Alex watched, his emotions suddenly off-kilter. Why was it Seb’s feelings that she was picking up on so strongly, and not his own? Meanwhile, Seb stood almost motionless, looking down at Willow’s delicately pointed features...and at the expression on his face, Alex’s jaw tightened. Couldn’t Willow see that being her friend was the last thing on Seb’s mind?

Only seconds had passed; Willow was gazing at Seb, frowning intently. Alex almost had the sense they were still communicating. Then she shook her head; fleetingly touched his arm. “You’re blocking me out. I can feel it.”

Seb sighed. “We’d better tell her,” he said to Alex.

Yeah, thanks for the newsflash, Alex thought. Suddenly his skin felt like it was prickling with heat. What the hell did “You’re blocking me out” mean? Was Willow really that used to wandering around in Seb’s mind now, sharing everything with him?

Willow’s face was tense as she turned to him. She wove her fingers through his, squeezing his hand. “Alex? What’s going on?”

Her touch was warm, grounding. With an effort, he shook away his thoughts. Stop being ridiculous, he told himself. Yes, they’re close – they’re both psychic, for god’s sake. It doesn’t mean anything, at least not as far as Willow’s concerned.

“Why don’t you start fixing the bike, and we can talk about it?” he said. “You stay too,” he added tersely to Seb. As much as he wished he could drop-kick the guy into another country, he had a job to do; this concerned both Seb and Willow.

While Willow got to work on the bike, Alex explained, occasionally handing her tools when she asked. Seb sat against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles. Soon Willow had disconnected a pair of leads and taken off two small, grimy units he presumed were the spark plugs; she inspected them briefly. Even through his distraction, Alex was impressed. He’d never seen her work on an engine before; he himself would have been totally clueless.

“So...that’s what’s up,” he finished.

Willow rested the spark plugs to one side. “Are you asking me to go there with Seb? And see what I can get psychically?”

“Yeah,” he said after a pause. “I guess I am.”

He could see she knew exactly what this was costing him. “Of course I’ll help,” she said. “And Alex, it’ll be okay.”

“I know it will,” he said. Picking up a wrench, he rapped it hard against the floor. “Because I’m going to have the whole damn team in there, covering both of you.” Especially you, he thought, and was grimly grateful she couldn’t read his thoughts as easily as she seemed to read Seb’s.