understand?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re starting to believe your own course descriptions. I knew it would happen eventually.”
“Look,” he said. “You don’t have to go. You don’t have to be involved with it at all. I’ll just nip out there with Tommy for a couple of hours, have a look around, and then come back and we can go check out that new sushi place you found. All right?”
“Bribes,” she said, snuggling back into his shoulder. “Hey, if you want to be a nutcase on your own time, that’s none of my business. Just don’t ask me to believe it.”
“Fair enough,” he agreed.
Langley, as Stone expected, was reluctant to sanction another expedition to Adelaide’s house. “I still think this whole thing is all in your head,” he said when Stone showed up at his office the next day. “You and Aunt Adelaide are feeding on each other with your stories. Hell, maybe you just want to impress her. I dunno. But I don’t believe in spooks, and I thought you didn’t either.”
“I just want to have another look,” he said, neatly sidestepping the issue of spooks. “That’s all. I promise not to tell Aunt Adelaide anything frightening. I just want to see if what I felt there the other night is still there, or if I was just tired.”
Langley sighed. “I don’t like it, Alastair. I’d really rather you didn’t. It’s just—weird.”
Stone stood and began pacing in front of his friend’s desk. “Listen, Tommy. First of all, you have my word that I have nothing but your aunt’s best interests in mind. I shouldn’t even have to tell you that, should I? How long have we known each other? Do you honestly think I’d do anything to purposely frighten an 89-year-old woman?”
“Of course not,” Langley said, not looking at him. “But you know as well as I do that you get kind of—well, okay, strange— about this sort of stuff sometimes. I’ve seen you do it before. I know you don’t believe all the hooey about the occult, but—” His eyes came up, and he was frowning. “But shit—you told her you were ‘sensitive.’ You said you could feel the same kind of stuff she was feeling. So you lied to her so she wouldn’t bust you for being a bogus occult investigator.”
“I didn’t lie to her, Tommy.” Stone dropped back down into the chair. This wasn’t going to be easy—he’d have to be very careful about what he said next. Sometimes he wished he could just tell the world that he was a genuine, real-deal mage. It would make things easier in situations like this. A lot tougher in most others, though, which is why he kept his mouth shut.
“What do you mean, you didn’t lie? Are you trying to tell me you are ‘sensitive’? Whatever the hell that even means?”
“I’m trying to tell you that there’s a reason I chose the field I did, and it wasn’t just because I wanted to write bad horror novels and impress goth women.”
“So you believe in this stuff? Ghosts and werewolves and vampires and all that shit? You told me it was all ‘rubbish.’ That was exactly your word. So did you lie to me? ”
“No. I’ve never met a ghost, a werewolf, or a vampire.” That much was true. “But I do believe that there are forces in the world that we humans don’t understand yet. And I believe that they can affect people who are sensitive to them. I think your aunt is one of those people.”
Langley sighed, putting his face in his hands and shaking his head. “Alastair...sometimes I wish I’d gone looking for drinking buddies in the Physics department or something. You’re a hard guy to be friends with sometimes.”
“Let me remind you,” Stone pointed out, “that you called me about this, and you did it precisely because of my area of expertise. Why not let me finish what I started? I’m not going to hurt your aunt. If anything, I might be able to get to the bottom of the problem so she doesn’t have to deal with it anymore. Or at least give her a different
She rolled her eyes. “You’re starting to believe your own course descriptions. I knew it would happen eventually.”
“Look,” he said. “You don’t have to go. You don’t have to be involved with it at all. I’ll just nip out there with Tommy for a couple of hours, have a look around, and then come back and we can go check out that new sushi place you found. All right?”
“Bribes,” she said, snuggling back into his shoulder. “Hey, if you want to be a nutcase on your own time, that’s none of my business. Just don’t ask me to believe it.”
“Fair enough,” he agreed.
Langley, as Stone expected, was reluctant to sanction another expedition to Adelaide’s house. “I still think this whole thing is all in your head,” he said when Stone showed up at his office the next day. “You and Aunt Adelaide are feeding on each other with your stories. Hell, maybe you just want to impress her. I dunno. But I don’t believe in spooks, and I thought you didn’t either.”
“I just want to have another look,” he said, neatly sidestepping the issue of spooks. “That’s all. I promise not to tell Aunt Adelaide anything frightening. I just want to see if what I felt there the other night is still there, or if I was just tired.”
Langley sighed. “I don’t like it, Alastair. I’d really rather you didn’t. It’s just—weird.”
Stone stood and began pacing in front of his friend’s desk. “Listen, Tommy. First of all, you have my word that I have nothing but your aunt’s best interests in mind. I shouldn’t even have to tell you that, should I? How long have we known each other? Do you honestly think I’d do anything to purposely frighten an 89-year-old woman?”
“Of course not,” Langley said, not looking at him. “But you know as well as I do that you get kind of—well, okay, strange— about this sort of stuff sometimes. I’ve seen you do it before. I know you don’t believe all the hooey about the occult, but—” His eyes came up, and he was frowning. “But shit—you told her you were ‘sensitive.’ You said you could feel the same kind of stuff she was feeling. So you lied to her so she wouldn’t bust you for being a bogus occult investigator.”
“I didn’t lie to her, Tommy.” Stone dropped back down into the chair. This wasn’t going to be easy—he’d have to be very careful about what he said next. Sometimes he wished he could just tell the world that he was a genuine, real-deal mage. It would make things easier in situations like this. A lot tougher in most others, though, which is why he kept his mouth shut.
“What do you mean, you didn’t lie? Are you trying to tell me you are ‘sensitive’? Whatever the hell that even means?”
“I’m trying to tell you that there’s a reason I chose the field I did, and it wasn’t just because I wanted to write bad horror novels and impress goth women.”
“So you believe in this stuff? Ghosts and werewolves and vampires and all that shit? You told me it was all ‘rubbish.’ That was exactly your word. So did you lie to me? ”
“No. I’ve never met a ghost, a werewolf, or a vampire.” That much was true. “But I do believe that there are forces in the world that we humans don’t understand yet. And I believe that they can affect people who are sensitive to them. I think your aunt is one of those people.”
Langley sighed, putting his face in his hands and shaking his head. “Alastair...sometimes I wish I’d gone looking for drinking buddies in the Physics department or something. You’re a hard guy to be friends with sometimes.”
“Let me remind you,” Stone pointed out, “that you called me about this, and you did it precisely because of my area of expertise. Why not let me finish what I started? I’m not going to hurt your aunt. If anything, I might be able to get to the bottom of the problem so she doesn’t have to deal with it anymore. Or at least give her a different
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