Rossi grunted and shrugged. “Well, no, I came in hopes I could find someone interested in working with me in Italy. My family was highly entertained to learn there was a pocket of Malcolms living in near invisibility in the New World. Given their unusual abilities, Malcolms usually stay in touch with family, even the ones in China. Your branch’s ancestors appear adept at covering their tracks.”
Oops. Jax saw the connections here. A branch of the Ives family he hadn’t known about had tracked him down through their genealogy expert. His California cousins had apparently married into a family with odd abilities. It wasn’t a far stretch to assume they were a distant branch of Malcolms and had started tracing Evie. He watched to see how Evie and her family took this.
“You’re spying on us!” Pris scowled.
Ignoring her cousin, Evie sipped her tea with unconcern. “Our ancestors were called witches and fled for their lives in the 1600s. Your branches who communicate must have traveled much later, when burning at the stake wasn’t an option.”
“I’d be interested in meeting more of our family,” Pris said, surprisingly, although she still scowled. “But my mother has gone bonkers, and I have to keep an eye on her.”
Evie held up her cellphone to her cousin. “There, I’ve texted the non-mayor’s secretary, and she just wants to know what date you want for your benefit.”
Jax was almost as bewildered as their guest looked.
“Bonkers?” Rossi finally asked. “Is there something we might help with? My cousins like to meddle, so if there is something you need...?”
“Unless you can pour acid through phone lines or air waves, probably not. Evie, make him welcome. I need to set up a sting.” Pris set aside her glass and jogged down the drive to her truck.
That probably indicated Pris couldn’t find any badmental energiesin their visitor.
“I’m sure all of you have better things to do than entertain a stranger. Is there a hotel nearby? I really would like to take a look around now that I’m here.” Rossi set his glass down too.
Jax glanced at Evie, but he already knew her response.
“If you don’t mind a guest room off the kitchen, you should stay here.” She got out of her chair. “Afterthought doesn’t have a hotel, and going back and forth from the city gets old. I’d like to know more about this family I didn’t know existed. I should call Great-Aunt Val. And my mother and aunts would love to meet you.”
Afterthought had a motel. Their guest simply didn’t appear to be the sort to live with bedbugs, although Jax supposed an archeological dig might be worse than camping. Well, if Rossi had come to spy for his family, he might as well be subject to the full effect.
“I’ve only discovered that I have an Ives family, so I’m interested as well,” Jax added. “If you don’t mind entertaining yourself while occasionally being pestered with questions...”
“I have my own questions, so yes, I’d be delighted to accept your hospitality, if you truly don’t mind.” Rossi politely rose when Evie did.
Evie motioned him back. “I’ll just go in and remove Loretta’s latest collection of books and put on fresh linen. You need to be warned that the household contains a precocious almost-eleven-year-old who will converse eloquently on both Harry Potter and souls in the same breath. Be careful what questions you ask.”
Iddy and Grace excused themselves as well, leaving Jax to quiz the stranger.
Before he could start, Rossi spoke first. “Now that the ladies have departed, I can give you the full message. I’ve been told that someone here is dealing with a dark energy that has no conscience, that you have a friend who is dealing with this entity also, and that Conan says they’re both diving into a dangerous underworld—the real kind, not the metaphysical. He recommends you pull them back.”
Jax mentally swore. Been there, done that, and there was no chance of stopping them, if he meant Evie and Roark. He might as well stand in front of a cyclone.
He picked up the tray of empty glasses and nodded at the door. “Looks like I’ll have to help Evie find that car she wants so she has a reliable means of escape.”
Or of getting into trouble, but she could do that with or without a car.
* * *
Sitting on the porch,working in coordination with Reuben on an AI script that he hoped might clog up his father’s call center, Roark heard his cellphone ringing in the kitchen. Damn.
Before he could untangle himself from his laptop and one of Ariel’s, he heard her answer. His eyebrows soared, and he settled in to listen. She’d stolen his password as he had hers, so that was fitting. But Arieltalking?
He glanced at the time. Ariel not only talking but doing so during her two o’clock shower/exercise hour signaled a significant departure from routine.
He wanted to see if she would throw his forgotten phone at him or just go back to her rut. If he tried, he could probably hear what she was saying, but without hearing the other side, the conversation would still be a mystery. It wasn’t as if Ariel was doing more than her usual curt one- or two-word replies.
His curiosity remained elevated as he heard her crossing the front room. She walked lightly and the floor didn’t squeak, but he knew when she reached the door and braced himself.
No way in heaven or hell could he brace himself for the sight of Ariel in a short, red, silk robe, with her luxurious hair wet and wrapped in a white towel. A neglected part of his anatomy stiffened at just the sight of her long bare legs and slim ankles. Her toes scarcely registered while he followed the parting of her loosely tied robe. He was one-hundred per-cent certain she had no idea what she was doing to him.
“Pris.” She dropped the phone in his lap. “Phone bank.”