mase,” I teased, my laughter quieting into a chuckle as I leaned to the left and rested my head on his muscled shoulder.
“Sorry, that isn’t what I meant,” he fumbled to explain. How cute.
“I was just teasing, babe, calm down,” I mumbled, exhaustion slowly spreading through my body.
“Babe, huh?”
My eyes flew open when I realized I had indeed called him that. The way my cheeks were heating now had nothing to do with my fever. Dammit!
“That’s not what I meant,” I rushed to explain. I pulled my head back, not wanting to be awkward despite how comfortable my momentary pillow had been.
“Lay your head back down, I was just teasing, babe,” he quoted me, his pupils darkening as we made eye contact. I felt a rush of heat building in my lower belly, imagining those eyes staring down at me in a very different circumstance.
God, Cas, you should be too sick to be getting turned on right now, I scolded myself. I laid my head back down, my eyes falling shut mainly so I didn’t have to look at the other guys watching our exchange. It was one thing to flirt one on one, but it seared the realness of what we all knew was happening between us when I did it in front of the others. I felt a rush of heat building thinking about it that I could, thankfully, blame on the fever. Stop it, I commanded, taking a deep breath that turned into a yawn.
“Did you not sleep well?” Mason’s rough voice was soft in my ear, nearly lost among the sound of silverware against plates as the guys resumed eating.
“I slept like a rock, so it’s probably just being sick,” I murmured, half asleep, rubbing my cheek against Mason’s shirt sleeve. “You’re comfy, Mase.” A small chuckle rumbled from him, shaking my head slightly. A large, warm hand landed on my right leg, and I peeked over toward Flynn, his leather clad arm hidden under the table. He squeezed my thigh gently, his warmth bleeding into my leg and curbing the last of the shivering.
Knox
Cas fell asleep nestled between Mason and Flynn, her fair skin unusually pale, two flushed patches blooming on her cheeks from her fever. She had cocooned herself in my coat, showing off how small she was. I couldn’t help but stare as she slept on Mason’s shoulder. As I studied her flushed cheeks and resisted the urge to reach out and smooth back her hair, I got the niggling sense that something was familiar about her. Hard as I tried, I couldn't place her, and I was starting to wonder if my mind was playing tricks on me simply because she'd made such a strong impression in so little time of knowing her. She was feisty and hardheaded, but she cared deeply. She loved someone she could never have and accepted that. I struggled to wrap my head around that because I never thought I’d ever love anyone outside of my team, these men who had become my brothers. I had always had the reputation of being a womanizer, but something about Cas was different and intriguing. Whatever that something was had me keeping the playboy charm reeled in. I turned my attention away from the little spitfire, focusing on my teammates instead. They were all watching her, small smiles on all their faces.
“Am I the only one who feels this pull to her?” I mentally sent out so as not to disturb her. Or catch Ric’s attention after the catastrophe from this morning.
“I feel it too, but honestly, she would have caught my attention anyways with her just being her.” Ryan was the first to reply not taking his eyes off her. “I’ve noticed you haven’t been flirting with her like you normally do with women.”
“I don’t want her to be another notch. I don’t want just one night,” I sent out quietly. There was a moment of silence where my teammates seemed to be taking in what that kind of statement really meant, coming from someone like me.
“Despite her attitude and the fact that she infuriates me, I can’t seem to get enough.” Mason’s thought echoed in his gravelly voice.
“I feel it too,” Flynn sent out, a short and to the point agreement.
I looked over my shoulder toward the blank space where Cas had addressed Ric earlier. “So, what do we do? We’re going back to D.C. after this case is done, and I’d like not to have my life be hell on Earth.”
“We could convince her to join the FSID,” Ryan suggested, his head tilting slightly as he brainstormed.
“She wouldn’t even join the police department she has been working with for years, why would she join us after one case?” I countered, remembering the background check Mason had run on her.
“Talk to the director,” Flynn commanded, “he can convince her.” We lapsed into silence, thinking over the plan.
“Would she even want to work with us?” Ryan’s question wavered quietly as he continued to look at her longingly.
“I don’t know if she would be opposed to it. She’s asleep on my shoulder, Flynn has his hand on her lap, and she picked staying with us over that detective who has clearly been after her for a long time. She doesn’t seem to have many ties here other than the department, and Ric can easily come with her.” Mason’s confidence radiated through my mind, already convinced she would come with us. Would Ric be willing to come, or would he try to stop her now that Mason had gotten on his bad side? Nope, don’t think about that, one thing at a time.
“I’ll talk to the director,” I sent down the line.
“I think that means we need to address the elephant in the room,” Ryan stated, glancing around the group.
“Which is?” Flynn asked, a dark brow raising as he took a sip of coffee.
“We all want in her pants, smarts,” I added with a side-eyed glance. A thud sounded, my arm immediately aching as Flynn punched me in the arm.
“I just wanted to double check, Mr. Halo,” he snapped back, but even in his irritation he couldn’t hold back the soft laughter that bubbled out of him. Shaking my head with a smile, I turned back to Ryan who was waiting for us to finish.
“Well, seeing as how somebody decided to go head to head with Cas’s closest friend”—Ryan glared at Mason—“we have to figure out how we want to go about this. Obviously, talking to the director is top priority, as well as convincing her to come with us, but we need to figure out what we’re going to do to convince Ric to like us. And seeing as how we all want Cas, what do we do with that?” No one spoke for a few moments, all lost in thought about what to do about the situation.
“Maybe one of us can work on being friendly with Ric,” I suggested. “I’ll talk to the director like I said, and then we can all work on convincing her. As for being with her, I’m not sure. I mean, would we share? I really like her but that doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed how you guys look at her either.”
“I’m good with sharing,” Ryan stated simply, looking to Mason. “Only if it’s all right with you though, Mase.” Mason smirked, throwing a saucy wink at him. “I’ll take that as a yes, then. What about you guys? Our team comes first, so whatever we do with Cas we all have to be on the same page.”
“I’m so not being left out on this,” I added with a huff, and Flynn nodded his agreement.
“Plus, she’s worth it,” Ryan said pointedly to the rest of us, just in case we had any doubts. “Her psychometry would be extremely beneficial to us as a team; also helps she puts up with this loveable asshole over here.” He waved an arm toward Mason with a teasing smile. Mason grumbled under his breath but didn’t argue.
“Thanks for that, we never would have had that thought on our own,” I deadpanned, holding back an eyeroll.
“So, no holds barred on Cas,” Mason commanded, “both on being with her if she allows it and convincing her to come with us.”
A ringing sounded through the air, cutting off any further conversation, all of us nodding silently in agreement. Mason shifted slightly to dig his phone out of his left pocket, but Cas was in a deep enough sleep that she wasn’t fazed by his movement. She did rub her cheek against his shirt again though, releasing a quiet sigh as she cuddled into him. I want that, I realized with a startle. Mason gave a gruff greeting, his lips falling into a deep frown the longer the silence went on as he listened to the person on the other line.
“We’ll be there shortly,” he responded. After more silence, he replied, “Yeah, she’s with us. We’ll bring her with.” He hung up and slid his phone back into his pocket as he gently roused Cas from her nap.
“Wha…” She trailed off as she sat up, rubbing her face adorably. “Did I fall asleep?” Her voice was slurred, heavy with exhaustion.
“Yeah,” Flynn answered her, his arm moving slowly, assumingly rubbing her leg.
“Sorry, Mase. I didn’t think I was that sick.” She stretched up toward the air, my coat flaring out around her.
“It’s all right, babe, I only woke you because we have another body,” Mason explained. We all started to scramble, Ryan splitting off to go pay the bill as we filed out of the booth. Cas’s eyes were glazed and unfocused as she stood, struggling to fully wake up.
“Are you good, Cas?” I placed a hand on her lower back to steady her as she wavered.
“I need some caffeine and I’ll be all good.” She took both hands and ran them up and down her face quickly a few times.
“Ryan, can you get a to-go cup of coffee as well?” I mentally shot over to him, waiting for his nod from the other side of the café.
“Are you two talking to each other through telepathy?” Her melodic voice pulled my eyes back to her from Ryan’s. Her eyes were growing more alert, her copper brown brows furrowing.
“Yeah, I have telepathy. We have a team link, so we can always talk privately when we need to.” I smiled down at her, deciding I liked seeing her in my coat.
