Page 113 of Dead Heat

“I take it Gunther is here,” Kane commented.

Nodding, I sent the mage a text.Wait there. “I’ll be right back. I want to make sure I handled the pre-approval process correctly.”

I hurried from the house to greet Gun at the gate. Thanks to a stiff breeze, the tail of his long jacket flapped behind him.

“Could you see me?” he asked.

“An Oscar-winning performance.”

“That’s very cool.”

“And very annoying, but a necessary inconvenience.”

Gun studied the open gate. “Can I walk through?”

“Give it a whirl.”

He stepped through the gate and stopped abruptly.

“Is there a problem?”

He looked around. “I just wanted to see if I’d be struck by lightning or something.”

“No, you’ve been pre-approved.”

“I feel honored. Who else has pre-approval privileges?”

“The mail carrier, and the UPS and Amazon delivery drivers.”

His smile faded. “I see.”

“Yours is the most special kind of pre-approval though.”

He lifted his chin a fraction. “As it should be. I have folding chairs in the car.”

“Kane’s here. He can help with those. Where’s Cam?” I asked, as we strolled toward the house.

“Five minutes out. She needed to make an emergency Nerds run. She didn’t realize she’d finished her last box after lunch. Who else is coming?”

“West, Phaedra, Otto, and Josie. My roommates.” Max opted to stay outside. He wasn’t really an indoor magma monster.

“Why Josie? She hates you.”

“Hence why I invited her. Maybe she’ll learn to love me.” In truth, I’d invited Dantalion, too, and expected Josie to mind the Devil’s Playground. Instead, Dan drew the unlucky straw.

By the time Gun and Kane sorted out the additional seating, the other guests began to arrive. I’d been able to pre-approve all of them, which made it easier for me to stay inside and mingle.

“It seems wrong to throw a party in the middle of all this turmoil,” Cam said, as she filled a plate with oatmeal raisin cookies.

“It isn’t a party,” I said. “It’s a gathering. Let’s face it, if I’mgoing to die in a land of the dead, I might as well win big the night before.”

Josie appeared beside me. “Who says you’re going to win?”

I turned to Cam. “Notice she skipped right over the mention of imminent death.”

“Don’t wanna get my hopes up,” Josie whispered and gave me a wink.

Gun examined the options. “Ooh, Twister. I’d love to see West pull the stick out of his ass to be flexible enough for that one.” He frowned. “Hungry Hungry Hippos?”

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