hidden talents (24 page)

The police teams were impressive, and there were more of them than only Adam"s men. They were
really
professional, not losing their cool like some of Blackwater"s people were now that their leader was dead. She doubted the cops knew she"d tripped their opponents or spoiled their aim. They simply took advantage of any opening. In some ways, the surreptitious fighting took her back to working for Blackwater. Secretly attacking an enemy wasn"t much harder than causing a favored horse to flag at the racetrack.

She couldn"t worry about the fairness of what she did. Blackwater"s people might or might not deserve to die, but they"d signed on to work for an awful man.

Ari needed to help Adam"s side. Not doing that wouldn"t have been a choice she could live with.

∞

It was no surprise to Adam that the demons fought the hardest. Most were only in Resurrection on conditional work visas, and the wheels of Justice tended to grind harder over them. Despite the desperation of their resistance, between Adam"s squad, the faerie, and the four tactical response teams Rick and Carmine had wrangled on short notice, many of Blackwater"s people were taken into custody alive. A fleet of transport wagons were even then pulling out of the gate on the way to Central Booking.

The rest of Blackwater"s men were enjoying a much quieter journey to the morgue.

They had no fatalities themselves, only injuries. In the same good news vein, Adam had hopes the demon Darius could be convinced to help dismantle what remained of the Eunuch"s drug empire. He anticipated the city"s crime stats taking a dive in the near future. Evil might not be defeated, but Good would definitely survive.

Curiously, Grant"s body hadn"t been on the roof. Adam hoped this didn"t mean he"d been taken elsewhere for harvesting, a desecration he doubted Grant"s people would appreciate. He issued an APB for any suspicious vehicles large enough to carry a gargoyle. Grant had died a hero. He deserved a burial his people would consider respectful.

He delegated Nate to notify Grant"s mother, a task the laid back cop didn"t like but was good at. Then Adam jogged back to the house to collect Ari.

He hadn"t quite reached the door when she and Tony came out of it together.

Adam"s first reaction was that he didn"t like how tightly Ari was clinging to his detective"s side. His second was remembering Tony was gay. His third was gratitude that his friends would look out for her.

“Look who I found,” Tony said to him with a grin.

Adam touched the side of her face, and she unwound from Tony to embrace him. Her cheek squashed against his chest, her arms wrapping his waist with surprising strength. Blood was smeared underneath her nose, as if it had bled again. She had a look on her face he couldn"t interpret.

“It got quiet,” she said. “I couldn"t wait anymore.”

Adam pressed his lips to her hair. “I"m sorry I didn"t come for you right away. There were things to wrap up out here. I knew none of the fighting had reached the cellar.”

“I understand,” she said. “You"re the boss. People expect you to oversee stuff. I"m just glad you"re all right.”

Oh, she didn"t know how sorry she made him feel, much more than she could have by complaining. He kissed her temple, wanting to kick himself. He was aware she"d been let down by people she loved before.

Ari tipped her head back from him. “Tony told me Grant"s body is missing.”

“Yes,” he said, “but we"re doing what we can to find it. If someone"s trying to harvest his organs, they won"t get far.”

“Adam, before I - Before Grant told me I ought to stab him, he sent me some strange pictures. He showed his dead body glowing before it flew away. Is that how gargoyles think they go to heaven?”

He"d figured Grant had given her permission to kill him, sparing her the sin of murder. “I don"t know,” he said, returning to her question. “I suppose it"s possible. And different species ... decompose in different ways. Gargoyles are very insular. We don"t know that much about them.”

“He was so cute,” she said, her eyes tearing up.

Adam swiped one fat drop away with his thumb. As he did, he became aware that an awful lot of heads had turned to watch them.

“Sorry,” Ari said, realizing it as well. “I"m embarrassing you in front of your coworkers.”

“Nah.” Adam hugged her a bit tighter. “They just haven"t seen me getting mushy over a girl before.”

She blushed, which he enjoyed right down to his toes.

“I love you,” he said, not giving a damn how many sharp wolf ears heard.

“Rick"s going to be jealous, but you may be the best partner I ever had.”

Tony sniggered, proving at least he was listening. “You aren"t wrong about that.”

“Can we leave soon?” Ari asked hopefully.

Adam groaned at how not soon it was going to be. “I can"t, sweetheart.

There"s going to be a fricking mountain of processing for this number of arrests, even with all the team pitching in. But Tony could take you to his parents" house, so you won"t be alone.”

“Could I go to your house?” she asked.

Did she mean she"d rather be alone than with other people, or did she want to be around his things - in his territory, as it were?

“Sure,” he said, conscious he had a different attitude toward company than she did. She wasn"t used to the idea of a pack yet. “Tony and Rick"s parents can check in on you there. They won"t hover, I promise.”

Ari smiled and stretched up his chest to press her lips to his. The kiss was sweet but far too short.

“I"ll see you when I see you then,” she said.

Adam hadn"t lied about Rick and Tony"s parents not hovering. Neither did their sister, Maria, who Ari finally met and got to thank for the loan of her clothes. Maria"s husband had been one of cops on the tactical response teams, and Ethan had been chattering like a cricket about how brave and important his daddy was. Possibly sensing her need for quiet, Ethan"s mother and grandparents were now up on the roof helping the three-year-old fly a cat-shaped kite that meowed loudly - and unhappily - when the wind hit it right.

Ethan"s delighted laughter drifted down through Adam"s open living room windows.

Dogs would be dogs, Ari supposed.

She sat curled up in a comfortable armchair - the only kind of furniture Adam seemed to own - her face turned to the cool autumn breeze. She was tired but not ready to face sleep and dreams.

The Eunuch was dead.

Adam had said he loved her.

It was safe for her to go back to her life in the normal world.

Those three facts chased each other inside her mind. She had decisions to make and no idea how to sort them out. What did she want? What should she?

Three times Adam had said he loved her. Or, actually, it was four.

Not that she was counting or anything.

She hugged her knees up against her chest, her precious Yankees jacket

warming her. It had been waiting for her in Adam"s guest room. She hadn"t worn it on their quest to find Blackwater, because she hadn"t wanted anything to happen to it. She fingered its attached coins and ticket stubs, mementos from her favorite outings with Sarah and Maxwell. How could she trust Adam, whom she"d only known for days, the same way she trusted friends she"d shared everything with for years?

Then again, he had risked his life for her.

She rubbed the arms of the chair, too restless to be still. Sarah and Max needed to know the Eunuch was dead. She had to go home for that at least. Hell, Sarah had been MIA before she left. Had Blackwater"s people hurt her when they clipped that lock of her hair? Had they harmed Max in the hospital?

If Ari returned to Manhattan, would Adam wait for her?

Stupid
, she thought. He"d said he loved her four times. They"d had amazing sex. He"d wait for her.

But what then? And how did she decide what she wanted the answer to be?

She was twenty-six. That ought to old enough to make grown up life choices.

She grimaced at herself, having circled back to the beginning. The sound of Adam"s doorbell saved her from going around again.

His friends wouldn"t ring, would they? Not down at the front door. Adam would be lucky if they knocked at his apartment before traipsing in. She had the feeling they all had each other"s keys.

Curious, she edged her head out the open window. Down below, on the steps of the old brownstone, a UPS man waited with a stack of cartons. He had huge feet and hulking shoulders, but he didn"t look scary - more like an overgrown farmboy. His hair was dusky gold, his skin a yummy shade of cafe au lait. From her current angle, that was all she could see. His head was bent over his delivery tablet.

Ari considered the ceiling above her. She could call the Lupones to answer the door. They were wolves and could handle trouble if this was some kind of hoax. She"d feel silly if it wasn"t, plus she wasn"t catching a danger vibe. Just because she"d had a rough couple days didn"t mean she ought to stop trusting her instincts.

Adam"s doorbell rang again.

Fine
, she thought and grabbed the athame she hadn"t admitted to carrying out of the Eunuch"s house. The ceremonial dagger was probably evidence, but for now she felt better keeping it. It wasn"t like she could tell who her gift would work on here, or when she"d get into trouble for using it.

She slid it in her right rear pocket before she opened the door.

“Delivery for Adam Santini and a girl named Ari,” the UPS guy announced.

Actually, according to the logo on his brown uniform shirt, he was an RPS

guy.

“I"m Ari,” she said.

“Okeydokey,” said the guy, turning to shift the packages into the vestibule.

The cartons weren"t heavy and this only took a few seconds.

“Holy smokes,” Ari said when she saw the printing on their sides. Someone was sending Adam five, no, six cartons of Tiger! condoms. Adam couldn"t have ordered these himself. He"d told her a six-pack of the enchanted rubbers cost two-weeks" salary. Six cartons would probably wipe out his bank account.

“Who sent these?” she demanded.

The RPS guy checked his handheld computer. “It says they"re a gift from the head of the Gargoyle Council, in thanks for letting her son help vanquish their enemy.”

“It doesn"t say that!”

The RPS guy turned the screen around to show her. Okay, maybe it did. How was she to know delivery service operated differently here?

“That"s crazy,” she said, both rattled and choked up. “Her son is only dead because of us.”

“I guess they see the bigger picture,” said the delivery guy.

Ari narrowed her gaze at him. His tone was odd, and she realized he"d been keeping his head down this whole time, preventing her from getting a clear look at his face. He sounded like he was trying to disguise his voice, a baritone pretending to be a tenor, like maybe she"d recognize it otherwise. Too bad for him Ari had the perfectly normal gift of a first-rate auditory memory.

“Grant?” she said, hardly daring to believe it was him.

The RPS guy looked up and laughed. His eyes were citrine yellow with cat slits, exactly the same as Grant the gargoyle. “Mom warned me you"d see through this.”

“But how - You"re -”

“Shh,” he said, one finger to his smiling lips. “This is the gargoyles" biggest secret. Hardly anyone knows we"re a form of were. Most gargoyles don"t change if they can help it. It"s difficult to shift back without a full moon, and they find it slightly embarrassing to be stuck in a shape so small.”

“But you were dead. Even the sorcerer thought so.”

“The magic inside me wasn"t completely damped by the wards. I couldn"t

snap the cables that held me, but I could do magic on myself. I created the illusion that I was dead. Then, once everyone was gone, I changed to this shape and slipped out of their net. The shift repaired the damage to my heart - which, by the way, good aim.”

“Don"t remind me,” she said faintly. “Jesus, I thought those pictures you sent me meant you expected to go to gargoyle heaven.”

“Sorry,” he said. “It"s tricky to communicate with a nonreader.”

Ari shook her head at Grant, amazed that it was still him inside such a different body.

“Could we hug now, do you think?” he asked.

She laughed and let him pull her off her feet in a bearlike embrace. He might not have much practice, but he was a great hugger. When he held her, she felt like she had a brand new friend.

“Ah,” he said, putting her down at last. “That"s one good thing about having arms.”

Just looking at him made her grin. She did have to ask one question. “Not that I"m complaining, but why the special delivery of the very expensive condoms?”

“Er.” Grant scratched the skin of his cheek. “That first night when I was up on the roof and Adam went out to buy them? I noticed this was his brand. And, please, don"t worry about the price. Gargoyles handle most of the charmwork for Tiger! brand. We get a big discount.”

“Good to know,” she said, more amused than she thought was sensitive to admit. One stereotype people believed about gargoyles seemed to be true: They were a teensy bit snoopy.

∞

Much to Adam and his team"s relief, one of the backup squads took over

processing paperwork a couple hours into it.

“We"re claiming the rest of your collars for ourselves,” they teased. “So you idiots" heads don"t swell up.”

If this meant he could go home, Adam was ready to hand them over. He

wanted his own shower, his own bed, and Ari - not in that order.

Nate had suffered a dislocated shoulder during the fight. With no small disgust, he handed Rick the keys to the response van. Rick drove fine, but Nate felt a need to “help” anyway.

“You"ve got to baby her,” he was saying, his patient tone so forced it was more like the opposite. “If you punch the gas instead of push it, she"s going to stall.”

“Maybe you should sit on my lap and work the pedals yourself,” Rick

snapped.

The riding benches were in place in the back. Tony and Adam smiled at each other across the bay.

“Those two,” Carmine sighed, leaning back and closing his eyes.