I looked askance at him, and from the tiny receiver came a relieved Thanks, Wayde. Shes a pain in the ass.
Wayde and I exchanged a long, slow look over the small space between us, and my fingers on the wheel tightened. Really? Wayde said, his face deadpan. Ive never had any trouble with her.
He hung up with a flick of the wrist, and my pink phone looked funny in his hand. Would you mind if I put this in your purse? he asked, and my irritation tightened. Get me there?
Go ahead, I said, glancing at his tattoos as he gingerly opened my bag and dropped the phone in. He wasnt wearing a coat, and he looked cold. You have an appointment at Emojins? I didnt think you had a scrap of skin left to ink.
Smiling now, Wayde rolled up his left sleeve, making a fist and showing me his well-muscled biceps. Damn. An Asian dragon wound around it, its mouth open to show a flicking, forked tongue. Some of the scales were glinting gold, others were drab and blurry.
Emojin is touching up my dragon. Giving it a little shine. I was stupid back when I got it, not caring who inked me. Emojin is one of the reasons I agreed to take this job.
Traffic eased the farther we got from the city center, and I risked another look at him, surprised by his eagerness. Excuse me?
Wayde rolled his sleeve down. Emojin is one of the best inkers this side of the Mississippi, if not in the entire U.S., he said. I wanted to be a part of what she does, and if Im here . . . He shrugged, resettling himself in his seat.
I thought about that as I turned onto Washington. My heart gave a tiny thump, and I shifted my grip on the wheel, finally warming up in the cars heat. November was cold in Cincinnati.
Standing her up is disrespectful, Wayde said softly. Shes an artist. If you dont respect the art, at least respect the artist.
My breath came fast. I dont want a tattoo. I wouldve thought that was clear by now.
Wayde made a rude sound. It is, he said sharply. Put your big girl panties on and do it already. Its been ages, and youre being disrespectful to your pack. Daviddamn, if you were my alpha, Id pin you by your throat and make you behave.
Yeah, well, thats why youre not an alpha, I said, then wished I hadnt. My tight shoulders eased and my head throbbed. Youre right, though, I admitted, and he stopped tapping the armrest. I need to do this. But it was going to hurt!
God, I was such a baby. At least I knew Wayde didnt have a day off until next Friday. Id have until then to screw my courage to the sticking point.
We had to be getting close, and the street was almost empty compared to the last street wed been on. I slowed, looking for addresses. Maybe it was a church. A lot of the little ones had small cemeteries beside them.
There, Wayde said, and I followed his pointing finger to the I.S. van stopped at the curbside parking of a small city park. The music hall was across the street, but that wasnt where the cluster of vehicles was. I didnt see anyone among the trees and benches, but it was a six-acre park.
Look, Ivys car, I said, turning in to park beside her. Id been hoping that shed get here before me, wherever here was. If I didnt know better, Id say the hour and a half it had taken to get my license and registration had been an excuse to keep me away until the real work was done.
Deep in thought, I put the car into park and pulled my bag onto my lap. The charmed silver around my wrist thumped down. I missed the protection that being able to set a circle had given me, and I didnt like crime scenes to begin with. Everyone made me feel stupid, and I always seemed to do something wrong. But Id stand beside Ivy with my hands in my pockets and watch her work. She was great at crime scenes. Shed been the I.S.s darling before she bought out her contract to go independent with me. I think it had saved her sanity. My thoughts darted to Nina, and I hoped that core of self she had would survive now that her master knew she was alive.
Wayde didnt move as I opened my door. The cool air rushing in smelled faintly like garbage. I looked into the park and saw nothing but trees and the top of a large gazebo in the distance. Theres no FIB here, I said softly, still inside the car. Unusual. Nina had said that theyd been working on this for a couple of weeks. Perhaps the crime had been labeled as strictly Inderlander, no human involvement.
Wayde stretched out as much as a Were could stretch out in a compact car. You need me, just whistle, he said as he arranged his ball cap over his eyes against the sun leaking through the frost-emptied branches.
After weeks of him accompanying me and my hating it, I hesitated. Youre not coming?
Lifting the brim of his cap, he eyed me. You want me to? he asked blandly.
Not really, no.
He dropped the brim and laced his hands over his middle. Then why are you bitching? Its a crime scene, not a grocery store. No ones going to bother you, and they wont let me in.
There was that. Nodding, I got out, hitched my bag back up on my shoulder, slammed the door shut, and started up the sidewalk snaking into the park, hearing the radio chatter coming from the gazebo. My boot heels clicked, and I hesitated at a confident hail from the open I.S. van as I passed it. There wasnt any tape strung up, but with all the official vehicles, it was obvious the park might be closed.
Excuse me, maam? It came again, and I turned back around, fluffing my hair and smiling. I had a bent and dilapidated FIB sign under my car seat that I could put in the window when I was at crime scenes, but that wouldnt help me today. At least I had my license.
Hi! I said brightly, waiting until he asked for it before I dug it out. Im Rachel Morgan. From Vampiric Charms? Nina, uh, one of your bosses, told me to come out and take a look. I had stopped in a spot of light, and squinting at the thin, overly aggressive witch in an I.S. uniform coming toward me, I tucked my hair back. I should be on the list.
Identification? he said, the word nasty and sharp. He was ticked that hed been relegated to the parking lot when he wanted to be at the scene. I knew how he felt.
Sure. I handed it to him, my cold fingers fumbling. Im with Ivy Tamwood and the pixy? God! What was it with me making everything a question? Id been asked here.
Identification? he said, the word nasty and sharp. He was ticked that hed been relegated to the parking lot when he wanted to be at the scene. I knew how he felt.
Sure. I handed it to him, my cold fingers fumbling. Im with Ivy Tamwood and the pixy? God! What was it with me making everything a question? Id been asked here.
The mans confusion cleared, but he didnt hand me my license back, looking down at it with mistrust. Oh! Youre the, uh . . .
My eyes narrowed at the derision that had crept into his voice. Demon, I finished for him, snatching my license. Yes, thats me. My charmed silver felt cold as I shoved my licenese away. Sure, be mean to the demon when shes got no magic. Theyre over there, huh?
I turned away, teeth clenching when he called after me, Maam, if you could wait a moment? You need an escort.
Since when? I thought, my heels clumping to a stop. Behind him, at my car, Wayde made a bunny-eared kiss-kiss at me and went back to sleep. Irate, I leaned against a tree growing into the sidewalk. The trunk was still wet from last nights rain, and I crossed my arms and gestured to the cop that I wouldnt go anywhere.
He gave me a warning look and actually touched his wand, but when I pushed myself away from the tree, he turned and paced quickly to the van. Satisfied, I slumped back. Stupid ass. Now my mood was thoroughly ruined.
Sighing, I strained to hear the radio chatter, but it was too far for anything but background gibberish. Jenks would have been able to hear it from here. Ivy, too. My gaze went to the nearby music hall, and I shivered. The building had gorgeous architecture, but there was something wrong with it. Even the gargoyles avoided it.
A faint, familiar voice pricked at my awareness, and my face, screwed up in a squint from the sun, slowly became a frown as I turned to the park. The masculine sound rose and fell in a politically practiced wave designed to soothe, assure, and convince. It brushed against me with the warmth the November breeze lacked, and my pulse jumped. Trent? What was he doing out here?
The sidewalk was still empty, and I pushed away from the tree again, concerned as I remembered his missed call an hour and a half ago. If it had been important, wouldnt he have called Ivy or Jenks? But they were already out here. Damn it, Id missing something, and I took a step forward when he and Nina came around a bend, their pace holding a businesslike quickness.
Jerking to a halt, I hesitated. Nina looked about the same. By all appearances she was channeling that undead vampire as she slapped Trent on the shoulder and pulled them to a stop when she noticed me waiting. They were too far away to hear what they were saying, but it was obvious that Trent wasnt happy.
I hadnt seen him in months, apart from visiting Ceri when her little girl, Ray, had been born. He looked good, if a bit preoccupied with hiding his anger behind a pleasant, fake smilebetter than good, actually, and I fidgeted, remembering the passionate kiss that Id promised to forget. His fair hair moving in the breeze caught the light, and I could tell the movement bothered him when he tucked it behind his ear. He was clean shaven, ready for the office as he stood in a patch of sun in his thousand-dollar shoes and a wool overcoat that came down to his knees. It hid his athletic physique, but Id had a pretty good idea of what was under itevery wonderfully toned, tan inch of himthanks to having burst in on him in the shower once. Oh my God, seeing him with a towel around his shower-wet hips had been worth the entire twenty-three hundred miles stuck in a Buick with a carsick pixy.
He was about my age, my height, and way out of my tax bracket, even if he had given up on his bid for mayor and was no longer even a city council member. The illegal bio-drug lord, murderer, and real-time businessman blamed it on wanting to devote time to his new family, but I knew that coming out of the closet as an elf had hurt him politically. I felt no sympathy.
The thought of his silky hair in my fingertips as my lips moved against his rose through me, and I looked away as he and Nina clasped hands. The woman shook like a man, firm and aggressive, with a mens club air about her. Why is Trent out here? I probably shouldve used that hour and a half and called him, but Id been afraid of what he wanted.