Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
EZRA
Raum walked him to his door at Sacred Threshold, and Ezra was given a slow, deep kiss full of promise and longing, and he returned it with equal yearning. If he didn’t need to change and tend to Lilith he would have stayed at Raum’s place, in his bed.
But the real world called along with all the responsibilities that came with it.
“See you later?” Raum asked as they parted, Ezra’s hands clutching at Raum’s shirt, creasing the fabric. He relaxed his grip and smoothed out the wrinkles.
“Absolutely yes,” Ezra replied, making Raum grin. “I’d have stayed, but Lilith…”
He could hear her meowing through the door, loudly demanding he hurry up and feed her. He had left her full bowls of food and water the night before, hoping he might get lucky and stay the night with Raum, but she likely ate it all and was hungry for her breakfast.
“I can hear her,” Raum said with a chuckle. “Text me when you’re heading to the library? If you are today, that is.”
“I want to go through Simmons' notes about the skull, see if there’s anything in his research about who the skull was in life, maybe something we can use to help break the cycle. I can’t wait on the chance your grandfather is going to find the answers we seek—I need to keep looking, too.”
Raum didn’t take that badly, nodding in agreement. “I have office hours this evening, but I will be free tonight if you want to come over?”
Ezra couldn’t help the ridiculous smile on his face or the heart-eyes he was surely displaying. “Yes, please.”
“Good,” Raum murmured, leaning down and giving him a kiss that was full of passion. Ezra shivered, delighted, wanting more, but they parted and Ezra reluctantly let Raum go.
Raum gave him a flirty look over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving Ezra watching forlornly in the hall, Lilith loudly meowing through the door.
He turned to the door and opened it, and was promptly pounced on by a very angry Lykoi cat who lived up to her nickname and growled like a tiny werewolf even as she danced between his feet and rubbed against his ankles.
She transitioned to screaming for her food, and Ezra felt horrible, even though he saw the bowl still had a little bit of kibble in the bottom of the basin.
She was starving to death, of course.
He paused, realizing he had no idea where he left the kitty bag of meatballs the night before, and he sighed, a bit exasperated with himself.
Ezra shut the door, hoping to quell the noise and not disturb the rest of the hospital. He really should get a hotel room or something instead of staying at Sacred Threshold. He had no room for a guest in the room he had now, and he really wanted to invite Raum for a naughty sleepover.
“I’m sorry, I’m here,” he placated Lilith as he got out fresh food and filled her bowl, rinsing and replacing the water, too. He took the time to clean the litter box, and then stripped down and turned on the shower.
The hot spray was welcome, and he took his time under the water, especially once he found evidence of love bites on his chest and fingerprint bruises on his hips from the night before.
He grinned, cock hardening, and he had to lean on the shower wall as he stroked himself to a quick orgasm, thinking of Raum taking him, focusing on the slight sting in his ass from the pounding Raum gave him all night.
He came, shaking, and it took him a long while to work his head around cleaning up and rinsing off, the water going lukewarm and heading toward cold when he finally finished.
He got out of the shower and dried off, and he found himself just dripping on the floor, towel in hand, mind occupied by thoughts of Raum. He shook himself out of it and quickly dried off, toweling his hair before finishing his morning routine and contemplating his next steps.
There was the skull to figure out. That was the most pressing matter, but he had a new problem. A problem he knew was going to happen, but he went for it anyway.
He wanted Raum. For more than a one-night stand or a few casual dates. And he had no idea how to resolve the distance issue. He’d never had a relationship as an adult, and had no idea what to do. Throw in long-distance, and he was floundering mentally.
“I’m getting so ahead of myself,” he muttered, digging through his bags for clothing. He needed to do laundry or go shopping soon for more clothes. He was running out. “Raum may not even want a relationship with me. Maybe this is just casual for him?”
He tried not to sound like he was whining, but he failed, even to his own ears.
He took his clothes to the bed, sat down on the edge with the clothing piled on his lap, and for the first time wished that he had someone to call to talk about relationship issues.
Dr. Royal was his mentor and friend, but they never talked about sex or romantic relationships, and he certainly never told her about his occasional one-night stands with strangers.
He never even had a repeat encounter. Not since he was dumped by his boyfriend when he cut ties with his family after he turned eighteen.
He had no idea what to do.
All he did know was that he wanted Raum, and the thought of leaving him behind once the mission was over sent a lance of pain through his heart.
Lilith jumped up on the bed beside him, purring and rubbing her face on his arm. He was obviously forgiven. Ezra sighed, petting her, taking the comfort she offered.
Ezra
Carrying Lilith, he made his way across campus to the library, not bothering with calling for a ride. The day was nice—a cool breeze, warm sun, and fluffy white clouds in a bright blue sky.
He found his sunglasses in his duffle bag, glad past-him had the inclination to pack them, as he’d forgotten about them until that morning, finding them when he was checking how much clean clothing he had left. And the answer to that was not much. He really needed to do laundry.
He got some looks from other people, but he didn’t care.
He was a bit too old to be an undergrad, but he was in the right age range for a graduate student or post-doc.
Maybe it was the clothing? He was dressed in khaki cargo pants, black leather boots, and a dark gray t-shirt that clung to his torso and arms. The pants hugged his butt, too.
He may or may not have dressed with the intention of drawing and holding a certain professor’s attention.
Or it might be the werewolf cat lounging on his right arm, observing the lesser mortals of the world. She was rather striking.
It was probably Lilith.
He was almost at a junction of several paths and he slowed down to read the sign nearby, checking to see which path took him to the Rutherford Library, when a silhouette moved in his peripheral vision within a nearby arch full of deep shadows.
He blinked, trying to make sense of what he saw, struggling to get his mind to accept that Simmons was standing not even twenty feet away from him.
“The fuck?” Ezra blurted out, taking in the sight of the wanted man standing in a startled pose, as if frozen by the sight of Ezra.
Simmons looked horrible—his hair was a mess, clothing rumpled and wrinkled, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
Probably hadn’t, not since he convinced his poor student to open the reliquary, killing a ton of people as a result.
Simmons jerked, eyes wide, and he turned and stumbled into a doorway that read Pedestrian Tunnel Junction, the door clanging and the sound echoing like a busted bell.
Ezra took a few steps to follow, then pulled himself to a stop. He was not a cop, he was not a MERS soldier, and he was in no way equipped to follow a murderer into a tunnel system he had no familiarity with.
Ezra patted his pockets instead—he’d forgotten his phone. Again.
He turned and ran back to the huge sign, found the right path, and headed at a fast jog for the library.
Thankfully, Lilith was used to him running while carrying her—she just dug in with her claws a bit and held on for the ride.
He reached the library, dashing around people and he raced into the stacks, heading right for the Special Collections room. He paused long enough for the security guard to let him in, and the second he was through the door, yelled, “Raum!”
Ezra kept up a jog toward Raum’s office, but Raum came out of the stacks halfway there and caught him by the biceps, halting his steps. Ezra leaned over, putting Lilith down, and he sucked in some deep breaths, heart racing.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Raum asked, helping him straighten, eyes and hands running over him, as if looking for injury.
“Simmons!” Ezra gasped out. “I saw him not too far from here—he ducked into one of the pedestrian tunnel entrances. I almost followed him but grew a brain cell at the last minute. I need to call MERS, but I left both my phones in my room.”
“I have the number on the NDA paperwork, we can call them.” Raum grabbed his hand and Ezra followed right behind him as they headed for Raum’s office at a near sprint. Lilith kept pace, zooming into Raum’s office as if she were afraid to miss anything happening.
Raum grabbed a small pile of papers from his desk, leafing through them, and he let go of Ezra to grab his phone and start dialing.
Ezra
MERS showed up in droves. Official vehicles swarmed the university, pouring out uniform-clad soldiers who disappeared down into the tunnel systems that existed under the university.
Ezra had no idea the tunnel systems were there until he saw Simmons run into one, and out of curiosity asked Raum to explain.
“They’re mostly utility tunnels for steam, electric, water, heating and cooling, things like that,” Raum said as they stood side by side at one of the library windows, watching as MERS and police officers interviewed students and blanketed the entire campus as they searched for Simmons.
“Some of the tunnels are used for pedestrian traffic—very useful in winter when there’s several feet of snow and drifts taller than the first floor of most of the buildings.
Many of the larger buildings on campus are connected through the tunnels, so Simmons could be anywhere by now. ”
“Maybe I should have followed him?” Ezra said, but he shook his head the next moment. “No, I’m not a battlemage. I’m not the Necromancer of Boston, for fuck’s sake. What do I know about catching a person and holding them? I didn’t even have my phone to call for help.”
Raum wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. Raum kissed his hair, and Ezra returned the hug, wrapping himself around the bigger man.
“I am so glad you came to me instead of following Simmons,” Raum breathed out, and Ezra could hear the relief in his tone. Raum grew easier to read the longer they spent in each other’s company. “Thank you for trusting me to help.”
“I’m glad you didn’t go down there, too,” Major Grendel said from behind them, making Ezra jump a bit.
They turned to see the major walking toward them, satisfaction pouring off her in waves.
“Even with maps of the tunnels it got confusing down there for a hot minute. Regardless, Simmons was caught a few minutes ago.”
“He’s in custody?” Ezra asked.
“He is indeed. We’re taking him to our base to be debriefed before we turn him over to the authorities—he’s facing numerous charges for the deaths of his dig team and environmental damage, along with whatever else I can think of in the meantime.
” Major Grendel joined them at the window and gave Ezra and Raum a once-over, taking in their embrace.
She said nothing about it, merely quirking a sharp brow before continuing.
“Do you want to talk to Simmons about the skull?”
The thought of being face to face with Simmons didn’t appeal—the man was a murderer as far as Ezra was concerned, but he did have some questions. Whether or not the answers would help with the skull situation was another matter.
“He’s not a practitioner,” Ezra said, reaffirming what he’d been told when Simmons first disappeared, and the major nodded in agreement.
“He was reckless with a magical artifact and killed people. I want to know how he knew about it, and what he thought he was doing, but I don’t see how he can help me deactivate it. ”
“He might know something,” Raum said.
“We’re going to be interrogating him—give me a list of questions you have and I’ll see what we get from Simmons,” Grendel offered. “No need to put you in a room with the man. I’ll pass along everything relevant immediately.”
“That sounds like the best option. I’m a curse-breaker, not a cop,” Ezra said with a half-shrug. “I have no idea what to do with a suspect.”
“You do investigate all the time with artifacts, though, right? I think you’d do fine with an investigation, like a private investigator,” Raum said. “But I’m also selfishly glad you don’t want to walk into a room with a man who got his entire research team killed.”
“Almost his whole team—Monica Blevins is alive, as is that other professor,” Ezra reminded Raum. “And thank you for the support, but I won’t be interrogating anyone if I can help it.”
“I’ll get a transcript of the interrogation sent to your email as soon as we’re done with him,” Grendel said, and she dug into her cargo pants and pulled out both of Ezra’s phones.
“I had the sergeants go to your room and grab your phones. The hospital let them in your room. Keep the phones on you, please, and send me a list of questions ASAP.”
Ezra reached out and took the phones, chagrined. “Yes, ma’am.”
She gave them both a short nod and left, her stride long and full of purpose.
Ezra felt like the scolding came from a schoolteacher and he was lucky not to get detention. He pocketed his personal phone and leaned on Raum as he typed up a list of questions for Grendel on the MERS phone. Raum held him in his arms, and Lilith meowed from the stacks, happy to explore.
“I wonder why Simmons came back to the university? Surely he knew MERS and the police would be searching for him here,” Raum mused after a long moment of comfortable silence.
“In a lot of my cases, people do stupid things all the time, even people with high intelligence,” Ezra said, looking up from his phone. “Desperation tends to erode common sense.”
Raum made a humming sound in agreement and pressed a kiss to Ezra’s temple, making him smile.