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I knew I was being bad. Kevin needed me. He could be dying while I was letting a handsome mage tease me breathless. Creede’s hands were cupping my butt now. It felt so good. Then the hands paused and the whisper grew chiding. “Come on, Celia. Concentrate. I know you can get past this like you can get past your fears. There’s a time and place.”
    The tone startled me, brought me out of my fog. My pulse slowed to near normal and I could think again. Now I knew what this was all about. Creede was a business first, pleasure second sort of guy. Just like me.
    “And this isn’t the time. Right? I’m too busy avoiding the job to do the job well.” He’d been teasing me on purpose. Getting my mind shifted away from old worries and fears, onto a path toward new things. Including the task at hand. I took a deep breath and let it out slow. “Thanks, Creede.” Another thanks earned me another growl in my ear. I kissed him lightly on the cheek and pulled back. “I think I’ve got it out of my system.” Not the sex part, but the worry and fear. I felt calmer and he let a smile reach his eyes.
    “Of course, you realize this isn’t over. As you can see, I was enjoying myself.”
    I refused to look below his belt line. I had felt exactly how much he was enjoying himself. “Another time, in the far distant future.”
    “Maybe. Or sooner than you think.” Now the old Creede was back, the ladies’ man who was a consummate flirt. Damn, he was good. He turned on his heel and headed toward the door. “Make sure you give that a good tryout. I’ll expect a written report when you get back from your job.”
    I rolled my eyes and crossed suddenly solid arms over my vest. “Like I have time in my day to write reports? Pfft. I’ll call you.” I was feeling back to my old self and I was grateful. I hadn’t realized how much my nerves and memories had been getting to me.
    He was in the doorway now and his eyes were sparkling merrily. “And I’ll take your call, provided you agree to have dinner with me to give me the details.” Was he asking me on a date? Maybe my face showed my shock, because his smile broadened into a grin. “I’ll consider that a yes.” He left and I could hear the creak of old boards under his shoes as he walked toward the staircase. “Like I said,” he called out when he was halfway down the stairs, “sooner than you think, Graves.”
    His low chuckle made things inside me tighten again, but it made me smile, too. I’d been hurt a lot lately and Creede was a breath of fresh air—not too serious and not demanding. And there was respect there, both ways. Maybe that was exactly what I needed right now.

4

    The fly worked just as well as it had in my office.
    Unfortunately.
    The camera revealed sights that sickened me. Sedated humans crammed into cages lining the dungeonlike basement of the “treatment center.” Cages. They seemed to be about the size for a Great Dane, made from steel bars as thick around as my wrist. There was no furniture, no toilet facilities. Just row upon row of cages filled with naked, comatose people curled into fetal positions. Even a Super Max prison had more amenities than this. “This is disgusting. We have to get them out of there.”
    Edgar lowered the night-vision goggles he was using. “You can’t be serious.” His whisper sounded equally amazed and horrified.
    “Keep your mind on the mission, Graves.” Jones’s voice was an annoyed hiss in my ear. “I wouldn’t have brought you if I’d thought this sort of thing would bother you.”
    “Well, it does,” I snapped back quietly. “I wouldn’t put a dog in a cage where it couldn’t even sit up straight. What kind of life is that?”
    He responded by pulling the fly’s case out of my hand. “Give me that joystick.” He started to move the fly and pushed my hand away when I tried to get it back.
    “Damn it, Jones.”
    Jones stared at me, his eyes blazing with internal fire. “Look at the screen,