“Oh.”Logan frowned.“That’s a hell of a way to live.”
“Yeah.”Silas stood and walked the towel to the small laundry room behind the kitchen.“Actually, I was just about to swing by Valentine’s for some dinner before heading back to work.Stakeout.I think I have a lead on Alex.”Silas rested his hands on his hips.
“Did Soleil’s list finally pan out?”
“Maybe.We’ll know tonight.”
“I talked to Polina.Alex’s amulet is blocking her from seeing his future.But she thinks she can do a locator spell if you have something of his.Something he’s touched recently.The more important to him, the better.”
“Should be easy enough.Alex lent me his shampoo yesterday, and tonight we’re reading to each other from our diaries.”
“Cynicism is a sign of an addled mind.”
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate your offer, and believe me, if I come across something of his, you’ll be the first to know.It’s just the guy is a fucking ghost.I’d like to think I’m an above-average detective.I’ve done the footwork.I keep coming up empty-handed.Last night I had him.He was right in front of me?—”
“You saw him?Where?”
“In the country, off Route 9.He was digging up bones at a crime scene.I shot him, but he dematerialized.I have a lead though.A healer.”
Logan leaned a shoulder against the kitchen doorframe, his jaw hardening and his gaze drifting toward the floor.“The list of healers you’re working off, it came from Soleil and the bordello?”
Silas shrugged.“Yeah.”
“Hmm.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Logan scratched behind his ear.“I saw her with someone.”
Silas crossed his arms over his chest, a weighty silence making his kitchen feel small and stuffy.He forced himself to shrug.“We’re not a couple anymore.It’s none of my business.”
“It is if the guy she was with might influence the accuracy of the information she’s giving you.”
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know who.I didn’t get a good look at his face.But I do know what.He was a demon, Silas.I could smell him across the restaurant.Soleil came into Valentine’s for lunch with a demon, and they were mighty cozy.”
“Just because she’s dating a demon doesn’t mean she’s misleading me about Alex.This latest lead seems to be panning out.”
“You’re right.It doesn’t.But I thought you should know.”
Silas turned toward the window, letting his eyes drift with his thoughts.“She was never fully monogamous, not even when we were together.”
“No.She wasn’t.”
“I need to let it go.I need to let her go.”
“But you don’t want to.”Logan frowned.“You told me you wanted to marry her.”
“I did, once.I think I’m over it.”
“I’m sorry, man.That’s some tough stuff.”
If his friend only knew the half of it.How much he’d thought about her when they’d first split.The extent of his sleeplessness.How the very idea that she was with another guy had made his skin crawl.Sure, he’d known she ran a bordello when he met her, but she didn’t see patrons.He’d thought he could change her.He’d thought he could be enough for her to leave the lifestyle.Only she didn’t want to leave and had no interest in commitment.
At any rate, he was over it now.He wasn’t sure what had changed exactly, or when, but life was too short to dwell on a failed relationship.It was long past time to move on.“I’ll finish investigating her list.If I come up empty, I’ll entertain the idea that she’s not a reliable source.”
“And then you’ll work with Polina?”
