Some Kind of Magic (13 page)

had done this. He got waves of surprise so strong that it

reached him over all the blood stench, and he glanced up at

the others in the room.

Ross was pushing past the rookie, relieving him to stand

at the door, and had his eyebrows up. Ray turned back to

Penn.

“Humans didn"t do this.” Ray sighed. A Were could have,

if driven to it, but wolves were precise, clean killers, not

savage, despite what people thought. And he would have

smelled a wolf. But the others couldn"t, and their eyes were

on him. Some of them wouldn"t even have blamed him if he

had done it.

Disgusted, he tossed his head again and nearly shook

off Penelope when she touched him arm. Then he looked

down at her, seeing the same rage in her eyes and strangely

calmed by it.

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“We"ll catch them.” She smiled, revealing rows of sharp

teeth, and then stepped away. She pretended not to see how

the M.E."s assistant moved around them. There was more

movement in the hall outside, and though the blood was

nearly overpowering, Ray inhaled the telltale traces of milky

caramel and honeymoons just in time to shout.

“No!” He growled at the two cops by the door. “They stay

out!”

Ross was only too happy to move to block them, even if

he jumped at Ray"s tone.

“Um, excuse me, the Captain sent us.” Benedict was

trying to reason with Ross. Ross decided not to be

reasonable. Ray would have patted him on the back if he"d

been a little less on edge.

“Detective Branigan says you stay out here, so you"re

staying out here.”

“Hey, Branigan!” Cal instantly called out. “What gives?”

His voice was thick with real hurt. Probably his pride. Ray

didn"t care. His heart was
just
slowing down now that it was

safe.

“No, Parker,” he repeated. Penelope was giving him an

odd look, but he ignored it and looked at the body.

“Absolutely not. I don"t want you seeing this.” Oh yeah, he

sounded nuts. But since no one was going to stand up to the

werewolf today, he was fine with that. Cal was
not
coming in

here to see this.

“Why not? Fairy stomach too weak?” Ross asked Cal,

and that was actually one of the reasons fairies weren"t ever

cops—the constant pursuit of happiness and the solving of

crimes didn"t go well together, which made Cal and his

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ability to handle most crime scenes all the more special. But

he shouldn"t have to handle this one.

“That"s enough, Ross,” Ray snarled without looking at

him. Penn was nodding, as though getting him now, and

crossed over to the door. Whatever she whispered made

Parker and Benedict lower their voices to answer. It sounded

like a yes, no, yes,
no
sort of argument, and then Benedict

stuck his head in to take a peek.

He gagged and disappeared. A few moments later, Ray

could
just
hear him vomiting but thankfully not smell it.

“He"ll be okay. He ate from a taco truck this morning.”

Cal excused his friend without making the same mistake of

looking in the room. He stayed on the other side of the door.

“I keep telling him no potable water…. And hello to you, too,

Officer Ross, sweetie. I"m fine. How are you?”

It was impossible for anyone to be that precious at a

crime scene like this one, but Cal came close. Ray felt his

mouth twitch. He straightened and relaxed his shoulders.

Ross grumbled. “Impeding an investigation, not real

cops, wasting the detective"s time….” Which Cal seemed to

take for his answer. He moved on to Penelope.

“Is it really that bad, Penn? He"s not just being a fussy

puppy?”

“Yeah, Cal. It"s that bad.”

“Oh. I suppose he wants me to go home? Don"t answer

that.”

Ray cleared his throat. “You know, you aren"t quiet

enough. I
can
hear you.” There was a slight pause, as though

Cal had forgotten that.

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“Of course you can, Ray Ray—er, Detective Branigan.”

That must have been for Ross, who was glowering. “I"m here

to help, you know, whatever others might think. Tell me.”

“Tell you what, Sunflower?” He had no idea why that

made his mouth go dry, but he had enough sense not to look

at Penn. He turned, looking over the pathetic little apartment

again instead.

“You know. Everything. What you see, smell, hear. The

layout. Everything. I can tell you there was magic here. A lot

of it.”

“You"re tingly again?” Ray asked, but paused to

consider. Penn was at the door. She"d make sure Cal didn"t

try anything, and describing it wouldn"t be as bad as seeing

it. He finally nodded. “Okay, it"s a crappy ass apartment.

Bars on the windows. Beer cans, a few illegal guns, none of

which smell like they were fired, which means he didn"t get a

chance or didn"t think he"d need them. The TV was off. The

door was unlocked, but untouched, like he let them in, no

questions asked.” He paused again.

“He was a big guy. Tough. Prison workout body. Covered

in tats. Spider webs, gang symbols. He"s dead on the floor.”

“That"s it?”

That was all he was telling Cal. Except, “It looks… it

looks like something with claws and possibly teeth did it.

Something large.”

Out loud like that, the M.E. and her assistant stopped

to glance at him, though she at least tried to offer him an

apologetic shrug. There wasn"t a sound from the cops in the

hall and doorway. Cal breathed out.

“Well,” his voice carried clearly. “It"s a good thing that

even if a werewolf
were
to lose control, it wouldn"t be until

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the full moon, and it"s only a half. And of course they don"t

kill unless provoked.”

Penelope"s grin was blinding as Ray turned around. “I

knew I liked you, Cal Parker.”

“Don"t be silly. Who could possibly believe that Ray Ray

would ever do anything like that?” Ray could see Cal"s hand

move in a sweeping, dismissive gesture, just in front of

Ross"s face. Ross flinched back and looked about half a

second away from whipping out his gun. “Okay, that"s what

you see. What do you smell, Branigan?”

He didn"t have to think. Ray shut his eyes and inhaled.

He was quiet, forming the words to explain what he smelled,

everything and everyone presenting themselves in wolf terms

first.

Like this, he could even hear their heartbeats.

“Metal and burning. Sulfur? Like a match being

consumed. Like… something… being consumed.” Eaten up.

“It"s almost tangy. Dark. Like….” Hatred, but he didn"t say it

out loud. He inhaled again, sweeping the room. Penny was

salt water and fierce oceanic breezes. Ross, simmering

resentment, probably at Cal in his face. The medical

examiner and her assistant, harried and slightly nervous.

Somber around the dead man. Cal. Cal was all
want
. Need

and perfection floating to Ray from that doorway even now,

and for a second Ray flashed back to Nasreen"s words and

gasped.

Swallowing the air meant he could taste it too. Taste

Cal, what he was, and Ray cut himself off and opened his

eyes. He rolled his shoulders. “It was something big, but it

wasn"t human. There"s a hint of chalk on the kitchen floor as

well.” His voice was rough.

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“Chalk again?” Cal seemed almost disappointed. “Too

bad there"s no chalk monster.”

Penn snorted with amusement. Chalk monster. That

was like saying it was a vampire. Everyone knew vampires

didn"t exist. Zombies who drank blood to stay alive.

Ridiculous.

Ray scratched his nose, tried to clear his senses, but

then moved when he couldn"t. He headed out, pushing past

Ross without an apology and ignoring his offers of help.

He just needed out. Now. Fresh air. It had been too long

since a hunt or a trip beyond the city. And this case. Cal.

Ray just needed clean air.

A dirty parking lot would have to do. He gulped in

oxygen until his nostrils weren"t stinging and his blood

wasn"t hot with the need to hunt, and then he turned,

unsurprised to hear Cal approaching. He was dressed today,

in a tight T-shirt and jeans. How considerate of him. He

looked good, but it was nothing compared to how he smelled,

and he was studying Ray so carefully that Ray wanted to ask

what he looked like to Cal, if he shined.

“So Penn looked it up in the car, and she says there"s a

werewolf who lives in the woods outside of town that this guy

tried to beat up in a biker bar a few months ago.”

He didn"t seem to be reacting any differently than he

always did to Ray"s presence, so Ray nodded slowly,

returning to the present. “The case was pending.” He paid

attention to werewolf cases, rare as they were. This one had

been a simple assault charge, or not so simple, as the charge

had been against a human.

“So….” Cal shifted, came closer, bright and immediately

calming with his echoes of
cottoncandy/bubblegum
. Child-

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hood pleasure in what was in front of him. Need. No fear.

Why him?
Ray almost asked himself again, but couldn"t

when the funhouse, carnival-midway scent of Cal was so

near and dear to him. He was probably staring, mooning,

but for once Cal didn"t seem to notice.

“Maybe it"s not related, but she says you have to check

it out.” Cal shifted position again, staring out at the cars and

the road and not at Ray. They weren"t touching, but when

Ray glanced down he could see his shoes getting covered in

glitter. Cal abruptly, finally, looked at him again, reading

something in Ray"s face that made him sigh.

“What?” Ray demanded. It was as close as he could get

to asking the rest, what Cal saw when he looked at him.

There was too much hope in his voice as it was. Cal sighed

again, then shook his head.

“So I was thinking….” Cal paused, rolling one hand and

trying to look more beautiful, or persuasive. Ray wasn"t sure

how, but he managed to do both. “Road trip?” he asked

finally, then hopped when Ray lifted one brow. It wasn"t a no,

and they both knew it. “Sweet! I call shotgun!”

Damn, Ray wanted to smile. He had to fight to sound

stern, to wonder where his dark mood had gone.

“No way. You take the back again.” Then he stopped,

looking past the yellow tape and over at poor Benedict, who

still looked queasy, then to Penn, who was watching them

from the car. He looked back into green and gold and

chocolate eyes. Shiny. Yes, Cal was shiny to him. “You sure

you want to ride in a car with a savage, murderous werewolf,

Petunia?”

Cal wrinkled his nose. It was irritatingly cute.

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“You want to ride in a car with a hyper, weak, no good

half-fairy, Fifi?” he inquired smoothly, then danced toward

the car with a crazy pirouette.

Ray grinned after him, faintly.

“You forgot slutty,” he shouted.

“Please!” Cal didn"t even bother to turn back to him.

“Pixies are
way
sluttier. Besides,
half
-fairy, remember?”

BENEDICT stayed behind. Ray doubted they"d make an

arrest, but if they had to, they"d need the space in the car.

Anyway, the man was obviously still sick, and after a brief

consultation with Cal, had announced that he had some

more research to do.

It was less than an hour out of town to the woods, and

half an hour more to drive up the back roads. Time spent

swatting Cal"s hand away from the radio and discussing

some episode of some show that Ray
had
to see, and how

Penn should go dancing with Cal some time. Of course Ray

was welcome to come too, Cal had assured him, and would

have tried to demonstrate a dance move in the backseat that

he was going to do with him if Ray hadn"t changed the

subject back to the case.

What he had to ask was why anyone would be

interested in making it seem as though a Were had

committed that murder. There were two answers, both