Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
It couldn’t hurt to have a bodyguard for a time. Just to be safe. And he’d put in a specific request for Dax.
Something in him wanted to be around the giant with the beautiful eyes more.
Chapter Five
Dax
“I thought he was one of them,” Dax said as soon as he and Xavier were out of earshot. He couldn’t help the disappointment in his tone. Something had made him hope in a way he shouldn’t have, so he quickly reminded himself that he couldn’t be thinking that way about a human and especially such a small one.
“One of the humans who can see us.” Xavier didn’t make it a question. He cocked his head. “You’re unhappy about this?”
“I have no right to be, but I felt something…different with him. And the way he looked at me when he first saw me…” The way he’d touched Dax’s face. “I guess I thought—I don’t know what I thought.” He squared his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. It’s more important to find out why a chimera was sent after him. And instead of killing him, it bit him to render him unconscious.”
“I have to agree. It was a retrieval instead of a hit.” Xavier kept studying Dax. “That venom would have paralyzed him for life, so whoever sent it obviously didn’t care about that. We’re lucky Alaric was available so fast.”
Dax scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Whoever sent that chimera won’t stop there. We’ll need to keep an eye on Everett.”
A hint of a smile curled one corner of Xavier’s lips. “You mean you would like to keep an eye on him.”
“I would.” Though that would be a bad, bad idea, considering how attracted he was to the man. “Who did you send to take over my job?”
“Callan. That client requested big bodyguards.”
Dax scowled. “It’s all for show. He’s in no danger.”
Xavier gave an elegant shrug of one shoulder. “He’s paying a lot for prestige. It happens that way sometimes.”
“These kind of clients piss me off. There are people in real danger.”
Xavier was quiet a few moments, those dark eyes studying him closely as he tilted his head. “Are you growing weary of this work, Dax?”
“No,” he said, but then answered honestly. “Okay, a little. I do love working here, but my job doesn’t require a lot of thought.”
“And that wonderful brain of yours needs more stimulation.”
“Yes.” He looked at the sorcerer who’d also become a friend. “I don’t plan to quit, but maybe it’s time to take a night course. Just a couple of nights a week.”
“We can work around that. But Dax, if the need to go back to school is that strong, you certainly don’t have to stay with us. I’d hate to lose you, but your happiness is more important.”
“Like I said, I don’t want to quit. I feel like I’ve become part of a family here. I am happy, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that almost all my jobs require nothing but strength.”
“And that intellect of yours needs more challenge.”
“Yeah.”
“We should see if Everett wants to hire a bodyguard. Solving the riddle of his attack could be just the thing you need.”
That was true. And he could work on that even without being the man’s bodyguard, though he hoped Everett would choose that option. He’d get with Daniel, have the IT specialist do some digging once he had more of a handle on what Everett was about. Right then, he knew nothing about him. But his curiosity was strong, and not just the attack. He wanted to know more about Everett.
Xavier was studying him intently. “Callan can stay on your current assignment, and I’ll see if Everett is interested in hiring us. To him, it probably seems nothing more than a mugging, but someone sent that chimera after him, so a preternatural is clearly involved.”
“Let’s go see if Everett is amenable.”
But Everett spoke up immediately when they entered Xavier’s office.
“I’d like to hire Dax. It could have been a random attack, but I have the strangest feeling it wasn’t.” He looked at Dax. “You’ll be bored silly, I’m sure, because I’m currently packing up the house I just inherited from my grandfather, but I’d like to have you around just the same.”
“You just inherited something? Is it a large house?” Dax asked.
Everett chuckled. “You could say that. The house is a little famous because in the sixties, it was part of a haunted home tour. Ever heard of the Balder Estate?”
Dax shook his head, but Xavier nodded.
“I’ve been in your home,” Xavier said with a faint smile. “Many years ago. You were related to Wilson Page?”
“You knew my grandfather?” Everett asked.
“I did. We shared a love of old books. I was sad to read of his passing.”
“Why is it called the Balder Estate if his name was Page?” Dax asked.