hear you. I just don’t know if I can believe you.”
He takes his hand away and shrugs, as if accepting an inevitability. His face is stoic. Almost-cold acceptance has enveloped him. Strange how he can look so human and yet so much like a warrior.
Less than an hour later, we pull up at the stationhouse, and I shut off the car, taking a deep breath, then another, a myriad of sickening emotions twisting in my chest.
“It’s gonna be all right,” he says gently. “I’ve been doing this kind of thing for a very, very long time. Not exactly like this, but close enough to it. We got this. You’ll see.”
We got this. He says it so easily, without a hitch. Since yesterday, he’s lost all but the occasional halting slip, something you’d probably only notice if you knew to listen for it.
He’s not human. No matter what he looks like, he’s still a demon. A dangerous, deadly, manipulative demon.
I sigh and open my door. “Let’s just get in there before I lose my nerve.”
He takes out a brand new wallet and leafs through the ID cards I’ve given him, as if memorizing the information on them. He nods, pockets the wallet, and gets out of the car, following me to the steps of the stationhouse.
Ten minutes later, I’m sitting at my desk, trying hard not to think about what’s happening in the captain’s office. Arcayos—or should I say Haakon—disappeared into it, and Colburn shut the door, giving me a nod. My desk sits to the left of the hall that leads to his office, but the squad room is too loud to make out what they’re saying.
“Coffee, Cass?”
“Huh?” I shake myself, looking up.
Standing in front of my desk, Julie sets a large coffee down for me. She’s got another one in a tray sitting on her palm.
“Hey. Sorry, Jules, thanks.” I take a sip of the hot brew. It’s the good stuff from Cream On Top, my absolute favorite coffee place. I take another sip and rub my aching stomach. It feels like it’s eating itself. A headache has started to pound behind my eyes.
“Hey, where’s mine, sweet bottom?” Powers grins and straightens his belt on his way out of the bathroom.
Max snickers from his own desk.
Julie and I both roll our eyes.
“Over there,” she says, waving her hand at the coffee area.
“You need to make some fresh stuff, Cass,” Rory says, carrying a box of evidence toward his and Powers’s desk.
“Make it yourself,” I say.
“I don’t think he knows how,” Tyrone whispers.
I snort.
Swearing drifts from Colburn’s office and then a loud thump, as if he’s banged his fist on the desk. I glance toward the hall, feeling the blood drain out of my face.
“Hey, you feeling okay?” Julie asks, sitting across from Max.
“Mm?” I give her an innocent look.
“Yeah, you don’t look so good,” Steve adds. He stops typing and peers at me. “You look like you’re gonna ralph.”
“I’m okay. I just haven’t been feeling great today.” I scrub by hands down my face and hunt in the desk drawer for my headache pills.
“You want a glass of water?” Tyrone says, getting up from his seat across from his twin and heading for the water cooler.
“You want some of my antacids?” Louie offers from over the computer monitor in front of him.
“That might help.” I doubt it will, but I’ll try anything at this point.
He tosses the bottle to me.
“Thanks, Louie.” I pop two of the pills and toss the bottle back to him. I swear, that demon is going to give me a damned ulcer.
Tyrone comes to my desk and I take the water from him gratefully, drinking it down. I love these guys so much.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have given you the coffee,” Julie says, grabbing a case file from a stack on her desk. “It’s supposed to make headaches worse.”
I shrug. “Don’t suck the joy out of life, Jules.”
She leans toward me. “Heard there’s some new blood coming in today. Captain says you know him.”
“Er...”
“Morgan,” Colburn calls from his office.
“Yeah, Captain?” I get up and look down the hall. He’s in the open door to his office.
“Come in here, please.”
My stomach gives a horrible jolt. Did the demon mess up already? No, I bet I did. I fucked something up on his file, and now Colburn’s about to throw us both in cuffs.
Guilt squirms in my chest. I think I’m gonna throw up.
The reality is, I’ve only had to be undercover twice while on the force. If