Some Kind of Magic (14 page)

involving general ignorance of his kind, or even other Beings.

As Cal put it, when Ray had broken down enough to ask, “A

Were wouldn"t have left a crime scene buzzing with magic.”

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94

“But this person didn"t know that?” Any basic

information needed was easy enough to look up.
I"m Going To

Get Fur Where?: A young Were"s guide to their changing body

was in every library for Pete"s sake.

“Or couldn"t help it,” Penn had to point out, and shared

a quick, stunned look with Ray. He felt slow and was glad

she was feeling like an idiot too. “Say he"s using the magic to

be larger or stronger and isn"t naturally that intimidating….”

“All he needs is to look harmless, or however he"s getting

in the door, and then a moment alone for his spell and pow!

You"ve got your big, bad monster!” Cal hummed. “I see, I

see.”

“But fake a Were attack?” Ray had to come back to that.

“To frame you.” Penn spat it out.

“Or impress you!” Cal piped in. Ray looked at him in the

rearview mirror. “We just said that they might not know

Weres. And let"s face it, Ray. You did have a grudge against a

few of those guys.”

Ray opened his mouth to argue that, then closed it and

faced the window, trying to let the truly fresh air,

pinesap/dirt/snakes/birds/free
, distract him from the

thought of anyone laying dead bodies at his feet to woo him.

At least it wasn"t Cal. Cal might fellate a lollipop in front of

him to get his attention, but he wasn"t a murderer.

But he
was
stuck on the idea that it was about Ray,

and Penelope was willing to listen. Ray kept trying to assure

them that they had nothing to worry about, without taking

his eyes from the passing trees. He had his enemies—any

good cop did—but no one who"d attempt anything like this.

Arch-villains were for comic books. And finally asking who

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95

would be obsessed with him enough to bother drew a groan

from the backseat.

“Oh shut up, Magnolia.” He turned to actually look at

Cal then and froze. He turned back toward his open window,

and then held out a hand. “Stop here.”

Male wolf. Urine. Ownership.

The address listed for T. Kirkpatrick had simply said

“the woods,” but they"d found it. The moment Penn yanked

up the brake, Ray was out with a hand on his gun. He held

his other hand up to tell the others to stay back,
Cal
to stay

back, but when Penn got out, Cal got out too, slamming

doors, pushing forward.

They should have taken a squad car, Ray thought

distantly. They could have locked Cal in.

But he didn"t look, trusting in Penn to keep Cal safe

while he searched the space around them. Kirkpatrick, or

some Were, was close. He smelled water and then

soil/fur/strength
.

He forgot about his gun and felt a moment"s discomfort,

not quite agony, as his hands shifted enough to let his claws

out. Behind him, he heard Cal"s soft, “Whoa” and the sound

of Penn drawing her weapon, checking her spare clip,

because you didn"t need special bullets to kill a werewolf,

you just needed enough bullets.

Ray twitched. He also smelled blood. Rabbit. Nothing

human. Nothing like hatred. Just a hunt. But he didn"t

relax, and at the first hint of movement, he stepped forward.

The other Were came forward out of the trees at the same

time, his hands up.

“T. Kirkpatrick? Come on out, real slow.”

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“Well, well, well.” The light hit Kirkpatrick as he came

nearer, revealing a tall young man with blazing red hair and

freckles. He was barefoot, with loose jeans and an

unbuttoned plaid shirt that he"d obviously thrown on, that

probably wouldn"t have covered his wide chest even if he had

buttoned it. Ray nearly relaxed a fraction. If Kirkpatrick had

changed to human to meet them and had gotten dressed,

then he wasn"t in some sort of frenzy.

He moved with natural grace, hardly making a sound

until he came to a stop. Then he laughed. “Well,” he said

again, “a city werewolf. I"ve heard of those. Running without

a pack, City-Wolf?”

“Whoa.” Cal repeated himself, and for the second time in

his life, Ray wondered what Cal saw when he beheld a

werewolf, if he saw the same power that Ray was seeing, that

hint of something primal and wild in the man"s eyes as he

considered all of them, dividing them into predator or prey.

When his gaze flicked over Cal, Ray lifted his head and

stared hard. His breathing was heavy, hackles officially

raised, and for a second all he wanted to do was grind this

upstart into the dirt.

He was still between him and the others. “I have a

pack.”
Hurt them and I"ll hurt you.
It didn"t need saying. At

his back, Cal seemed to be stuck on a loop. “Whoa.”

“Detectives Del Mar and Branigan with the Los Cerros

PD.” He assumed Penn was holding up her badge. “We"re

here to ask you some questions.”

Ray couldn"t smell anything of the victim on Kirkpatrick,

but he could have washed very carefully, and they had to be

sure, so he didn"t say anything and let Penn step in. He

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heard her, very slowly, holstering her gun, then coming

closer.

“Someone you know was murdered this morning. Perry

Paladino.”

It at least got Kirkpatrick"s attention.

“That asshole?” He shrugged. “Am I supposed to cry?

Another drunk human who thought he could take a Were in

a fight. I didn"t even have to shift. Anyway, that was months

ago. I only pressed charges since I figured it would teach

that idiot better than a beatdown would. He seemed like he"d

known a few of those already.”

He stopped, then shrugged again. “Murdered, huh? I

suppose saying I"ve been here alone all week, but I didn"t do

it would make you guys go away?”

“Nope. Sorry.” Penn didn"t sound sorry. “But I"m sure if

you are innocent and don"t have anything to hide you won"t

mind us checking out your lair.”

Kirkpatrick"s attention came back to Ray, not that it had

ever fully left him. The man wasn"t stupid. He rubbed his

nose, then smiled without much humor.

“Sure.” With a slight wave, he starting moving

backward, slipping through the trees. Ray led the way after

him, keeping him in sight at all times. But it wasn"t far to a

small clearing underneath some tall, tall redwoods, against a

hill where an outcropping of rocks led to an actual cave,

though there was also a tent and a fire pit. No signs or

smells of anyone else, wolf or human.

“Don"t see
your
pack.” He couldn"t help a smirk.

“To be honest, I"m more of a lone-wolf type.”

Penn was moving carefully around the campsite, peering

in the open door of the tent without entering it, poking at the

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remains of a rabbit with her toe. There really wasn"t much to

look at.

“You live here?” Most wild Wolves had better shelter

than this. So-called City Wolves usually had houses or

cabins so they could visit the wilderness when needed.

“Recent breakup. Decided I liked it. Haven"t felt like

anything more permanent.” Kirkpatrick"s shrug didn"t hide

the undercurrent of pain at the word “breakup.” Ray

reconsidered him. Not a Mating, clearly, but the man had

lost something meaningful.

Penn took no interest in that as she stared into the cave

and declared it shallow before announcing that she couldn"t

see anything. They hadn"t really expected Kirkpatrick to be

guilty, but the lack of evidence was good to hear, though Ray

didn"t ease his posture, not for a second.

“Why a werewolf?” Kirkpatrick asked suddenly.

“We have our reasons,” Cal answered, and Ray barely

hid his flinch. He couldn"t look, didn"t dare, but there was

Cal"s warm scent, mingling with the moss and dirt and dark

forest smells and Kirkpatrick"s odor: lonely, hungry. He

didn"t like it.

He didn"t like it any more than he liked how the other

Were"s gaze narrowed on Cal. Again.

Idiot should have stayed in the car. Anyone with any

sense would have stayed in the car. Goddamn fair—no,

goddamn,
Cal.

“Well hello, little fairy.” Kirkpatrick greeted him, smiling

for real for the first time. “Oh, half-fairy, my bad. Little half-

fairy with little, pretty, tasty wings.” Cal"s breathing did a

strange thing. So did Ray"s. The other Were looked at him.

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“So, Detective, you always put your mate in danger like

this?”

Ray growled. Not quietly. “She"s not my mate. She"s my

partner.” The bond was similar in some ways, easy enough

to mistake, but too late Ray realized that Kirkpatrick hadn"t

gotten it wrong at all, and Ray had just confirmed that.

Of course he"d smell the truth, out here with no

mitigating scents, with Ray vibrating with the need to act on

his instincts. If it wasn"t Penn, then there was only one

person who could be creating this
worry/need/protect
in

Ray.

“Not her,” Kirkpatrick informed him anyway, reckless, or

just an asshole with a broken heart. “A City-Wolf like you, so

weak. I figured the half-breed was the best you could do.”

Ray moved. The air moved with him, and then

Kirkpatrick was against a tree, slammed into the trunk with

Ray"s claws digging into his neck and Ray"s face close to his

as he let the jackass catch his breath. His teeth were bared.

Kirkpatrick"s weren"t for one startled moment, and then Ray

could feel the man"s body tense as though he might shift.

Fool hadn"t even gotten a chance to get his hands up.

Ray pulled back to avoid the dead rabbit breath, and heard

the other two calling his name. He shook them off, felt
his

body go tense too.

“You don"t get to talk about him,” he informed

Kirkpatrick, his growl only intensifying with so much wolf so

close. “He"s smarter than you, prettier than you, and he

damn sure smells better than you.”

Kirkpatrick rolled his eyes, leaning his head back into

the tree and closing his mouth. He wasn"t any kind of alpha

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yet, too young, too immature, but Ray kept him where he

was until the message was received.

Kirkpatrick sniffed the air a few times before glancing

from Ray to the place behind him where the air smelled like

Christmas and Valentine"s Day. Cal. Then he smirked.

“
Oh
,” he said, his volume going up. “He"s not your mate

at all, is he? You haven"t even fucked him yet.”

Ray"s claws tightened. He watched Kirkpatrick"s skin go

red and then white with the pressure. His face, his body,

were hot. Burning. And he was growling, growling until he

heard Cal speaking.

“Ray. Ray Ray.
Raymond
.”

Kirkpatrick was eyeing him, weighing him for

something, and still talking, in the barest whisper that Ray

allowed him. He wasn"t bleeding, wasn"t about to die. This

was wolf business and Kirkpatrick shouldn"t have involved

the others.

“Why not?” He wanted to know, seemed honestly

confused, and his loneliness hit Ray again, almost made him

relax his grip. “He"s pretty, and the desire for you radiates

from him.”

As though Ray didn"t smell the
lust/need/want

everyday. Hearing it from someone else twisted his gut.

“Ray,” Penn murmured, urgently.

“You"re too young to understand,” Ray answered him at

last, even as only a wolf could hear. “He"s Fairy. They

don"t…. They don"t Mate.” It hurt to say. Kirkpatrick blinked.

“Who cares? Take what you can. It"s better than….” He

swallowed. “You want to let me go now?”

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Ray took it as a suggestion because it sure as hell

wasn"t an order. He waited, because he could, and then

released him and took a step back. He watched the other

Were rub his neck and then offer him a rueful grin.

“Not bad spirit, for—”

“A City-Wolf, we get it,” Cal finished for him, strain in