Page 7 of The Banning of Bath Bombs
“See? I do look out for you.”
“I’d much rather watch the show from the ringside seats, trust me. Names?”
Because he was lazy, Ross snapped a picture of the written names and emailed it to K. “Sent to your email.”
K grunted. “Got it. Whoa, second name looks Thai to me. Not even sure how to pronounce that. Uh, okay, I’m finding some social media activity for both men. Facebook for both, Insta forGunnar. I’ll have to send a message request and hope they see it, but let me do some more digging, see if I can’t find an actual phone number. I’ll ping it to your phone when I do.”
“Thanks, K. I appreciate it. This guy obviously didn’t have a phone on him, and no one remembers phone numbers these days. Besides, between me and thee, this guy isn’t…it’s like he’s not fully tracking? Like, if looks were a job, he’d be a CEO. If brains were a job, he’d be fired.”
“Oh, one of those situations. Is he just, um, challenged?”
“I don’t know, but he’s not reacting the way I would in this situation, that’s for sure. Let’s hope we can get him back to his people quickly. Oh! He did say he lives outside of Detroit.”
“Ah, a good clue. That’ll help me verify if I have the right person. Stay tuned. Hopefully I’ll be in touch soon.”
“Thanks, man. Name your price and I’ll send you goodies as thanks.”
K just laughed. “Let’s just say you owe me a favor.”
“Fair enough. Talk to you soon.”
Ross hung up. A favor, huh? Sadly, it was probably the best thing K could ask for. Their two groups were comingling more and more because of various semidisasters and shenanigans, so high chance his favor would come due sooner rather than later. But, well, K was doing him a solid, and Ross definitely owed him something in return. So no biggie, right?
Glenn blew through the front door, looking as if he’d basically flown here. His burnished copper hair looked windswept from the incoming storm, and while he looked delectable as always, he also appeared peeved. Worried, but mostly peeved, that telltale furrow between his brow a dead giveaway.
He paused in the foyer, kicking the door shut, and regarded their guest for a long moment. Declan and Keane had fetched the grimoire out of the freezer and were doing…something to it. Their backs blocked his view, so Ross wasn’t sure exactly what.
Glenn chose to leave the duo alone and approached Ross instead, giving him a quick kiss before studying him. “All right, astór?”
“I’m not day drunk,” Ross answered the real question, tone dry as he lifted his wine glass. “Just struggling organically. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be both.”
“I’m sure it was a shock to find him in our bathtub.”
“Oh, for sure.” Knowing he was anxious, Ross gave him some facts to help diffuse his nerves. “Seems this was the result of wild magic, not something he planned. Keane’s helping him figure out what went wrong even as they’re attempting to save the grimoire. I called K. He’s looking for phone numbers, so we can have Declan’s people come fetch him. The situation should resolve itself by this evening, as they’re from Detroit, so it’s only going to take them a minute to fly here.”
Glenn accepted this information with a slow nod. “He doesn’t seem alarmed.”
“No, he’s taking this in stride. Mostly, he’s upset about his book.” Which Ross sort of understood, being a book lover himself.
Glenn rubbed a hand over his face before blowing out an explosive breath. “Shit. The wildness of the situation is…”
“Trust me, I get it. Want some wine?”
“I suppose we’ll not be getting back to bed anytime soon. I’ll pour myself a glass.”
Frankly, Ross was all for staying buzzed this afternoon as they worked out logistics. He refused to raw dog reality. That was for amateurs, thank you.
He watched as Glenn walked into the kitchen, introduced himself to Declan, and poured himself a glass of wine. Then looked at the grimoire a little, pointing at something, and Ross could hear with perfect clarity as Declan perked up, his voice sounding cheerful.
“It didn’t occur to me that Ó Riagáin…” The delight was obvious in his voice as he said, “My name is actually Déaglán, though I have forgotten my surname. I think we had no concept of such when I was young.” Then he sounded thoughtful. “Was I ever young?”
Ross smirked when Glenn merely patted him on the shoulder. “All is well, Déaglán.”
They started conversing in a language Ross hadn’t learned yet, and one he didn’t think he’d ever heard. Then Declan switched to English with a put-upon sigh that Glenn accepted with a commiserating nod.
“Yes, well. Such is the life of a Master,” Glenn said with a knowing grin.
Declan groaned. “My children are such that I am always on my toes.”
