Boreal and John Grey Season 1 (21 page)

***

By the time Dave walked into the motel room two hours later, she’d made up her mind and some phone calls.

Pushing off the wall, she went to greet her squad leader.

“Are you all right?” Dave grabbed her arms and gave her a once over. He looked concerned, and it made her smile. “Sorry it took me so long to check on you. I had to take care of the chaos in the streets, and I was on the phone all morning with the Defense Ministry to organize our movements.”

“That’s okay.” She gently disengaged from Dave’s grip and turned to Finn who sat on the bed, arms folded over his chest. His cheeks were ashen and his face still but for a vein pulsing rapidly in his jaw. He swallowed hard, meeting her eyes for a second, then turning away.

“The dragon’s gone,” Dave said. “We can’t find any trace of the damn creature.” He gestured at her. “You are fine, right? They told me you were, but until I saw with my own eyes...”

“Perfectly fine.” She went to the door, opened it, glanced outside, and closed it. Leaned on it. “We need to talk.”

“Sure.”

“Look,” she said. “I want to talk to you about Finn.”

Finn made a small noise of distress. “Don’t—” he began, then clamped his mouth shut, shook his head and glared at the far wall. His hands clenched and twisted in the sheets.

“What’s this about?” Dave said, brows knitting.

“He fought the dragon off on his own” Ella said. “He saved many lives last night.”

Finn gave her a startled look, his hands stilling on the covers.

“I know what he did.” Dave straightened the lapels of his dark jacket and started to hum. “You think I wouldn’t hear of the stunt he pulled?” He pointed at Finn. “He’s on my payroll. Police officers aren’t acrobats.”

“No, their job is to save lives,” Ella bit out the words. “And that’s exactly what he did.”

“I see.” Dave’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll go out on a limb and assume you have a point with this, right?”

“My point,” Ella said, annoyed, “is that he saved my life, again, and many others besides. So maybe you could at least try and be civil to him. Treat him like a person and my partner, not talk as if he’s not in the room.”

 “Dammit, Ella. I wasn’t trying to...” Dave huffed and shook his head. “I’m just worried and tired, that’s all.” He nodded at Finn. “Good work, son.”

“Finn,” Finn said, his voice just a breath. “It’s Finn.”

Back to the routine
. And time to press Finn’s advantage a little.

“You know, boss...” Ella gave her sweetest smile. “How about an advance payment? He needs new clothes and we lost everything in the fire. What do you say?”

Dave gave her a suspicious look. “I don’t know if it’s possible. He’s not even officially employed by us.”

Ella shrugged. “Call it job expenses? You owe him as much.”

Dave sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Fair enough.” He turned to Finn who gaped like a stranded fish, his gaze going from Dave to Ella and back. “I’ll see to it,” Dave said. “Do you need more weapons, son?”

“Knives,” Finn croaked and turned to Ella. His gaze lingered on her, as if searching for clues. Then he swallowed and turned back to their boss. “And a gun. I lost mine.”

“Consider it done,” Dave said. “Well, if there’s nothing else...” He gave Ella a tight smile, tipped a nod to Finn, and left the room. The door clicked shut behind him.

 Silence fell. It had an expectant quality to it, a big question mark flashing. Finn observed her under lowered lashes, his body strung tight with tension. As if he expected her to turn the tables again, call Dave back and tell him everything.

She picked up her cooling coffee from the window sill and took a sip. She grimaced at the taste. “As soon as you’re feeling up to it,” she said, “we’re checking out. I asked for Mike’s help while you were asleep. He found an apartment for us to look at.”

Finn clutched the bed sheets so hard she thought she heard them tear. He blinked rapidly, emotions fleeting over his face — confusion, fear, hope. She could read no trace of deception in his eyes.

He took a shuddering breath. “Why?” he asked.

Because I owe you my life and I can’t just throw you to the wolves. Because you deserve a chance to explain yourself. Because I want to trust you
.

But what she said was, “I want you to talk to me. And this time I want the whole truth.”

***

It was a day later, a day spent between meetings with the insurance people and buying the essentials for both of them — clothes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, towels and bedsheets, blankets and pillows.

Now Ella followed the landlord, a cousin of Mike’s, through the tiny apartment, absently nodding at his enumeration of features and issues. There was some furniture, old and horrible. Two threadbare armchairs in the living room. Plain wooden bed frames in the bedrooms. A scratched table and chairs in the kitchen.

Over her shoulder, she glanced back at Finn who stood leaning against the doorframe, arms folded over his chest. He watched everything with hooded eyes. A black bandana hid the bandage around his head; he was better, although he still got dizzy when he moved too fast.

Ella hoped it would wear off soon. She’d rather he stayed in bed a while longer, but couldn’t trust him alone at the motel; wouldn’t put it past him to smash the door open or jump out of the window to follow her. It would be
so
like Finn to try.

And Finn shouldn’t be her main worry. She’d lied to her commanding officer, or rather not told him all she knew. Which amounted to the same thing. She’d hidden Finn’s nature from Dave at a moment when an elf invasion was anticipated. Compared to that, not telling Dave about the book she’d borrowed and what it contained seemed insignificant.

But if she hadn’t lied, Dave would’ve taken Finn away. Dave wouldn’t have listened, wouldn’t have given Finn a chance to explain.

Would he?

Had Simon really not trusted Dave, or was she building this all up in her mind? Maybe Simon simply hadn’t had the time to talk to their boss before he was killed.

“And here is the bathroom,” the landlord said, giving her a dark look. “Is anything the matter?”

“Oh, no.” She dredged up a polite smile. “Everything’s fine.”

Reassured, the man moved on to the kitchen, opening dusty cupboards and a fridge with rust splotches. “Mike’s just moved in next door,” he said. “Loves it here.”

Well, for that low a rent, she bet he did.

“So, miss, what will it be?” The landlord straightened and glanced from her to Finn. “What does the lad say? He hasn’t opened his mouth since you came here.”

Finn shot him an icy look. He’d already checked the apartment on his own while the landlord had shown Ella around. She also waited for his assessment.

Finn nodded.

Translated, that meant Finn thought the apartment defensible, therefore good enough. He didn’t care whether the kitchen was falling apart, or that the bathroom had seen better days. She shuddered at the amount of cleaning they’d have to do over the next days.

Then again, for that low a rent...

“Looks like we’ll take it,” she said.

***

“What about your magic?” Ella asked.

Finn had finished carving protective charms into the doors and window frames, and was now scrubbing the shower tiles with his good hand, the other braced against the wall.

He flicked her an undecipherable glance, then went on scrubbing.

Ella wiped her sweaty forehead on her sleeve and got up from where she’d been kneeling, washing the toilet. Her knee was killing her. Flipping the toilet seat closed, she sat on top and stretched her leg, sighing in relief.

“I mean, if you can use magic to clean this place, can you please just do it?” She lifted a brow when Finn still didn’t reply. “It’s actually a serious question, Finn. I’ve never seen you use magic. Hell, you called me from a phone booth for help two days ago. Why would a high elf lord need the help of a mere human? Where are the fireworks?”

Finn sat back, mouth set. A muscle jumped in his jaw. “I don’t have magic.”

Which she’d sort of expected — otherwise why wouldn’t he have used it so far?
But then...
“You said you’re a Boreal.” She tried to remember what he’d told her about them. “Boreals are dragonlords. Elite.”

“Born to the royal houses of the mountains,” Finn said tonelessly.

“Wait a minute. You’re royalty?” Her jaw hung open.

Finn’s shoulders slumped. He pushed them back and shook his head. “Not anymore.”