Fourteen
Gabriel
"Detective! What brings you here?" I asked as I opened the door halfway, worried they'd see Xin.
Detective Warner stood at the door, his coat open to reveal the badge clipped to his belt, and a hint of his gun. Clearly, he was still on duty.
Aisha stood behind him, and she shot me an apologetic look.
"Sorry to bother you so late. There are some things about Mr. Lewis's statement that I wanted to cross-check with you, if that's okay?"
"Couldn't this have waited until tomorrow? I was just about to have dinner," I said, hoping I didn't look as nervous as I felt.
"Well, yes, but you're on my way home, so I thought I might as well get it out of the way. I apologize for the intrusion. May we come in?"
I sighed, but let them in, hoping Xin had enough time to hide. There weren't many places he could hide in my apartment. Maybe he was in my bedroom?
Gray perked up from his nap spot on the rug as he spotted the newcomers, and for a moment, I worried he might go to Aisha. Would that make Detective Warner suspicious?
Fortunately, Gray didn't stir as I directed them towards the couch. The food was still on the table, though now there was only one plate. Xin had been thorough.
"What did you want to ask?"
For the next fifteen minutes, Detective Warner asked me his questions. He asked about Patrick's schedule, about where he was on certain days, while Aisha asked where I was when the transactions were made in the company accounts.
Xin had thought of that in advance, and so he'd made almost every transaction happen when I was somewhere in public, far away from a laptop.
Once the detective was satisfied with my answers, he closed his little notebook, then nodded at me.
"Thank you for your time, Mr. López. Before I leave, may I use the bathroom?"
"Of course. It's down the hall to your left," I said, my voice a little louder than usual. I hoped Xin wasn't hiding in the bathroom.
Aisha spoke as Detective Warner disappeared down the hallway, her voice pitched low so it wouldn't carry.
"The work on your background was spot on!"
"What do you mean?"
"I know I helped you erase your connection with Kevin on paper, but your hacker friend did way more than that. They gave you a fake history that makes it impossible for anyone to make the connection. It's really good work."
I blinked. Xin hadn't told me they'd done that, but of course they had. From the beginning, they'd done extra work to make sure nothing went wrong, taking precautions that I couldn't have even thought of.
"Go check on him." Aisha nodded toward the hallway, and I realized the detective hadn't returned yet. Fuck. Had he found Xin?
I hurried down the hallway, found the bathroom door open, and cursed under my breath before peering into my bedroom.
"Can I help you?" I asked, and Detective Warner turned around, not at all guilty about the fact that he'd just been about to peer inside my nightstand without warrant or cause. Xin wasn't here either, and my closet wasn't big enough for them. Where were they?
Could they have climbed out the window and down the fire escape?
"Nice picture," Warner said as he nodded toward the nightstand before passing by me and heading back into the living room.
My stomach sank when I remembered my high school graduation photo of me and Kevin, but when I glanced at the picture in question, I blinked. Instead of the photo I'd been expecting, there was a picture of Gray with his tongue sticking out. A picture I didn't remember taking.
I followed after the detective, feeling a little dazed. What was going on?
"We'll leave you to your dinner," Aisha said as she stood up, and the detective nodded along.
I glanced over at the window, but found it locked from the inside. Xin couldn't have left from there either. It was like they'd simply disappeared.
I watched the detectives leave, my mind still caught on Xin.
This wasn't the first time something they'd done had tripped me up like this.
There was CCTV footage of the theft where they'd made Renée look like themself, the fact that Patrick didn't seem to remember being blackmailed—Aisha had told me he'd looked like he was telling the truth when he said that—the storage center CCTV that showed Patrick renting the unit.
Xin had explained it all away with their hacking skills, and while I didn't know what could and couldn't be done via hacking, Aisha did, and she'd been surprised by the evidence we'd created. The evidence Xin had created.
But if not hacking, what else could it be?
Today, they'd disappeared seemingly into nowhere, and a picture that had been of me and my brother until a few hours ago was now of my dog.
A word popped up into my mind, but I shook my head. Impossible. There was no such thing.
Magic?
It couldn't be. There had to be a more rational explanation.
"Xin?" I called out, glancing around the room.
"Gray, can you find Xin?" I asked, and the dog perked up, then got to his feet.
Tail wagging, he walked over to a corner of the room, then stopped. Head raised, he stuck his tongue out as he nosed at the air, and if I couldn't see better, I'd think that was where Xin was.
Maybe they'd already left.
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I sent them a text asking if they'd left. I'd been looking forward to eating with them, but it was understandable that they hadn't wanted to wait if they had somehow ended up on the fire escape.
There was no reply, and I frowned. Maybe they were on their way home?
Sighing, I walked over to Gray and rubbed his head. "You're getting old, Gray. There's no one there."
Gray huffed, but stayed firm when I tried to tug him away. He barked at the spot he'd been staring at, and I glanced from him to the empty space.
Weren't animals supposed to be more attuned to the supernatural?
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I rolled my eyes. Was I really thinking about this seriously?
It could easily explain everything, including the ethereal aura Xin seemed to carry, like they were something more than human, or their unusually hot body temperature.
I'd always thought I felt that way simply because of my attraction to them, but could it be more than that?
Xin
I wasn't sure what to do. When the detectives showed up, I'd turned myself invisible without a thought, erasing every sign of my presence. When Detective Warner had gone into Gabriel's room, I'd changed the picture before he could spot it.
But now that they were gone, I was in a bind. How was I going to explain everything to Gabriel? I could act like I'd gone out onto the fire escape, but what about the picture? And what about Gray, who was gazing up at me adoringly even though he wasn't supposed to be able to see me?
Maybe he could somehow smell the food in the plate I was still holding onto?
Before I could decide if I should just teleport back home and figure out what to say to Gabriel, he started speaking.
"I feel like an absolute idiot saying this, and if you're out on the fire escape and hearing this, you're free to laugh at me. But in case there's some kernel of truth to this, I guess I just want you to know you can tell me."
What was he talking about?
Gabriel chewed on his lower lip as he glanced around the room, as if trying to find me.
"I think you might not be completely human, Xin.
A part of me has felt that way since we first met, but I didn't think too much about it.
Maybe because I was so focused on the mission, or maybe because it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. "
He'd guessed? Well, I had to admit I'd been quite relaxed in my use of magic around him, and even though I'd usually hidden it behind the veneer of hacking, Gabriel wasn't dumb. He had to know something was off.
"Either way, if you are here like Gray seems to think, it's okay. I'm not going to freak out. At least I don't think I am," he said with a rueful smile, then glanced around, like he was hoping I'd pop out of somewhere.
Could I? I'd always planned to tell him, but I'd hoped to do it after we started dating.
I could just go home. If I didn't show myself, Gabriel wouldn't be surprised. He would just accept he'd been off the mark. But what then? How much longer would I keep him in the dark? And how would he feel when I revealed he'd been right but I'd made him think he wasn't?
No, I couldn't do that to him.
Gabriel sighed, and mumbled something under his breath that sounded very much like "You're an idiot." I didn't think he was talking to me that time.
That settled it.
With my fake heartbeat racing in reaction to my emotions, I turned myself visible, bracing for Gabriel's reaction.
"Hi."
Gabriel's eyes widened, and he jumped at my sudden appearance. I could hear the mad gallop of his heart from here, and I hoped it wasn't from fear. I didn't know what I would do if he was afraid of me.
"You're... I was..." Gabriel shook his head, apparently lost for words.
Gray took the moment of distraction to leap for my plate—why he only wanted mine and not Gabriel's readily available one was anyone's guess—and I jerked it out of his path without glancing away from Gabriel.
His mouth moved without words, and he cleared his throat. "What are you?" As soon as the question left his mouth, he blanched. "Fuck, that's a rude question, isn't it? I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
While he said that, his face was aglow with curiosity, and I couldn't help smiling at him.
"Can I tell you while we eat?" I asked, wanting to restore some sense of normalcy between us, to show Gabriel that I was still the same person I'd been before I revealed my magic to him.
Gabriel stared at me for a moment, as if he couldn't quite understand what I'd said, but then he gave a flurry of nods and walked over to the couch. I sidestepped Gray to follow him, and the dog trailed after me before settling himself at our feet.
Our food had gotten cold, but heating it up would be a simple thing for me. I glanced at Gabriel before I did it, and his lips parted before curving into a slight smile.
"That's handy," he murmured, and I sighed. It didn't feel like he was afraid of me. That was good.
We ate in silence for a moment as I tried to figure out the best way to tell him everything. He was lost in his own thoughts, probably stunned that he'd been right about me. Even though he'd said it, I doubted he'd expected to be right.
"I didn't think there was such a thing as magic," Gabriel murmured halfway through our meal, and I shifted on the cushions so I could see him better.
"Most humans don't, and that's the way it's supposed to be."
"It's a secret?" I nodded, and Gabriel tilted his head, a puzzled look on his face. "Then why did you tell me?"
So many things he could've asked, and yet that was his first question?
"I'll answer that in a minute. Before that, let me answer your first question."
Gabriel nodded, though he seemed reluctant to switch topics.
I didn't think Gabriel was religious—at least I'd seen no evidence of it—so hopefully he wouldn't jump straight to thinking I was an incarnation of all things sinful.
Swallowing the bite I'd taken to gather myself, I finally told him. "I'm a demon."