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"Ambitious and fiercely original. Sondi Warner is the exciting new voice we've all been wai...
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September | First Week
One date to settle "the displaced energy." I was no stranger to casual hookups, but this took the cake. I had never done anything like this, and the idea preoccupied every free thought for the rest of the week.
On a countdown to Saturday night, I threw myself into Paul Jameson's fugitive status. He rather predictably fled the city after Mrs. Edison tweeted NOPD was dragging their feet arresting him. A part of me was glad he ran. Aurie's mom felt guilty enough to back the hell down from the case after that.
Although he went missing, there was no time to decompress. Tegan and I had our work cut out for us. I flip-flopped on whether to tell my partner about Overlay to get her help diving into Cyprian's past.
In the end, I stuck to the world she knew and conjured up a new case theory. The CEO of Corporate Investor Empire might have found Haley Edison, the rising social media star, more to his liking. Tegan and I both knew he partied with A-listers.
I suggested to my partner that Darcy Cyprian might have drugged Aurie to get to Haley. Even if Jameson was responsible for the hit-and-run, Cyprian could have been the reason she was impaired in the first place. Tegan liked the analysis, agreeing to investigate the rumors of him drugging college girls. Be that as it may, we were no closer to fresh evidence by the end of the hectic workweek.
I took a trip to my cabin to clear my head. When I returned home Saturday evening, I had just enough time to get ready for the date. The wildness that I tried leaving in the woods followed me home in the form of my distracting attraction to the two of them.
Aroused by flashbacks of intermissions with the Empath, my dreams nightly filled with impressions of the ghost's delectable body. I couldn't outrun my lust for Aurie and Mys, no matter how I tried.
But did I desire both? Or was this all-consuming investigation getting in the way of healthy sexual release and making me eager to bed anything walking? I was a powder keg waiting to blow, and the date-night seemed less and less like a good idea.
Nevertheless, this date-night was an aspect of the job, I told myself. Putting Aurie's Soul in public could tempt Cyprian to do something stupid enough to get the Council's attention.
Ajit greeted me at the door. The dog was my low maintenance way to avoid coming home to an empty house. My keys went in the coin tray, and I strolled to the en suite for a shower. I wondered what it would be like to not need a pet simply to avoid being alone.
I told Alexa to play the local radio, and the device obliged. Whistling the pop song that poured from the speakers, I lathered up and scrubbed my body clean. Admittedly, even if the date was business, I was looking forward to it. I left the shower with a big, fluffy bath-sheet wrapped around my hips and stepped to the closet for something to wear.
I chose a pair of cropped jeans, ditching my usual slacks. A stylish black tee paired with an unbuttoned grey Oxford finished the ensemble. From the walk-in came the sound of the music transitioning to advertisements.
