| 38 | WOLF AND ANGEL |
THE MISSING DEAD GIRLS had been found right inside the Coven headquarters. They had managed to stagger out of the morgue and to the basement, but that was as far as they had been able to go. Both of them were dead; they would not rise again. The angel and demon blood had resurrected them for a time, but it had not turned them into vampires. The Nephilim’s plan hadn’t worked as well as they had hoped. Vampires could not turn mortals into vampires, at least not yet. That was still a fairy story distributed by the Conspiracy.
Sometimes everything went as it was supposed to. Sometimes the bad guys didn’t get away. At least, not all of them. And not often enough, thought Ara.
But sometimes.
Sometimes the world got saved. Parts of it, at least. Partly saved.
This was one of those times, and Ara didn’t question it.
The investigation concluded swiftly. She was cleared on every count, and the death of Sam Lennox, former boss and former lover, was deemed justified. Ara was found to have delivered justice, as was her calling, and she had been reinstated on the Venator team by the following week.
One long week.
She entered her office, promptly (for once) at midnight, and found Edon at their desk. He motioned to the cup of coffee waiting on her side, next to her empty chair. “Three sugars,” he said. “And I tipped the barista this time.”
Ara smiled, sinking into her hard, wooden chair. “Miracles never cease,” she said.
“Welcome back, boss,” he said, leaning back in his chair with a grin. Edon kicked his feet up on the desk. “I knew you couldn’t keep away.”
Ara shoved them back off. “What, you missed me, Marrok? You going soft?”
He scoffed. “No. But your neighbor in 9B keeps calling me up for dates and, you know, I could use an extra set of hands around to answer the phone. Just to keep track of all my lady friends.”
“Is that all I am to you? A pair of… hands?” She smiled teasingly.
“You really want me to answer that?” He flicked a coffee stirrer across the desk, in her direction. “I’m just sayin’. I saw how you looked at me, back there in my penguin suit.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, wolf.”
“I know. You’re not all that bright. I don’t know why nobody listens to me about that.” He sighed dramatically.
She smiled. “What about you? Are you leaving? Going back to keeping time?”
Edon shrugged. “I dunno. I think I might kick back here awhile. Or go visit my brother Mac in Vienna. But who knows, I find I’m quite fond of the Big Apple.”
“You know, no one who’s from New York ever calls it that, right? It’s like calling San Francisco ‘Frisco.’ ” She shuddered.
“Aiiight,” he drawled. “Calm down now.”
She stiffened. She didn’t want to think about splitting up with another partner. Not so soon. Not even after all they’d been through together.
So she did what she always did, which was say the opposite of what she meant or even felt. “You should probably go.”
“Go?”
“See your brother. Vienna. It’s full of pastry and shit like that.”
“Yeah?” He looked her in the eye. “That’s what you think?”
She shrugged. “Why not? This city is a shithole. This department is screwed. The whole community is on edge. Why not get out while you still can? Even the Regis is gone, right? Why should anyone stay?”
He thought about it, tapping the desk. “You’re right. Everything about this job blows. And you know what else?”
He sat up. “We never even got one fucking slow dance. I mean, forget about the picture, angel. Not one dance. Can you believe that shit?”
“Seriously.”
He stood up and held out his hand.
She shook her head, laughing. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Come on.”
“Go away.”
“No.”
“I am not dancing with you in the middle of the fucking office, Marrock.”
“Why not, angel?” His eyes twinkled. “We only have one prom.” He leaned closer, and she could feel the warmth of his face as it neared hers.
“We only have one anything,” he said softly.
And that was when he kissed her, kissed her on the lips, swiftly, tenderly, and she kissed him back, and they were kissing right there in the middle of their office. And it felt good to kiss Edon after what had happened, almost as if he were reminding her of her better nature.
Something about it worked. Something about him worked.
She pulled away from him, not in a bad way, but because he had already made it better.
He nodded to let her know he understood.
Ara looked around, but no one had noticed as far as she could tell. She cleared her throat. “Turns out that kid who was distributing the pills, that guy who calls himself Scooby, is one of us. Sam recruited him. He disappeared once everything went down,” she said and tossed him the file.
He caught it. “Where do we start?”
“Don’t scare the kids this time. We need them to talk,” she warned.
“Whatever you say, boss.”
Ara followed him out of the office. Edon Marrok. Her partner, her friend. She wasn’t alone in the world anymore, and if there was this thing between them, she had no way of knowing how real it was.
But she had a feeling they had all the time in the world to find out.