Dead Waters - Anton Strout [56]
“Any new developments?” I asked. “With the mark, I mean.”
“My showers are getting longer,” she said, and then gave me a weak smile. “I find myself craving them. I took two last night while you were out, then another one once I went home, and then I got up earlier than I usually do feeling the need to take one more. The longer I go without one, the more lethargic I feel.”
“I think you should come back over to my place tonight,” I said. “I don’t like the idea of you being home alone in this condition.”
Jane stiffened. “You didn’t seem to mind last night,” she said.
“That’s not fair,” I said. “I was mourning with the Inspectre and, well. . . things got out of hand. I’m sorry for that. I guess with all the pressure and my powers acting up, I just needed to cut loose with the guys.”
“I get that,” she said, putting her hand on my head and stroking my hair. “I really do, but it really seemed to freak you out with this whole drawer thing and I don’t want to crowd you while you’re working through your issues. Besides, I can feel this mark making me irritable.”
“Don’t worry about my strange flares,” I said. “I’m working to repress them. I’m more concerned about keeping an eye on you until Allorah Daniels can get us some answers on that mark. I want you over.”
“If you’re sure. . .” Jane reached into her bag and pulled out a package covered in Spider-Man wrapping paper. She laid it down in front of me on my desk.
“What’s this?”
“Open it,” she said.
I grabbed the lunch-box-sized package, unwrapped it, and to my surprise it actually was a lunch box. The sides of it were adorned with familiar faces: Egon, Ray, Winston, Peter, and Slimer.
“Vintage Ghostbusters,” I said. “Keen. But why?”
“I thought I could start making us lunch,” she said. “Bringing it instead of buying it right now.”
Something about the look on her face made me wary. “Okay,” I said. “Sure, but what brought this on?”
“I just thought that with all the budget cuts at the Department, it might be a good idea.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I can just sell off some of my psychometric finds piling up at home. I’ve been meaning to make the time for it somehow.”
“No, really, that’s okay. Just let me do lunch for now.”
“Why are you being so insistent?” I asked. I grabbed both of her hands and made her look at me. “What’s this really about, Jane?”
“It’s just that maybe it might be better if you didn’t read anything with your psychometry right now. Especially if it’s going to cause another emotional flare-up.”
“I have to use it,” I said. “It’s my job. Just give me some time with this. I’m working through it.”
Jane looked crestfallen. “That’s the thing, Simon. I don’t mean to rush you, but I don’t know how much time I have with this mark on me, do I? I’m sorry if that comes off as pushy.”
“I know.” I hugged her close to me. “You need to give us time to figure that out, too,” I said.
Jane nodded against my chest, staying pressed up against me.
A few moments later, a cough at the edge of my cube space had us pulling apart.
Aidan stood there, looking a little paler and more gaunt than usual with a pile of folders in his hands. It was odd seeing him in our offices, especially since I had just been woken up from sunlight pouring into my bedroom not more than an hour ago.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “Shouldn’t you be in your coffin or something?”
“I wanted to make sure Connor and Argyle got back to the office safely from the bar,” he said. “By the time I took care of that, the sun was coming up so I ended up trapped here for the day. Thought I’d get some vampire liaison paperwork done on behalf of Brandon while I’m here. Luckily, your secret offices have no windows.”
“So, it’s totally a myth you need to sleep during the day,” Jane said.
Aidan nodded. “I think it’s more of an attitude thing for most of the vampires,” he said. “The brain needs to turn off every so often, you know? I just think a lot of my people take comfort in a bit of mental downtime.”
“You look a little