Page 34 of Grave Beginnings

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Angel came backin with a cup carrier, a paper bag, and a small evidence box. He set one of the coffees on my desk.

“Oh, wow, thanks!” I pulled the lid off and added some cream and sugar before gulping half the thing down. My headache eased a little, but my left brow throbbed in a slow reminder that if I did too much, it would take me down.

“You’re not on a special diet or anything? Low carb, no flour, only meat, or whatever?” Angel asked.

“No?”

He took a box out of the bag—two boxes—and opened the first one, which was a giant piece of some sort of chocolate cake. Maybe even cheesecake. He opened the second box to reveal a slice of dulce de leche cake dripping with gooey frosting. My mouth watered.

“Uh…”

He closed both the lids and tilted his head. “I’ll make a deal with you.”

“Why does that sound like I’m selling my soul? Not that Iwouldn’t sell my soul for that cake, ‘cause holy fuck, where did you get those?”

Angel laughed. “Don’t be cheap. I’m sure you can get more than cake for your soul.”

“It’s been beat up a lot,” I admitted. “Might not be worth much, all broken and grungy.”

He looked sad for a few seconds and sighed. “I want to know what you saw and heard across the Veil. Every detail.”

I swallowed. Was this some trap to get me to admit I was crazy?

“Why does this scare you?” he asked.

I frowned. How did he know?

He tapped his nose. “Your scent changes. Ezra isn’t the only one good with tells.”

“Today has been a lot,” I said. “I’m not sure how my encounter across the Veil could mean something to the case.”

“I disagree. Whatever killed this guy likely came from across the Veil and you chased it back.” He opened the evidence box and tilted it, showing my taser, the end of it crushed to plastic bits. “Like, maybe, whatever did this?”

The thought made me swallow hard, realizing he might be right. Had I met the killer? “Uh, you think it was…?”

I didn’t even know how to clarify my thoughts in that moment. About the terrifying thing I’d encountered and how it had made a sense of doom rise up in my gut, forcing me to run as instinct kicked in. My face heated with embarrassment again.

“Why are you embarrassed?”

“I ran. It’s my first fucking day, and I ran.”

“I’d call that smart. You have no idea what you’re encountering. Could it hurt you? Did it want to?”

It did. I knew that at my core. The terror its laugh caused still made my skin prickle with goosebumps. “I fired my gun, but it did nothing. It was like liquid shadow. Then the taser, and it did that.” I pointed at the weapon. “Ripped it out of my hand. I ran,throwing anything at it I could, taking off anything that weighed me down.”

“They are going over all your stuff for any signatures to see if they can catch a trace.” Angel opened the chocolate cake box and carved off the tip with a plastic fork, holding it out for me. “Cake for details.”

“It better be good cake,” I said, swiping the fork from him and taking the bite. Holy fuck it was heaven. I groaned around the divine mouthful of velvety chocolate. “Soul for cake, I’m on board. Please don’t kick me off the team for running like a chicken from some shadow beasty.”

“Never.” Angel set the cake aside and grabbed my hand, studying it, then reached for my chin. I stared at him with wide eyes as he looked me over. “Did it physically hurt you? Bite you? Draw blood, anything like that?”

I swallowed as he stared me in the face just a breath away. My heart suddenly raced as he touched me. “No. I don’t think so.”

“I would have smelled blood,” Angel said, more to himself than to me, I thought. “Your scent reeked of fear and pain.”

“Sorry you got a dud for a partner. I never expected paranormal stuff to scare the shit out of me like this. I’ve seen thousands of dead bodies, but one shadow monster and I unraveled.