Grave Dance(55)

He glanced at the bed. “Soaking in the tub. They had my blood on them.” He gave me a weak half smile and lifted one shoulder. The movement wasn’t smooth, though, and he wasn’t quite fast enough to cover the wince.

He’s hurt. Wel , of course he was hurt. He’d shown up half dead last night and he’d reopened the wound during the fight. The idea that he could have healed al that damage in the last hour was pure faerie tale, but he did look healed.

His platinum blond hair hung loose and clean around his face and shoulders, and I could see no evidence of wounds on his face or scalp. His clothes were what I’d grown accustomed to when we’d worked together before—dress slacks and a crisp white oxford—but what I saw couldn’t have been real because the clothes he’d worn here were torn and bloodstained, and he didn’t have clothes stashed in my apartment. I almost opened my shields to see what he wore under the glamour, but what if he wasn’t wearing anything?

And speaking of clothes, I was stil only half dressed and I could hear the police sirens in the distance. Crap. I ducked into the bathroom and dressed quickly. When I emerged a minute or two later I found Falin sitting stiff-backed on my stripped bed.

stripped bed.

“Don’t tel them I was here,” he said without standing. I stopped. “Who? The police?”

He nodded.

“I can’t lie to the police for you.”

“I’m not asking you to lie. Just don’t mention me.”

I frowned and studied him. I didn’t real y know Falin. Once I’d thought I did, at least a little, or at least I’d felt like I knew him. But feelings could be deceptive.

“What’s going on?” I asked, leaning against the wal . I could hear the sirens in front of the house now. I needed to get downstairs, but I wanted some answers from Falin first.

“What happened to you?”

Falin pushed away from the bed. He walked across the room and peered through the window before answering.

“It’s complicated.”

“Complicated? Someone tried to kil you.”

He didn’t respond. Maybe I have it wrong? He was the Winter Queen’s assassin. Maybe it wasn’t that someone had tried to kil him. Maybe they were just trying to stop him from kil ing them.

He stil didn’t say anything.

“Falin, why are you here? Why now?” Had he just needed a place to hide while he was injured? Was that why he was here?

From the main portion of the house below I heard the front doorbel ring. I had to go, but . . . I looked up at him, waiting for an answer.

“I wanted to contact you,” he said, stepping forward, and I wasn’t sure if his words meant he had wanted to contact me during the month he was missing, or if he was here because he wanted to contact me. He reached out like he was going to place his hands on my hips.

I skittered sideways, out of his path.

“Oh, no.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You do not get to disappear for a month, say you meant to contact me, and then try to pick up right back where we were. It doesn’t and then try to pick up right back where we were. It doesn’t work that way.”

His shoulders sagged as he stepped back. Then a half smile made the edge of his lips crook. “You’re mad at me.”

“And that’s amusing because?”

The half smile spread into a lopsided grin, and he stood up straighter. “You wouldn’t be mad if you didn’t care. I’m on to you, Alexis.”

Oh, that insufferable, arrogant—

Voices drifted up from the floor below. “I have to go,” I said, turning my back on him as I pul ed the door open.

I hesitated once I stepped into the stairwel and glanced back at him. I wanted to ask if he’d be there when I returned, but I didn’t. Without saying good-bye, I pul ed the door closed behind me and escaped the rest of our awkward conversation to have a much easier one. It was probably a bad sign that I considered it easier to be questioned by the police.

The responding officers weren’t happy that we’d waited nearly an hour to cal the authorities or that we’d al dressed and started cleaning up the crime scene. Oh, wel .

The anti–black magic unit took the lead in processing the scene. The room was photographed, the charmed disks were gathered and each sealed individual y in a magicaldampening bag, and even the raven was caged and taken away. After we’d given the lead detective, a weary-looking witch by the name of Tepps, our statements

—al of which were edited slightly to leave out Falin and the soul col ectors—Tamara drove Hol y to the hospital. Caleb refused to go, and nothing in the ABMU’s arsenal detected dark magic on Caleb, so he couldn’t be committed against his wil .