Chapter 17
Watching people come and go from the bookstore could have taken days on regular speed, but since their business wasn’t exactly hopping it only took a few hours on high-speed to snapshot anyone in or out.
Could we get names for each customer to go with the timestamp?
I paid close attention to the ones with kids.
None of them looked like the blonde thing I’d seen out of the corner of my eye.
Angel and I split the days, each taking one at a time to review.
Both of us sat with headsets on, listening for anything out of the ordinary, gazes locked on the screen.
This was the most boring part of the job, but one of the most important.
We got through four days before Angel pulled off his headset and stretched. “Let’s go to lunch.”
“Oh yes, food. And more coffee.”
He snorted. “You cannot exist on coffee alone.”
“It’s water,” I protested. “Filtered through beans.”
“If you say so.” A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Want to walk over to the bakery?” Angel asked.
I froze, my stomach gurgling with joy and my head reeling with fear. “Across the Veil?”
“It’s a five-minute walk.”
“But it’s safe?”
“Yep,” Angel agreed.
I swallowed, and nodded. “Lead on, then. Promise you won’t leave me lost over there.”
“The route is straightforward. This part of the tear between worlds was one of the first, and oldest. It might help your anxiety to experience it when it’s not in the middle of a murder case.”
“True,” I agreed, and followed him out. Not being attacked by shadow monsters the second I crossed over would help, but we’d start with a jaunt to the bakery.
A lot of the office had emptied out as we worked.
Angel mentioned they were on Active Rotation this week, trying to give me time to adjust. While I appreciated it, I hoped I wasn’t holding them back.
The trip out of the building and down the half block to where the world mixed felt like any other walk, but turning into an alley to find the sunny day changed to fog and darkness made a chill rise on my skin.
“You okay?” Angel asked as he bumped my shoulder, keeping close as we headed down a long street filled with old shops, some lit, some dark. This section across the Veil wasn’t as distorted as the one I’d ended up in.
“Why is it so different from yesterday?”
“When the Veil tears, it tries to merge the otherworld—which is really a mix of a thousand supernatural realms—over ours. What you see here is how it settled. Some things remain, others vanish completely.”
While the streets remained mostly bare of people, occasionally someone passed us. I tried not to stare too hard to determine if they were human or something else.
Angel led us to the end of the street and a corner shop with a door and no windows to the outside.
“This building merged with the other side, creating an unusual layout, but they make it work.” He held the door for me, and I entered, surprised by the delightful scent of baked goods, fresh bread, and the dim lights.
I’d expected darkness with limited displays of food, but there was easily a dozen baked goods cases, backlit to show off the delicious treats.
“Ours is over here.” Angel gripped my bicep and led me over to one side. “Best stay away from the other. It will turn your stomach. The bakery has treats for a lot of things that only exist on this side of the Veil.”
I raised a brow, curious but also horrified by what could possibly be on the other side.
Thankfully, the wall of pastries provided a divine distraction.
“This has to be heaven,” I muttered. “They have real red bean paste buns? I love those things.” Yogurt cake, cheesecake, mochi donuts, croissants both sweet and savory.
“I want it all,” I said absently as Angel shoved a tray and tongs into my hands. “Oh, this is dangerous.”
He laughed, and it sounded light and happy. “I’ve tried everything, I think. At least, on this side of the bakery.”
My phone rang. “Fuck.” Please tell me it wasn’t an emergency. I scrambled to get it out of my pocket. Unknown number? “Hello?”
“Jude?”
It took me a beat to recognize the soft voice, as I’d heard little of it. “Ivan, hey. Nikki got your phone set up. That’s great.”
“Yeah. She’s nice. Thanks for the phone.”
“Sure. Did you eat?”
“All the groceries arrived, and it’s a lot.”
“I wanted to make sure you had food,” I told him.
Angel took my tray from me and waved at the case, silently asking me to point out what I wanted. I began with the mochi donuts filled with real vanilla cream, because why not?
“I had some cereal.”
“Good! But you need protein, right? I ordered some cold cuts if you don’t want to cook.
You said you didn’t like red meat, so I ordered chicken and turkey.
” Had I gotten bread? Fuck, I ate bread rarely, and didn’t know if I’d ordered it.
“If I forgot bread, I bet Nikki has some. Oh, and I’m at a bakery right now.
They seem to have some bread, so I’ll bring some home. ”
Angel added a few other things to my tray that I’d never seen before, but it all looked good.
“I’m good. I ate,” Ivan said. He hesitated another second. “Is it okay if I use your internet?”
“Uh, yeah. You live there now too, Ivan. It’s your internet, also. Use away.”
“Mom and Dad didn’t want me online…”
“I’m not going to defend them, but social media sucks for mental health. Are you okay enough to be online?”
“I like reading webcomics,” Ivan confessed.
“Oh! Did you know Nikki draws those?”
“She does?”
“Yep. Not all of them are PG, but she has a ton of manga and manhua. Did she give you her number?”
“I don’t want to bother anyone.”
“Ivan,” I said, trying to keep the frustration out of my voice. He didn’t need that. “You’re not a bother. I want you to be happy. Read your comics. When you log into my wi-fi it will send a ping to my phone to approve you. Do you need a computer?” I hadn’t looked through his stuff.
“I have one… they found it.” He had one he wasn’t supposed to have. I got that without asking.
“Well, same thing. Just make sure you eat and get some rest. We’ll figure out the school thing this weekend if that works for you. In the meantime, consider yourself on vacation.”
Ivan exhaled on the other side of the line, letting out a long breath, then said, “K.”
“Call or text if you need me. As long as I’m not examining a body, I’ll do my best to answer.”
“Ew.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot in my life. I’ll grab you something from the bakery. It all looks amazing. Do you have anything you don’t like?”
“Anything gross.”
“That’s broad. Mochi donut it is.”
“Donuts sound good.”
“Got it.” We said our goodbyes and I waited for him to ping the wi-fi, approved his access, and then stuffed my phone in my pocket, adding a couple more donuts to my tray. Wow, there was a lot of food.
“Your brother doing okay?” Angel asked.
“It’s his first day of freedom,” I said, remembering what it felt like to be out from under my parents’ rules and abuse. “He’s still finding his feet, trying to determine if it’s real or another cage.”
Angel paused, his gaze falling on me with a touch of sadness. “I’m glad he has you.”
“I turned out okay,” I proclaimed. “Hopefully, I don’t fuck the kid up too much.”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Angel said. He held up the tray. “Anything I missed?”
“It’s so much food.” But I couldn’t wait to taste it all. “I should get something for Nikki.”
“Who’s Nikki?”
“Best friend. She lives across the hall. I’ve known her since college. I attended a police academy right next to her art college.” I added a slice of mango cloud cake for her and followed Angel up toward the register.
“An unlikely pair,” Angel said.
“We have similar taste in music, books, and art. Or, at least, we do now. She introduced me to the whole world of anime after I caught a glimpse of her sketching outside the college one day while on a break from class. Got to talking, and boom, BFFs.”
“That’s great. Even more that you’re still close.
” He hesitated a heartbeat. Two youngish women worked the counter, bagging up orders and ringing them through the register.
They looked like polar opposites; one very blond and tall enough to make me think of a Valkyrie from Norse folklore, and the other dark and goth, with black hair, pale skin, and blood-red lipstick.
Both were beautiful women with curves and confidence, but the air around them rippled with a strange crackling of mixing smoke, some white and some black.
Angel nudged me. “Best behavior,” he said.
“Huh?”
He set our tray down on the counter and the blond woman picked it up, bagging each item. “Hello, Angel,” she said, her voice deep, but soothing.
“Who’s your friend?” The dark one asked, her gaze on my armband. Was she a demon? I silently cursed and wished again I could hide the band or tone down its brightness.
“This is Jude, my new partner at SED,” Angel said. “Jude, this is Gwen.” He motioned to the blonde. “And Lilith.” He nodded his head to the other woman. “They run the shop sometimes.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said to them. “This is my first time in here, but Angel brought me some treats yesterday. It all looks amazing.”
“Really?” Gwen said. “Angel brought you treats? How unusual for him to share.”
“Goddess…” Angel muttered. “We should get back.” He pulled out his wallet to pay.
“I’ll get it,” I said, putting my hand over his to push his wallet away. “You got me treats yesterday. Let me get yours today. Plus, I have stuff for Ivan.” I looked down at the three bags of food. “And a lot for me. Did you get enough for you?”
Angel shivered as our magics mingled for a few seconds while he slid his hand out from under mine and put his wallet away. He took a step back as I pulled out some cash and held it out. The women stared at me as if looking into my soul, and I sucked in air.
“Uh…everything okay?” I asked.
“Interesting,” Gwen said, her gaze sliding back and forth between Angel and me.
“You’re a lovely creature, Jude,” Lilith said.
“Thank you?” Was that good?
“Rare,” Gwen agreed. “You’re paying for Angel’s food, too? Feeding him?”
“Yeah.” I glanced back at Angel. “You got food, right?” I couldn’t believe I’d bought over a hundred dollars worth of food for myself and Ivan. “If you don’t have enough, you can have some of mine.”
He nodded, his cheeks a little flushed.
“We’re good,” I said, holding out the money.
Lilith took it from me, her fingertips brushing mine. I expected a zap or something, but her touch slid over me without any magic. Strange, as I could see the wriggling of an aura around her. She was something not human, but damned if I could tell what.
“Thank you so much!” I said as she handed over the change and receipt. Angel took two of the bags, leaving the third for me to carry. “Nice meeting you both.”
I turned around to leave and ran right into Lilith, who had somehow come around the counter and appeared in front of me as if she’d manifested there. What the fuck?
She cupped my cheek, and I swallowed a rush of fear, wondering if she was a vampire and about to fuck me up, but her gaze was soft.
“Everything okay?” I repeated quietly, afraid of drawing more attention to myself, and unable to see Angel behind the woman.
“Sweet little necromancer. Danger waits for you.”
I felt like the entire shop froze with those words. Other customers all gazed our way, and a chill arched up my spine. “I try to avoid danger whenever possible.”
“Fate has chosen you,” Gwen said from behind me.
“Chosen me for what? Is fate something I should worry about?”
Lilith sighed. “Come home when you’re ready. When you’re tired, and seeking rest, I’ll welcome you back into the fold.”
“Uh…” What the fuck did that mean? But she stepped out from between Angel and me, and headed back behind the counter as if she hadn’t just appeared in front of me.
I blinked at Angel, who glanced behind me, then reached for my hand and tugged me out the door.
I didn’t look back. Angel’s hand in mine, guiding more than holding, but the way our magic ran back and forth between us soothed some of the anxiety, though none of the questions.
“Do I want to know?” I asked.
“Maybe not yet,” Angel offered.
“Scary? Or am I overreacting?”
“Best to be cautious of most you meet across the Veil,” he agreed.
I filed away the knowledge that two beautiful women working in a bakery across the Veil scared my unflappable partner and should probably terrify me. “I’ll try not to think about it for now.”
“Good plan.”
We got halfway down the street before my stomach grumbled like a beast awakening from a millennia-long slumber.
I snorted out a laugh. “Sorry. Guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”
Angel dug out a donut and held it to my lips. I took a bite without thinking, the scent of sugar and vanilla overwhelming. The cream filled my mouth and squirted messily around Angel’s hand.
“Sorry,” I laughed, and chewed. I licked the cream from around the donut, sticking close to his side, and grabbed his wrist to keep him from pulling the donut away.
But Angel slid his thumb along my mouth, catching a bit of stray cream.
I took the donut from him and he sucked on his thumb, while I couldn’t help but watch and wish it were another part of my anatomy he sucked on.
“Want a bite?” I asked, holding it out to him.
He paused, and I did too, waiting for an answer, donut an inch from his lips.
Despite standing in the gloom across the Veil’s empty street, being close to him felt safe.
He leaned in and took a bite of the donut, tongue sliding out to lick up the extra cream.
He left that last bite for me, and I stuffed it in my mouth, sad that it was gone, but knowing there were more in the bag. I licked the sugar off my fingers.
“Will you survive until we get back upstairs?” Angel teased, licking cream off his hand and rebalancing the bags.
My jeans tightened as I stared at him, and I took a step back. “I’m good. Promise,” I offered, jolting ahead toward the SED building. “Coming?” I asked when he didn’t immediately follow.
He stared at me a minute longer before reaching my side and walking with me.