Twilight: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 3

wave. Sam watched her go. The tension in her shoulders said quite clearly she didn’t expect them to take the case soon enough to do any good.
“She doesn’t think we’ll get to her in time,” Dean observed, unknowingly echoing Sam’s thoughts. “She thinks by the time we get up there, it’ll be too late. That something bad’ll happen first.”
No one answered, but Sam could tell by the looks on his friends’ faces that they were thinking the same thing he was—Dean was right. If they waited, they’d be too late.
Without thinking, Sam reached out and took Bo’s hand. To his surprise, Bo didn’t let go, but curled his fingers around Sam’s and squeezed.
“Let’s all go back to mine and Sam’s room,” he said. “We need to talk.”
Bo pulled his hand from Sam’s grip as they left their relatively secluded corner, and Sam mourned the loss of that comforting touch. A hard knot of dread formed in his belly as he followed Bo to the elevators.
I can’t let him go up there. I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to him.
A hand landed on his shoulder, making him jump. He turned to meet Dean’s concerned gaze.
“You okay, Sam?” Dean murmured. “You look kind of pale.”
“I’m fine,” Sam lied.
Behind him, David snorted. “Yeah, right. Like the whole world can’t tell you’re worried about Bo getting hurt again.”
Heat suffused Sam’s face. “Yeah, well—”
“It’s okay,” Cecile reassured him. “We’re all worried. But you know what he’s going to want to do.”
“And we won’t be able to talk him out of it,” Andre added. “Not that any of us would’ve tried, I think. We all know what this might mean.”
“I can hear y’all, you know,” Bo said without turning around. “Keep it to yourselves until we get upstairs.”
The group fell silent. Sam watched Bo’s ramrodstraight back, long ebony braid swinging like a pendulum, and wished more than ever that they could be open as a couple. The need to hold Bo right then was a burning ache deep in his core. He desperately wanted to reassure himself that Bo was safe and whole, and would stay that way forever.
No such thing as forever, Sam. Especially now that people are coming to us with these interdimensional gateway cases. You can’t keep him safe, and he’d hate you for trying, so just stop.
As much as he hated it, Sam knew it was true. Bo would never turn away a possible gateway case out of fear, and Sam risked losing his respect if he asked him to do such a thing. Yet Sam knew he couldn’t just agree to take the case without at least trying to get Bo to stay behind. It was a conundrum Sam had no idea how to solve.
No one said a word until they reached the airy, high-ceilinged room Sam and Bo shared. The second the door clicked shut behind Andre, everyone except Bo and Sam started talking at once. Sitting cross-legged on the tremendous four-poster bed, Sam listened to the cacophony with only half an ear. Most of his attention remained focused on Bo, who was pacing the floor and pulling on his braid.
“All right, everybody settle down,” Bo ordered, giving the entire group a sharp look. Quiet descended instantly. Bo chuckled and shook his head. “Okay, let’s get this out of the way first thing. I’m fine. The bite healed ages ago, the infection’s long gone, and I’m completely back to normal.” Crossing his arms, he arched a brow at Sam. “And I’m not about to let what happened at South Bay keep me away from a case. Is that clear?”
Everyone nodded. Sam thought they looked like a bunch of chastised schoolchildren. Knowing it was a bad idea before he even opened his mouth, Sam spoke up anyway. “It’s not clear to me.”
A flush crept up Bo’s neck. His eyes glittered with a look Sam knew well and had learned to dread. The look that meant he was in for a fight if he kept pushing. Sam held his gaze without flinching. He wasn’t ready to back down. Not without so much as a discussion.
“I think we should take this case,” Bo said, his tone clipped and careful. “We all know what might happen if this is a real gateway. We can’t take that chance.”
“I agree with you.” Sam kept his voice calm in spite of the frustration and fear boiling inside him. “We should definitely take the case.”
Five pairs of eyes widened in tandem, and Sam had to laugh. Was he really so predictable that they were all this surprised by what he’d said?
“Well, good.” Clearly flustered, Bo yanked the rubber band from