Page 12 of Clay White
But as one of those vampires had recently pointed out, humans were fully capable of monstrous acts, of attacking their own kind—sometimes even their own families—with unmatched ferocity. Or, more often, making stupid decisions that got other people killed.
How to judge a living being? By his species? His actions, past or present? His intentions? I didn’t know. And as I lay there, I realized it was hubris to even try, especially when I couldn’t fairly judge myself.
I imagined I heard the softshushof flapping wings, and I fell asleep thinking of Marek and the tender way he’d touched me.
Chapter Five
When I walked into the kitchen, Tenrael was cooking breakfast—a surprise since demons don’t need to eat. But he hummed happily while he fried bacon and eggs in a cast iron pan, his wings moving slightly to the rhythm of the song. He was naked this morning. Nothing sexual about it, simply a creature comfortable in his own skin. Grimes, wearing black trousers and a burgundy shirt, sat at the small kitchen table with a glass of water and a newspaper. The morning light coming in through the windows gave everything a lemon-and-butter tint. It was a cozy scene, far more domestic than anything I’d witnessed in my own family, and I had to fight hard to strangle a new tendril of hope. This would never be me. The only time a guy like me gets a white picket fence is when he’s using the pickets to stake things.
Without looking up from his newspaper, Grimes pointed at an empty chair. Then he got up and poured a mugful of coffee from the old-fashioned percolator on the stove. He brought it to me and sat down again. “Ten and I did some research on your problem,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“Didn’t find anything useful. Went on a wild goose chase after chupacabras, though.”
“That’s a mixed metaphor,” Tenrael said from the stove.
Grimes shot him a look of annoyance and fondness in equal measure, then turned to face me. “We’re fairly certain it’s not a chupacabra.”
“Well, I guess that narrows it down.” I sipped my coffee—bitter and strong—and sighed. “Is it a vampire?”
“Are you looking for verification that you didn’t fuck the perp?”
“No, not really. I only…. I’ve jumped into things blindly before. Don’t want to do it again.”
Grimes gave me what I hoped was an approving look. “We don’t think it’s a vamp. Neither of us has heard of one doing this to its victims, and we’ve been around for a while.”
“A while.” Chuckling, Tenrael brought over two overflowing plates of food and set them in front of us. Mine had the expected bacon and eggs, but Grimes got pancakes nearly drowned in syrup. I never imagined I’d be served breakfast by a naked demon, and damn, the food sure smelled good. I thanked him and dug in. Before I knew it, I’d cleaned my plate and drained a second cup of coffee.
Grimes cleared away the dishes and washed up while Tenrael dried. They moved easily together in the cramped space, a well-practiced dance punctuated by quick smiles and caresses. After all the breakfast things were tucked away and Grimes had wiped down the counter, he sat again at the table and Tenrael knelt beside him. I didn’t understand why he knelt, but they both looked entirely comfortable with it. It was probably hard to sit in chairs with those big wings.
“How are you paying your bills now that you’ve left the Bureau?” Grimes asked.
“Didn’t leave—they canned me. They gave me severance and I had a little bit saved up.”
“And when that’s gone?”
I shrugged. I guess I hadn’t expected to outlive my savings. But now, for no reason I could articulate, Ididwant to survive. Well, I’d worry about my finances later, if I got that far.
Grimes rubbed his chin. “What about signing on with a local police force?”
“Don’t really picture myself as a boy in blue.” I’d never been a team player. One of the good things about the Bureau had been the degree of independence I’d had. “Anyway, you don’t need to give me career advice. That’s not what I came for.”
“I know. Let’s talk about what you did come for.”
“You said you couldn’t find anything out.”
There was a flinty aspect to Grimes’s smile. “You think we give up that easy? I used to be an agent, once upon a time. And my Ten? He endured horrors you can’t imagine and came out of it strong as hell.”
Looking at Tenrael, kneeling placidly and leaning slightly against Grimes’s side, I wondered about those horrors. What would terrify a demon?
“What else do you have in mind?” I asked.
“We’re going up to San Francisco with you. We’ll see if we can help you find your perp.”
The travel plans were slightly complicated. Grimes would follow me in his vehicle to the car-rental place, where I would return my shoebox on wheels. Then he and I would ride north together. Tenrael? He was going to fly, apparently. Fuck.
“Is there a reason you won’t go in the car?” I asked him.
