by Sadie Moss
I really do hope we get another ping on that particular signature. We killed the guy up in the mountains—or rather, Saint killed him so that I wouldn’t have to—but then Ben, one of our lab guys, got another hit on the exact same signature right in the middle of Portland.
As if the magic had followed us.
But I don’t see how the guy could’ve survived what we did to him. There was a whole team that took his body away. Saint snapped his neck, and I took a chunk out of the guy’s arm when I was in tiger form. There’s no way he could still be alive, which means there’s no way he was using magic, which means there’s no way that the magical signature pinged.
And yet, it did.
I shove those thoughts to the back of my mind as I see I have a new text message from my sister as well.
Pen: Let’s get lunch together!
I look over at Logan. We’re not officially together, but we are partners, I suppose it wouldn’t be weird for my sister to meet him since we’re technically working and on the clock. I can’t abandon him to wander around Boston alone for an hour while I have a relaxing lunch with my family. How rude would that be?
“Hey. Um. Remember how you said we should get lunch here?”
He nods at me. “You changed your mind? Because I could really go for a proper clam chowder.”
“My sister wants to get lunch with me.” I hope this isn’t uncomfortable for him. “Um, would you mind if we got lunch together?”
Logan grins and shakes his head. “No way. I’d love to meet her.”
My stomach does a little flip flop even as I smile up at him. “Okay, great.”
It’s too late to take it back now. The invitation had already been extended and accepted. My sort-of-maybe-boyfriend-but-definitely-coworker is about to meet my family.
Oh boy. This won’t be stressful at all.
Chapter 2
Turns out, it’s not just Penelope who comes to lunch. My brother Max joins us at the restaurant.
“Rae!” Max gives me a big hug before Penelope swoops in for her turn. “And this must be your partner,” he adds, turning to Logan.
“Yes. Guys, this is Logan. Logan, meet my siblings, Penelope and Max. No prizes for guessing who’s who.”
“I know,” Max sighs, grinning. “I do look like a Penelope.”
He and Logan shake hands, and so do Logan and Penelope, and then we all find a place to sit down. It’s a casual little restaurant over by the wharf, which I picked so that we can get Logan his chowder fix.
“This place is great,” Penelope assures him as we settle in.
“Oh, I trust Rae. She wouldn’t let me go to any place that wasn’t the best. That’s just the way she is.” Logan grins at me and elbows me.
I grin back automatically. He’s one of the few people who can get away with making jokes about my being a perfectionist, because he’s a perfectionist too. He gets it.
Max and Penelope look at each other with surprise on their faces, and I realize that Logan’s smiling at me, joking around with me, and calling me Rae. Only my siblings have ever called me Rae instead of my full name, Raelyn, because I never had any friends to give me a nickname. Everyone else would just call me by my regular old name. And hey, I liked it that way. It’s respectful to use the person’s full name.
But the fact that Logan didn’t just now is like a blinking neon light to my siblings, alerting them that something’s up.
I glare at both of them while he’s distracted ordering from the waitress. Max looks absolutely delighted while Penelope just raises an eyebrow knowingly. I shake my head at her warningly.
Yes, I get it, Logan and I have a… a vibe, or whatever you want to call it. I’m aware of it! I’m not sure if Logan’s aware of it. Is he aware of it?
And now I’m back to feeling paranoid again. Great. This is fun.
We all order, then Max looks at Logan. I’m not sure if Logan notices the expression on my brother’s face since he’s just met Max, but I recognize the look instantly. The two of us are obviously related, with the same dark hair and green eyes, and Max’s are currently glinting with wicked mischief.
“So,” my older brother drawls, “tell us how it’s been going working with our baby sister here.”
“It’s been great,” Logan says honestly. “Rae’s the perfect partner for me. I’m a bit of a perfectionist—”
“A bit?” I interrupt.
“Okay, I wasn’t the one who thought that our boss shouldn’t have given her a recommendation after we succeeded in our job…”
“I was scrambling the whole time. I would hardly call that something worthy of a recommendation…”
“You did great.”
“I triggered a trap!”
“You also figured out the way out was through the floor!”
“He’s just as bad as I am,” I insist to my siblings. “I am not worse than he is.”
“She’s totally worse than I am,” Logan counters. “But I don’t mind. It’s nice to not be the only person in the room who feels that way about their work.”
“I’m sorry,” Penelope says, smiling but clearly not about to let this whole thing slide, “what’s this about triggering a trap?”
Logan and I glance at each other.
“I’m not sure how much we’re allowed to discuss,” I admit. “But we had to deal with a wayward mage for our first assignment. He was really paranoid and had laid traps in case someone came along and tried to break in to disturb his work. We set off those traps.”
“But we figured out how to get out of them,” Logan adds, before I can say something about how I should've known that there would be traps and should’ve been more careful.
I think the handsome blonde man gives me more benefit of the doubt than he should. Or it could just be that it’s easier to be harder on yourself than it is to be hard on others. I could forgive Logan easier than I could forgive myself, even if we both messed up on the exact same thing.
“We tracked the mage with the help of a couple others,” I say, tearing my gaze away from his warm blue eyes and focusing on my siblings again. “He wasn’t in his right mind. But we took care of it, and as Logan said, we got a recommendation for it.”
“Sounds like a tough first job,” Max says. “But nothing that you couldn’t pull off. You can handle anything, Rae.”
Of course he’s going to say that to be encouraging. He’s my brother. But it does feel good to be reminded that there’s always going to be someone in my corner. Two someones, really—both of my siblings would move mountains for me. Even though our parents are gone, it’s nice to know the three of us will always have each other.
The conversation drifts to other topics as I catch up on how Max’s wife and two boys are doing and how things have been at Pen’s job. Once we’re pleasantly full, Max insists on picking up the bill. While he’s doing that, Penelope drags me to the bathroom.
“So?” she asks the second we’re inside. “Logan, huh?”
“Come on, Pen. It’s not like that.” It kind of is like that, but I’m not telling her that. “He’s my partner.”
Just the partner I’ve had sex with. Great sex. A few times.
Pen scoffs, clearly not buying it. “Whatever you say, Rae.”
Damn, she’s got me there.
“I approve of him,” she continues. “He seems to really get you. You know that we never cared if you dated anyone or not while you were in school, I mean, it’s not a priority, you know? But now that you’re older… I know that you want to be with someone, and I think Logan likes you. You’ve waited it out, and the guys your age are all more mature now. You don’t have to wait for them to catch up with you anymore. And he sure seems like he can keep up.”
She winks at me just to make it extra clear she means that both in an intellectual and in a sexual sense.
I roll my eyes. “He’s my partner. My work partner. We have to be careful about this kind of thing. And we’ve only known each other for a pretty short whi
le. That’s not really enough to know someone and be sure if you’re serious about them.”
“If you don’t give it a shot, then you really won’t ever know,” Penelope points out. “Rae, when are you going to learn to take a chance? You can’t keep being a lonely hermit forever. And I know, I know.” She holds up a hand. “You’ll tell me that you aren’t lonely, but that’s a lie. I can tell when you’re lying. I practically raised you.”
She did raise me—she and Max. My parents died when I was young. My siblings have never tried to replace them, exactly, but they’ve naturally had to step into that kind of role.
“Stop worrying,” she says firmly. “And go for what you want. You’ve earned it. You’ve gotten the job you wanted, you’re living the dream, what’s the point of it if you can’t live in other ways, too? Your career is important, but it isn’t your entire life. Find people you care about, people who matter, and incorporate them into your life too. I think he could be one of them.”
I don’t really have anything to say to that, partially because I know that whatever I say, she’s not going to believe, and partly because I know she’s right. I am lonely. I do want people in my life. Even if it’s not something I would’ve admitted before Logan started to insert himself into it.
Right after we first hooked up, Logan and I exchanged phone numbers—it made sense, since we were work colleagues and all—and a couple days later, I found myself home alone and stressed. I remember going through my contact list to see who I could talk to, only to find that there was no one I could talk to.
The only people in my phone were people I knew in a work-related way. Nobody I was close enough to just chat with.
There had only been my siblings… and Logan.
That felt kind of like getting a bucket of cold water dumped on me. I realized then just how lonely I was and how few people were in my life. How closed-off and distant I’d become.
I still don’t really know how to make friends or let people close to me. But I’m… trying. I let Lito and Ben tease me and take me out to lunch and introduce me around. That kind of thing. I don’t know how to do this, but I’m giving it a shot.
Would I like something more with Logan? Okay, fine, yes. Yes, I would. But that doesn’t mean…
Fuck. I don’t know how to move forward, I guess is what I’m saying.
As if she can read my mind, Penelope gives me a warm hug and then takes me back to rejoin the two men, not saying anything more. That’s one thing I’m really grateful for with my siblings. They know when to stop pushing and to just let it rest. They never push me too far.
“Give my love to Cassidy and the monsters,” I tell Max as I hug him goodbye outside the restaurant. Max’s wife is the sweetest person on the planet, and Oscar and Caleb are unholy little terrors—and I love them to death. It’s been a bit tough being across the country and not seeing them as much. I worry that I’m missing out on important moments in their lives.
“Of course.” After we break apart, Max hugs Logan as well. So does Penelope.
“Make sure she doesn’t work herself to death,” she warns him.
Logan laughs lightly. “I will.”
My two siblings glance one more time between me and Logan and then turn and walk away. I can see their heads bend toward each other when they’re a few yards away, and I’d bet every cent I have that they’re already talking about the two of us.
Trying not to get in my head about what they’re saying, I nod to Logan, and the two of us head back to the portal that’s been left open for us.
“I like your family,” Logan notes as we appear back in the portal room at the Institute of Unpredictable Magic headquarters.
Lito’s got his nose buried in a book, and he barely looks up as we enter the room. “You guys have fun?”
“Oh yeah, a blast,” Logan replies. I’m worried he’ll mention my family, but he doesn’t, and I relax. “I got clam chowder.”
I’m sure it’s fine that we had lunch with my family. I doubt I’m really going to get in trouble for it. We had to take a lunch break, after all. But I’m not sure I want people knowing that Logan met my family, seeing as I’m not even sure yet how I feel about it.
“Seriously,” Logan continues after we say goodbye to Lito and head across the sprawling complex to check on Ben. He keeps his voice low, intimate, and the backs of our hands brush as we walk. “I really liked them. They’re great. It’s easy to see how you became who you are, with people like that raising you.”
My face feels like it’s on fire. “I’m sure your dad’s just as lovely.”
“Oh no, you’re not allowed to meet him. He’ll tell embarrassing kid stories about me all day.” Logan laughs lightly.
The fact that he’s joking about me meeting his dad has my stomach flipping.
It’s only been a few weeks, my brain is screaming at me. Calm down!
Yeah, tell that to my racing heart.
Fortunately, before I have to make my brain-to-mouth connection work again, we reach the lab, where Ben is working with another lab tech. I don’t know her name, but Logan gives her a wave and a smile as we walk up.
He seems to know everyone who works here already. He just quietly makes friends that way. I don’t know how he does it. He’s not super outgoing like Nick, but he draws people to him.
I admit it makes me envious, sometimes. Being a hardworking perfectionist like me, a little on the quiet side like me, but also inexplicably able to get everyone to like him, unlike me? Rude.
It is also pretty damn sweet, though. Seeing how kind he is to everyone he meets just makes me like him more.
“Anything new for us?” I ask Ben as Logan and the other tech get to chatting.
Ben shakes his head, crossing his long arms over his chest. All his limbs are long, and combined with his thin frame, it gives him a gangly appearance. “I haven’t gotten anything on the new magical signature. I’m keeping an eye out for it but… if it’s still out there, it’s lying low.” He grins. “You should come up with a name for it.”
“No way. You name something you start getting attached to it.” I’ve got no intention of becoming Ahab with this magic as my Moby Dick.
“Suit yourself.” He shrugs, seeming unperturbed.
Logan makes the girl lab tech laugh, and I hate the way something ugly twists in my gut. There’s no reason for me to feel jealous. He’s made it clear he wants to date me.
Ben gives me a knowing look, and I try to school my features, but it’s probably too late. I don’t think my jealousy went unnoticed.
“What’s that other lab tech’s name?” I can’t help but ask a while later as Logan and I head out to our cars, our work done for the day.
“Who, Karen? She’s cool. She was telling me all about the date she went on last night. I’ve been encouraging her to ask out this cute girl she knows from the coffee shop she always goes to, and Karen finally did it. They went and checked out a local band, and apparently, it went super well.”
Ah. Sheesh, now I feel even more like an idiot. Not only was there no reason for me to be jealous because Logan wasn’t flirting with her, there’s no reason because Karen is apparently a) taken and b) into women.
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Why, were you worried she was going to make a move on me?”
Shit, am I really that transparent?
“Oh, look, our cars!” I blurt, desperately trying to change the subject.
Logan doesn’t seem deterred. He just smiles, slow and certain, like warm molasses spreading over bread. “You were jealous, weren’t you?”
“You were jealous of Lito.”
“Maybe, just a little bit.” He turns and faces me fully when we reach my car. “It’s okay to admit it, you know.”
I know it is. I know that. So why the hell does it feel like I might have a heart attack or pass out at any second.
The feelings I have for Logan are intense and new and confusing, and somehow it feels like admitting all of that out loud
would make this all too… real. Too tangible, and too easily broken.
“We went on a crazy first mission with a lot of adrenaline,” I tell him, swallowing hard. “We were out in the middle of nowhere, things weren’t normal, emotions were heightened…”
“Are you saying you don’t think I was serious about what I said?” he asks me, his brows furrowing. He doesn’t seem upset, more like a combination of resigned and amused. He takes my elbows, like he did before when we were out in the forest, and draws me in, pressing me against him.
My throat goes dry immediately. “Logan, someone could—”
“—see us? Possibly.” He shrugs, like this is a risk he’s decided he can take. “I’m serious though. About what I said then. I mean it now just as much as I did before. Things haven’t changed just because we’ve settled into ‘normalcy.’” He snorts. “Or whatever counts for normalcy when you’ve got magic and work for a place like IUM.”
I don’t know what to say in response, so I don’t say anything. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to expect me to. Instead, he moves his arm down around my waist and brings his other hand up to my cheek, cupping it and bringing his lips to press against mine.
It’s a much softer kiss than the heated one he gave me in the forest. We were frantic, then, clawing at each other, intense and making me weak kneed. This feels more like a reminder, a promise. Like Logan’s trying to steadily, methodically kiss me until it’s clear that he’s not going anywhere.
I can’t help it, I melt into it.
He kisses me like he knows exactly how I like to be kissed, and I suppose by this point he does. I feel like I should do better about keeping up some distance, but how can I when he’s turning me into mush like this? His body is so warm and solid against mine, like he’s keeping me from floating away, and all I want to do is cling to him.
Logan finally pulls back a little, a ghost of a smile teasing the corners of his mouth.
I could ask him to come home with me.
The thought hits me like a bolt of lightning. I could ask him to come home with me right this second. I don’t think my apartment would feel so… empty, with Logan there. I bet Logan would make it feel properly lived in, make it feel a bit less like a place I’m staying and more like a home.