Page 90 of Death and Donuts

I saw one of the humans finish his drink. “Duty calls. I’ll be right back.”

I moved to leave his table, but he caught my wrist. His pull, which I hadn’t even noticed while talking to him, buzzed under my skin briefly before the charm under my shirt warmed and dispelled it.

“What would it take, Everly?” the fae asked.

“Since I don’t even know your name, probably a white kidnapper van crammed full of desserts that I haven’t yet tried. But seriously, you have two seconds to let go, or Detroit will jump the bar and toss you down the stairs. Blur has a strict no touching the staff rule.”

He glanced at the bar, released me, and lifted his hands in surrender.

“I deeply apologize for frightening you.”

“You didn’t.” With a nod of farewell, I made the rounds for more drinks.

When I returned to his table, he was gone but had left a note on a napkin with his name, Niroog, and his number. He’d even been helpful enough to include a pronunciation for his name.

“Knee-rook,” I said softly before folding the napkin and sticking it into my pocket along with the hundred he left for a tip. Although I had no intention of calling the number, it never hurt to have it just in case I needed fae intel.

Shepard appeared at the top of the stairs as I cleared the table. He had his phone pressed to his ear as he strode towardhis office. It wasn’t unusual to see him take calls. What was unusual was that he didn’t look at anything else as he moved. Eyes forward. No looking at me, Detroit, or the tables.

I glanced at Detroit, who was staring after Shepard with an equally troubled expression, and hurried over.

“What did you overhear?” I asked.

He took the dirty glasses from me to add to the dishtub behind the bar and shook his head.

“Don’t try lying to me, Detroit. Spill it, or I’m telling Vena that you know a shortcut to ending Anchor’s impotence spell. You know what that means? She’ll be in your ear non-stop asking for your help, and when you admit that you don’t know it, she’ll still come at you with all sorts of ideas and ask your advice.”

Detroit looked positively horrified at the idea. “You have a mean streak that makes up for your height deficiency.”

I shrugged and leaned in. He sighed and leaned closer to whisper in my ear.

“The police discovered a mass burial at a place outside of eastern D.C.”

My stomach twisted with what that meant, and I gripped the bar. An arm wrapped around my waist and spun me around.

I blinked up at Shepard, who leaned in the way Detroit had. However, with Shepard, it felt completely different. He turned his head toward my ear to speak.

“My tether is frayed, Everly. It would be safer if you didn’t get this close to anyone else.”

Hearing the tremor in his voice and understanding his frayed composure wasn’t just due to another man being close to me, I wrapped my arms around him, giving him the hug he needed.

He made a sound, hugged me in return, and then released me.

Detroit was on the far side of the bar as Shepard walked away. He shook his head at me. “I should have picked the Vena option.”

I grinned and went back to clearing my table.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

After Blur closed,I went to Shepard’s office. He was talking on the phone while Cross listened.

“Is he still talking about the mass grave?” I asked quietly.

“You heard about it?”

“I threatened to sic Vena on Detroit if he didn’t tell me.”

Cross grinned and closed the distance between us to kiss my cheek. “Clever, Everly. And, yes, he’s talking about the site. I get the honor of escorting you while Shepard and his crew head to the scene. Are you ready?”

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