Chapter 17 It’s Not Theft, It’s Borrowing
It's Not Theft, It's Borrowing
“Malachi!” came a deafening screech that jolted him awake, heart thundering, instincts on high alert, ready to tear apart whoever had dared to threaten Chuck.
Sitting bolt upright, he glared around the room, prepared to sink his fangs into the intruder.
Seeing no one, he paused in confusion and ran a hand through his thick, wavy hair.
As his fingers tangled, his entire body froze, and sick dread churned his stomach.
Hand. Hair. It should have been paw. Fur.
Glancing down at the sheet pooled around his waist, Malachi slowly turned his head towards Chuck. He was pretty sure he knew now why she’d shrieked. “Um…” He curved his lips slightly, flashing his dimple, hoping it would help. “Good morning?”
A wheezy laugh from Reena was the only sound that followed his greeting.
Clearing his throat, he scooted away from Chuck slightly. “This is not what it looks like,” he pleaded, holding his hands up defensively.
Chuck stared at him with wide eyes before her lips curled up into a wicked grin. “Really? Malachi? Really? Because I’m pretty sure it looks like I went to bed alone and just woke up to you in bed with me. Naked. So, if not that, then what?”
Raking both hands through his hair, then rubbing them over his chin, he chuckled low. “Okay, fair, it is what it looks like. But not why!”
She started to speak, but he clapped a hand over her mouth. A move that had them both staring in surprise.
Lowering his palm slowly, he laughed again, nervously this time.
“Sorry. But I wanted to explain. Last night, you looked sad, and I couldn’t get that expression out of my mind.
And I couldn’t sleep. I had more nightmares.
” At her sympathetic noise and nod, he pressed on.
“So, I was just bringing Reena in here to keep you company. Anyway, I noticed you were tossing and turning. It seemed like you were having a nightmare, too. And I’ve never seen that happen to you. So, I got in bed with you.”
Chuck coughed slightly and raised an eyebrow as she drawled, “Clearly.”
“As the dog,” he clarified dryly. “I changed into the dog and let you hold on to me that way. You relaxed then. You even smiled. So, I slept here. I swear, though, Chuck, I was the dog when I fell asleep. I must have changed back subconsciously. I didn’t mean to scare you.
” He shrugged his shoulders lamely and gave her an apologetic glance from under his dark eyelashes.
He had used that same glance countless times to seduce other women, but his intention this time was to get her to believe him.
“I believe you,” she replied. “I thought I dreamt it, though.” Running a hand over her own hair, she shook her head.
“I was having a bad dream before about my dad and his murder. The day I heard the news. You expect that as a police officer’s family.
You expect that one day you’ll get that call, but you pray hard it won’t be you.
I don’t know, my dad just always seemed indestructible. ”
Shaking his head, Malachi murmured, “You have no idea.”
“What?”
“I said, I have no idea. I can’t imagine what that was like.
How hard that must have been for you. Your dad sounds like a great guy, and I’m so sorry you lost him like that.
” To his eternally damned surprise, it was true.
Although he guessed he shouldn’t be surprised anymore, everything he thought he knew about himself was being turned upside down by Chuck—a half angel in form-fitting polyester.
Nodding slowly, she continued, “And then, in my dream, when I was crying, you showed up and hugged me. I guess that must have been when you got in bed with me. I knew you were there, so you appeared in my dream. Thanks, Malachi. It’s nice that you care.
” She gave him a warm smile before her eyes widened in alarm.
“Shit! Look at the time! Gonna be late if we don’t get moving! ”
Malachi was on the verge of asking her which version of him had comforted her in the dream, human or dog, but her panic had him jumping from the bed.
“Mal!” she squealed, covering her eyes.
Glancing down, he realized he’d forgotten, truly this time, that he was naked. He quickly shimmered into dog form and barked, letting her know it was safe to look.
Muttering to herself about illegal bodies, she hurried to the bathroom to shower and dress.
Grinning, Malachi flopped next to Reena. Hey, kiddo, doing okay with all of this?
Reena sneezed so hard her tail straightened, then she panted after the happiest little woof ever.
Good to know. So, you know what’s going on now with the demons and stuff, right? He studied her closely and sighed in relief at her grumble of understanding. Alright, just… don’t tip Chuck off, okay? I don’t want to hurt her. I promise I don’t. I’m going to help her figure out who killed her dad.
Reena stood and barked happily before spinning around in crazy circles, making her piggy snorts of approval. It would seem she liked this plan.
Slow down, turbo tailgate, he chuckled, amused at her antics.
I don’t want Chuck to know for a bit. I don’t want to get her hopes up if I can’t find anything.
He glanced over his shoulder at the bathroom door and calculated how much longer Chuck would be.
Hurrying to his room, he shifted back and quickly grabbed a change of clothes.
Nothing fancy, just light enough that if he needed to be human, he wouldn’t have to scramble for a hiding spot due to nudity.
A police station was the last place he wanted to explain being naked.
Running out to the living room, he piled it on the couch and shifted back to dog form, collar around his neck already. He’d damn near giggled putting it on in human form, and he’d never giggled before in his life.
Chuck hurried into the room, tightening her belt, pausing when she saw Malachi waiting.
“How did you get your own collar on?” Then her cheeks flushed a bright pink as she realized how he might accomplish it.
Her embarrassed gaze became a murderous squint as he laughed at her.
The wheezing huff recognizable even in his canine form.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, mister. What’s with the clothes? ”
I want to put them in a bag and take them with us. Just in case, he sent to her. Never know when I may need to be… Evan, ugh… again. His tone was nonchalant, and he managed not to vomit when he thought of the name. It was close, though.
Chuck tapped her pointer finger on her lips thoughtfully before nodding slowly. She held up her finger in a wait gesture, then hurried to her bedroom.
Malachi could hear her rummaging around before she ran back in, a drawstring sack held triumphantly in her fist. “Just the thing! I can put your clothes in here, and either one of us can carry them easily.” Quickly, she suited action to words and had his clothes, shoes, and even a hairbrush in the bag.
“Because when you change, sometimes your hair is a little wild,” she explained.
Why are you so obsessed with my hair? he teased.
“I’m not!” she snapped, then shook her head with chagrin.
“Okay, maybe a little. It’s such a pretty color.
I’ve never seen someone naturally have hair that black before.
I mean, lots of people have black hair, but yours is so vibrant.
Which doesn’t really make sense about that color.
But it’s almost iridescent like a raven’s wings.
It’s beautiful, really. And you have so much of it.
” She stopped rambling, and her cheeks heated again.
Standing taller, she smirked. “Well, enough about you. Wouldn’t want your ego to get any bigger than it already is. ”
Bursting into laughter, Malachi let the insult go because he was too busy thinking about how much she truly paid attention to his appearance.
That she had studied his hair that closely, it warmed him from the inside in a much more comforting way than the time his cousin Flick had dared him to eat a piece of brimstone when they were children.
This reminder of his demonhood had him shaking off the warm feeling, picturing Hyacinth’s threats.
He sobered and fell in line, trotting next to her so they could get to work, and he could keep corrupting her.
If there was a small voice in the back of his mind, jeering, it was the other way around; he ignored it.
When they arrived at the station, they were both heartily greeted by the rest of the squad as they settled in for the day.
At her desk, Chuck reviewed some reports and checked her messages.
Sighing heavily, she absently rubbed between his ears.
“This is the non-glamorous part you don’t see on television,” she confided.
“But… alas… paperwork makes the world go round.”
Yeah, about that. I uh… I want to check on a couple of things. Do you mind? He sent his thoughts carefully and innocently, as if his only goal was to go potty and sucker the guys into some bacon.
“Sure, that’s fine, just be back in thirty, we have to head over to a school for a demonstration.” Negligently, she shooed him away without watching to see where he went.
Silently, he grabbed his change of clothes and trotted off to the back room where he knew records were kept.
He muffled his collar—so nothing jingled—and slipped some shadows over his body to deflect attention.
He wasn’t truly invisible, but it made him unmemorable if someone asked if he’d been seen.
Slinking low past the counter, he located a darkened corner just on the edge of the camera range.
He concentrated, sending a quick burst of power into it.
Just enough to give it wavy static and blur the image.
Then he rapidly shifted to human form and slipped on his clothes.
Once dressed, he hurried down the aisles until he came to where he smelled the stronger scent of angelic grace.
Grabbing the container, he snuck back to the corner with his prize.
Opening the evidence box gave him a blast of scent that nearly blew back his hair.
The smell was undeniably angelic; this had to be Chuck’s father’s case.
Sure enough, he found the surname Charles and dug into the files within.
Glancing around to double-check no one was watching, he stuffed some of the files in his bag.
He took some heavy sniffs of the rest, committing those other milder scents to memory.
A scuffling noise had him cursing in his head, worried he was going to get caught.
Quickly, he began cramming the remaining things back into the box haphazardly before slapping the lid on.
He lurched to his feet and crept down the aisle, shoving the container on the shelf with a scraping sound that had him wincing.
“Hello?” called a wavering female voice.
Fuck, Janice, he nearly panicked and shucked his clothes, squashing them in the bag with the files.
Frantically, he shifted back into dog form before snatching the sack in his mouth and rushing out.
He remembered to quiet his sounds, so Janice didn’t hear him trotting towards her.
His shadows still clung to his fur, so he was able to slip past her undetected.
He still held his breath as he slunk lower, forcing himself into the dark baseboards in the neglected hallway.
“Huh,” Janice murmured as he rounded the corner, her voice fading with the distance. “I could have sworn I heard something.”
Hurrying back to the squad room where Chuck waited, Malachi almost ran into Jaxon. He hadn’t been looking too closely where he was going; he was so focused on making sure he wasn’t followed.
“Hey, Malachi! Hey, buddy!” called Jaxon with exaggerated cheerfulness. The smarmy bastard eyed him carefully, then took a step back. “Shouldn’t you be with Chuck?” he laughed in a false tone that set Malachi’s teeth on edge. “Where have you been, huh?”
Not having the patience for any of Jaxon’s fake bullshit, he merely loosed a short growl and swerved around the douchecanoe so he could hurry back to Chuck.
Despite his usual lack of brains, Jaxon had enough sense to realize Malachi didn’t like him and jumped back with alacrity.
“Good to see you, Malachi; good doggie!” he called after the retreating form of the canine who would gladly piss on him even if he wasn’t on fire unless Chuck asked him not to, of course. Well, maybe.
Catching sight of Chuck, he romped the last few feet to her and woofed excitedly, shoving the bag into her hands.
Her expression changed from happiness at seeing him to puzzlement as she took the bag. No doubt she’d noticed it being heavier than it should be. “Mal… what…” she started, a small crease between her eyebrows the only outward sign an onlooker would notice that something wasn’t quite right.
Shhh, he cautioned.
To her credit, Chuck immediately went into a joyful-to-see-him mode and ruffled his ears. “Who’s a good boy? That’s you! That’s my Mal-Mal,” she gushed.
Don’t make me puke on you, he warned. He tried to hide his laugh with a cough, but she wasn’t fooled.
A large grin curved her full lips into a beautiful smile that felt like a ray of warm sunshine on his fur.
Fuck me, he kept to himself. I’m in so much deep shit here.
“What did you do?” Chuck whispered in his ear while stroking his back like she would do if nothing were amiss. “Were you a bad dog?”
Hide that bag, he instructed. Take it to the car, and I’ll explain everything in a bit, okay? Please trust me. Kelly, please.
“Of course I trust you, Malachi.”