What Hides Inside: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 2

hand Bo offered, she shook it. “Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
“We will, Laura, thanks.” Grinning, Dean threw his arms around her in an enthusiastic hug. “See you later, hon.”
As they left the room, Sam slipped his arm around Bo’s waist. Bo glanced around nervously at the students in the hall, but didn’t protest. Sam was glad. He felt an irresistible need to protect Bo, after the revelations in Dr. Trent’s classroom.
“It’s okay, Sam,” Bo murmured. “I’m okay. And you closed the portal.”
“Yeah, but did I close it for good?”
“I think you did,” Andre said. “Cecile and I went back to the school yesterday. We didn’t feel a thing.”
Sam gave him a sharp look. “You didn’t tell me you were going. I would’ve gone with you.”
“You needed to stay with Bo, for yourself as much as for him.” Smiling, Cecile slipped a hand through Sam’s free arm. “I think the really telling thing is, the tunnel’s cold now.”
Sam considered that. “Hm. So, if I was right about it taking energy to keep it closed, the cold would indicate that it’s closed for good.”
“That’s what the other two-thirds of the psychic crew think,” David said.
“Think about it,” Dean added. “The tunnel’s been hot for at least as far back as the monks, because that’s why they couldn’t keep their stuff there. And it was hotter during our investigation than I remembered it being when I was in school. So here’s the theory. Keeping the portal closed takes energy, which generates heat, which made the tunnel stay hot all the time. When the portal’s activated or whatever for taking the juveniles out to hunt, it takes even more energy to keep it closed, thus the increased heat.”
“The fact that the temperature dropped dramatically when the portal opened lends credence to that theory,” Bo mused. “And if that’s the case, the fact that it’s cold in the tunnel now might indeed mean the portal’s gone for good.”
“That’s assuming we’re right about any of this,” Andre reminded them. “We don’t know anything, not really.”
Leaning against the side of the truck as Sam opened the door, Bo voiced precisely what Sam was thinking. “Then let’s hope we’re right.”
Epilogue
    Stuffing a sweatshirt into his duffle bag, Bo glanced around Sam’s bedroom. “I think that’s the last of it.”
    “No, this is the last of it,” Sam corrected, coming in from the bathroom with Bo’s brush in his hand.
“Thanks.”
Sam watched mournfully as Bo stuck the brush in the bag and zipped it. “You don’t have to leave.”
It was Saturday morning, five days after Bo left the hospital, and Bo was preparing to return to his own apartment. Sam was less than thrilled about that for lots of reasons, not least of which was he’d grown used to waking up with Bo in his bed. The thought of going back to sleeping alone was depressing. Plus he worried about Bo being alone, even though he seemed perfectly healthy other than a slight limp.
“I know,” Bo said. “And I’m more grateful than I can say for all you’ve done for me. But I really should go.”
“Everybody we work with already knows about us.”
“True. But Janine doesn’t, and I don’t think she should find out.”
“Your lawyer said she has no legal grounds to use that against you,” Sam persisted, following Bo as he limped around the bedroom checking for anything else he’d left. “Move in with me, Bo. Please.”
Laughing, Bo wound his arms around Sam’s neck and pressed their bodies together. “Every time you ask me that, it gets harder to say no.”
Sam grinned. “Move in with me.”
“No.” The love shining in Bo’s eyes took the sting out of the word. “I’m not worried about her using our relationship to take Sean and Adrian away from me. Not anymore.”
“Then what are you worried about?” Pulling the rubber band from the end of Bo’s braid, Sam unwound the long ebony locks and ran his fingers through them. “Why won’t you move in with me? Or at least stay a little longer, until your leg’s completely healed.”
Bo sighed and nuzzled Sam’s neck. “I don’t need help any longer. Janine’s a damn good journalist. If I keep staying here, and especially if I move in, she’ll figure out that you’re not just helping me out, and that we’re more than coworkers and friends. And she may not be able to use that to take the boys from me legally, but she’ll use it to turn them against me