Heart's Price (MxM)

Chapter 44

As Penelope vanishes back inside the house a new thought occurs to me.

"What about Julian?" I ask, turning to Dane.

"What about him?" he grunts, a wary look entering his eyes.

"I mean, what about having him 'read' the body, or whatever? Maybe he could tell us what Brutus saw—identify the thief, even."

He shifts his weight and crosses his arms.

"We have a lead already," he argues. "Besides, you know how hard on him that is."

I do, but given the circumstances, and the fact I very much want to be wrong about Shanti's involvement, it seems reasonable to ask.

"He's done it before," I return. "Why shouldn't he do it now?"

Before he knew he was Fae, Julian used to consult for the police as a 'psychic,' using his ability to pick up impressions through touch, occasionally helping them solve difficult cases. I knew he avoided dead bodies when he could, as the impressions he got were seldom pleasant and often took a heavy emotional toll, but I feel like this is the sort of thing he'd make an exception for.

Dane shifts again and runs his hands over his hair. "Look... I'd just rather not involve him in this, okay?"

He won't quite meet my eyes, and I realize what he really means is he doesn't want to give Julian the choice, because he knows his mate will choose to help if he can.

"Dane..."

"Noah..."

He gives me a warning glare, but I hold my ground.

With an annoyed huff, he gives in. "Fine. I'll take something for him to look at later. It's not like he needs the whole corpse, anyway."

He returns to the body and crouches beside it where Ambrose still stands, looking down at Brutus' face with a fixed, intense expression.

"So, what's this guy got on him that he's attached to?" he asks. When Ambrose doesn't answer, Dane glances up at him with a frown. "Thorne!"

Uncharacteristically, Ambrose startles. "Ah—forgive me. I didn't hear aught you said just now. Did you ask me something?"

Dane narrows his eyes. "Yeah. I asked what Brutus has that I can take for Julian to read later."

"Read?"

"With his psychic thing." Dane waves a hand. "Clairsentience, or whatever."

"Ah, I see. Erm...his watch, perhaps. He was quite vain about such things."

Dane lifts the dead man's arm to inspect the shiny gold timepiece on his thick wrist. "Too new," he says. "Julian needs something with more energy attached."

He fixes on a tarnished old ring on Brutus' little finger, which looks like it may have once borne a crest or seal of some kind, long since worn smooth.

"This should do. Looks like he hasn't taken it off in years," he says.

Ambrose frowns but says nothing, and I cringe as I hear the finger snap as Dane wrests the ring free of the hand.

Standing, he slips the ring in his pocket and steps back.

"Alright, Thorne. The rest is yours."

Ambrose hesitates and looks between me and Freya. "Are you sure you'd rather not wait inside?"

Freya shakes her head. "I ain't squeamish. Just tell me if I need to stand upwind or something. I don't want to get roast man smell on my jacket. It's imported leather," she adds.