“We all kind of want to impress you from time to time,
Branigan.” Like there was no sugar in his mouth, Cal"s lips
twisted. “You have no idea how hard it is to… look at you.”
He ducked his head and stopped talking.
Ray had a feeling Penn"s eyebrows were up. His own
were down. But no matter how hard he stared, Cal wouldn"t
look back at him.
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“Okay, fine.” Ray made a show of giving in, and Cal
raised his head, though his eyes stayed safely on Benedict
for another few moments. “I"ll stay here.”
There were cots downstairs if he had to sleep. A shower
in the gym. And he was in a police station. “Penn"s got my
back.” So did the others. Werewolf or not, he was one of
them.
“Damn straight I do.” She nodded, but reached out and
grabbed Cal"s hand. He smiled tightly at her and sucked on
another cube of plain sugar.
Of course in the station it would be harder to avoid Cal,
or so Ray thought, but then it didn"t seem to matter. Cal and
Benedict took chairs next to Penn as they all worked out a
new suspect list, one full of people who would either want to
frame Ray or claim his attention, and Ray had to think of
every criminal he"d ever arrested who"d sent him cards from
prison or promised revenge.
It was difficult work. Partly because Ray had made a lot
of arrests, and partly, mostly, because at every sound he
looked up to find Cal. Cal seemed to be having more trouble
than usual staying in one spot. He had wandered to every
desk but Ray"s. Ray was painfully aware that his desk was
the one place where Cal normally would have settled.
Cal wouldn"t sit there now. Wouldn"t want to be around
him after a rejection like that. Knowing it was the right thing
to do didn"t make it any easier.
After an hour he had to get up, stalking toward the
bathroom just to get away. He scanned the halls as he went,
though no one would be foolish enough to try anything in a
police station.
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He was only inside a moment before the door swung
open behind him so hard that he jerked around. Cal was
almost sparking, vivid and lovely even in horrible lighting.
“In a bad mood, Ray?” Only it wasn"t anger in Cal"s
voice, in the wind, and Ray took a step forward before he
could think better of it. Cal"s hand stopped him. He was
hurt. So hurt. “Or is it that I"m a fairy and you can"t be seen
with me? I didn"t think you were like that.” Cal was
practically gasping out one realization after another. “You…
you"re
not
like that, Ray. You never have been.”
He raised his chin to look Ray right in the eye. It called
to mind Nasreen"s words again. There was such certainty as
he stared at Ray, like he knew everything, but then a
moment later he was dropping his head and turning to direct
a look at himself in the mirror. Whatever he saw there made
him flinch.
He smelled of doubt and still so much pain that Ray
ached for him. He moved forward again, this time Cal didn"t
stop him.
“It"s like you and my dad are just ganging up on me,
telling me not to live in the clouds, that I should know about
reality and not just my rainbow-colored Ray dreams. But
they
aren"t
.” He was urgent and serious, something in his
expression familiar as he stepped back to the wall and let
Ray loom over him. “And I"m not an idiot—”
Ray grabbed his hands, then glanced around, though he
already knew the room was empty. “Of course you"re not.”
His voice was rumbling, his temperature rising to be so close
again.
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He felt the pull of Cal"s scent, his confusion, lingering
hurt, but he was already staring up and leaning toward Ray.
Ray slid a hand to the wall. Cal"s breath was on his lips.
“Ray. Ray Ray. Should I… should I tone it down? My
mom…. My dad. Look I… whatever they say, I know it was
probably why….”
Cal"s hand turned into his, and Ray took his hand back
from the wall to stroke his fingers over Cal"s wrist. The wrist
that had been offered to him in too many teasing gestures to
count. Cal was frowning at him, breathing hard. “But that
isn"t you, Ray. It"s never been you. I could tell that with one
look, even if I was so confused at first.”
“You were confused?” It was easier than asking about
that first look.
Cal nodded slowly, studying Ray all over again and
streaming out more nonsense. “Mom was always saying
humans are weird, but they"re not really, just different, and
you"re not human anyway and my mother is a little… odd I
mean, she"d have to be, to hook up with my dad, because,
bleh, what is that about anyway?”
“He"s a good man, your father.”
Cal just snorted.
“Of course you"d say that, with your cop bond and your
„the work is everything" mentality.”
“You"re a part of that work too.”
“Hmph.”
Which meant he"d gotten the best of Cal, something so
rare that Ray nearly smiled. His heart was hammering in his
ears, but when he inhaled, when he looked, there Cal was.
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“There is no answer to that except that I"ve never heard
him say that. Or you for that matter. What?” Ray must have
looked surprised. “I wasn"t joking about impressing you,
Ray, you have to know that. What I would do to get you to
take me ser—well, you know.”
Ray frowned, feeling a bit lost. They"d already slept
together. If that"s what Cal was talking about, then he wasn"t
making sense.
“Cal.” They were alone. There might be no better time.
“What do you….” He had no right to ask that after today. He
shook his head and gentled his tone with effort.
“I thought fairies couldn"t lie,” he offered softly instead,
watching Cal"s mouth make a circle. “Your father thinks the
world of you, and you know it. He"s the reason you"re here.
Why you work here, I mean.” Ray was hot all over suddenly,
as though he"d said something wrong. “He… just wants
what"s best for you.”
“Please,” Cal scoffed. “What he
thinks
is best for me
without ever asking me or telling me what he"s planning
or—” Cal suddenly narrowed his eyes without letting go.
“And he, like a few other people I know, knows nothing
about fairies and their finer emotions, and if you want me to
not jump you, Ray, you need to stop touching me.”
“I"m considering it, Snapdragon,” Ray snarled back at
him, suddenly on the verge of jumping Cal himself. But he
made himself release Cal"s hands. Cal"s smile at that pushed
him just a bit closer. “I"m not the one who left this morning.”
Which, damn it, wasn"t what he"d meant to say at all.
Cal lit up, literally. “Oh, is that why you"re pissy?” he cooed,
and Ray hurriedly stepped back.
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“Look, you shouldn"t be here, Cal. Parker. You need to
go. You"re brilliant, but we don"t need you here. I don"t.
And—”
“You are such a liar, Ray.” Cal"s voice went from fond to
annoyed in two seconds. He was close to yelling. “You are
such a damn liar. I can"t believe you! You"re not even good at
it!”
The door burst open, and Ray twisted to stand in front
of Cal, ignoring the flurry of protest until he saw Ross, and
his heart slowed back down to what it always was around
Cal.
Ross was staring hard at Cal behind Ray"s back before
he focused on Ray.
“There a problem, Detective?” he asked with attitude,
but his dark mood wasn"t directed at Ray.
“No.” If he could control his breathing, that might be
believable. The last thing Ray needed right now was for word
of this to get out. “No, there"s no problem. I was just leaving.”
Somehow he didn"t think he was fooling anyone, least of
all Cal. But that he could deal with. Later. Much later. When
this was all over, and it was safe, and he had the release of
the woods to look forward to.
He moved forward, brushing past Ross and forcing the
man back. He didn"t turn to look at Cal, but he could hear
him, smell him, just a few steps behind him all the way back
to the bullpen.
IT WAS a long day. Ray was starving and dizzy with exhaus-
tion after only a few hours and trying not to show it to the
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frowning, furious half-fairy staring at him from too far away.
Cal was stiff and scowling as much as a fairy
could
scowl,
eating sugar cube after sugar cube like he needed the boost.
Almost
unhappy
.
Ray just stared back, or pretended to ignore him, and
focused on solving this damn case. Until finally, around shift
change,
Cal
left,
making
the
sudden,
dramatic
announcement to Penn that if he left he"d be missed.
“To be missed, one of us has to be gone,” Ray tossed
back, because it was painfully true, and Cal narrowed his
eyes before disappearing out the door. Benedict glared at Ray
again as he followed Cal out.
Penn then turned to him, and Ray pulled up another
name from the list on his computer to get a location. His
nose itched with Penn"s concern, but he raised his head,
straining to detect every drop of Cal"s scent as it faded. When
it was just the ghost-smell, he bent back to his work and
didn"t comment.
It was going to be a longer night.
WELL after dinnertime,
one
of his dinnertimes, when he
could tell without looking that the moon was high, and he
still hadn"t eaten, Penn had plopped candy from the break
room vending machine onto his desk and frowned at him
until he"d opened it. Chocolate covered almonds. Which was
some protein at least, though every sweet, crunchy bite
made him think of Cal.
Whom Penn was not mentioning. Which from her was as
bad as her saying something, and because secrets between
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partners weren"t a good idea, he finally turned to her and put
his hands out on his desk.
“What?”
“I"m pretty sure I don"t need to know anything.” She
kept her eyes on her work and spoke like he had asked
something else entirely. “After watching you two dance for a
few years, I think I"ve got it, thanks.”
“It"s not what you think. It"s not his fault,” he said
instantly, and she blinked rapidly a few times.
“No one said it was. In fact….” She tapped out
something on her keyboard, then made a note. “What do you
really think about his theory, now that he"s gone? You
believe him, don"t you? You have this whole time.”
Not what he was expecting. But Ray looked down at his
list of names. Even if most of them were still incarcerated, it
didn"t mean anything. Not with magic involved. “I can"t think
of anyone who would do this. But coincidence is… unlikely.
He"s right.”
“But you still don"t like it.” She looked at him at last.
“It"s why you sent him out of here—one of the reasons
anyway.”
Ray jerked, then gave her an evil look, setting his jaw. “I
can"t help that I need him to be safe and—”
“I know you can"t.” She smiled softly. “I know, Ray. But
he"s going to figure it out too.”
“Doesn"t matter.” He glared at his computer screen, then
went quiet as Penn"s phone rang. She looked startled as she
answered, then calmed and started to nod.
“Uh huh,” she murmured about six times, probably well
aware that Ray didn"t have to prick up his ears to know it
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was Cal on the other end of the call. Calling
her
. Ray yanked
at his tie, then decided to listen to more than just tone, right
as Cal ended the call.
“And since he"s listening, I"ll say goodnight. Anyway I—”
He didn"t finish. In true fairy fashion, he hung up without
saying goodbye.
“He"s worried. About you.” Penn filled Ray in, in case he
was in any doubt. “Also still mad. Do you think he"s hidden
candy
everywhere
?”
“Of course he has. And he"ll get over it.” Probably. And if