Silver Master by Jayne Castle Page B

for them.”
    â€œMaybe they got scared when they saw the twin ghosts and ran off.” She straightened and looked anxiously toward the nearest dark alley.
    â€œAraminta?” she called.
    There was no response.
    â€œHave you got a flashlight?” she said to Davis.
    He glanced at the midnight-dark mouth of the alley. The faint acid-green glow of the Dead City wall did not even begin to penetrate its ominous depths.
    â€œSure, but we’re not going to use it to go into that alley. I’ve had enough excitement for one night. Get in the car, Celinda.”
    â€œBut if Max and Araminta were badly frightened, they might not come out on their own.”
    â€œDon’t know about Araminta, but I can tell you that Max wouldn’t have run away just because of a couple of ghosts. Not if he knew I was in the vicinity. My guess is they took off for reasons of their own while we were at dinner, long before cap guy showed up.”
    He took her arm and gently but firmly stuffed her into the passenger seat. She slid reluctantly into the car. He got a fine, fleeting glimpse of a nicely rounded thigh. As an added bonus, the tear in the violet dress revealed a sliver of lacy black panties. Everything inside him tightened another notch. It wasn’t like he hadn’t already been thoroughly aroused before the confrontation in the lane. The burn was hitting him hard.
    She looked up from the seat, brows scrunched together a little. “But why would they go off like that?” Alarm widened her eyes. “Good grief, do you think that Max lured Araminta away because he has designs on her? Maybe he’s out there somewhere right now seducing her.”
    It dawned on him that from this vantage point he had an excellent view into the inviting shadows of the front of her dress. He sighed. Wrong time and definitely the wrong place. Just his luck.
    â€œThey’re dust bunnies, Celinda, not a pair of star-crossed lovers. They’ll come back when they’re ready.”
    â€œIf that bunny of yours takes advantage of Araminta, I am going to hold you personally responsible.”
    He said nothing, just looked at her.
    She winced. “Sorry. That does sound sort of dumb, doesn’t it? I mean, it’s not like either of us knows how dust bunnies think, let alone what their mating habits are like.”
    â€œCan’t be much worse than mine,” Davis muttered.
    â€œWhat did you say?”
    He pretended he hadn’t heard the question and closed the door very deliberately.
    When he got in beside her and rezzed the engine, she turned in the seat, studying him with a concerned expression.
    â€œYou look sort of strange,” she said.
    â€œThanks for the compliment.”
    â€œAre you going to faint or something?”
    â€œOr something,” he said deliberately. “But not for a while yet.”
    â€œMaybe I should drive.”
    He gripped the wheel very tightly and pulled away from the curb. “I’m still capable of driving.”
    She did not appear entirely reassured, but she turned to look at the alley one more time.
    â€œWhat about Max and Araminta?”
    â€œThey know their way home. The Quarter isn’t all that big. Your apartment is only about a half mile from here. My condo is just as close in the opposite direction.”
    She did not respond to that, but she shifted back around in her seat and clipped her seat belt. He had the uneasy feeling that she was doing a lot of thinking. That probably meant trouble ahead.
    He made himself concentrate on his driving, working his way back to Celinda’s neighborhood via the maze of narrow streets and lanes that laced the Quarter.
    â€œAbout this business of you being a sort of hunter,” Celinda asked in a suspiciously unconcerned tone of voice.
    It had been too much to hope that she would let his earlier explanation go, he thought.
    â€œIt’s not a business for me.” He stopped for a light.