Chapter Five

Ryan pushed his crust to the edge of his plate, deciding it was time to leave even though he enjoyed the meal. Santino wasn’t as geeky as he was but enough so he kept up with Ryan. Santino liked the geeky topics, which was a plus. “So, should we go for our walk now before it gets too dark and too mosquito-ridden?”

Santino rolled his eyes. “Could there be more mosquitoes?”

Ryan chuckled, reaching out to lightly slap Santino’s arm. “That proves you’re new to Florida. The grossest part of this state, beyond the humidity, is the overabundance of bugs of all stripes. Like the joke goes—our state bird, the huge flying cockroach.”

“Perfect.” Santino shuddered.

They paid and went out to Ryan’s car. While they made the short drive to Cassadaga, Santino regaled him with a story about a friend who had gone to Gay Day in Disney. Both of them deemed it too damned hot in June to cram themselves into Disney for the event. Ryan at least had the option of winging it if there was ever such a thing as a cool day in summer in Florida. He parked the car in his spot at Harmony Hall, and they climbed out. Santino made a gesture to indicate Ryan take the lead.

“I’m still on the fence about the new Doctor,” he ventured since it appeared to be a safe topic as he led the way to the Colby Temple. “What about you?”

Santino glanced up as the wind suddenly gusted, making the Spanish moss wave. There was something eerie and beautiful about the moss. “I’m with you on that account. My favorite two were Tennant and Smith. But big confession time—I was never a fan of the show until its resurrection with Nine.”

Ryan grinned. “I never saw it as a kid myself, and friends tried to get me into it, but same here. Nine was really my first Doctor.” He paused and gestured to the temple. “Have you been here yet?”

Santino shook his head. “It sort of looks like a Spanish villa had a baby with a box.”

Ryan snorted and gave him a light shove. “Hush, it’s the spiritualist temple. They take it seriously. If you’re still here, you should attend a sermon. You might find it interesting.”

“I’m sure I would,” Santino replied, following Ryan as he started walking again. He broke the silence of their amble when he asked, “Tell me about your psychometry abilities. I know you can read people, and you mentioned talking to ghosts, but you don’t say much about the psychometry.”

Ryan picked up his pace as if running from the question. “You haven’t told me how you make your shield either.”

“True, but I’d rather talk about you than me.” Santino smiled.

Ryan could say the same thing, and almost did, but he wanted to make Santino happy. It harmed nothing. If somehow Santino remained part of his life, he’d have to know about his ability because it affected him so strongly some days. “I’ve been able to do it since puberty. Thank God it didn’t come in sooner because I’m not sure I could have stayed sane.”

Santino looped an arm around Ryan’s waist, tugging him close. “I believe you. I’ve known others with the ability. I’m honestly glad it’s not one I have.”

Ryan nodded, his throat tight. This was harder to talk about than he anticipated. “Mom showed me how to shield myself too. Oh, I’m not as good as you, and I wish you’d show me how you do that, seriously! I only know how to keep my hands covered with it, but maybe that’s all I need.” He shrugged. “The shield divorces them from my consciousness. I still feel like a normal person would when I touch stuff, but the shields keep away the psychic imprints. No one needs a constant stream of information from their touch psychometric abilities. It drives you mad! I only use it when it’s absolutely needed. I don’t want to know about the fears, angers, and loves of random strangers left behind on inanimate objects.”

“Of course not. It has to be horrible really.” Santino pulled them to a stop, turning Ryan. Ryan cupped the back of Santino’s head giving him a kiss the neighbors could talk about.

“It is,” he mumbled when he let Santino up for air. “But you helped me forget about it for a second.”

“Good.” Santino drew him in for another kiss, but the sound of Ryan’s phone startled them apart.

He shot Santino an apologetic look and answered. “Hi Lisa, what’s up?” He widened his eyes. “Okay, I can be right there.”

“What happened?” Santino asked as soon as Ryan disconnected.

“Lisa was with Bob at his house tonight doing readings when he got very dizzy and needed to lie down. He wants me to help with the remaining clients so he doesn’t lose out on all his income.”

“Is he all right?” Santino scowled as if expecting the worst.

“He is, but Lisa can’t handle it alone. I’m sorry.” Ryan made a face. “This heat is getting to an awful lot of people this week.”

“Yeah,” Santino said as if he expected it was something other than heat, but Ryan couldn’t imagine what.

“We’d better go home. Which is really not what I want to be doing now.” He should have told Lisa no, but it wouldn’t have been fair. Bob had had his back before. It was the least Ryan could do.

The road took them to the hotel quickly enough. Ryan gestured toward the Purple Rose and the road leading to Santino’s rental home. “I assume you’re going to walk. I can run you up there if you want.”

“I’m not that lazy, yet. Give me time.” Santino smiled. “Thanks. I had a nice time tonight.”

Ryan smiled. “Good. I have to work tomorrow, but I’m free the next day if you want to run to the comic book store, maybe go out for Vietnamese or something.”

“I can make that happen.” Santino leaned in, stealing another kiss. “Goodnight, Ryan.”

“Goodnight.”

Ryan watched him saunter off. This had been so nice, even if there was a big chance it wouldn’t last. Maybe instead of asking Santino out to eat, he could convince him to cook, an idea which made Ryan smile all the way to Bob’s home.

*

Santino had only made it halfway home when he spotted Cam walking his way. She waved. “Off to the lake?” Guilt swarmed over him like the mosquitoes. It wasn’t fair to push all the work on Cam.

“I wasn’t sure if and when you’d make it home tonight.”

“You think I’m such a cheap date I’d have sex so early in the relationship?” He pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense.

She snorted. “I have a generally low opinion of how often and how soon men think sex is on the table.” Cam pursed her lips then jabbed a finger at him. “And if it ever really is on the table, you’d better Clorox the thing. I eat there.”

Santino didn’t think Ryan was the type to let someone take him balls deep on the kitchen table, but who knew? He’d been wrong before. “Considered me warned.” He spun on his heel and fell into step with her as they headed to the park. Santino hoped Ryan didn’t spot him going past Harmony Hall and wonder.

Cam tossed him one of those antimosquito things that clipped onto belt loops, and he fastened it to his hip gratefully. He hoped it actually worked. “I think I’ve made some progress on the case of the fainting psychics.”

“Good, let’s hear it. My date got cut short because another psychic got too dizzy to work, and Ryan rushed out to help.”

Cam grimaced. “I hate hearing that. Unfortunately, there is more than one possibility. There are some Ayakashi known to cause fainting. Bebarlangs of the Philippines are known to do it, too, but this area doesn’t have a particularly Asian-heavy population, though I’m not ruling out some anime fan accidentally calling one up.”

“Which would probably be Ryan,” Santino cut in, thinking about what a good chunk of the dinner conversation had been about. “He’s a huge anime geek. He’s hoping I’ll still be here for the Florida Anime Experience in Kissimmee.”

She face-palmed. “Back to the point at hand—supernaturals who can make you faint. The incubi and succubi require sexual contact, so we can rule them out.”

Santino shuddered. He’d had a near-death experience acting as bait for a gay incubus. “How about a liansidhe?”

Cam nodded. “That was my thought. I tried asking the locals, but no one is too keen to talk to a stranger about how many people who’ve fainted, let alone give details.”

“I’ll talk to Ryan. We’re going to some comic book store in Orlando day after tomorrow.”

“So the date went well.” Cam poked him in the side.

“Yeah, real well. I like him.”

“Good.” She wrinkled her nose. “Back to supernaturals that can make you faint. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of the liansidhe,” Cam said. “They fit the pattern we’re seeing, don’t they? I mean, we don’t know much, but still. What do you know about them?”

“That they’re energy vampires. They live off strong emotions and psychic energies, which, yes, I’d bet would cause people to feel light-headed and faint. They’re a type of fae, faster and stronger than humans but not necessarily overwhelmingly so. Sometimes they even function as muses. I’ve never met one before.”

She brushed her long hair back. “Me either. Might be worth a call back to base and talk to Saoirse. She’s good with all the Celtic fae.”

“Agreed.”

He and Cam spent yet another hour trying to lure the nixie out of the lake with no joy. They were getting worried the creature had succumbed to the poor water quality or had found another means of escape. It was possible they also had the wrong lure. Neither of them had ever met a nixie before. They’d gone through the briefings, but not everything went according to plan. It might be time to regroup and do a little more research to get this done.