Page 100 of (Mostly) Human Resources

“I like comfort, what can I say? You’re welcome to lie down, it’s very soft.”

Alexys shot him a playful look. “Are you propositioning me?”

Nic’s eyes went comically wide. She knew he wasn’t, of course. She couldn’t imagine Nic’s go-to seduction routine involved SleepyTime tea and a couch covered with knitted throws. But seeing him embarrassed was so rare, she couldn’t help herself.

“Nic,” Alexys said, drawing his name out. She liked the way it sounded. “If you wanted me to spend the night, you should’ve just asked.”

Nic groaned in response, but he couldn’t hide the way his ears reddened, color spreading across his cheeks.

“Alright, that’s enough of that.” He tried to look disapproving, but he couldn’t hide his amusement. “Do you want to see what I have for you or not?”

It wasn’t supposed to be an innuendo, but her face still flooded with heat. Images of Nic by the campfire, stretched out and glowing in the firelight, flashed through her mind.

Without a reply, Nic turned to one of the bookcases and pulled down a dusty, leatherbound book. It was worn, and faded, and smaller than most of the other books on the shelves.

Nic held it out to her and said, “It’s one of your father’s journals.”

Her heart nearly stopped beating. Alexys wasn’t breathing. The entire world froze as she stared at that book.

“What?” she barely managed to whisper.

“Entity used to encourage the Wardens and Reapers to keep journals as they worked.” Nic ran a hand along the cover of the journal almost reverently. “Copies of them are kept in the Archives, but I was able to keep some of the originals for my own collection. I didn’t realize I had your father’s journal until you mentioned he was a Warden, and I put two and two together. It’s only right for you to have it.”

Alexys took the journal with shaking hands and sat heavily on the couch. She ran her fingertips gently over the leather binding as she carefully opened to the first page. It had been so long since she’d seen her dad’s handwriting. The thought of reading his thoughts, of being closer to him than she’d been in years, was the best gift anyone could give her.

“Thank you, Nic,” she said, “I had no idea …” Her voice trailed off. A sweet ache bloomed beneath her ribs—for Nic, for the journal, for all the years without her dad.

“It’s my pleasure,” Nic said, looking down at her affectionately.

Without another word, Alexys sank further into the couch, curled up against the many pillows, and started reading.

CHAPTER 53

“The most valuable thing a Warden can have is a home. A place untouched by the work we do or the things we hunt. Sometimes, having a safe haven where you can rest and heal will be the only thing that keeps you from breaking.”

Journals of Warden Michael Keane

Nic left Alexys with her father’s journal and retreated to his bedroom down the hall. It felt right to give her space to read and process. He couldn’t imagine the grief she’d experienced, losing her father in the field when they’d been so close.

His bags from the trip to West Virginia were still packed, so he busied himself with unpacking. Entity was kind enough to collect their belongings, and he was grateful that everything returned home with him. He’d have to bleach a few things, the others, like his rucksack, would need a good wash. Nic unzipped the bag and froze.

The flora samples. And among them, Alexys’s spider.

He’d completely forgotten about it.

Nic carefully lifted the jar and set it on his dresser.

No matter how exhausted he was, he couldn’t deny the thrill of having trapped both the creature that’d been terrorizing Alexys, butalso something that had never been cataloged before. He had thought any hope of getting an invitation to the Yale Cryptozoology Conference was unattainable, but somehow, in the end, he’d found a potentially undocumented creature, andcaptured it.

Giddy with scholarly enthusiasm, Nic bent down so that he was eye-level with the jar and peered inside.

It was filled with translucent silver threads. The spider had spun so many webs, he could barely see through them to find if it was still inside. But there, in the thick center, was a dark dime-sized object.

Nic pulled out his phone to take a few pictures and then sorted through some of the notifications clogging up his screen that he’d put off reviewing since returning home. Among them was an email from Charlotte. It was long-winded, as per usual, and contained an invitation to visit the Entity R&C London office to review the archived references she’d found on nightmare-inducing creatures. He could have dismissed it considering he had the culprit already contained, but an interesting reference caught his eye.

The London Natural History Museum was hosting an exhibit forArachnids Across the World, and Charlotte was certain that the expansive collection even boasted a few loans from Entity’s Archives. Among them, she found mentions of a Dreamweaver, a Class E that had been extinct for so long it was no longer listed in the company database.

Nic regarded the jar on his dresser and considered his luck. Either the universe was apologizing for all the bullshit it had just put him through, or he was about to embark on yet another wild goose chase, this time back to his home country. Either way, it would be worth the risk.