Page 51 of (Mostly) Human Resources

Alexys thought to explain Silas’s intervention, but a painful chill crept up her fingers, and the words became trapped in her chest.

“I don’t recall seeingyouout there,” Alexys retorted.

Nic paled. “Well …” he started.

“There was a small creek,” Alexys interjected. She stretched her fingers under the table and tried to scrub the cold away against therough denim of her jeans then shot Nic an icy glare. God the man her made so angry! “He wasn’t able to cross it, so he eventually stopped chasing me. By that point, I was so lost it took what was left of the daylight for me to find my way back.”

Technically, not a lie.

Nic was a persistent thorn in her side, and she didn’t want to tell him about Silas. It was bad enough he already knew that Elliot was missing, but it was another thing entirely to admit that a potentially dangerous creature (whatever he was, and hewassomething, Alexys just didn’t know what yet) like Silas was latched on to her. Nic would report it, her case with Zach would be exposed, and she’d be firmly up shit creek without a paddle. She’d probably be fired, and her whole life would be ripped out from under her.

“A grief-stricken Haint, ostensibly trapped in an endless loop of existence, suddenly decided you weren’t worth the chase. Didn’t even bother to find a way around the water?”

He looked to Opal for some sort of support, but the witch merely shrugged.

“Seen stranger things, boy.” She took the dishes to the sink and left Alexys alone under Nic’s scrutiny.

He glanced between Alexys, the kitchen window, and Opal. As his thoughts spun, she watched his eyebrows slowly begin to crease until she was convinced they were trying to merge into one very frustrated unibrow. When he met her gaze again, his eyes were full of accusation.

Trying to beat him to the punch, Alexys hissed, “Do you have something you want to share with the class?”

“I just don’t understand,” he said with a too-casual shrug. “You have absolutely no field training. Surviving a malevolent spirit by simply running through the woods and crossing something too small to be considered a body of water? That isn’t enough to escape even the most banal of spirits. Any experienced Warden could tell you that.”

Alexys grabbed her napkin, balled it up in her fist, and threw it into Nic’s face. Opal’s protests were drowned out by Nic’s shouts of offense, followed by her own uncontrollable tirade. She had put up with so much from Nic, one insulting situation after another, but for him to infer that she was incompetent? That hit a nerve.

A final nerve.

The last biscuit from dinner was heaved from the comfort of its basket and into the furious face of her arch-nemesis. Crumbs exploded across the kitchen table. Alexys’s satisfaction was, however, short-lived. Her triumphant smile barely had enough time to cross her lips before her lap was drenched with room-temperature tea.

The cloying smell of honey and milk merely added insult to injury, soaking into the fabric, mingling with dirt and sweat.

Nic looked at her with the oddest combination of mortification and amusement, an overturned, empty mug lying beside his damned left hand. “Oops?”

For a moment, Alexys thought her rage would finally boil over. She didn’t have the chance to find out.

Nic and Alexys were hefted out of their chairs by a firm grip on their ears.

“I have never in all my life seen such a pair of ungrateful, childish—No! Youarechildren, and you’ll be treated like ’em until you learn yourself some proper manners!” Opal dragged them from the kitchen and all but tossed them out onto the porch. She wagged a crooked, angry finger at them, her face a twisted scowl. “The pair of you need to sort yourselves out before I do it for you!”

She stormed back into the house and let the door slam shut behind her.

Alexys didn’t bother looking at Nic. She was embarrassed at her own behavior, especially as a guest in someone else’s home. She dusted herself off as best as she could and stalked off to one end of the porch. Her muscles protested as she sank down onto the weathered floor.

Shereallyneeded a shower.

Neither of them apologized. They sat at opposite ends in petulant silence.

Alexys pulled out her cell phone to check for service and sighed when there was still none to be found. She shoved the phone back into her pocket and stared out at the darkness, barely lit by moonlight.

After several tense moments, Nic said hesitantly, “I’m assuming you didn’t find any trace of Elliot then?”

She shook her head. A sort of resigned desperation settled over her. It felt like worry for him was buzzing under her skin, begging her to go find him, but her track record was holding her back. She really was out of her depth. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she shoved her hands against her eyes to hold them at bay.

“We can try again,” Nic said quietly. “You don’t have to give up hope.”

Alexys snorted.We.They weren’t doing anything of the sort. He was stupid enough to not go home, but that didn’t make him her responsibility or her problem. Even if, deep down, she did want him there; shedidneed his help. She wouldn’t admit it.

Nic sighed loudly. “I know you don’t want me here.”