Missing Magic (18 page)

“Is it?” Dee was non-committal. “I’m just
leaving the parking lot after a day of shopping, just like any
other civilian.”

Cowell sighed. “Are you armed?”

“No, but I have a revolver in my glove box.
If you look at it, you’ll see it hasn’t been fired.”

The other man never moved. “Do we have your
permission to search your vehicle?”

“Of course,” Dee answered. “I’ve got nothing
to hide.”

The Lieutenant waved two patrolmen over. The
search, naturally, revealed nothing.

After a thorough sweep of the garage, nothing
else was found, other than the broken car window.

“Shots were fire and someone was hit.” Lieber
sounded frustrated. “But both the perp and the victim are long
gone.”

“Are you done with me?” Dee asked.

“We have no choice but to let you go.” Dee’s
boss shook his head. “First though, I’d like a word. He led her
away from the others, talking to her in a voice too low for Cenrick
to hear.

A moment later, she returned, her eyes
suspiciously bright. “Come on. We’re out of here.”

Once they were headed down the highway, with
car after car passing them since Dee was driving a sedate
fifty-five, Cenrick touched her shoulder. “What did he say to you
back there, when he took you off to speak privately?”

She sniffed. He was surprised to see her eyes
were full of unshed tears. “He told me he had faith in me. He said
he knows I understand right from wrong.”

“He doesn’t think you did any of this?”

She wiped at her eyes. “He didn’t say those
words. But that was the impression I got, yes. I can’t tell you how
much that means to me, to have someone actually believe in me.”

“I believe in you.” He said the words softly,
wondering if she’d understand how deeply he meant them.

“Thanks.” She smiled at him, tears making
silvery tracks down her cheeks. Shaking her head, she sniffed and
brushed them away. “Thanks for being my friend.”

A friend. Though he nodded, pretending a
sudden interest in the freeway traffic, her words felt more like an
insult than the compliment she’d meant.

He wanted to be more than a friend to her.
Much more.

The revelation stunned him. Such a thing was
impossible. Her life was here, and once she’d restored her
reputation, she’d jump right back into the midst of it. While he
was here only to do a job. Once he’d stopped the soul stealers, he
had to return to Rune. Unlike his brother, he couldn’t stay. He
would be heir and Rune must have him or his brother. Since Alrick
had chosen another destiny, that left him. Wanting more with a
human woman, even one as brave and beautiful as Dee, was completely
out of the question.

IN THE end, despite all he knew couldn’t
happen, when they returned to her apartment and she invited him to
her bed, he went. After blissful lovemaking, Cenrick couldn’t make
himself leave her. As she drifted off to sleep, wrapped in his
arms, he told himself he’d stay with her for an hour, just to watch
her sleep.

When that hour had passed, he claimed
another. Then another and another, until his own eyes drifted
closed and he too dozed.

In the morning, sunlight streaming in through
the blinds woke him. Heart full of an emotion he didn’t want to
acknowledge, he stared at the slumbering woman in his arms and felt
an aching sense of loss.

Then, unable to help himself, he kissed her
hair, inhaling her sweet, floral fragrance and longing for things
he had no right to wish for.

Dee raised her head, a smile curling her
lips, and looked at him with a sleepy gaze. “I smell coffee.”

He sniffed. “Me too.” From the other room, he
could hear the sound of her coffeepot brewing. “How is that
possible?”

“Magic,” she said. The laughter in her voice
told him she was teasing. “Actually, I set the coffee-maker to come
on automatically. I filled it up last night.”

“Hmm.” Tightening his arms around her, he
nodded. “I could get used to this,” he said without thinking.

Immediately she stiffened, telling him his
casual statement was a mistake. “Well, don’t.” Squirming in an
attempt to roll over, she succeeded in fueling his already growing
arousal.

Her eyes widened. “Well, well, well.” As her
hand closed around him, he gave himself over to the sensation.

They made love again, this time more slowly,
the ferocity of his need somewhat abated by their lovemaking the
previous night. This time, he savored every thrust, withdrawing
with an exquisitely agonizing deliberation. Holding on to his
rapidly disintegrating self-control, he wanted to do this
indefinitely, but Dee had other ideas.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she growled against his
mouth, raising her body to meet his thrusts, urging him on until
all thoughts of controlled motion vanished. Actions again savage,
they moved together with a fury and passion and when they climaxed,
he felt as if more than mere animal sexuality fueled them.

“Magic,” she cried out, her body convulsing
around his, while he gave her his life’s essence.

“Magic,” he echoed, and knew the words were
true.

They held each other until their breathing
slowed. Finally, Dee shifted in his arms and sighed. “Guess we’d
better get up now. We’ve got to get started trying to figure out
how to find Mick, Natasha and her machine.”

Reluctant to move, he forced himself to
release her and pushed back the covers. “You’re right, of
course.”

“What do we do now?” She sighed. “Where do we
go? Mick’s house is gone. How are we going to find it?”

“Good question.” Because he didn’t have an
answer, he kissed her again, on the cheek this time, making her
shiver.

“Cenrick,” she protested. “Let’s get cleaned
up and we’ll talk in the kitchen.”

Pushing out of his arms, she untangled
herself from the sheets, jumped from the bed and disappeared into
the bathroom.

Leaving him to rise, and pad after her naked,
the scent of her body still on his skin.

While she showered, he watched her, amazed he
could still be aroused, and thought about joining her, but
didn’t.

However, when she’d finished and his turn to
shower came, he left the water on cold.

They went about their morning routine quickly
and efficiently, each shooting the other an occasional smile.

Only once she’d taken a seat at the kitchen
table, pad of paper and steaming mug of coffee in front of her, did
he pull out a chair and sit across from her.

Mug of steaming coffee in one hand, she held
up a pad of paper with the other. “I’m going to start by making a
list.”

“Good.” He nursed his own glass of ice cold
milk. “What types of things are you going to list?”

“Things we need to do. And possible
solutions. For example,” she wrote furiously. “We need to find the
machine.”

“And Natasha.”

“Good.” She jotted on the paper. “And don’t
forget Mick.”

But when she started the solution column, she
had nothing to write. “Start talking,” she waved her pen at him.
“We’ll brainstorm.”

“I still need to know how they’re luring my
people in.”

“Right. It must be something only Fae can
feel, like bait of some kind.”

He considered. “No, I felt no pull, no lure.
Nothing to make me want to be there.”

“But you felt something.”

“Yes. It made me weak and disoriented.”
Restless, he shifted in his chair, watching as she sipped her
coffee.

When he fell silent, she rested her chin on
her hands and stared at him. “Damn, I wish I was Fae.”

This startled him. “Why?”

“Because they want Fae. If I could act like a
decoy, let them believe they’d lured me in, I’d have the advantage
of being human. Their machine wouldn’t affect me since I’m human.
Plus, I’d have my gun. You might want to reconsider.”

“No.” He rejected the idea. “I already told
you, your aura would be a dead giveaway. Plus, I don’t want you
risking yourself.”

“As a cop I risk myself every day. That’s
what I do – or did.” She stared hard at him. “Can use magic to make
me Fae? Is such a thing possible?”

As usual, though he didn’t like it, he could
only speak truth. “Yes. It’s possible.”

“Then do it. It’s the only plan that makes
sense. We’ll draw them to us, instead of the other way around. I’ll
wear a disguise so Natasha and Mick won’t recognize me.”

When he didn’t reply, she pushed herself to
her feet. “Look, let me do my job.”

“This isn’t your job.”

“Yes, it is,” she insisted. “Who better? I’m
a trained officer of the law. Right now I’ve not only been accused
of being a dirty cop, but I’m a suspect in both the arson on Mick’s
house as well as his supposed death. My former fiancé is Soulless,
I’ve been shot at, my apartment has been broken into, and every
single day those people steal another Fae or two’s souls. If my
going undercover as Fae will give us a shot at finding the machine
and taking them down, we need to go for it.”

What she said made a weird kind of sense.
Still, he tried another tact. “You’d be playing right into their
hands. They want to hurt you and they’d have you.”

“How?” She blew out air in a loud huff. “The
machine won’t affect me like it does you. And, as I’ve mentioned,
I’ll be armed. This may be our best chance, our only chance.”

He stared at her, unable to tell her how much
she’d come to matter to him in such a short time.

Taking his hesitation for something else, she
bent down, putting her face on a level with his. “Give me some
credit, please. I know what I’m doing, Cenrick. Trust me on
this.”

He swallowed, closing his eyes to hide the
fact that all he could think about was kissing her. Damn. He needed
reasons, arguments – points he could make to convince her she
shouldn’t do this, couldn’t do this. The problem was, he knew she
could.

Finally, he shook his head. “What if Mick
recognizes you, even with your disguise? He knows you’re not
Fae.”

“I have a hunch Mick might be on my
side.”

He had that same feeling, oddly enough.

When he didn’t contradict her, she smiled and
rubbed her hands together. “Now, are you going to do it or
not?”

If he had to capitulate, he wouldn’t do it
gracefully. He wanted to make sure they’d covered every
possibility, every angle. “If I made you appear Fae, where would we
need to go to make sure Natasha and her crew see us?”

“We?” She raised a brow. “I thought we’d
already discussed this.”

“I’m not letting you go alone. Period. Now,
where would we need to go?”

“That’s easy.” He could tell she thought she
had him – her smile was triumphant. No doubt she planned to get him
to capitulate on this, then talk him out of going with her. “I know
all the clubs where Mick hangs out. Where else would they go? They
have to be getting the Fae from there.”

“Gay clubs?”

“Hey, Mick and Jack liked to go to straight
clubs too. Especially once Peter and I got engaged. Besides, what
does it matter? All we need is for someone – straight or gay – to
think I’m Fae and get me to the machine.”

“True.”

“So you’ll do it? You’ll make me Fae?”

He nodded. “Yes. But only once you give me
your word not to go alone. I’m going with you.”

“Oh no, you’re not.”

“I can’t let you go alone.”

“You have to. Otherwise, that negates the
entire thing. From what you’ve told me, you can make me appear Fae,
but you can’t hide the fact that you really are Fae from them.
You’d be placing yourself in danger and negating the entire point
of making me a decoy. Plus I’d have to watch out for you, which
would severely limit my effectiveness. I have to go alone.”

He glared at her. She glared right back.

Finally, she gave in. “I’ll have to take my
gun for protection. Especially if I’m having to watch our for
you.”

“Good. If they think you’re Fae, they’ll
never expect you to have a metal weapon.”

“Okay.” She clapped her hands. “Let’s do
it.”

With a nod, he began the words to the
spell.

Magic rushed over her, making the hair on her
arms stand up and goose bumps appear on her skin. He waved his hand
and ribbons of silvery glitter trailed after him.

“Wow!” Dee laughed. “What’s that called?”

“Some call it Fae glitter or Faerie
Dust.”

“Faerie Dust? Like Tinkerbell used?”

“Nothing so dramatic.” He continued the
spell, waving his fist, ribbons of sparkles trailing in a sparkling
aura around her.

Her creamy skin began to glow.

For the first time, she looked uncertain.
“What will this… glitter do to me?”

“This will magnify your natural attributes,
and make them even more so, as we Fae are.”

He studied her, one swift, hard look before
glancing back down at his hand and wiggling his finger, sending a
shower of lovely sparks cascading.

“Magnify what? Can you be a bit more
detailed?”

“Your lovely brown eyes will appear to be
liquid pools men can drown in. Your skin,” he trailed a glittering
finger along her cheek, making her shiver, “Already so soft, will
seem to them like the finest cream.”

With a nervous laugh, she tried to pretend
she wasn’t affected. But he’d seen the shudder that swept through
her at his touch, noticed the way her eyes darkened.

Desire rushed into him with the force of a
hurricane, amplified by his magic. He cleared his throat, looking
away, barely remembering to repeat the words to keep the spell
going. “You will be stunning,” he managed, wondering if she
realized to him, she already was.

“So, you’re saying I’ll be supermodel
material? I’ll have to fight men off with a stick?”

“Basically, yes.”

“Then how do Fae move about among us?
Wouldn’t you all have that problem?