Trey was shaking, but he assured me it wasn’t unusual after he had a vision. Not blessed with second sight, I had nothing to go on but his word.
“Do you want a glass of water?” I asked as I showed him into my living room.
He shook his head, sweat sailing from his forehead onto my floor. I tried not to gag and instead, motioned him toward the couch. “Have a seat.”
Trey threw himself onto the sofa, the cushions and springs groaning under his weight. His gaze rested on the TV until it looked like he was hypnotized. But, the TV wasn’t on, so it couldn’t have been that enthralling.
“I know I’m not supposed to be here-Quillan said you were off the squad for a while. But, Dulce, I thought you’d want to know anyway.”
I got the gist of it. Trey was scared but didn’t want to go to Quillan in his current unsettled state. And he probably didn’t want to stay home either, with visions of a creature tearing Fabian apart dancing in his head.
“Do you want to take the couch tonight?” I asked.
“Yeah, if I could. I’m usually not like this after a vision, but this one was pretty bad.” He glanced away, and I knew there was more. I just hoped he wouldn’t start crying-his lower lip was trembling like a three year old before a tantrum. “I’m afraid if anyone knows I had the vision, they’ll come after me. There’s a lot of incriminating stuff in it.” That was something I hadn’t considered. “How would they find out?” “When I have visions, sometimes whoever is involved knows I’m having them.” “That’s happened before?” “Yep, if whoever I see is sensitive enough, they can pick up on it.” “If that’s the case, you need to tell Quillan. You should be protected.”
Trey just nodded, but it was a nod that said he probably wouldn’t. That was one of the things I didn’t get about men-the whole machismo thing-that if Trey told Quillan he was scared, he’d look like a wuss.
“Why don’t you tell me about it?” I started.
Trey exhaled. “Here goes. I was eating dinner tonight, and it hit me out of nowhere. I saw Fabian in his store. It was late, and he was there by himself. Then I remember seeing him trying to get away from something. I got the impression that whatever it was, it was female. And there was someone else in the background. He was dressed all in black and had his head down so I couldn’t see his face. But he was there, watching the whole thing.”
“Okay, you think the creature is female. That’s good to know. Did you catch anything about the size of it or what it looked like?”
He shook his head. “No, nothing. I might’ve been seeing the situation through the creature’s eyes. I could see everything about…Fabian.”
Trey shivered and dropped his attention to his fidgeting hands. “I can’t be alone, Dulce. Not after seeing that.”
“You can stay here tonight. I’ve got Sam’s protection spell on the place, and Quillan dropped off two gremlins earlier this evening so I’m about as safe as can be.” I laughed, trying to lighten Trey’s mood, but he barely managed a half smile. I’d never seen him like this, and it freaked me out. Usually he was the annoying sidekick-the perpetual thorn in my side. I wasn’t prepared for a role change.
“Thanks, Dulce.”
“You know you have to tell Quillan tomorrow?” I asked. “I’m off the case, remember?”
How I was going to get this information to Knight was another question. I’d given him my phone number, but I didn’t have his. I’d have to wait until he called me or showed up in my dreams again. Hopefully I’d get the call.
“Yeah, I’ll tell him tomorrow.”
I stood up and started for the hall closet, pulling two blue blankets from the top shelf and tossed them to Trey. “I’m going to get some shuteye. It’s been a long day,” I said. A sad smile twisted his lips. “Yeah, me too.” “Help yourself to anything-there’s some left over Chinese and juice and beers in the fridge.” Trey threw me a half-hearted smile. “Thanks, Dulce. This means a lot to me. I owe you one.” “No worries,” I said and started for my bedroom. “Night, Trey.”
###
I woke up to the sound of the shower running. Trey had literally made himself at home. Not that it bothered me. I sat up and sighed, pushing my feet into my dog slippers. I plodded into the living room and noticed Trey had folded the blankets neatly in a corner of the couch.
I started for the kitchen to put the coffee on. The shower stopped and moments later, Trey walked into the kitchen wearing his clothes from last night. “What’s for breakfast?” he asked and I suddenly had the very strange image of waking up to him every morning. Egad. “Just the leftover Chinese food. Want some coffee?” “No, no coffee, but do you mind if I help myself to the Chinese?” I shook my head and handed him a fork. “Go for it. Are you driving to Headquarters now?”
“Yeah,” he said as he pulled a box of Chinese from the fridge. He started in on the cold, fried rice right away, not even pausing to take a seat. The dude was serious about eating.
“Do you need to stay here tonight?” I asked, trying to sound…friendly. It wasn’t that I’m a bitch or anything. I’m just not really used to having company. Maybe I’m a little on the anti-social side. But, considering Trey’s current state, he needed a friend. He shook his head. “No, I think I’ll be alright. I’ve got to get over it anyway-it’s not like I’m going to move in with you.” He actually looked hopeful. “Exactly. Will you do me a favor, and talk to Sam, she’ll put a protection spell on your place.” “Yep, I’ll do that,” he said. “I’ll call you tonight to see how you are.” “What are you up to today?” he asked.
My thoughts returned to his question and my face flushed. Sam was meeting me in about an hour to go to my ear augmentation consultation. Not like I wanted to admit that to Trey anytime soon. “Oh, Sam and I are meeting for lunch.” It was sort of the truth, we were planning on getting lunch-afterwards.
Trey finished his rice, threw the container in the trash, and then faced me with a big grin. He started for the door, looking one hundred times better than he had last night. “Well, I guess I better get to work. Thanks, Dulce.”
“Sure, Trey, I’ll see you later.”
###
Thirty minutes later, Sam and I were sitting in the waiting room of Dr. Goodman’s. I hadn’t been able to shake my intense feelings of anxiety, guilt and excitement-anxiety because I was eager to hear what the doctor would say; guilt because it was like I was failing some part of me just by considering this; and excitement because I’ve always hated my ears. Now, they all warred with each other until I felt nauseous. “Trey came to my place last night,” I whispered. Sam dropped the magazine she’d been reading back on the side table. “What for?” she asked and wiggled her eyebrows. “I didn’t think he was your type.” An image of his shiny forehead sweating bullets littered my mind. “Come on, Sam. You don’t think I slept with Trey, do you?” She started to laugh. “No, I guess that would be totally weird.” “I haven’t had a date in a while, but I’m not desperate.” “Okay, point taken. Why did he come over?” “He saw a vision of Fabian’s murder.” Her eyes went wide. “Did he see who did it?”
“No, not exactly. Just that the creature was female. He was super freaked out, though, and stayed the night. I’m worried about him.”
And honestly, as much as he annoyed me, I was worried. If what Trey said about the creature sensing him was true, he could be in serious trouble. I faced Sam again. “Can you put a protection spell on his place?” “Yeah, sure. Why was he so scared?” “He was worried the thing might come after him.” “Do you think it will?” “I don’t know.”
She was silent as she considered it. “You know Quillan is going to be pissed off if he finds out you’re still working on this case?”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why he isn’t going to find out.” I considered telling her about Knight. Part of me knew I shouldn’t-that it was top secret, but the other part of me wanted to gab. That part won.
“You’re never going to believe this, Sam, but…”
“Dulcie O’Neil?” the receptionist interrupted and gave me an expression that said I’d better hurry.
I guess Dr. Goodman didn’t like waiting for his patients. Wasn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? I stood up and started forward, Sam behind me. The receptionist led us to the first room down the hall and told us to take a seat. She closed the door behind us, and we were alone again.
“What won’t I believe?” Sam started, her eyes sparkling.
“Some detective from the Netherworld was sent over here to find out about Fabian’s murder. He said that someone summoned the creature from the Netherworld.” Sam’s eyes went wider. “That’s an automatic death sentence for whoever called it.” “I know. Anyway, this detective said he had orders from the Relations office to work with me.” “Wow, Quillan is going to be uber pissed. Or does he already know? Is that why you’re off the case now?”
“No, Quillan doesn’t know. The order to put me under protection came from the Relations Office. Quillan had nothing to do with it. No one is supposed to know I’m working with the Relations team on the case.”
Sam crossed her arms against her chest. “My lips are sealed. You know me.”
“Yeah, that’s why I told you. So, the kicker in this whole thing is that the detective is that guy from Fabian’s shop. The stranger.” Sam gasped. “Dulce, you need to be careful. What if he’s involved?” I waved away her worry like an errant fly. “He’s not. I checked out his badge. He’s legit.” “What’s his name?” “Knight.” “Wow, sexy name. Is he as hot as you first thought?”
I paused. Was Knight as hot as I’d first thought? Hmm. An image of him in tight black leather pants erupted in my mind. That broad, muscular chest. Sparkling blue eyes and black hair. “Hotter.”
Then the door opened, putting a halt to our conversation. The doctor was tall and his forehead so high, he must’ve had a big brain. He smiled at both of us, but I couldn’t really say he saw us. It was one of those polite but completely impersonal smiles. He closed the door behind him, and in perfectly upright posture, took the leather chair in front of us, swinging around until he looked like a corpse going through rigor mortis.
He glanced at what I presumed was my file, flipping through the pages with ennui. “Which of you is Dulcie?” he asked in a high-pitched and nasally voice. “That’s me.” He didn’t glance up but continued shuffling through the library of papers. “You’re here to find out about ear augmentation?” “Yeah, I don’t like the points at the top of my ears.” He still hadn’t acknowledged me. “Are you a fairy?” “What else would I be, a Vulcan?” Sam laughed, the doctor didn’t. I dropped the smile from my lips and nodded. “Yeah, I’m a fairy.” He sighed. “That makes it a little more difficult.” “Why’s that?” Sam asked, her voice wary. The doctor eyed her down his ski-slope nose. “And who might you be?” “I’m Sam, Dulcie’s best friend.”
He faced me again, ignoring Sam. She glanced at me, anger etching her features. “It’s difficult because the properties in your blood and tissue are different than a human’s. The operation requires some extra equipment and possibly more anesthesia,” the doctor concluded.
Extra equipment?
“Okay,” I said, not really sure what else to say.
He stood up and towered over me. He motioned with his long fingers that I should stand. I handed Sam my purse and got to my feet. Then he turned me so I was facing the wall and shifted my hair behind my right ear. He ran a cold finger down the length of my ear, and I shuddered involuntarily. “They certainly are pointed, aren’t they?” “She’s a fairy,” Sam snapped. “I don’t see anything wrong with them,” I gave her a discouraging look.
“Yes, that’s a matter of opinion, I suppose,” the doctor said, and a wave of resentment wafted through me. Why did doctors have to be such jerks?
He turned me to face him again. “Other than those ears, you are beautiful.” It was the same thing Jack had told me for five years. “An ear augmentation would make you perfect.”
I sat down again, feeling like I was selling my soul to the devil. I glanced at Sam, who was feigning interest in her shoes. A fierce pink had taken over her cheeks. “How long would the surgery take?” I asked, trying to draw Sam’s attention away from her irritation. “Maybe two hours. Depends on how much you bleed.” I disregarded that statement. “What would it cost?”
He shrugged, and that meant it would cost more than I wanted to spend. I had a lot of money in savings-granted it was so I could retire from law enforcement and focus on writing full time. I guess I could work a little longer.
“Normally ear augmentation runs around six thousand dollars for both ears. But since you’re a fairy, which complicates it, I’d say you could expect to pay around ten thousand.” Sam’s mouth dropped open. “You’ve gotta be kidding,” The doctor’s stern expression said he wasn’t kidding-not by a long shot. “Okay, great, let me take some time to think about it,” I said and stood. Sam was quick behind me. The doctor didn’t stand but gave us another frozen smile in compensation. “Hope to see you again soon,” he said. We showed ourselves out.
“Have you lost your mind, Dulce?” Sam asked as we left the building. “You can’t have that cretin operating on you. What a jerk! Ten thousand dollars?” I unlocked my car. “Yeah, he was a creep, wasn’t he?” “I’d say so. Please tell me you aren’t considering it.” I shrugged. “I can’t lie, Sam. I’ve been thinking about this for so long now.” She narrowed her eyes. “Even though you won’t admit it, I think this has everything to do with Jack.” “Well, let’s agree to disagree.” ###
Two hours later, I was back at home, replaying the events of the day in my head as I turned on my computer. Yeah, the doctor hadn’t been especially friendly, but I really wanted the surgery. I’d wanted it for years now and though Sam was convinced it had everything to do with my jerk ex-boyfriend, I wasn’t convinced. I mean, I’d disliked my ears before Jack was ever in the picture. But, Jack being the reason-or not-didn’t take away from the fact that the doctor was a jerk. Course, there weren’t any other ear augmentation specialists in a hundred mile radius of me. So, I was stuck between a Doc and a hard place.
I logged into my email, excited to see if any agents or publishers had responded to my query. As for the surgery, I pushed it to the back of my mind. There wasn’t a rush. I could decide later.
I had eighteen new emails in my inbox. My heartbeat raced. Upon further inspection, they were all agents and publishers. Wow. That had to be good, right? I opened the first one.
Dear Ms. O’Neil,
Thank you for your interest in Jones amp; Jones representing Captain Slade’s Bounty. Unfortunately, we don’t feel strongly enough about the work to offer you representation, but we wish you the best of luck.
Okay, so that was just one. There were seventeen more.
After getting to the fifteenth, I started recognizing a pattern-rejection. I opened the last email and sighed. Another rejection. At least this agent had ended the email by telling me historicals were out and the market was really looking for paranormals. Un-flippin’-believable. The phone rang. “Hello?” “Hi, Dulce.” It was Sam. “Thought any more about the ear thing?” “No, haven’t made up my mind.” “You sound bummed out.”
“I just got rejected by every agent and publisher I queried. One of them said historicals aren’t popular right now but paranormals are. Paranormals, I mean, come on. Who the hell reads those?”
“Sorry to hear it. Don’t lose faith though.” She paused. “Maybe you should write a paranormal.”
“I’m done. I put everything I had into that book and not one agent wanted to look at it. Maybe I’m just not cut out to be a writer.”
“Don’t feel sorry for yourself, Dulce. Maybe you just have to give the market what it’s looking for and it sounds like that would be a paranormal.”
“I have no interest in that. What would I write about anyway?”
Sam was quiet for a minute. “I know.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “Write a book about Bram. Everyone loves vampires, right?”
Hmm, If you want to succeed you have to be flexible, right? Maybe it would do me good to try another genre. “Yeah, that’s an idea,” I started, considering it. “He’d eat it up, I’m sure. His ego is already big enough as it is. Any bigger and it could take out a small family.” Sam laughed. “Okay, well I gotta run. Quillan wants something. Just wanted to check in on you.” I could hear Quillan talking with her. “Quillan says hi, and he’s stopping by after work tonight,” she finished. “Okay, tell him hi back and I’ll see him later. Thanks, Sam.” I hung up, pondering a book about Bram. Maybe it was worth a shot.