Deadly Sin (Cassandra Farbanks) (22 page)

“Cassandra, stop this.” A voice cut through the white noise, clear, crisp and commanding. I turned my head, searching for the speaker. Hamilton stood to my left. It was he who spoke. I looked at him. His eyes held wonder and fear, but his face was calm. He had the E-FIT in one hand, but the other was held out to me. His voice continued to resonate above the static.

“You don’t want to do this. It’ll change you forever. You’re a good person. Remember who you are.” My brows pulled together as I stared at him and his out stretched hand. I tried remembering. Like the flashbacks on
Lost
, my childhood memories cut into my mind, disrupting the flow, the hold that cold thoughtlessness held on my consciousness. I reached out and took his hand. He didn’t wince when my fire touched him. It didn’t even look like it bothered him.

“Paris?” I said his name with numb lips. I felt like I’d been lost and he drew me back to myself. Something in his eyes flashed.

“Let it go,” he said softly. The fire went out and I stepped, half collapsed into him. He held me as sound rushed back with painful clarity. People were shouting, someone was crying and I could hear the whimpering of a wolf. I looked up at Hamilton who shot me a brief but wicked smile.

“Welcome back,” he said so silently I doubted even I had heard it. I pressed my face against his shoulder. I didn’t want to turn and face the room just yet, and for the grace of, Hamilton didn’t force me. I felt all the energy I’d had during the confrontation poof right out of me.

“When you two are done canoodling, will someone explain what the fuck just went on here?” My back stiffened. Rourke was really mad. I decided it had to be contagious. Besides, the longer I stayed in Hamilton’s arms, the harder it would be to convince her that there was nothing going on between us. I slowly turned around to face her. Rourke stood in the space between the three groups: her people trying to peel a blubbering Benjamin off the floor, Hamilton and I, and the werewolf lying down panting from exhaustion or excitement, I couldn’t tell.

“I lost control of myself. I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Rourke said, her mouth flapping open. “You think an apology is going to be enough? You nearly barbecued one of my people, and God knows what you’ve done to LeBron.” I looked at the silver wolf.

“Oh I didn’t do that to him, and him not telling you about his condition is completely on him.” LeBron whimpered slightly.
Put blame where blames due
, I thought.

“I should arrest the pair of you,” yelled Rourke. I blinked, wondering where she proposed to get cuffs big enough for LeBron right now.

“For what?” Hamilton chimed in over my head. “Cassandra didn’t actually touch Detective Sergeant Hodgeson, and being a werewolf isn’t a crime.” Rourke looked confused and then was right back to being pissed again.

“I’m going to report you to the witch’s council Farbanks,” she said, then turned her imperious finger on LeBron. “And you are on suspension effective immediately until I assess whether you are fit for duty in this unit. I want your gun and your badge.” LeBron looked at her and then at me. What was he supposed to do when he had no hands? He whimpered, looked at his torn clothes then at me again.

“What does that even mean?” she growled. I took a few steps forward and Rourke moved sharply to give me a wide berth.

“I can’t explain it to you, but I can understand it for you.” I bent down to the scraps of his clothing, finding his belt I unsnapped his gun and unclipped his badge. I stood with them in hand and slammed them down on the nearest desk.

“All yours,” I said and bent down near the wobbling wreck of LeBron’s desk to retrieve my cloak and basket. LeBron understood I made motions to leave and he rose to his feet. Rourke took a few further steps backwards.

“We’ll just take ourselves away.” I signaled with a wave of my hand that LeBron should follow me. Hamilton held the door for us but was distant. His eyes were on the picture of Rin in his hand. I almost said he recognized him.

We walked through the station to audible gasps. LeBron had a little trouble navigating the stairs with his large paws but we were soon outside in the parking lot. LeBron looked to his parked car and whimpered.

“It’ll have to stay here for now. I didn’t think to go through your desk for personals.” I texted Hamilton. “There. You can come get it from reception in the morning or you can send Brie.” He stared at it for another heartbeat, and then followed me as I left the parking lot. I rested my hand on his large wolf head as we walked, meaning for it to be comforting.

“We’ll go to the community. It’s the safest place for you right now. Get Simian on damage control.” LeBron shook off my hand and gave an unhappy rumble.

“Don’t give me that,” I said reading his grumpiness. “You did damage. You lost control. You shifted in a confined area with people all around and took a swipe at someone. Provoked or not, it’s going to need to be reported. The fact that no one was permanently injured is just luck.” LeBron grabbed the edge of my cloak pulling at it so he could see my collar bone. His eyes went wide looking at the near perfect, smooth flesh. He dropped the cloak. I continued walking till I realized the only footsteps were mine. I turned back to him. He waited. I rubbed one pulsing temple.

“It’s a very long story. Keep up and I’ll tell you it.” LeBron padded to catch up to me as I turned, continuing towards the community. I told LeBron everything. Not two realities everything, but the whole not human, no idea who my people are truth. It was kind of nice to share with someone, especially as they couldn’t talk back at that moment. It meant no inane questions. We reached the gate of the community and the guard exited his booth to greet us.

“If I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes I wouldn’t believe it,” he said smiling. LeBron looked at me and I at him. Then I recalled what I was wearing. It had to look strange, red riding hood with a wolf in tow.

“It’s been a strange night,” I sighed with a weak smile. “Is there any way you could get a message to Simian at the party and ask him to come home right away?”

Chapter Seventeen

Simian looked a little panicked as he ran up the street. The seriousness of the sight diminished a little as he still looked like Fred Flintstone. He slowed when he saw me leaning against the railings and the silver wolf sat on the bottom step next to me. He addressed the wolf first.

“Oh dear, Michael, what happened to you?”

When silence fell I looked up. Simian’s eyes were on me, as were LeBron’s. Both of them expected me to answer for him.

“LeBron was antagonized by a co-worker. He lost his temper and shifted. He’s been suspended from active duty,” I replied in my most matter of fact voice. Simian shook his head disapprovingly.

“I warned you that a high stress environment was going to be bad for you,” said Simian, putting a fatherly hand on LeBron’s head. It was news to me that LeBron had been advised not to return to his job. “You’ve only been shifting for a few moons.” I wrapped the cloak around me tightly.

“Can we go inside? It’s cold.” They both looked at me. With their shifter temperatures, they didn’t feel the cold like I did. Despite my non-human status, my body temperature was only a point or two above human normal. I can stand heat, not so much cold.

“Of course,” said Simian, as if caught lacking in hospitality. “Let me just deal with the sitter.” Simian extradited his keys from God knew where he kept them, unlocking the door and heading inside. A couple of minutes later, a teen girl wandered out going straight passed us as if we weren’t there. Simian held the door wide. LeBron sloped up the steps and slipped inside. I followed and closed the door behind me. LeBron flopped his massive wolf form down in front of the fire place like a tired dog, jostling the coffee table. Simian patted my shoulder.

“I’m going to call Sophie, let her know everything is okay. Then I’ll try to calm him down enough to shift back. Can you make some tea?” I nodded and headed into the kitchen. I was glad to do something. If Simian got him to shift back he’d be naked and I didn’t want to see that.

I rested against the door, listening to Simian assure Sophie that nothing was wrong with their kids. I noted that the gate guard must have relayed my message with no explanation. This made me feel a little guilty. I de-cloaked, prepared to make tea to sooth frayed nerves.

Despite my familiarity with the Urquhart kitchen it always struck me that Sophie collected pottery roosters. The clock on the wall, salt and pepper shakers, the tea cozy, and even the tea canister were all rooster themed. It made me smile because you mocked her roosters at your peril.

The kitchen was perfectly organized, mugs in the cupboard above the kettle and spoons in the drawer below. The canisters along the wall held tea bags and sugar. I filled the kettle at the sink and set it to boiling then went to the fridge to get the milk. Carton in hand, I stopped to look at Jack’s report card held to the fridge by an unhappy looking rooster magnet. When I saw the grades I understood why the rooster was unhappy. A lot of young wolves were inclined to chase their tail academically. Jack was a smart kid. He just had to have his PlayStation Portable surgically removed.

The kettle boiled and I finished making the tea. I don’t really care for tea, but I’d had coffee at the police station. Another cup and I wouldn’t sleep. I found the tea tray Sophie used for guests and arranged the mugs on it.

When I entered the living room LeBron was human and mercifully dressed in a pair of old sweats. He had his face in his hands and his whole posture was defeated. I placed his tea in front of him.

“I didn’t know how you take it,” I said apologetically and turned to hand a mug to Simian. He took it with a nod and I took the arm chair with my mug in hand, the tray against my side. The metal made my ribs warm with residual heat.

“What am I going to do, Simian? I’m going to lose my job.” Simian took a sip of his tea and put his cup down on the mantel.

“They can’t fire you for being a lycanthrope.”

“You don’t know Rourke,” I said scoffing. “They may not put that as the reason in print, but that’s what it will boil down to.” Simian gave me an unfriendly look and I shut my mouth by pressing the rim of my mug between my lips.

“I’ve fought harder cases. We have some good lawyers on the community pay roll.” Unable to keep my mouth shut for long, I chimed in again.

“You were going to run into this road block eventually. I mean, how did you expect to get through your next physical without them finding out?” LeBron looked mute with embarrassment. Simian glared at me and mouthed “not helping”. I gave a little shrug. LeBron looked up.

“No, she’s right. Trying to hide it was bound to come back and bite me in the ass. If Rourke doesn’t out and out fire me, then she’ll want me out of her unit…” He left it unsaid, but I knew he wanted to say, “What unit would willingly take a werewolf that couldn’t keep his shit together”. LeBron clenched his fingers into a fist.

“I just couldn’t take him ragging on Brie. He came to the wedding. He knows how nice she is.” Simian put his hand on LeBron’s shoulder trying to share some of his own calming energy, I think.

“Why did you invite them to the wedding?” I asked out of sheer curiosity.

“I guess I hoped he’d meet the people there and see that we’re not monsters.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have made it open bar then?” I suggested, trying to coax a little smile out of him. I got one, but it was bitter.

“Yeah, he was drunk by midnight and picked a fight with a shifter friend of Brie’s. Ben got his ass handed to him. He’s been insufferable since then. A collar with a tag that read Mrs. LeBron, cat toys on my desk, the kitty litter was the last straw.” I choked on my tea so disgusted. He really was an ass.

“Well, maybe now he’ll think twice,” I muttered into my tea. LeBron’s smile was one of genuine pleasure. Simian looked between us confused.

“Please tell me you didn’t hurt someone,” he pleaded looking down at LeBron who shook his head.

“Not me.” His eyes darted over to me.

“You might have, if I hadn’t taken the claws.” This revelation prompted a tiny panic on Simian’s part, which ended with him examining my neck and shoulder. The wound was just pink lines and a little bruising. Another couple of hours and it’d be completely gone. Most of the blood had evaporated under the flames. Even so, Simian had to look closely to see anything.

“Your healing is most impressive,” he said, allowing me to pull the strap of my dress back into place. “How did this scare Detective Sergeant Hodgeson?”

“It wasn’t the wound,” said LeBron. “It was after that. Cassandra went like…” He made gestures with his hands trying to describe it, “Living flame. It was the most beautiful and terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. He was howling like a baby when we left.” I shook my head at his relish in retelling it.

“I’m not proud of what happened. I lost control of myself. I’m just as scared of what I might have done as he was.” LeBron tilted his head as he looked at me. I got the image of a curious puppy.

“What did Hamilton say to you? It was so soft I couldn’t hear it.”

“He asked me to stop.”

“But Rourke had been shouting that at you for ten minutes.” I suspected as much. I decided it best to make a joke out of it, rather than show my confusion.

“Hamilton said please.” Both Simian and LeBron laughed while I stayed silent. I wondered why, when I heard no one else, Hamilton was the one to break through. How was he able to call me back to my senses before I did something I would regret? There was something about him. He hid it very well. Better than anyone I’d met, but he was definitely hiding something.