Some Kind of Magic (21 page)

time, blinding like Klieg lights, and then Cal frowning, crying

out.

Which was how he"d sounded against the wall, and Ray

remembered that he had to explain what he"d said. It was

important. “Cal,” he started, and then fell. He stared up from

the floor into stunned faces.

“Ray!” The rain of glitter felt wet and oddly cool, but

then Ray was so hot. And still so tired.

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“I"m so tired,” he confessed, though it was only part of

what he needed to say, but then his eyes were closing. The

last things he heard were Cal shouting, “Do something, you

dumb demon!” And then something long and low, like a

howl.

IT WAS his own howling that woke him up again, or he

thought it was. His throat was raw and his mouth dry, and a

commanding voice was ordering him to be quiet. Ray opened

his eyes but wasn"t sure he was awake. If he was, he wanted

to go back to sleep.

The room seemed tilted and didn"t smell like anything

he wanted, and in front of him was Calvin Parker. Detective

Calvin Parker, retired. A man who could have been Chief of

Police but had chosen love and had always seemed fine with

that decision. Ray would have been fine with it too, if he"d

ever really had that choice.

Of course, Cal"s mother had left the man long ago,

which just meant that Ray had been right all along. He

wasn"t really in the mood to be right, however. His body

hurt, everywhere. Especially his chest. Either his heart was

breaking or he"d been kicked in the chest by a bull. Possibly

both.

“Calvin? Where is everyone?” The room they were in

wasn"t that big, though it was private. It smelled too sterile,

but Ray couldn"t move much to scratch his nose. “Why are

you here? And where is here?”

“I"m here to give that kid of mine a break, though I

doubt he"s resting. He never listens to me. If anything, he"s

probably downing the contents of every coffee and hot

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chocolate machine on the first floor. I sent everyone else

home, even that stubborn partner of yours. Anyway, most of

these poor excuses for nurses are too afraid to push you

back into bed when you try to get out of it. Knock that off.”

“Yes, sir.” It was a habit really. Calvin was wearing a

worn flannel shirt and jeans up a little too high at his waist.

He rubbed at his head where most of his hair was gone and

had been gone for years, and then, as always, seemed

surprised to find he was bald. He exhaled loudly. Ray tried

again. “But I need to go see if—”

“I tried to tell you.” Calvin rolled his eyes but didn"t

move away. Ray was trying to figure out why he couldn"t

seem to move much despite wanting to when he saw the IV

drip. He"d been drugged. With effort, he focused back on

Calvin. “Fairies don"t do well with vigils. They get restless,

and when they get restless we all pay.”

He paused, and Ray decided that he was supposed to

share his smile. He didn"t. Calvin just moved on anyway. “I

came to see what I could do to help, and to see what had my

son so upset he forgot he was supposed to have lunch with

his mother today. Thank goodness Benny"s a good boy and

called me.”

Ray nodded, mostly because he felt he ought to respond,

even if he was dreaming. Calvin got that intense look on his

face, like he"d always used to get before mentioning his son

to Ray. He and Cal had never even met, and yet Calvin had

told Ray so much, all the time. What Cal needed. What he

was looking for. What he thought of his mother leaving. Ray

still didn"t understand why.

“Benny,” Calvin began heavily, “Benny was the only

person never to prejudge Cal… of course, they met when

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they were four. But everyone else…. You know what that"s

like, I"m sure,” he said pointedly, and stopped to aim a hard

look at Ray. Ray opened his mouth but didn"t defend

himself.

“The things people think are true without ever

investigating for themselves… well, it continues to amaze

and disappoint me. Like down at the station, what they all

assumed about… about his mother and me.” He rubbed his

head, still seemed surprised at the smooth surface of his

scalp. “I didn"t care, but….”

He coughed. “Damn it, Ray, look at me. Imagine it. It

was obvious after a while that I was getting older. That I was

turning into something she couldn"t want, and if she did I

couldn"t just let her watch me die. It would have hurt her so

much.”

Ray blinked, swallowed, but the force building in his

throat wasn"t a howl.

“I didn"t want her to deal with that, and I foolishly—and

mistakenly, as it turns out—thought it was what they

wanted. Happy, she always said. She wanted to be happy. I

thought

that

meant

protecting

her

from

future

unhappiness.”

It meant something else to a fairy, Ray knew, but Calvin

wasn"t letting him talk.

“She—Cal tells me that isn"t how they see things. I don"t

know anymore. My reasoning made sense at the time. Now it

just seems like fear got in my way.” His cheeks darkened.

“Fear of embarrassment or her leaving me, I don"t know. But

I can feel fear, don"t think I can"t.”

Ray stared, watched the color in Calvin Parker"s face

and tried to think of the legendary detective, afraid. Then he

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imagined him raising Cal, and it wasn"t so hard to picture. It

was no wonder he worried about keeping Cal safe.

“I knew when I met you, kid, that you"d have the same

problem. Look at you. Big, bad werewolf, intimidating almost

everyone you"d ever meet. Not even a manic little brilliant

idiot like my son would have been able to imagine that you"d

be terrified of him. I know she couldn"t. But you are, aren"t

you?”

“Calvin,” Ray tried at last. Calvin fixed him with a look

that was eerily like one of Cal"s, something that would have

pissed off Cal to no end if Ray had told him.

“He"s always avoided the station, and probably would

have forever if I hadn"t forced him into the consultant job.

And even then, though Murphy tells me that he"s damn good

at what he does, I know I"m not why he stayed.”

He met Ray"s eyes, and Ray suddenly flashed back to all

of those counseling sessions over scotch, and the occasional

lunch, all before he"d ever met Cal.

“You—”

“My son isn"t shy, but when he began dropping hints

that he"d heard there was a werewolf on the force now, and

about how tall he"d „
heard"
he was.” Calvin paused to make

air quotes and lay on the sarcasm. “Instead of trying to

bother me by just….” He waved a hand. Ray was too tired to

try to determine its meaning. “Doing what he always does, I

knew we had a problem on the horizon.”

“That"s why you….” Ray really wasn"t sure what to feel

here. But if this was a dream, he thought he should have

better drugs. He could have been dreaming of Cal. Not his

father.

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“No, Ray, I knew you"d have a tough time of it, even once

you were accepted as a cop. I just wanted… to at least be

there for you, since my son continues to, perhaps rightfully,

blame me for his mother leaving.”

He sighed again.

“Even after all that time. I should have known her

better. She was….”

“Unhappy,” Ray finished for him. Calvin scowled at him

for it.

“You ever seen fairy tears, Branigan?”

Nasreen, with her broken heart. Ray wondered how she

was doing, if she"d convinced Audrey, if she was happy

again.

“Yes.”

Calvin jerked his chin up, his scowl running even

deeper. He poked at the air like he"d poke Ray"s chest if Ray"s

chest didn"t hurt so much already.

“See that you don"t see them again or a demon will be

the least of your worries!” he ordered, then stepped back,

clearing his throat. Ray blinked rapidly. “I think my son has

waited long enough.”

“Yes, sir,” Ray answered, more from training than any

fear. Calvin nodded, then raised his head as though he was

listening to something. A creak, like a door opening. His hard

face softened in ways that Ray would have to struggle to

define even when drug free and wide awake.

“You should try to get some sleep.” Calvin spoke gruffly

a moment later and settled back into a chair that Ray hadn"t

even noticed. There were other chairs too, full of cups and

wrappers and abandoned jackets. Too many for one or even

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three people. “See, I told you, he"s just fine,” Calvin added,

and Ray tried to focus. “His partner told you he needed his

sleep.”

“But what about….” Ray trailed off, then wrinkled his

nose when he was shushed.

“Shut up and listen.” He couldn"t see Calvin anymore

and realized his eyes were closed again.

“No,” Ray told him, but heard his voice drift away. “I

need to see if he"s okay.”

“Oh, Ray.” Cal"s breath was like a fresh madeleine,

warm and so close. “I"m fine,” he whispered, nearly into his

ear, and Ray turned toward him, or tried to, inhaling, only to

fall back to sleep with that marvelous scent finally being

where he needed it.

“Seriously, kid, some self-respect please,” another voice

grunted, right before the sweet hint of Cal ignoring his

father"s words and saying Ray"s name one more time.

RAY jerked awake, flinching at his last memory and then at

the unpleasant pungency of floor cleaner and attempted

sterility. Hospital. That smell was unmistakable. Damn it. He

hated hospitals.

He frowned, but then the collection of sounds around

him, voices, rustling clothes, squeaking wheels and

condescending advice in the distance, made him work hard

to open his eyes.

He felt tired. Tired, but in a good way. As though he"d

finally gotten some real rest.

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Finding himself on his side in a hospital bed wasn"t

really a surprise, though he didn"t remember how he got

there. He was facing a wall decorated with some bad art, and

on a stand by his bed were some wildflowers in a vase and a

familiar heart-shaped box of chocolates with a note that

shimmered and smelled like Audrey Conti and happiness.

The box was already opened, with most of the chocolates

gone. There were wrappers scattered everywhere. Ray sighed.

Penn immediately came into view. She was in her casual

clothes but looked tired. She was smiling.

When she took his hand, he realized that he was

bandaged pretty heavily, along his arm and his chest and

possibly on his head, which felt fuzzy. But he squeezed her

fingers.

“Hey, Ray.”

“Hey, Penn. How long?” His voice rasped, and she

looked over. A moment later someone handed her a paper

cup, and she was feeding him tiny sips of water filled with

chips of ice.

“Just a day and a half.”

“Big, tough wolf just likes to worry people,” said

someone with a very distinct voice, like buttery pastry, from

somewhere where Ray couldn"t turn to see. Penn rolled her

eyes.

“I"m drugged?” he guessed. She snickered.

“Oh yeah. You kept trying to walk out of here, even half-

conscious.”

Which… sounded like something he would do. That

pissy little voice chimed in with something to that effect too.

Penn shushed it. “Anyway, you"ll be fine. Between the door,

and the wall, and the wall again, and the claw wounds, you

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had quite the night, but if you"d eaten anything the other

day….” She used guilt like his mother, or her mother for that

matter. “And been getting any sleep, you would have been

fine by now. But that faster-than-human regeneration ought

to have you out of here in no time. Steve"s really sorry, by the

way.”

“I"m sure.” He had enough ice water and pulled his head

back. She put the cup next to the flowers.

“Really. He loaded you into the ambulance himself.”