Page 19 of Grave Beginnings

“Other side? You mean, through the Veil?”

“Half this building exists on the other side of the Veil. You passed through it on the elevator going down. We’ll pass through it again on the way up to the office.”

“Holy crap, I’ve been on the other side of the Veil.”

“That freaks you out? You stood next to one of the most terrifying creatures in the country at the reception desk and walking through the Veil scares you?”

“You mean the golem?”

“I mean Sergeant Hanna.”

“She doesn’t have a band, but she doesn’t look human either.”

“She’sslaugh, dark fae. Anyone from the other side won’t have a band. Their magic rejects it. They aren’t a variance, they justare.”

“That means Robin is fae?”

“A puck, yes.”

I sighed and hauled my backpack off my back to set it on the bench. “I’m going to need to memorize that fucking manual, aren’t I?”

“Are those cats in banana peels?”

“Yes. I love cats. I’m a cat person.”

He stared at me.

“What?” I unloaded my pack into the locker, put my new badge on my belt, and hooked my lanyard with keycard beside it.

“Never mind. Let’s head back up.”

“Does that mean going back through the Veil?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t it terrifying?”

“Were you afraid the first time you had to work a homicide scene?”

“Only that I’d mess something up and vomit on the corpse or something.”

“Is that something you do?”

“No, never. I even took a detailed forensics class that had us assisting in autopsies in college. I’ve never been bothered by bodies, even if they are pretty gruesome sometimes. Once you realize no one is home, it’s easier to look at them objectively.”

“And no one ever thought to check you for variance? You know that’s weird, right?”

“I also collect Asian Ball Joint Dolls based on Danmei characters, but no one is planning to ship me to China to paint them. I happened to shoutstopwhen zombies were lunging at me, like I think any regular person would react, and suddenly I’m variant.”

“I don’t think there’s a variance for the ability to paint dolls.” He looked thoughtful for a minute, and I stared up at him, thinking he smelled really good. Like when I buried my face in Peanut Butter’s fur and he purred. A sense of safety and calm. “There might be a kinetic variance that could make the dolls move.”

“And I’m officially never sleeping again,” I said.

He laughed again. I was beginning to like that sound, husky and free; as if he didn’t have a lot of occasion to laugh, so when he did, he really let it out. Maybe the transfer wouldn’t be so terrible after all.

7

A man camearound the corner dressed in nothing but a towel. He was built like a bear, tall and thick, and nearly as hairy, but ginger with a wallop of freckles all over. He was handsome in a blunt way, his hair a bright red that made me wonder if he had Irish blood too. The band on his arm glowed yellow-orange, but his skin was unmarred by tattoos like Angel’s. He paused, his gaze flicking from Angel back to me.