Guild Boss (Ghost Hunters #14)(31)

“Or be terrified of me. There are too many stories about dual talents turning into psychopaths. Much simpler to let people think I’m just naturally good at reading a crime scene. Which, to be accurate, is the truth.”

She folded her arms. “You’re not unstable.”

“No, I’m not. I might not possess a sense of humor, but I have it on good authority that I’m stable.”

“What is the authority?”

“My mom.”

“Well, if you can’t trust your mom—” Lucy paused. “This is probably none of my business, but do the members of the Guild Council who appointed you director of the Illusion Town Guild know you’re a dual talent?”

“Yes, but very few other people know.”

“Now I’m one of those people.”

“Yes. But I trust you to keep quiet about it.”

“Why? What makes you think I won’t blab your secret to the press?”

He shrugged. “I just know. Call it a hunch.”

Successful Guild bosses did not do things on the basis of a hunch. They were nothing if not strategic in their thinking. You didn’t get to the top of the Guild unless you were very, very good at strategy.

Before she could point that out, however, Otis suddenly emerged from the leather pack, chortling excitedly. She could not make out what he had in his paw.

He dashed across the floor and stopped in front of her. She leaned down.

“Sweetie, you can’t go around stealing things,” she said. “People get annoyed.”

An odd stillness came over Gabriel. “He didn’t steal it,” he said. “He’s just returning it to its rightful owner.”

Otis waved a string of black crystals.

“What?” Lucy bent down to take a closer look. “It’s my necklace, the one I wore to the wedding reception and gave to Otis hoping he could attract someone’s attention with it.”

“He did,” Gabriel said. “He got my attention with it. I was going to give it back to you that night, but they took you away in the ambulance, and, to be honest, I forgot about your necklace until I was in the middle of the Rainforest looking for that serial killer. I knew it wasn’t particularly valuable. Figured I’d return it when I saw you again.”

“You kept it in your go-bag all this time?”

Gabriel gave her a wry smile. “I think of it as my good-luck charm.”

“I didn’t know Guild bosses believed in luck.”

“Are you kidding? Of course we believe in luck. You know what they say—better to be lucky than good.”

“Did the necklace work for you down in the Rainforest?”

Gabriel’s brows rose. “The serial killer is awaiting trial and I’m alive, so all available evidence indicates it worked.”

On impulse, she held it out to him. “You can keep it if you like. As you said, it’s not worth much. Just costume jewelry.”

He hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” She shuddered. “Trust me, I’ll never wear it again.”

“All right, thanks.” He dropped the necklace back into his pack. “If you ever want it back, just let me know.”

“Okay.” In spite of her jumbled emotions, she was touched that he wanted to keep the necklace. She moved to the sofa. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, what is the missing Arcane relic that was stolen from the museum?”

Gabriel set the holstered mag-rez on the coffee table. “It was described as a large clockwork doll.”

“I assume its value lies in the fact that it’s an artifact from the Old World?”

“Think of it as an action figure—a very dangerous action figure. Lethal, in fact.”

“A deadly doll?”

“It was designed by a clockwork toy maker named Mrs. Bridewell a few centuries ago,” Gabriel said. “Nineteenth century, Old World Date. Apparently it’s actually a carefully disguised weapon.”

“But if it’s an Old World artifact, surely it stopped functioning long ago. Even if the mechanism still worked, which is unlikely after all this time, there wouldn’t be any ammunition.”

“According to the Arcane Society experts, it wasn’t standard Old World technology. It operated on some sort of paranormal power base.”

“Amber?”

“No. There was plenty of amber on the Old World, but there is no evidence that it was ever tapped as a power source. Coal and oil were heavily used during the era in which the doll was produced. Later, solar power and other forms of energy became standard on a large scale, but as far as we know, none of it was based on the principles of paranormal physics.”

“Interesting.” She gestured at the sofa. “There’s a pull-out bed. You can have it.”

“Thanks. Beats sleeping on the floor.”

“We’ll have to move the coffee table. Want to give me a hand?”

“Sure.”

He took one end of the coffee table. She took the other. They lifted it and moved it to one side of the room. Together they pulled out the bed. It was very cozy and intimate, she thought. A frisson of sensual awareness whispered through her. After all the dreams and nightmares, it was a very odd thing to realize he was going to be sleeping in her apartment tonight. Probably a classic case of Be careful what you wish for.