* * *
The sugary goodness worked its magic, and after gorging themselves on buttermilk bars and coffee, Cady left him to take her own shower. It came out more tepid than hot, but at least the bathroom was clean. Ethan produced a spare t-shirt for her out of the duffel bag, but she had to put the same shorts on.
Expecting to find him in a better mood when she emerged from the bathroom, Cady scowled when she found him sitting in front of the television again. “That had better be a movie you’re watching,” she chided him lightly, trying to use his fine toothed comb to work out the worst of the tangles in her hair.
“The news at noon should be on soon. I want to see if they have any updates.”
“Why not check the internet?”
“I already did, they’re still running the same stories as this morning.”
“I doubt they’ve found anything new already. It hasn’t been all that long.”
The streaky blonde newscaster proved her wrong though, reporting with a mixture of perky gravity that the police had released the identity of the suspect. Ethan’s driver’s license photo flashed in the picture beside her head. Or rather, David Brown’s. “Oh no…” Cady groaned, sinking beside him on the loveseat.
“David Brown has been linked to two other unsolved murders earlier this year. Police say the suspect is considered to be armed and dangerous, and extreme caution is advised when coming into contact with him. Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is encouraged to call this special task force number and not to engage him directly.”
“Well, that’s it then.” Ethan turned off the television, his eerie calm somehow more frightening than the display of anger before. “I’m screwed.”
“I can call the police, tell them you didn’t do it.”
“They’re not going to believe you. The killer’s girlfriend isn’t exactly a credible witness.”
“You’re not a killer.”
Ethan didn’t say anything for long minutes, staring at the blank screen without moving. “I have to call this in,” he said suddenly, drawing a cheap prepaid phone out of his pocket.
“What will they do?”
“Bring in another reaper, reassign me to a place that’s not as hot for me.”
Send him away. He said it dispassionately, as if he didn’t care one way or another. “What about me?” Cady asked softly.
“You could come with me.”
The invitation surprised her, she’d half expected him to say she’d be safer with him gone. “Really? Where do you think they’ll send you?”
“I don’t know, it could be any of the districts.” Ethan scratched his upper lip with the top of the phone; he needed a shave. “Or I could be in hot water for exposing myself like this. Shit, you can’t come with me. It’s not safe.”
“Then don’t call in.” Cady slipped the phone out of his hand and set it on the scarred table. “There has to be something else we can do to find this guy. That’s our first priority. We can figure out what to do about the police later. How long before you’d normally have to call in?”
“I’ve got another day, maybe two before they start checking up on me.”
“Alright, let’s make it count. How about you do whatever it is you do to try and get another vision? While you’re doing that, I’ll go out for more supplies. You can’t fight demons on donuts and coffee three times a day.”
Ethan smiled faintly, his gaze traveling over her face. “You know you’re kind of amazing?”
“What’s this kind of stuff? You’re damned right I’m amazing,” Cady grinned. Standing up, she clapped her hands together loudly. “Alright people, let’s move like we got a purpose.”
“Hicks said it better.” His eyes flashed playfully.
“Take that back,” she demanded hotly, hands on her hips, and his head tilted to one side as he considered it.
“Alright, he wasn’t as cute when he said it.”
“I’ll give you cute.” Cady straddled his lap, capturing his complete attention. Hunger flashed over his features and his arm snaked around her waist, drawing her closer, but he didn’t take any more than that.
“I thought you wanted to get moving like we had a purpose?” he said, lips tilting up to meet hers, but not quite touching.
“I do,” she replied, enjoying the electric current of desire that crackled between them. His shoulders were broad and strong, the thin t-shirt enhanced rather than hid the bulge of muscles beneath her hands. “But this is okay too.”
“Well, if it’s only okay…” Without pausing a beat, he stood with her still clinging to his shoulders, one hand supporting her as if she weighed nothing at all. Cady wrapped her legs around his waist just the same, afraid she might fall as he took her to the bed. Unfortunately, he didn’t lay her back on the lumpy mattress and ravish her the way she’d been hoping. Instead, he dipped to pick up the duffel bag, carrying them both to the kitchen counter with no trace of a limp.
“I don’t like you going out there alone.”
“It’ll be fine, it’s broad daylight. We need groceries, and I need a few things,” she started to object, but he held up a hand.
“I’m not saying don’t go, I’m saying I don’t like it. So, if you’re going out, I want to give you some protection to take with you.” Setting her firmly on the counter, he let go to dig through the bag.
“Do you mean like a gun? I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I don’t want to draw any attention to myself.”
“No, not a gun,” he murmured. “Here, hold this.”
Cady’s eyes goggled as he handed her a fat brick of cash, swaddled in plastic wrap. Turning it on end, she saw it was comprised of twenties on one end, hundreds on the other. “Christ, you weren’t kidding when you said you had money, were you?”
“Always be prepared, that’s my motto,” he grinned, coming up with a small pouch from the bottom of the bag. “Now this is the protection I had in mind.” Ethan shook out a small disc suspended on a black leather thong. The pendant was a shiny silver-gray with a rusty red vein running through. Cady couldn’t tell what it was made of. It felt cold to the touch, and when she turned it over, she found a series of tiny symbols etched into the back.
“What is this?”
“It’s hematite bound with shielding magic. It should mask you from him for a short period of time.”
“How come you didn’t give this to me before?”
“Because we wanted to flush him out, not keep him away.”
“Oh, right,” Cady nodded, smoothing her fingers over the hard surface until she realized they’d started to sting uncomfortably. “It burns.” She let go of the disc to let it swing on the leather cord. Her fingers were pink where she’d been touching it, but the sensation quickly faded. “How can it be cold and burn at the same time?”
“It does? That’s strange.”
“It’s not supposed to do that?”
Ethan picked up the disc, placing it on the flat of his hand, the skin underneath immediately reddening. “It burns me, but I’ve never seen it do that to anyone who wasn’t…”
“Who wasn’t what? All demony inside?” The corners of her mouth twisted into a grimace. “That’s it, isn’t it? You said I was tainted by demon blood, and now I’m not a normal human anymore, am I? That’s why I can see your stupid tattoos and that’s why he wants me so bad. I’m like him.”
“Cady, you’re not like him. You were only exposed a little bit.”
“You don’t know that. For all we know this is going to get worse. I could start turning evil at any moment.”
“I think you’re overreacting a bit.”
“Easy for you to say, you chose this. You let them do this to you. All I did was try to stop a friend from being flesh for fantasy and now I’m turning into a monster.”
“You’re not a monster.” He shook his head, but didn’t offer any other words of enc
ouragement. Maybe there weren’t any.
“Could your bosses get it out of me?” she asked suddenly. “Can they do that?”
“We can’t involve the Company.”
“But they could, couldn’t they?” Cady pressed. “If anyone would know how to put me back to normal, it’d be your Company.”
Ethan met her gaze, his blue eyes blazing intently. “You need to get that idea out of your head right now. They don’t try and pull the darkness out of people, they try to put it in.”
“That’s sick,” Cady recoiled from the idea.
“It has to be done. There are things in this world… things most people don’t want to know about. The only way you can keep your ignorance is for us to keep the lines of battle hidden. That means fighting darkness with darkness.”
“I never thought I’d wish for ignorance.” Her whole upbringing had been spent in the pursuit of knowledge, but Cady didn’t want this kind of information in her head. “I wish I’d never heard about any of this before.”
Ethan’s face went blank, his emotions shuttering away. “When this is over, you never need to be touched by it again. I can make arrangements so that you don’t remember any of it. It’s probably safer that way in the end.” Picking up the duffel, he started laying weapons out on the bed, his movements short and methodical.
“What? No, that’s not what I meant.” She hopped off the counter, chasing after him, but he ignored her. “I didn’t mean I want to forget about you. I meant it was easier before I knew about this stuff.”
“I shouldn’t have told you about any of it, I should have left well enough alone. I shouldn’t have involved you. It was a stupid, selfish mistake.”
“Ethan, look at me. It wasn’t selfish, I’m the one who demanded answers in the first place. Hell, I practically forced it all out of you. Besides, I already had the demon blood in me before you told me a single thing.”
That brought him up short, his hands stilled and Cady grabbed hold of his shoulders to turn him towards her.
“You are the only thing that makes any of this worthwhile. I’m glad I was there to bandage you up and take care of you that night. I do wish we weren’t wrapped up in this stupid set of circumstances, but I’m glad this brought us together.” She tipped her lips up to his in a brief kiss. “Glad.”
“Your life will be different now. I don’t know if it’ll ever be over for you, even after we defeat him.”
“You said we,” she brightened at the realization. “That’s good enough for me.”