Page 23 of Ronen
William sighed heavily.“He’s not good enough for my grandson. He’s a civil servant. And we don’t even know what kind of shifter he is. He’s certainly not fully human.”
Swiping a hand over my mouth so that I didn’t scream at, well, everyone, but most especially my ghostly companions, I realized that everyone was still staring, waiting on me to do…something.
“Oh, I didn’t know.” Did Miss Flirty McFlirty Pants sound disappointed? Good. “You want to come with, Ronen?”
“No, I don’t want to come with!” I exclaimed, feeling my face scrunch up like she had asked me something distasteful. “We aren’t mates. Don’t listen to him, he obviously doesn’t know what he’s saying. Clearly, he can’t hold his drugs. Lightweight. Are you sure you gave him the right dosage?”
Mason pushed out his bottom lip in an epic pout. Why the fuck was that adorable too? When had Mason Caldwell gone from annoying the ever loving fuck out of me to being the most fucking adorable thing on two legs? “So… mean. All…time…mean. Won’t even…tell me…tell me…”
We all waited with bated breath for Mason to remember what it was I wouldn’t tell him.
“His middle name,” he finally finished, looking extremely proud of himself.
“I mean, I feel like you should tell your mate your middle name?” Hank gave me a disappointed look. “Kinda like you should go to the hospital with your mate.”
Heaving a put upon sigh, I rolled my eyes and snapped, “No one asked your opinion, now did they, Hank? Besides, I can’t go to the hospital with him.”
Three sets of disapproving eyes met mine. Mason was probably looking at me the same way, as well as the folks gathered on the street, as well as the patrons from the library, but I was choosing to ignore them all. “I’m here by myself. I’ll try to get someone to come in early and cover, but that’s the best I can do at the moment.”
A look passed between the two EMTs and Hank, that told me they felt like I was making excuses. Like I was ignoring the bystanders and looky loos, I ignored their judgy faces.
Mason’s sudden off-key singing at the top of his lungs had all of us visibly wincing and turning our attention back to him. Truly, the man couldn’t carry a tune to save his life.
“Ronen and Mason sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S…somet’ing…somet’ing… N-G.”
“What the fuck did you give him?” I demanded, glaring at the EMT. “He’s high as a kite.”
“K-I-S…S? Somet’ing…somet’ing,” Mason warbled on, causing both EMT’s to giggle, as they loaded him into the back of the vehicle.
“There will be no kissing,” I hissed, turning to go back to the library and get this day back to some semblance of normal.
Methinks the gentleman protests too much, my badger snarked.
“Ronen,” Hank called my name and I slowly turned to face him, trying to not show my agitation.
Seriously, could the man just go already? I had patrons to deal with, meddlesome ghosts to chew out–all of whom hadvanished, besides Emily who was floating in the doorway–and feelings about a fated mate I needed to sort out.
“Still got some questions for you.” He tapped his pen against his infernal notebook, an easy-going smile planted on his face.
“You can’t possibly think I actually pushed him,” I asked incredulously, hands on my hips. “Hank, you know me.”
“Mmmm,” he tilted his head, smile still in place. The man, an ocelot beta shifter, was easy going, and good at keeping his cool, which was needed in his profession. Still his calm, cool, smiley demeanor had me on edge. “We went to elementary and middle school together, and then you disappeared. A few years ago, you came back and got the job as director of the library. Which is interesting since I know the qualifications for a librarian, and you seem awfully young to have those, since we are the same age. But I don’tknowyou, Ronen. It’s not like we’re friends or anything. What I do know is I have a job to do, one that I’m very good at. I have an investigation that involves my boss being injured. And I don’t really care what your last name is, I’m not going to just take your word for it. No offense.” His smile was back, his eyes assessing. He pointed to something above my head with his pen. “Those cameras work?”
“Yes, they work,” I told him. “I have my masters in Library and Information Sciences,” I added, feeling the need to defend myself. “And I didn’t disappear. My parents decided to homeschool me before I went to college.”
They weren’t all lies, but I was bending the truth into a neat little bow. If I happened to graduate high school and college before most of my peers, that was my business. Most people knew my brother was a genius. They didn’t need to know I was one too. My business was my business.
“Mmmm,” he hummed again, not saying a word.
“I don’t like the implication that I got my job because of my last name,” I tugged at one rolled up sleeve on my elbow. “I take my position, and this library, very seriously.”
“Oh, I’m aware of that. I do check out materials here. I think everyone is well aware of how serious you take your job. Now, how about you show me the video feed from that camera? Or do I need to go get a warrant.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“Ohhh, he’s getting Ro riled up,” Emily’s voice came from behind me, and I willed myself not to turn and glare at her.
“Hank is just doing his job. He’s a very nice boy,”Miss Rose said, sounding very serious. My wayward ghosts had returned.“But Ro’s temper does sometimes get the best of him.”
