Penn arched an eyebrow. “Would you have listened?”
Apparently about to argue, Cal paused. “Possibly?” He did not seem sure. “Would he have let me?”
“Let youwhat?” Ray put an end to any and all talk of deep throating and sucking off anything for the sake of his ability to focus.
“Woo you like a delicate but spunky debutante at Almack’s is wooed by a taciturn duke.” Cal didn’t blink.
“I’mthe debutante in this?” Ray demanded, somehow lost again.
“If we could get back to the point,” Penelope cut in. “You can relearn your banter later.”
“Or maybe,” Cal insisted stubbornly, “relearning to banter with me is good for him. What? You don’t know!”
“Anyway,” Penn said, a bit louder than she’d been before. “I’ll go in and see what’s going on. You were assaulted, Ray. Someone will want to see you and talk to you eventually. And in the meantime, since I know you won’t rest, it won’t do any harm for you to show up. At the station, around town—also eventually.”
“Looking untouched and unbothered?” Cal was serious again, lollipops and popsicles forgotten. “Penn, that’s….”
“Let whoever did it think it worked, or that it didn’t?” Ray wondered aloud. “The others…” His voice was rough but he didn’t bother to clear it. “The others I listened to at the hospital, they were talking.” They werehappyabout it. “They all know. They will have talked to others by now. Word is out. If I’m seen with him, then whoever did this might try again. They might try harder. They might remove him directly.”
Penn’s eyes went wide.
Cal squeaked, then coughed. “Oh. Well. I didn’t think of… that. But,” he rallied, “here you are worrying about me again instead of about yourself. Humans never do try to understand weres, do they? Or maybe this is just Ray. Probably some of both. Cleaving a were from his m—muffin. According to romance novels, which, you would think at least the humans would know, a were separated from their, uh, best beloved, Rejected or otherwise, does not do well. Goes a little wild. Kills, sometimes, especially in the old movies although those rarely bothered with accuracy.” Cal rubbed his chest. “I’m not the object of this curse or spell, but I am the target, sort of. Even if it was accidental, which I doubt more and more. Aiming at me to hurt him is sort of brilliant, actually. In a horrible way. See?” He smiled too brightly. “I’m better with it this morning, slightly. He made me breakfast—second breakfast.”
Ray watched the sparkles of Cal’s glitter play against his hair, nearly catch in his eyebrows and trail down his nose. It seemed to land on his shoulders, highlighting them, faintly freckled but otherwise unmarked.
In the winter, he probably lost the freckles entirely. Ray should know something like that. He wanted to see it.
His throat locked.
He tore his gaze away to look at Penn, who had her head cocked to consider him. Her expression hinted at a lot of things that she would likely share with Ray later, but none of it was confusion or outrage over anything Cal had said or done.
“You two are disgustingly inevitable,” she said aloud, eyes crinkling to tell Ray it was okay that he was missing freckles that weren’t gone.
Cal had both hands on Ray’s tie now, and his head down. “He’s already worried about me, the helpless little half-fairy. And he wants me still—or again, I guess. But he’s right. Whoever it was will try again after this. Or finish whatever they intended to do if this was truly an accident.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Ray rumbled.
Cal peeked up at him, blindingly bright for one moment. “That is exactly what I was thinking, Ray Branigan.”
Penn stepped around them to get back to the kitchen, already pulling out her phone. “Then we’d better work quickly.”
Chapter Six
RAY WATCHED Penn get into her car to leave without him, off to go do their job by herself and to dig up what she could about Ross, since Ross was currently their only lead, if he could even be called one. She was to find out if Ross had been in contact with anyone recently, and possibly meet with him. Ross, someone Ray remembered, if not in detail, was now in prison. After a trial. Which had involved Ray as well as Cal.
With Cal and Penn watching him, Ray had not confirmed this news with a search on his phone or laptop. But his desire to must have been obvious. Cal told Ray he could get the details on the way—Cal did not say on the way towhereexcept a vague “work.” “We’re trying not to give you too much at once, Ray. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours,” had been his explanation. Ray had scoffed. Penn had looked between then before announcing that she was leaving. Ray had followed her out.
Ray was not allowed anywhere near Ross, apparently, by order of Callalily Parker.
Ray didn’t need to be protected, and while he could appreciate the argument for medical observation, he didn’t need to be babysat. He could deal with the truth.
“When they find out, you might get in trouble,” he said just before Penn closed the car door. She knew that. He said it anyway.
Penn started the engine, then lowered the passenger-side window and leaned over. “So we’ll be careful. We’re always careful. We can’t misplace even a paper clip. But that’s nothing new.”
At first, that had been about proving themselves. Now, it spoke more of deep mistrust. C.Y.A., except he and Penn hadn’t done anything wrong that Ray knew of.
Ray met those eyes that saw everything or close enough to it.
