Chapter 10 Luca
CHAPTER 10: LUCA
“No ‘ good boy ’ this time?” Luca asked as he caught his breath, still nestled between Cal’s thighs, and told himself he wasn’t disappointed at the lack of praise.
Cal’s hand, which was still tangled in his hair, moved and strong fingers massaged his scalp, making him want to purr. He was a wolf, dammit. He didn’t fucking purr.
“You’re the best boy. So good you sucked my ability to form coherent praise right out of my dick,” Cal said.
Luca couldn’t help himself. He laughed harder than he had in he couldn’t remember how long. Maybe ever. Craning his neck up, he lost himself staring into the sparkling blue of Cal’s eyes. They were both smiling like idiots.
“C’mere,” Cal said, voice soft, and Luca crawled up the man’s thickly muscled body, dragging the scruff of his still unshaven beard up his skin as he went, leaving a satisfying trail of reddened skin thick with his scent.
“I’m all sticky,” he murmured as he settled on top of Cal.
Cal’s arms wrapped around him, eliminating the little distance he’d tried to keep between them so his cum-covered chest didn’t glue them together.
“I don’t care,” Cal said. “I’ll clean you up in a minute, baby. I just need to…” His sentence trailed off but Luca got the gist. He needed to bask in this connection between them that they’d been so carefully holding at bay.
As he drew in a deep reassuring breath of the witch’s scent, Luca realised the mind-blowing orgasm wasn’t the only reason he was feeling almost drunk with relaxation.
“My wolf isn’t trying to force a shift,” he blurted out.
It was the first time since those fateful weeks in his teens when he’d been stuck in wolf form that he could just exist, free from the constant tension of stopping his body from betraying him.
Cal’s hands stroked a soothing path down his back that had him arching into him. “How do you feel about that? I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it first.”
Luca shook his head, which had the happy side-effect of scent marking even more of Cal’s skin. The witch was going to stink of him by the time they left this bed and he had zero problem with that. Well, he might change his mind when his family realised, but that was future Luca’s problem.
“You don’t need to apologise. I feel amazing.”
“You’re going to have some of my magic running through your veins for a while, keeping you stable until your body adjusts back to normal. Your scent might change,” Cal said.
“Good. I like how your magic smells,” Luca replied before he could think better of it.
Cal’s hands paused in their motion and Luca flinched as he braced for ‘the talk’ that he really wasn’t at all ready for despite the magic now letting him accept and process his instincts instead of constantly fighting against them to stay human .
“What are we doing here?” Cal asked.
“It’s called sex, Cal. I hear you’ve had a lot of it, so I would’ve thought you’d recognise it,” Luca snapped back.
Warm hands kneaded at his shoulder muscles, and he lost the rigid tension riding him as quickly as it had arrived. “Don’t get defensive, baby,” Cal said.
Ugh. Why did he get an endorphin rush every time Cal used that ridiculous endearment?
“Well, you think I’m the worst kind of person—a criminal, as you keep reminding me. If I’m defensive, it’s because you keep attacking,” Luca snapped.
Cal sighed into his hair. “I did say that, but that’s not what I think now.”
Luca swallowed hard and tried to keep the words in because he couldn’t face being crushed by Cal while he was cradled naked in his arms with nowhere to run, but he couldn’t.
“What do you think now?” he whispered.
“That you’re my good boy. If you want to be.”
Luca shivered in response to the words, but they also filled him with wariness. “I don’t belong to anyone but my pack, my family. Did you change your mind about them, too?”
Cal’s grunt of frustration was all the answer he needed. He pulled out of his hold, shifting away and searching the room in vain for his clothes.
“Your clothes are in shreds in the living room, and we’re not done with this conversation,” Cal said, rolling out of bed to block his way as he moved toward the door.
Luca sighed in frustration and tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling for inspiration. “Look. We have insane chemistry and we’re stuck in the same space. It was inevitable something would happen. It doesn’t have to mean anything. I’m not asking you for anything and I’m well aware that even if I was, you wouldn’t be able to give it.”
“I’ve never lost control like I do with you before. Why is that?” Cal asked.
Mate , Luca’s wolf whispered in his mind.
His heart started racing. The last thing he needed was Cal realising they had the potential for a mating bond. He couldn’t go that route again, couldn’t be that vulnerable. Shifters and vampires could both form mating bonds naturally with that one someone they had a soul-deep connection with, but he’d had one forced on him with the wrong person by magic.
Maybe it would be different if it was real. Maybe it would be different if it was him , a small voice in the back of his mind said. It was drowned out by the panic that word caused. Spots filled his vision as his breaths became strangled and panting.
“Baby, breathe ,” Cal said, wrapping him back in the arms he wished he’d never left.
Fuck, this was getting annoying. He didn’t lose control like this. Didn’t need to rely on someone else to calm him down.
“Stop thinking so hard and just feel,” Cal said, his fingers tapping down Luca’s spine.
Luca forced himself to focus on the sensation of that percussive touch instead of the cascade of fear.
“Good boy.”
Luca groaned in embarrassment as his cock twitched against Cal’s. He really needed to find some clothes and move away from the damn bed before they ended up back where all this mess had started.
“Am I your mate?” Cal asked quietly.
Luca stiffened again. “No. ”
“No, I’m not? Or, no, I am, but you don’t want me to be?” Cal asked, sounding unconvinced.
“My mate died a long time ago,” he said.
He kept his face tucked out of sight as he told the lie of omission through too-sharp teeth that had been shifted and aching ever since the word mate had been mentioned. It was a half-truth he knew would stop Cal’s dangerous line of questioning. He couldn’t tell Cal the truth because it would reveal just how much power he had over Luca.
Witches were mostly human. They could form a mating bond, but it didn’t compulsively drive their behaviour the way it did with shifters and vampires. Cal had sensed something because of his magic, probably more than most given how powerful he was. He would feel more possessive than normal, and obviously they both felt the overriding lust, but it wasn’t the same. A human couldn’t form the mating bond. If Cal lost control, they’d have really great sex, as evidenced by what had just occurred. If Luca lost control, they’d be tied together for a lifetime. He’d be trapped forever.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” Cal said, and just like Luca had thought he would, he dropped the subject. He couldn’t help but be a little disappointed.
“It’s getting dark. You need to head downstairs,” Luca said.
Cal kissed his neck and finally stepped away from him. He immediately felt the loss.
“My staff can open without me. I’ll make us some dinner before I go,” Cal said.
“You don’t have to—” Luca’s words cut off on a surprised yelp as Cal nipped at his shoulder just like a wolf would have.
“I want to. Go get dressed before I drag you back to bed,” Cal said, slapping his ass.
Luca glared at him, the effect somewhat undermined by the semi he was sporting, and stalked out of the room to go find his things.
Luca had two laptops running and was deep in conversation with Angelo on his phone when Cal put a plate of fresh pasta down by his elbow.
“I’ll come by in an hour or so once I’ve had a chance to check on the facial recognition search,” Luca said, reaching out to grab the fork as he balanced his cell phone between his ear and shoulder. The rich aroma of the Alfredo sauce was too tempting to wait.
“I’ll send a car for you. Don’t leave the club’s wards until it’s out front. We can’t take any more chances,” Angelo said.
Luca growled in frustration. “My car’s in the garage here. I’ll drive myself.”
“Luca, it’s metallic fucking purple. You might as well paint a target on yourself if you drive that thing.”
“I can take him,” Cal cut in, even his human ears having picked up Angelo’s raised voice through the phone’s speaker.
“You’ve got work,” Luca snapped, glaring at the witch as Cal shut his laptops without asking and pushed his plate of food in front of him.
It still didn’t stop him shovelling another bite of mouthwatering pasta into his mouth. Had Cal made it from scratch? There was no faster way to a Lunetti’s heart.
“You’re more important,” Cal said, holding his eyes.
“Woah. What’s going on there?” Angelo asked quietly enough that Cal hopefully hadn’t heard.
“Nothing. We’ll see you in an hour,” Luca said, hanging up on him.
Cal immediately took the phone from him and placed it and the laptops on the coffee table in the living room before returning.
“I was using those,” Luca said.
“Not while we’re eating, you’re not,” Cal replied.
Luca snorted. “I am not calling you Daddy or whatever it is you’re going for here.”
“Didn’t ask you to. I just made space for your food because you haven’t eaten enough today.”
Of course that was the moment his stomach chose to growl, and Cal smirked as he picked up his fork and started eating. Damn the man. He was right. Shifters had fast metabolisms and he’d been running on empty. Plus, he really liked it when Cal cooked for him.
“How’s your search going?” Cal asked as they ate.
“Which one?” Luca asked, his shoulders slumping as he thought of his workload and complete lack of progress.
It wasn’t the hunt for his would-be killer he was most worried about. It was his side project hunting down the missing homeless teens. He was safe enough where he was for now. The same couldn’t be said for them.
“How many are you running?”
Luca leaned back in his chair and watched Cal for a moment where he sat. Could he trust him with this information? He was already trusting him with his life, so it was a bit late if he couldn’t. “I’m running searches for the earth witch we hunted and wherever that sniper you killed came from. I’m also still working my way through clearing each member of the pack so we can find this traitor, and I’m tracking a couple of people for Portia,” he said.
“On top of whatever it is you do usually?” Cal asked, his brow furrowing.
Luca shrugged. “Yeah.”
It was what it was. He couldn’t let the pack down and he couldn’t let those missing teens down. He’d just have to go without some sleep for a bit. It wouldn’t be the first time.
“You’re going to work yourself into an early grave. How close are you to finding this traitor?”
Luca took another bite and considered the question. He’d been checking up on all the searches he was running while Cal cooked. He’d finally managed to find an alibi for Dino, one of the explosives experts, but now it was down to the trickiest cases. “I could automate a lot of it, luckily. My algorithm’s cleared all but thirteen. The problem is that other than two enforcers I haven’t managed to clear—because the security footage was deleted before I could check—most of the ones left are trusted senior members of the pack. They’ve all been around long enough to know how to keep their lives private, and they rightfully expect that privacy to be respected. If they were easy to track, they wouldn’t have risen so high in the hierarchy.”
“That must be really hard for you,” Cal said, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder in support.
Luca blinked. He hadn’t really expected Cal to get that. The witch was a bit of a loner other than his staff. “Yeah. The worst is that I haven’t had time to clear my Uncle Gio and two of my cousins and they’re not just pack, they’re family. If they find out it was me questioning their loyalty…”
“You’re just doing your job—keeping them safe,” Cal said.
“I doubt they’d see it that way. Can we talk about something else? Is that dick Wyatt still making a problem of himself?”
Cal stiffened in his chair and Luca kicked himself for being so distracted he forgot Cal didn’t know he’d watched the scene play out between him and the Vice-President of the Elemental Mayhem Motorcycle Club.
“How do you know about … You know what? Never mind. I can guess how you know about that,” Cal said, le aning back in his chair and running his hand through his hair in frustration.
Luca tracked the way the man’s biceps flexed with the move and he bit down on his lip to keep his inappropriate thoughts to himself.
“Behave,” Cal growled, and Luca saw his blue eyes were faintly glowing when he looked up.
“So, Wyatt?” Luca prompted when it seemed Cal was going to ignore both the question and the building tension between them.
“He gave me a week, but he’s been blowing up my phone with threats. It’s fine. I’ll deal with it once you’re safe.”
“Deal with it how?” Luca asked, frowning.
Cal was scarily competent, but he was also very attached to the law for some reason, and the MC had a lot of witches behind them. Luca wasn’t sure he had it in him to make them back off when they were closing in on a weakness.
“I’ll figure something out.”
That wasn’t good enough. Luca’s mind flicked back to the missing teens. One of them was related to the MC. If he could just get a location, he could swap the information in exchange for wiping Cal’s debt. It would have the added bonus of getting the MC to do half his work for him and run the actual rescue op as well. They wouldn’t leave any kids behind if they went in to save Riley. They might be annoying, but the witches’ moral code wasn’t all that different from the pack’s. It was the damn vampire coven that was the problem. Darius needed to hurry up and stage his coup already so they could shut them down.
“Whatever it is you’re thinking, don’t. I don’t need your help and I’m not swapping a debt to the MC for a debt to your pack,” Cal said.
His mistrust was a stab to the chest, but Luca ignored it. What Cal didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. Actually, it would be best if the pack didn’t know either. Marco would be furious if he thought Luca had given away an advantage over the MC for an outsider. Although as pack Alpha, Marco probably also already knew Cal was his mate, so he might understand. And the less said about that , the better.
“We need to get going,” Luca said, grabbing the dishes from the table and heading to the kitchen.
Strong arms caged him in at the sink and warmth pressed up against his back. “Are you mad at me, baby?” Cal asked, kissing his neck.
“What are you doing?” Luca said, doing his best to focus on rinsing the plates.
“Kissing it better,” Cal said.
Luca could feel Cal’s smile against his skin as he kept trailing too soft kisses up and down his throat and along the sensitive edge of his ear. He tilted his head for more despite himself.
“Mmmm. Good boy. You want me to mark you up so everyone at your packhouse knows you’re mine?”
“Fuck, Cal,” Luca groaned, all his blood rushing to his cock that was now straining painfully against his zip.
Cal’s mouth stayed gentle and teasing. It was driving Luca crazy. Reaching back, he gripped his long hair in a fist and tried to pull him in closer, but Cal just huffed a laugh that sent shivers down his spine as the air rushed over his throat.
“If you want something, you have to ask nicely,” Cal said.
“Fuck off,” Luca snapped.
“Okay.”
Cal started to pull away and Luca snarled in frustration and spun to face him, glaring up at the infuriating man. Dammit. He couldn’t get Cal’s words out of his head. His eyes flicked to the hickey still darkening his neck and his need only got worse.
“Do it,” he snarled .
“Do what?” Cal’s face was forced innocence as he failed to hide his amusement.
“Mark me the way I marked you,” Luca said.
Cal raised an eyebrow and another snarl of frustration burst free from his chest.
“Please,” he finally muttered.
“Good boy,” Cal said, and then he lunged in so fast he’d swear the witch wasn’t human and latched onto Luca’s neck, sucking hard.
“Fucking hell. Were you a vampire in a past life or something?” Luca gasped, but his head was already swimming with pleasure.
Shifters healed fast, but he could feel Cal’s magic tingling where he was sucking on his neck doing something to the blood vessels he’d broken under the skin. He didn’t notice for long, though, because the witch had also unzipped his jeans and reached a hand into his boxers to grip his cock, furiously jerking him off as he kept up the perfect suction on his neck.
The possessiveness. The domination. The increasingly familiar sensation of Cal’s magic inside his body bringing him pleasure. It was too much. Luca came. Hard. Screaming Cal’s name about three seconds after his fingers wrapped around him. This potential mating bond was ridiculous.
“So good for me,” Cal murmured, still gently tugging at his cock that was fast becoming over-sensitive as he licked and kissed over the aching patch of skin he’d left on Luca’s neck.
“What did you do?” Luca asked.
“Made sure it will last as long as mine,” Cal said.
Luca shivered again and moaned. That would be days . If he hadn’t just come so hard, he would’ve thrown himself at Cal all over again. Anyone who saw him would see that mark for what it was—a claiming.
With one final stroke of his too-sensual hands, Cal tucked Luca back into his pants and zipped him up. “We need to go or we’ll be late.”
Luca wrinkled his nose. “They’re going to smell the cum on me.”
Cal’s grin turned wicked. “Good.”
“I’m not riding bitch on your bike, Cal,” Luca growled. “I doubt I’ll even fit on that seat.”
They were standing in the parking garage under the club staring at Cal’s, admittedly hot as fuck, matte black Ducati Streetfighter. At least it was an Italian bike and not one of the damn Harleys most of the witch MC rode.
Cal rolled his eyes and pushed a helmet into his hands. The bike wasn’t the only thing looking hot as fuck. It wasn’t fair that Cal could get even hotter with boots, a leather jacket, and all that torque between his legs.
“I’m serious. I’m not getting on that thing,” Luca said.
Reaching out, Cal wrapped a hand behind his neck and pushed his thumb into the bruise on his neck that was still throbbing gently. “Yes, you are, because you want to be good for me, don’t you?”
Luca groaned and shoved the damn helmet on his head. “Stop using your superpower for evil,” he complained, sparking a surprised laugh from Cal.
It took a bit of arranging his six-foot frame to get secure behind Cal, but the witch waited patiently once Luca was doing what he asked. Their heads were about even once he’d settled onto the higher pillion seat and he wrapped his arms tight around Cal to stay stable. He’d been right. The seat was barely big enough for him and he had to press hard against Cal to stay on. That was the story he was sticking to, anyway .
The vibration of the bike when Cal took off did nothing to help his resurging arousal. He was sure the man could feel his hardening cock against the small of his back as tightly as they were pressed together. Shifters had a very active libido. It wasn’t his fault. And he had a lot of time to make up for because he’d been basically celibate for almost two decades.
Ignoring his errant body, he forced himself to focus on the waxing moon shining bright above them, the cool night air that had softened the overwhelming scents of the city, and the passing streetlights that lent the world a dreamlike quality. He was going to enjoy the ride because he was quite certain his family was going to be unbearable as soon as they arrived.
“Holy shit!” his cousin Silas called out as they entered Marco’s study.
“Get it, Sugar!” Vin called out, sounding delighted as he scanned his eyes over the hickey on his neck. Turning to Cal, he asked, “Can you teach me how to do that to Angel?”
A blur of motion had him twisting just in time to watch Marco grab onto Aria as she lunged toward them, teeth and fangs bared. No, not toward them—toward Cal.
Swearing under his breath, Luca held his hand up. “Enough. Aria, chill out. I’m fine. The rest of you shut it. We have more important things to deal with.”
“Yeah, I don’t know that I agree, cuz. You’re pretty damn important and if you think you can walk in here looking all but claimed without us getting excited, you’re dreaming,” Silas said.
Aria yanked her arm out of Marco’s grip and stalked over to the couch, sinking down on it and the Alpha took the opportunity to approach .
“I can see your wolf in your eyes,” Marco said, as he greeted Luca with a hug.
“Sorry. I’ll get it under control once everyone backs off.”
“Don’t be sorry. It’s been too long since you let all of you show to the world. We missed you,” Marco said.
Luca swallowed hard and leaned into the acceptance Marco was offering. “Thanks.”
Pulling back from the embrace, Luca watched in surprise as Marco moved in to hug Cal as well. “You are welcome here any time, Calder.” The words were loud enough to carry to Aria, who only growled a little under her breath.
To his credit, Cal took it in stride despite his qualms about the pack and seemed to be on his best behaviour, perhaps realising he’d pushed it a bit with the mark. “Thank you, Alpha Lunetti.”
“Just Marco,” Marco corrected, and Luca saw surprise on several of the gathered faces.
Between their Alpha’s warm welcome and encouraging the informality, Marco may as well have just told Cal he was family. He could only hope Cal didn’t notice and start asking questions about mates again.
“You wanted me to check out the body?” Luca said, interrupting whatever moment his Alpha was trying to have with his … whatever … and hoping the reminder of the dead guy who tried to kill him would distract everyone.
“Yeah, I figured if he’d been following you for any length of time you might recognise his scent and be able to track a location from it if Calder can break the scent-suppressing spell on him,” Angelo said from his position leaning on a wall nearby, his vampire mate in his arms.
“So, that’s why you let me come,” Cal said, voice wry. “Free labour.”
“We never said we wouldn’t pay you, Sugar, but now that you’re offering…” Vin chimed in .
Aria scoffed from the couch. “Please. If he’s all but pissing on my brother to mark him, he can damn well help us find the people who want him dead without charging us.”
“Would you make up your mind, sis? You were the one that came up with this fake relationship bullshit, and now you’re acting like he’s the enemy,” Luca snapped.
“But it isn’t fucking fake anymore, is it? And he isn’t keeping you safe! You almost died! He’s got one job, and he’s failing.”
“He saved my life! Besides, I almost died here, too. Three times.”
“He keeps challenging me,” Aria said, a hint of a whine in her tone like she used to have when they were ten and a game didn’t go her way.
“Really? Or do you keep challenging him and losing? Work it out. You’re not a pushover and neither is he.”
“He wants to take you away from our pack, away from me,” she whispered, looking down at her lap.
There it was. The real reason behind this bizarre hot and cold routine she had going. He couldn’t even really say she was wrong because Cal had said he wanted him and he knew he didn’t want to be associated with the pack. Sighing, he rubbed at his temples. He wished there weren’t quite so many people in the room for this.
“I’m not going anywhere Ri. I’m not leaving you,” he said, using his childhood nickname for her.
Aria might not be as obviously traumatised as he was, but they both had a thing about being abandoned after their parents died in a pack war and their only other brother died protecting Luca.
“Luca will always be pack. You know that,” Marco said, his words aimed at Aria, but his body angled toward Cal, as if reminding the witch of that fact as well. “You need to let him stretch his legs and explore the world. ”
“It’s not his legs Cal’s stretching,” Aria grumbled, but a smirk was forming on her face.
They both operated that way—quick to anger, quick to forgive, and full of attitude. Aria was a specialist in emotional whiplash.
“Gross. I’m pretending you never said that,” Luca said.
“I would never expect him to abandon his family and I’m not going to hurt him,” Cal said from behind him, quiet but firm.
“What if he asks nicely? That hickey looks pretty painful. Next time, get your teeth right in there,” Aria chirped.
Luca groaned as Cal chuckled and placed a hand on his back. “I’ve changed my mind. Go back to hating him, please.”
“Too late now,” Aria sing-songed.
“Can I go look at the dead body now? It will be less disturbing,” Luca said.
Everyone but Angelo was laughing, and the only reason he wasn’t was because he was a surly bastard. But even he had a hint of a smile on his face.
“It’s in the basement. I’ll take you down,” Angelo said.
Luca rolled his eyes. “I’ve only lived here my whole life. I think I can find my way.”
“But you’ll take Angelo with you anyway,” Marco said. “We’ve already had one body explode down there in the last week. We still don’t know who the traitor is, and some of them have access to this building.”
The main packhouse was only for Marco’s closest family, with the rest of the pack in the surrounding apartments. Despite that, the pack came and went as they pleased. The senior pack members who he hadn’t managed to clear yet all had security passes for most of the doors, including the basement.
Luca jerked his head in assent and followed Angelo out into the hall, Cal keeping close at his side .
“What’s this about an exploding body? Why didn’t I hear about that?” he asked their head of security.
“It was another death spell on some abusive asshole we brought back from the shelter’s Halloween party. We didn’t realise he was involved until it was too late. Other than that, it’s been too quiet,” Angelo said. “It makes me think they’re planning something big.”
“The hits on Luca might be a distraction technique, then?” Cal asked.
“Definitely, but they wouldn’t be so focussed on him if there wasn’t a reason. He must’ve stumbled across something they’re worried about.”
“If only I knew what it was,” Luca said, frustration hitting him all over again.
The staircase down to the basement was hidden behind a bookcase in the entry hallway. It would’ve been a great hide-and-seek spot when they were kids, except for the fact it was where the pack stored their weapons caches that were too valuable to trust to a warehouse, and where they kept any prisoners they needed to question. Angelo frowned as he went to swipe his security card on the hidden reader, but the unlocked door swung open before he had the chance.
“Fuck,” he muttered, already on his phone as he started striding down the stairs into the bunker-like space.
When they reached the bare concrete room containing only a stainless steel gurney like you might find in a morgue, they all stopped and stared.
“I assume there used to be a body there?” Luca asked.
“The body’s gone,” Angelo said into the phone, likely to Marco. “I’ll give you a report once I know what happened.”
This was not good. It made it much more likely the traitor was family rather than just pack. On the plus side, it meant he could take Lou and Tino off his suspect list finally. Neither had the clearance to pull this off. That left eleven suspects to chase down.
Cal stepped forward as Luca processed that thought, his hands glowing blue as he drew his water magic to him and inspected the now empty gurney. Angelo was talking furiously in the background to his people.
“There’s no sign of magic except the residue of the scent-suppressing spell he had on him when I killed him,” Cal said when Angelo finally hung up.
That was something, at least. Whoever the traitor was had done this themself rather than let a witch into their home.
“The security cameras between here and the entry have been out of operation for three hours. My guys thought it was a fuse issue and didn’t report it to me. The electrician is due out soon,” Angelo said, his tone making it clear he was not impressed.
Luca winced. He would not want to be whoever they were when Angelo decided what punishment he was doling out.
“Are there any scents that don’t belong here?” Cal asked.
Luca and Angelo both shook their heads.
Cal looked thoughtful. “Another scent-cancelling charm, then. They must be getting desperate. I assume if they’d met anyone while they were walking through the house, they would’ve realised something was up when they couldn’t scent them. There must be something about the body they wanted to make sure we didn’t find out.”
“Can you get anything from the magic residue?” Angelo asked, not sounding hopeful.
“I think I’d recognise the caster of the spell if I came into contact with them, but there won’t be any residue of whoever was wearing it here. That’s the whole point of the magic,” Cal said .
“I don’t suppose you took any photos of him so I can try and get an ID?” Luca asked Angelo.
Angelo looked angry at himself this time. “I knew you were coming and I figured you’d take them while you were here. I fucked up.”
Luca shook his head. “There was no way you could have guessed the traitor would have access to the basement.”
“I still should’ve done it right away.”
“I can try to magically recreate an image of his face from memory if it helps,” Cal offered.
Luca looked over at him, surprised. “You got a good look at him?”
“I don’t exactly kill people every day, Luca,” Cal said, which made him feel like a total asshole.
He might be distracted by everything going on, but it should’ve occurred to him that law-abiding Cal would be feeling guilty about this.
“Give it a go, please,” Angelo said.
Cal nodded and closed his eyes before holding out his hand in front of him. Luca shivered as he felt the moisture in the room being sucked away from him and the familiar blue of Cal’s magic filling the space. The temperature continued to drop and a floating coalescence of ice formed in the air, slowly taking shape until it became clearly the head and torso of Luca’s attacker.
Dammit. He didn’t look familiar at all.
Taking out his phone, Luca quickly snapped pictures from every angle and took a video for good measure. It probably wouldn’t play well with his facial recognition software, but he might be able to edit it into something that worked later. Circling around it again, he looked at the ice sculpture in profile. Had he ever seen this guy before? If he had, he didn’t remember him. He was so used to forming an impression of someone based on scent and sound as well as sight that his recall just wasn’t working without the use of his other senses.
“Do you recognise him?” Angelo said.
Luca glanced over and saw both men were watching him closely. “I don’t think so. I’ll see if I can clean up the image and use it to track him.”
He couldn’t let his pack down. Until they found this traitor, they were all at risk and he was thoroughly distracted from getting to the bottom of the dual threats of the D-2S terrorist group and this teen trafficking ring. People were hurt and dying while he stood there failing.