Chapter 24
I leapt out of bed at the familiar sound of the front door opening.
Voices trickled through my space as I really debated becoming that guy and having my gun in the bedside drawer.
Peanut Butter’s chirpy cries sounded excited as I tiptoed toward the open bedroom door, thinking it was time to put a baseball bat beside it.
Ivan sat on the floor in front of the couch, watching a video on his phone. Had I overslept?
“Hey,” Nikki said, as she snuggled my cat and sipped an iced coffee.
Angel stood beside the kitchen island with a coffee carrier and a paper bag. I blinked at the two of them, confused, as I knew they didn’t know each other, and then at the clock, which said it was five after six in the morning.
“Ran into him in the lobby,” Nikki said. “Coming in with coffee. Asked if I knew you.” She blinked, and her eyes went wide. “He’s not a creeper, right?” She mouthed to me, He’s hot.
“Uh, standing right here, and no, I’m not a creeper.”
They both stared at me. Was I still dreaming?
“Is he always like this in the morning?” Angel asked Nikki. “A zombie?”
“Beeeans…” I moaned instead of brains.
“Before coffee, yeah,” Nikki agreed as she gave Peanut Butter more snuggles and a dozen kisses. “Anyway, I gotta get to work.” She mimicked a phone receiver with her hand and mouthed, call me. “Nice to meet you, Angel.” She turned toward the door, throwing a look my way.
I stood there in my pajamas, eye mask on my forehead and heart starting to slow a little, my mind struggling to catch up. “Am I late for something?”
“Xavier asked me to pick up Ivan, and I thought you’d want to ride with.
We can head to work right afterward.” He glanced around the apartment, seeming to notice all the lights on.
“Everything okay?” He held out a cup of coffee for me and I took it, staring at him, bright-eyed and looking way too hot for this early in the morning.
Ivan’s gaze went from one to the other, but he said nothing.
Angel crossed from the kitchen to Ivan’s side, squatting down. “You must be Ivan. I’m Angel, Jude’s partner. I’m also a shifter. Xavier is a friend of mine. He asked me to make sure you get to the community center, and I know Jude has never been there.”
Ivan studied him, but said nothing. His gaze flipped to me in question.
“You okay with going to the community center?” I asked Ivan.
He gave a slight nod. Had my parents made him this skittish? I hesitated to ask and bring up any painful memories for him.
“I wasn’t sure if you drank coffee,” Angel said. “So, I brought a hot chocolate for you, and a breakfast sandwich.” He rose to his feet and returned to the counter to pass out treats.
I lifted the coffee to my lips and sucked down half the contents, the heat and caffeine slowly chugging through my sleep deprived brain. Angel set a wrapped sandwich beside me, leaning in close to whisper in my ear, “He’ll be fine. You okay?”
Was I? Maybe. Had last night been a dream? What about yesterday? Angel’s proximity and the soothing touch of his magic caressing mine eased a lot of the anxiety that had ridden me hard all night.
He reached up to tug the sleep mask off my head, a tiny smile curving his lips.
“Don’t tease,” I said, too raw this early in the morning to hear anything bad.
“Never,” he agreed with a hand over his heart.
“Ivan doesn’t like red meat. Did you get him…?” I tried to think of breakfast sandwich options and if I could make something to feed him before we left. I really needed to get in the shower if we were leaving this early.
“Turkey sausage and egg,” Angel said. He slid his arm around my waist to rest his hand on my lower back, soothing and warming all at once.
Like he could pull me into a hug and ease my racing heart if it flared up again.
I didn’t know why I reacted to him this way, but it was nice.
“Xavier’s instructions. He takes good care of shifters. ”
I grumbled my irritation at a guy I’d only ever met once and focused on my brother for a second. He nibbled his sandwich and sipped his cocoa, gaze darting away from us.
“I’m going to jump in the shower. You okay?” Not that I thought Angel would do anything to him, but I wanted Ivan to feel safe. He gave me another quiet nod as Peanut Butter settled into his lap for pets.
Angel pulled me in close for a second, nuzzling my neck and whispering in my ear. “We’re going to interview the parents of that kid from the daycare today.”
I tensed, and his hold tightened.
“I thought it best we talk to them directly. If you don’t want to…”
I swallowed back bile with my fear. “No. It’s a good idea. If it was my variance, maybe I’ll see something? If not, then I’ll know it was just my brain being stupid.”
Angel’s heat lingered as I hesitated to pull away and begin the day.
He slid his cheek along mine and eased his hold to let me step free and head to the bedroom to gather clothes for the shower.
Before I slipped into the bathroom, I saw him sitting down on the couch a few feet from Ivan, pointing at Ivan’s phone and chatting about a web comic he liked.
The shower hissed to life. Steam curled up to fill the space as I undressed and threw everything in the hamper before stepping under the spray. The water rained down on me with heat just shy of the fires of hell, waking my senses and driving away the exhaustion from the bad night of sleep.
The idea of the interview roiled my stomach. I wanted the monstrous face the kid displayed on the replay to be in my head because, if it was real, that meant something only I could see. Maybe. Probably. How would I prove it to anyone?
I washed, stepped out to dry off, and ran through my quick routine, debating for a few minutes how pro I needed to be.
The clothes would be pressed gray slacks and a teal blue button-up, a business casual I often wore to interviews.
No tie, and the color was brighter than I’d have worn if only adults were involved.
Kids found the typical black and white to be intimidating, and if I had a chance to talk to the kid, I would try.
Angel said they were non-verbal, but maybe my ability would sense something? I’d had my fair share of convincing children to talk to me. Joe said I had the sort of face that people found approachable, whatever that meant. If it helped in any of these SED cases, I’d use whatever I had.
I styled my hair, added a touch of eyeliner like a layer of armor, and made my way out.
Angel’s gaze slid over me as I exited the bathroom, appreciative; though he leaned against the counter, nursing his coffee, not commenting.
Ivan perched on the edge of the couch, his blanket folded neatly, pillow on top in the opposite corner.
His suitcase was zipped closed beside the couch.
It felt final, like he was leaving. Did he want to?
I knew Xavier was some sort of supernatural powerhouse, but I’d hoped my little brother would give me a chance, even if I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing.
“Ready?” Angel asked, gaze flicking between me and Ivan. Ivan had already been dressed when I got up.
“Do you need time in the bathroom?” I asked Ivan.
He shook his head, standing as he shoved his phone in his pocket.
“I saved some cookies for you,” I told Angel. “Some for the office too.”
He raised a brow, but I grabbed the container from the counter and handed it over, pretending it wasn’t a big deal. Angel accepted it and let me slip away from him to finish my tasks around the apartment.
I gave Peanut Butter pets, made sure his bowl had food, and grabbed my work laptop before stepping into my shoes by the door and opening it.
Ivan followed, sliding past me into the hall as Angel took up the rear.
I closed and locked the door, heart pounding as we quietly made our way to the elevator.
“You sure you’re going to be okay?” I asked Ivan as we rode down to the parking garage.
“Xavier sounds nice,” Ivan said.
Nice isn’t how I’d have described him, but maybe that was because he was a shifter and my magic didn’t like him much?
The whole shifter-necromancer divide thing?
Though, as Angel leaned against the side of the elevator—he really did have that sexy lean down—his aura settled a lot of my rising anxiety.
“You know the community center is across the Veil, right?” I asked.
Ivan shrugged.
“Will you call me if you need me? I don’t think the community center is far from my SED precinct.” I glanced at Angel for confirmation and he gave me a slight nod. “I can come get you if you’re not comfortable.”
Ivan studied me, the bags around his eyes heavy, though I knew he’d slept. The bruise on his face was still fading. “I’ll call.”
I suspected he wasn’t used to checking in with anyone who cared, any more than I was used to asking him to, but I reached out and gently squeezed his forearm as we stepped out of the elevator and Angel led us to the guest parking where his SUV sat.
Ivan took a seat in the second row and I wondered if I should sit back there with him, but Angel opened the passenger side door for me, waiting until I got in to close it and make his way around.
Angel flipped his radio to a familiar pop station for the drive, and steered us toward the highway. The section of road overcome by the Veil loomed ahead, and I balled my hands into fists for the coming nausea. Would Ivan get queasy, or was that a me thing?
“Crossing the Veil makes me a little nauseous,” I warned Ivan. “If you feel something, it should pass pretty quickly.”