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"This place just gets creepier and creepier," NickKelly off the floor and dusting both of theeway, then oes?" Kelly asked, his eyes sparkling

"Hell, yeah"

They got out their phones, turning on the flashlight apps Kelly took the lead, Nick’s hand on the sether with practiced ease in the seway, it stretched off in both directions like Nick had suspected, but it also presented them with a narrow set of stone spiral stairs They each aihts in opposite directions Several feet off, the wall caet under it Nick assu

"Up or down?" Kelly asked

Nick put his lips against Kelly’s ear, s back into Nick’s hand briefly They ive in to temptation just then and instead headed down the steps to see where they’d end up The steps were so narrow Nick’s foot didn’t fit on them even if he turned it sideways His shoulders brushed both sides of the staircase He was glad he wasn’t claustrophobic because it felt a little like getting stuck in a hole as they descended

Kelly looked at hiet down it "Guess this rules out showing Ty this shit"

Nick nodded Ty would go into a full-fledged panic trying to get down these things

At the base of the staircase it opened up again There were uessed were peepholes into rooms He also assumed there werethe walls Kelly went to the first peephole and peered through, then entleman’s study, decorated with heavy, rich ht, modern ones like the other roo, heavy wood, leather seating The walls were paneled in leather, and the scent of expensive cigars lingered even over the se

Deuce and Zane were sitting in leather club chairs near the fireplace, and Ty was perched on the arm of Zane’s chair as they talked

Deuce was in theto Ty "The Stantons are veryplease don’t wave any weaponry or kill anything in their presence"

Ty held up his hand "Proe, Ty," Deuce observed, deadpan

Ty looked at the fingers he’d raised and then sneered at Deuce

"You’re not really expecting us to need weaponry, are you, Deuce?" Zane asked

"He never needs an excuse," Deuce’s reply was as long-suffering as his gesture at Ty They laughed, but then Deuce grew serious once ht with Theodore, I think we’ll all learn a little ave worried nods

"Thanks for bringing your friends," Deuce added He sounded weary

"Always" Ty glanced up and around the study, like he was sensing soives hed

"No, seriously, I feel eyes on me in here"

Kelly snorted Nick quickly clapped a hand over his h as well

Ty’s head whipped around and his eyes darted back and forth over the section of wall they were behind His sharp hearing had picked up on them, and the display of his predatory senses ripped Kelly tighter, and they both held their breath

"Did you hear that?" Ty asked

Deuce laughed harder

"Yeah, Ty, the walls are talking to you," Zane teased

"I heard soet so "Before Ty opens up soation"

"That’s not funny," Ty insisted as his piercing eyes raked over their hiding spot one last time Nick wondered how in the hell the peepholes were concealed if Ty couldn’t spot it Ty turned to follow Deuce and Zane out, but Nick could tell he was on the alert now just by the way he carried himself His voice trailed off as they left the room "This place is creepy, Deacon"

Nick and Kelly barely held in their laughter

Kelly grinned widely "This could be fun Want to see where else it leads?"

Nick was grinning and nodding "Want to go get naked first?"

"Yeah" He took Nick’s hand and tugged hiuing as he and Zane approached their room Nick and Kelly were in the next room over from them, with a cute little wooden placard with their nah the way Nick and Kelly were, it was likely neither of theet to take it home by the end of the week

He stood at their door and cocked his head to listen, but he couldn’t uh, so Ty wasn’t all too concerned about it being a real fight He gave the door a knock, then tested the knob to see if it was unlocked and shoved it open

He stopped short when he encountered Nick and Kelly on the queen-sized bed they were sharing Nick was reclining against the headboard in nothing but his boxers and a worn-out Red Sox T-shirt, and Kelly was kneeling beside hi

"Was that really fucking necessary?" Nick demanded as he wiped a runny white substance off his calf

Kelly was laughing hard "I’lanced up when they noticed Ty and Zane in the doorway

"Hey," Nick said

"What the fuck are you doing?" Ty asked in horror

Kelly held up the tube "First aid"

"He’s ," Nick corrected He scratched at his calf

"He’s scratching hi to put this hydrocortisone cream on him while I had him immobile," Kelly explained "But the plane ride , ’causeI’ve never seen this shit do that"

Nick laughed

Kelly shoved at his knee to make him turn onto his side, and then he put the tip of the tube at his calf where the skin had been scratched red When he squeezed it, though, another thin stream of opaque liquid shot out instead of the thick cream it was supposed to be

"That’s obscene," Zanebefore it could drip to the sheets

"Ohmedic are you?"

"I’m sorry!"

"It’s a tube of cream, how hard is this exactly?"