Dino followed her gaze, his frown deepening. “Later than I thought.” He poked his head through the kitchen door, called out, “Hey Dave, you wanna take that cuppa Joe to go and walk our girl here home?”
Officer Cluskey looked up from the slice of apple pie Marley had served him not two minutes before and reached immediately for his hat.
She sighed and pushed out of the kitchen, laid a hand on the beat cop’s shoulder to keep him on his stool. “No.” She forced a smile to soften the refusal because she saw the insult leap in his eyes. “You eat your pie, drink your coffee. You’re off shift. This is your time to relax.”
Cluskey smiled, and it was a good imitation if you didn’t know what to look for. Those expecting a friendly, neighborhood cop would see exactly that. She knew better, noted the pale, flat eyes that didn’t reflect the false warmth of his lips. She saw too the faintly cruel twist at the corners of his mouth. The facade didn’t fool her for a second.
“It’s no trouble. It’ll work off the pie.” He patted the nonexistent paunch of his belly.
Fishing for compliments, Marley thought and didn’t rise to the bait. She’d heard the talk and she knew what he did to make himself feel more powerful. Him and others like him, with no one to stop them. Not the system, corrupt and twisted as a snake, blind and deaf to victims who weren’t in the right tax bracket or zip code. Public servants my ass. Just more monsters, hiding behind a badge.
“No need,” she said. “I’ll be fine. I’ve got my pepper spray.”
“What’s the rush? Why the hurry? Hot date?” called Cluskey. He didn’t quite manage to mask the edge in his voice.
For a fleeting instant, Ian’s face popped into her mind, and she wished he was waiting to walk her home. Which was stupid. There hadn’t been a single sign of him since the night he’d rescued her. She’d looked. Which made her feel even more foolish.
Bumping the door open with her hip, Marley glanced back at the cop. “As a matter of fact, yes. The hottest. A really big pile of problems to solve about the calculus of thermodynamics.”
He was still blinking at her when the door swung shut again. Don’t expect a lowly waitress to have a brain, do you, dirt bag. He’d never guess she’d interned last fall with one of the biggest demolition firms in the city or that she’d be graduating in a couple semesters at the top of her class.
By the time she made her way to the corner, she could just see the bus’s taillights disappearing two blocks away.
Marley swore.
She could try to flag a cab, but the cost of the fare would eat up a big chunk of her tips for the day and completely defeat the point of the double shift. She could wait for the next bus, but that would be at least twenty minutes. Either way, it put her getting back to her neighborhood in full dark, which she’d managed to successfully avoid while the bruises faded and she tried to get on with her life. She couldn’t keep standing here. Cluskey could come out any moment, and she wouldn’t be able to put him off again. Better to face the fear and the dark than whatever payment he might decide to exact for his questionable chivalry.
~*~
Ian straightened from his post across from the diner as Marley stepped out of the alley. In the month he’d been watching out for her, it was the first tim
e she’d missed the bus home. Judging from the sickly yellow haze surrounding her, it hadn’t been on purpose. She bit out something profane and cast a quick glance at the front door. Checking for the cop inside? Ian had seen distrust explode off her, even from across the street.
That she began to walk rather than risk him coming out spoke volumes. Ian waited a few beats until he’d assured himself the cop was staying put, then wove his way into the crowd, pacing Marley. She moved quickly, shoulders hunched in her jacket, a takeout container in one hand and pepper spray in the other.
Ian debated slipping free of the shadows and walking with her. Assuming his sudden appearance wouldn’t give her a heart attack on the spot or end with him getting a healthy dose of pepper spray to his face. It was because the idea of walking with her, talking to her, was so damned appealing that he rejected it, as he had every other time the thought had crossed his mind. Being human, she was off limits according to every law in his world. It was safer for them both if he merely watched from the dark.
The sun dipped below the horizon as they passed out of the semi-respectable business district and into the run-down residential section bordering her neighborhood. With every step, her anxiety ramped higher, mulberry streamers shooting high above the surrounding buildings. He was rethinking his position on confrontation when he caught the shadow. Just a glimmer at the edges of his senses, but it had him pausing, conducting an automatic sweep.
The source wasn’t human. That it was someone from the Mirus world wasn’t cause for immediate concern. A fair population called the area home, and they had business to conduct, same as anyone else. But whatever business was being conducted was covert, which switched Ian to full alert.
Identify. Assess threat level. Prioritize.
The basic sweep with his wraith senses turned up nothing useful. Not likely a civilian. He’d received no report that the Council would be using the safe house. Possibly, someone from the field was coming in hot and didn’t have time to follow protocol. But when Marley turned the corner, the shadow didn’t peel off toward the safe house. It turned as she did, moving no faster, no slower. Pacing her. Stalking her.
Ian suppressed a growl and wished he had enough juice to dematerialize. With the setting sun, the streets had emptied of foot traffic, so there were no humans to skim from except Marley. He wasn’t about to make her any more afraid than she already was in order to top off.
Her pursuer skated along in shadow. Ian could easily narrow the gap if he jumped planes himself, but he’d also lose the element of surprise. He had to be quiet about disabling the guy. No drawing Marley’s attention. He wouldn’t risk exposure unless absolutely necessary. That would be too dangerous for her.
At a disadvantage in any kind of fast pursuit, he focused on stealth. Drawing just enough on the dark to blur himself, he skirted a line of parked cars and cut between a pair of houses. It was a risk, one he didn’t want to take, as it left Marley out of sight. But he knew her route. She’d stick to the light, even though it was longer. This would shave off a couple of blocks, get him into position in front of both of them.
A pit bull on a chain began to bark as Ian broke free of the alley. He conjured the illusion of a cat and flung it at the animal. Should anyone look out at the noise, they’d only see a dog being taunted by a stray tom.
Senses open wide, Ian could still see traces of Marley’s anxiety above the rooftops, and, along with it, fresh tendrils of fear. He sped up, risking the noise to gain some distance, get a bead on her. When he rounded the corner, he saw her stopped on the sidewalk, beneath the pale glow of a street lamp. Her body quivered, taut as a bowstring as she turned. Behind her, the shadow froze.
In the deep shadows beside the row houses, Ian tensed, ready to spring into action. But the shadow didn’t move as Marley faced it. Didn’t budge as she stared right at its position, eyes searching. She knew something was there, some primitive part of her brain reacting, even though she couldn’t actually see it.
She frowned as she began moving again, her gait on the edge of a jog. Behind her, the shadow slid into motion, matching her pace. Ian caught the delicate scent of orchids as she passed by within arm’s reach of him, considered the pleasure of it just reward as he snapped into shadow to confront the man trailing her.