Chapter 8
After showering and changing, Angel gave me an SED vest and dropped me off in the cafeteria. “You can find your way out front, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Your stomach is growling loud enough for everyone to hear, and I need to grab a car. Hopefully one that doesn’t stink like rotting bodies or vomit. Grab something to eat, and I’ll meet you out front.”
“You want something?” I called as he walked away.
“Sure. Grab whatever. I’m easy.”
I raised a brow in his direction.
He laughed as though he knew what I was fighting not to say. It was nice that he seemed okay joking with me. The banter would make the job transition smoother. “Coffee and a sandwich.”
“No allergies?”
“Nope. You?” he asked as he walked backward for a few feet.
“Only to a bag of dicks.”
“Noted. Meet you out front in twenty.” He vanished down the hall to the elevator bay, and I headed into the cafeteria, surprised by the size, options, and activity.
I walked up to the counter, a prep area that made custom sandwiches, toasted or not, and stared at the variety.
Holy crap. We’d never had options this good at my last precinct.
“Hi,” the woman behind the glass said. “What can I get you?”
“Uh, do you happen to know Angel Mao? I’m his new partner and need to get a sandwich for him.”
“Sure.” She gave me a smile. “What about you?”
“Uh…” I read through the overhead list of suggestions. “Maybe give me whatever Angel is getting. It all looks good.”
I watched her put together a Philly style sandwich, toasted until the cheese melted and the bread was golden brown, extra peppers and onions—which I thought was weird—and an added layer of turkey on top. The extra protein made sense, since he was a shifter. He probably burned through calories fast.
“Can you add pickles to mine?” I asked.
“Sure,” she agreed, and heaped them on the second sandwich. The damn sandwiches barely fit in the to-go box she packed, but she added a handful of sliced carrots and cucumbers, as well as handmade potato chips. I was in awe of the sheer size, and all I had to do was scan my badge.
The coffee station was just as fancy, though the employee there—a large man with purple skin and horns—didn’t know what Angel would drink. He stared at me, gaze focused on my armband, which still had the hint of black in it but glowed bright red. Was he a demon? Was it speciesism to ask?
I made up two large, light roast coffees with room for cream, and grabbed a handful of creamer packets and sugars of all varieties, stuffing them into the bag before making my way to the elevator.
My twenty minutes were almost up. Would Angel come looking for me all pissed off?
And why did the thought of him fuming make me hot?
Okay, well, it was a dumb question, as I played otome games when I had time, and had romanced more than my fair share of beyond hot virtual boyfriends.
The morally gray ones drew me like a fly to honey, not that I thought that sort of man would be worth pursuing in real life.
Morally gray had plenty of red flags to avoid. But in a game…
“Masochist much?” I asked myself as I found my way out the front where an SED painted SUV idled. Angel leaned against it; eyes closed as though he needed a nap. His nose twitched, and he opened his eyes, gaze zeroing in on the sandwich.
I hesitated, staring at the modern SUV with extra lights. Were we going into the Veil? Oh, fuck me.
“What?” Angel asked. “We don’t need an unmarked car and it was the cleanest I could find.”
“Is the DB across the Veil?”
“No, but the fastest way to the location has a shortcut through the Veil. I’m driving. I’ve seen my fair share of supes on the road.” He reached for the boxes and the coffee holder. “Location is near the new tear.”
I wondered if there was anything left of the daycare and how many people had abandoned their businesses and homes when the other side slipped into our realm. Angel set the cup carrier on the hood.
“These smell the same.”
“I ordered the same for both of us. Light roast with room for cream and a toasted Philly sandwich.”
“Marie must have been at the sandwich station.”
I couldn’t recall seeing a name tag, but he opened the lid of one of the coffees, and added two creams and a lot of real sugar. Maybe I should have gotten more. “You like your coffee sweet?”
He shrugged. “You?”
“I’m used to the swill that cops normally have. Three days old and burnt. Though, I prefer the fluffier kinds.”
Angel grimaced. “Gross.”
“I love coffee in general, just not the cold stuff. Coffee should be hot, and I’ll die on that hill.”
He snorted, took a sandwich box and a coffee, then made his way around to the driver’s side. I added cream and a few packets of sweetener to my coffee, then got in the passenger side.
Angel had his box open and a triangle of the giant sandwich in his hands.
It was only as he bit into it that I remembered one of them had pickles added and neither box had been marked to indicate which one.
He paused, staring at the sandwich and chewing.
I opened the box in my lap. Sure enough, no pickles.
“Sorry,” I said. “I added pickles to mine. Let’s switch.”
He took another bite, mulling over the taste. “I don’t hate it.”
“Uh, okay?”
He finished the triangle, then picked up two of his remaining pieces and switched them with two in mine, giving us each half. He stuffed two cucumbers in his mouth before putting us in drive. I munched on my sandwich, worrying about driving through the Veil.
“Do you want my cucumbers, too?” I asked. “I’m not a fan.”
“You like pickles but not cucumbers? They are technically the same thing.”
“They don’t taste the same.”
“There’s a dick joke there somewhere, right?”
I laughed. “Yeah, probably.” I held them up. “Want them?”
“Sure. Put them in my box.” He one-handed another triangle, devouring it in two bites and crunching chips in between as he steered us up to the highway. He glanced my way. “You may want to close up your box until we get through the Veil, since the elevator made you queasy.”
I closed my sandwich box and stared out the window as we approached the overrun section of the highway.
A thousand times, I’d driven through it, holding my breath, and never once gotten off to enter the Necropolis on the other side.
Angel drove us three exits down before leaving the freeway and entering into the cloud-covered darkness.
I gripped the door handle, heart pounding as I thought of a dozen stories I’d heard about people getting lost and never returning after entering the Veil.
The streets bore an eerie resemblance to what I remembered before the split, though the buildings had morphed into shapes not possible in human architecture, windows looking like eyes and doors like gaping mouths.
“Fuck,” Angel cursed, and slammed on the brakes. He’d only started to roll through a four-way stop when a woman crossed in front of us. I wondered if she was okay. There was no crosswalk or flashing lights to give her a go-ahead, but we were also the only vehicle I’d seen.
The SUV stopped a few inches from her and she kept walking, though she turned her head to stare at us and snarled, face contorting and mouth opening impossibly wide. Angel hit a button and the lights came on, flashing blue and red. She snapped her mouth shut and hurried across the street.
“La Llorona,” Angel said, clarifying. “A bit like banshees. Creepy as fuck, but mostly harmless to anyone over the age of five.”
“Uh…” I was lost for words as he continued on, unfazed.
We passed the daycare on the way to the new scene. The entire block was darkened with haze and shadow; abandoned, as often happened when the Veil took over. Caution tape was left up outside as if to warn of its impending doom.
I sat with my food in my lap, watching the world shifting and wriggling as though it were a living thing until we exited the Veil into a sunshine-filled day and parked in a line with other cop cars. Only then did I take a deep breath.
Two other cars were marked SED. The rest were MPD, likely there to hand the scene over as soon as they got confirmation the DB was variant related.
I’d seen a handful in my time. As we were rarely the first on the scene, cases got moved before we got a glimpse of some of the worst. Though, I’d had one that haunted me for a while.
We’d thought it was a serial killer. Turned out, it was some sort of cryptid, and SED took it off our desk in a hurry after the fifth victim.
“You wanna eat first?” Angel asked. “The DB isn’t going anywhere. Recon is already working on interviews.” He had devoured his food on the way, obviously unbothered by the gut-shifting nausea that came from entering and leaving the Veil.
“Nah,” I said, and placed the box on the floor at my feet. How bad was this one going to be? “Let’s get this done.”
He shrugged and got out. I followed close behind, grimacing as I realized Cassidy stood at the door like a handsome brick wall.
His gaze slid over me as though he were trying to relive our handful of private encounters together.
I ignored him as Angel swept by without fanfare, entering the small bookstore. Beside Angel, Cassidy looked ordinary.
“Holt,” Cassidy said. He leaned in, too close for coworkers, and I couldn’t help my flinch at having him in my personal space. “It’s brutal.”
“I’ve probably seen worse,” I said, ducking out from his lean and through the door. Angel frowned at me, but I let the door close behind me.
“Friend of yours?” he asked.
“Nah,” I said. “Just a bag of dicks.”
His expression changed in a heartbeat to realization and then humor. “Is that right?”
I shrugged as we followed the uniforms to the back. “What can I say? They are everywhere. Recon does all the interviews?”
“Preliminary, yeah. Ezra is good. We’ll get a full transcript with everything from body language to scent.” Angel tapped the side of his nose. “Ezra’s a wolf.”
“Really? I’m used to doing my own interviews, but I look forward to his info.”
“We’ll have full video upload of each one before we finish reviewing the body.
And if we need to talk to one in particular, we take care of that ourselves.
When it was just me, I’d take Ezra with me to second interviews.
I’ve never met anyone better at reading body language and the subtle scent changes people go through when they lie. ”
I stared at him with wide eyes. “Good to know. Ezra has a super sniffer.”
“If you feel he’s not getting the right info during the initial questionings, we can either add questions or put the two of you together for interviews.
I’m flexible, but Ezra’s strength is reading people.
” He studied me for half a heartbeat. “I don’t know your strengths yet. Other than solving cases.”
“I guess we’ll be learning together then.”
A handful of cops blocked off the children’s book section which was separated from the rest of the store by giant, fake Legos and plastic Crayons.
The blood spatter dripped off a section of picture books.
Arterial spray? What a strange, low angle.
And the volume of blood made me think it wasn’t a kid who’d died, despite the low spray.
I bent to get a feel for the angle, the scent of blood heavy in the air and a weird sensation of being watched itching beneath my skin.
A shadow stepped in front of me and I looked up, focus broken from the blood to follow a firm body in a well-fitted uniform up to a handsome but unhappy face.
“Hi,” I said, straightening. The SED logo on his pocket said he was one of ours. The gloves, booties, and full-body uniform made me think maybe from the ME’s office, if SED had one.
“He’s with me,” Angel said, stepping up beside me and handing over gloves and booties.
“This is what they gave you for a new partner?” the man asked. “Feels a little like a demotion, don’t you think?”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Angel tugged me away. “Them’s the rules, Victor. Talk to Sergeant Hanna if you don’t like them. Variants are paired now. The rest of you NHVs do your own thing with your bad selves.”
“NHV?” I whispered, tugging on the gloves and sliding the covers over my shoes.
“Non-human variant.”
I glanced up and noticed he had no band on his arm. What was he? Victor caught my gaze and something flickered through his eyes that had me taking an unconscious step forward. Angel caught my arm and stepped between us. “Stop messing with him, Victor.”
“I adore baby SVs. So untainted and vulnerable.”
I shook my head to clear the haze and realized he had done something to me. “What the hell?” I asked Angel.
“Vampire,” Angel said. “Don’t meet their gaze.
Maybe someday, since you’re SV, you’ll be able to look them in the eye.
Legends speak of necromancers who could control the vampire undead, too.
I’d like to see a few of them yanked around like puppets on a string.
” I didn’t miss the menace in his tone directed loudly at Victor.
“Fairytales,” Victor said. “Anyway.” He waved behind him. “We’re ready to move him. Would have already if we weren’t waiting on you. But I guess no one told the Sarge that you were babysitting today.”
“Whatever,” Angel said as he tugged me past Victor and into the play area.