Dark Wings Descending (9 page)

She could hear Ashley’s voice calling, and the whiteness faded enough for Rafe to stop clutching at her head waiting for it to explode. Curled up on the floor in a protective ball, Rafe could feel hands on her back. She cracked open an eye to the room. A man stood before her, dressed in the most impeccable white suit she had ever seen. She opened her eyes a little wider and gasped as something behind him shifted in the light and just as quickly vanished from her blighted sight. She could smell Ashley’s scent surrounding her and dimly registered that it was Ashley cradling her in her arms.

“You okay?” Ashley asked, running her hand across Rafe’s forehead as if checking for a temperature.

“He’s brighter than you, so much brighter,” Rafe bit out.

“I do believe it’s not just you she can see,” Eli said. “This is more than a little unexpected.”

Rafe looked at them both as best she could, desperately trying not to be frightened by what she could see or what she had gotten herself involved with.

“Rafe, this is Eli. He’s kind of my boss, well, one of them anyway.” Ashley grumbled at him. “For God’s sake, Eli, turn it down if you can. I told you she was sensitive.”

Rafe barely heard Ashley’s harsh reprimand over the steady hum of white noise that accompanied the light. It sounded like a million voices suppressed into one endless tone. The brightness faded enough for Rafe to try to keep her eyes open a little longer, but she still ended up having to shut them. But there was no escape from the light. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Eli,
do
something.”

Rafe flinched as unfamiliar hands grasped her face and held her head captive.

“What…” She gasped as white-hot pain lanced through her brain. She nearly blacked out as the agony threatened to overwhelm her. Then as suddenly as the pain had struck, it was mercifully gone. Rafe fell forward, saved only by Ashley’s grasp. She opened her eyes to find Ashley’s concerned face mere inches from her own.

“Are you okay?”

Rafe looked around her. She could still see the white light vibrating around Eli. It pulsated and flashed like a living, breathing entity. But looking didn’t hurt her anymore and the sound was gone. Rafe turned to Ashley.

“Do
your
thing, Sparky,” she said and watched as Ashley lit up in her familiar golden glow. “I can keep my eyes open when you do that now.” She flicked a wary look in Eli’s direction. “What is it with you two and the laying on of hands without consent?”

Eli cocked his head at Ashley. “You touched her
again
?”

“I healed her. That damn demon scratch was poisoning her. I’d triggered it, so of course I touched her to stop it from killing her.”

Rafe tried to get to her feet as best she could without pulling at her side or needing too much of Ashley’s help. Muttering under her breath at having to accept the arm under her elbow to keep her upright, Rafe grumbled, “Lights out, Sparky,” and Ashley dropped the glamour. Rafe directed her attention to the man in the room. “So, Eli? What did
you
do to me?”

Eli began reeling off a complicated description that defied understanding. Ashley cut into his long-winded recitation.

“Without getting too technical, Eli. Not all of us share your far superior intellect.”

Eli pondered for a moment. “I rerouted your brain synapses, effectively rewiring your brain with a dimmer switch. You can see the lights emitted, but now they are muted and are not going to cause your pain receptors to react.”

Rafe stared at him. “Thank you. But if you can do all that, why not just stop me from seeing them altogether?”

“It’s part of your physiology now. I can’t tamper with that, which is meant to be, but I can help with the alleviation of the pain.”

Rafe rubbed at her forehead, trying to get a grasp on all that was happening to her. “When the guy in the alley marked me, did I somehow slip through to an alternative reality? Because this sure isn’t the Kansas I remember anymore.”

“We’re in Chicago, Detective.” Eli tossed a look toward Ashley. “Just how badly was she brain-damaged in the demon fight?”

Ashley shook her head at him. “There’s no such thing as alternative realities, Detective,” she said to Rafe.

“And until you, there was no such thing as demons in my reality either, and look where that’s leading me.” She stepped into Ashley’s personal space. “Right back to
your
door.”

“I’m curious, how did you manage to find me? I don’t usually leave a paper trail that can be found so fast.”

“You gave me your cell phone number.”

Ashley looked resigned. “So I did. I gave it to you so you could call me and we could set up a meeting. Guess you skipped that part.”

“Who are you exactly? Because no PI I know would be camped out in a place like this unless they were undercover or out of luck. I’ve got enough fashion sense to know that your jacket probably cost more than the rent does on this place. So what gives?”

“We’re here for the same reason you are, to find the killer of these women.”

“Because you think it’s a demon?”

“Because whoever or whatever he is, he’s not entirely human.”

“And you’re here to do what exactly? Help me solve the killings in your own special way?” Rafe flicked a look up and down Ashley’s body. “Forgive me, but I fail to see how much assistance you can be by supposedly changing your appearance.”

“Supposedly?”
Eli asked, watching their verbal sparring with great interest.

“She doesn’t see who I become. Rafe has only ever seen me,” Ashley said.

“Unfortunate.”

“And the very reason why we’re here like this now,” Ashley told him.

Frustrated at how they were talking over her head when she was standing right there with them, Rafe butted in. “Actually, I’m here because last night you mentioned something about visiting the crime scenes. I have to ascertain just how much you may have contaminated both the scene and the evidence with your unauthorized presence.” She brushed back her jacket and tapped the handcuffs attached to her belt. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t haul you in right now for disturbing a crime scene.”

“Because the person you’d be seen dragging into the station wouldn’t be me but possibly Detective Powell. I can glamour her exceptionally accurately. How long do you think you’d still be at your shiny new desk at the DDU after that stunt?”

“How can you do what you do?” she bit out, furious at what Ashley proposed and powerless to counter her threat.

“The same way you can see the glamour when I wear it. Because I’m different. Just like you are now.”

“But I didn’t see any fancy lights before I got taken down by Armitage. My life was fucking normal up until then.” She gestured between Ashley and Eli. “No glamours, no white lights, no healing when I damn well didn’t ask for it. No rerouting whatever is going on in my brain that’s making me feel so fucking paranoid!”

Rafe brushed off Ashley’s hand that reached out to her. “I warn you, both of you, stay the hell out of my investigation or I’ll arrest you both so fast neither of you will have time to turn on the lights.” Rafe stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her and wincing at the pull in her side the sudden movement had caused. She headed toward the elevator, muttering under her breath. “Rerouting of synapses. If I need healing, let’s start with the fucking knife wound in my side.” She pressed the button for the elevator, and when it didn’t come immediately she pounded on it numerous times to vent her frustration. “If she’s compromised any of my scenes I’ll
glamour
her ass all the way to jail.”

“So,” Eli said, “that’s your detective.”

Ashley’s ears were still ringing from the slamming of the door.
I bet that’s woken most of the neighbors
. “Yes, Eli, that’s Rafe Douglas.”

“Humans don’t usually survive a demon attack.”

“She’s like no other human I’ve ever met.” Ashley busied herself leafing through the file Rafe had left behind. She was curious what Rafe had managed to find out.

“And?”

“And nothing, nosy. She’s dedicated, determined.”

“And very handsome. You said so yourself, I recall, after your first encounter.”

Ashley groaned. “I admit it. She’s so damn hot I’m frightened of going up in flames every time I see her.”

“Is this a problem?”

Only if I can’t manage to keep my hands to myself
. Ashley thought back to the previous night when she’d held Rafe’s face in her hands and watched over her as she’d slept.
Instant attraction
,
and I’m not the only one who felt it. And it wasn’t the draining of poison talking when she told me I was beautiful
. Could she get Rafe to be that unguarded again, to put down her shield so that Ashley could reach the woman behind it?

“You’ve gone very quiet,” Eli said.

“I have to go back and face her. I’m trying to think of the best strategy to do that without ending up behind bars.”

“You can be very persuasive; I’ve seen you. You’re good at getting what you want.”

Ashley’s breath caught a little at Eli’s innocent words.
Want? It’s just a job
, she told herself.
Solve the crimes and then move on to the next case.
“She’s not going to make this easy.”

“No, I don’t think she will, but she’ll be a worthy ally by your side. You complement each other.”

“You got all that from her barging in here and yelling at me to stay away?”

“No. I got it from her eyes and heart and all that she didn’t say out loud when she looked at you.”

“Eli, you’re just an old romantic at heart.”

“I have no time for romance; it’s too human an emotion.”

“Thank God for that.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

*

Rafe was glad to see Dean and Alona hard at work when she returned to the DDU. She slipped a large box of doughnuts, along with fresh coffee, beside Alona as she headed back to her own desk.

“Where have you been, boss?” Dean looked up over his computer at her entrance and gratefully accepted his own coffee from her.

“I was following up on a lead I got last night, but it went nowhere.” Rafe busied herself at her desk, picking up her telephone messages and discarding most of them. She was not willing to talk even to Dean about Ashley Scott or the bizarre happenings that kept occurring around her. She flicked on her computer and decided to just forget Ashley and all the crazy baggage that came with her.

“Alona, have we got the medical reports for the first two murders somewhere at your fingertips?” She waited while Alona brought them up on the big screen. Rafe read through them again, a frown gathering on her face. “I’m going to see if Dr. Alan can spare me a few minutes while he still has victim number three in his care.” As quickly as she had entered the office, Rafe turned back around and left. She headed down to the basement, where the precinct morgue resided. The pale gray walls were in stark contrast to the rest of the CPD, but Rafe relished the coolness and the muted lights that ran the length of the corridor. She pushed open the door to the morgue and was directed further down the halls by a woman pushing a gurney. The body underneath the drape seemed shapeless and nondescript, but Rafe couldn’t ignore the fact the white cloth covered yet another dead person to join the statistics that the city logged every month. She popped her head around a door and found Dr. Alan working away on a corpse.

“Dr. Alan, have you got a moment, please?”

The old man’s face lit up when Rafe entered his room. “I knew it wouldn’t be long before you were down here, Detective, chasing up the details.” Dr. Alan grinned at her and waved her in. He gestured for her to put on a coverall so as not to get anything untoward on her suit. Stretched over the body between them, he fixed her with an intense stare, his eyes taking in her injuries with professional interest. “You took a mighty beating, and I know what you’re sporting is only half of what lies beneath. I saw his body, and I have to admit to you, Rafe, I’m surprised you didn’t end up on my table.”

Rafe ran a hand over her face in a gesture that was becoming second nature to her, checking that she was still intact, assuring herself she was still alive. “To be honest, Doc, I thought I’d be toe tag material too.”

He reached over the body and slapped Rafe gently on the shoulder. “I’m glad to have you back and in one piece. The place just isn’t the same without you. And now that the DDU is fully functional, you’re back where you belong. Which is why you’re down here? I presume to ask about the latest victim your backstabber left the city to mourn?”

Rafe furtively glanced around the room before speaking in a hushed tone. “Actually, Doc, I want to ask about Marcus Armitage.”

“The behemoth that nearly killed you? What do you want to hear? I’m sure you read my report.”

Rafe’s indecision crippled her. How could she seriously ask the coroner the burning question that was lodged in her head? She grimaced and gathered up her courage. “Was there anything
unusual
about Marcus Armitage when you performed his autopsy?”