Gwen regarded him with narrowed eyes. “Oliver, are you really worried this is considered necrophilia or are you trying to weasel out of a relationship?”
“Yes.” Sinking into the chair, Oliver put his head in his hands. Any minute now, Galvan would be back. “Part of me worries I have more control over him than I realize. What if I’m bending his will to what I want? Some necromancers can turn the dead into mindless minions who do their bidding. What if his desire for me is just my feelings reflected back through the tether?”
“Then, what did he say when he came to the door?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t hear him. You said he asked about me.”
“So if he’s getting dressed on his own, coming down to the lab when you’re mid-breakdown on his own, and eating breakfast on his own, isn’t it pretty obvious he has free will?”
When she put it that way, his fears felt flimsy. He certainly didn’t want Felipe coming to check on him then. “I guess.”
“If you still aren’t sure, you could just ask him what he wants.”
Closing his eyes, he focused on the pressure beneath his heart. It crowded his chest, and if he thought about it too hard, his lungs tightened and his heart fluttered dangerously. Yet he was glad it was there.
“But he’ll be gone in a few days,” he admitted in a whisper.
Gwen’s hand closed over his shoulder with a gentle squeeze. “Oliver, I can’t make this decision for you, but if he was going to die of natural causes next week, would you feel differently?”
Without question, he would treat those days preciously. If all they had was a week, Oliver didn’t want to waste a moment, not after last night. Felipe’s heartbeat thrummed at the other end of the tether, as strong and clear as any living soul. For now, they had time.
***
When Gwen shut thedoor in his face, Felipe didn’t stop her. No matter what he might have said to Oliver before, he did trust Gwen Jones, and she had helped to nudge Oliver into his path. She wouldn’t have indirectly hurt Oliver by killing Felipe. Or he hoped, anyway. The feeling at the end of the tether had subsided, so he climbed back up to the main floor and settled into the corner of the dining room. At that hour on a Sunday morning, there weren’t too many people at least and the cooks wouldn’t complain about his order. Beside him, two of the sybils took breakfast together.Probably checking tea leaves, Felipe thought uncharitably as he picked up an abandoned newspaper.
Over the paper, he scanned the remaining society members. A few were investigators he recognized, including three werewolves, some new folks who had freshly immigrated and he had yet to get to know, and the other seven appeared to be those on the less dangerous side of the society’s activities: ghost hunters, psychic mediums, those with earth magic like Agatha. No one stood out to him as a potential suspect. Those he knew, he generally trusted, and those he didn’t weren’t suspiciously eying him or scrambling to leave. If only he had seen his assailant’s face.
He had gotten halfway through an article on men’s fashion when his plate of food arrived. Pain gnawed at Felipe’s gut at the heaping pile of eggs, potatoes, and meat. The one drawback to his power was how much he had to eat. While on assignment, it could get expensive if he got hurt, and if they were roughing it, it was nearly impossible to supply his body with what it needed to heal. He had hoped the absurdly large portion of meat, dumplings, and vegetables would be enough to fuel him and his magic for over a day as it normally would, but judging by the hollow pit in his belly and the dark circles he glimpsed in the mirror, it was not. Past experiences taught him that if he didn’t eat, his body would start cannibalizing itself to heal, and that was not an experience he wanted to repeat. As he loaded his fork with egg and beef, he decided not to tell Oliver about this new development. He didn’t need him to assume this meant his body or soul was changing and snap the tether. No, he would keep this worsening hunger to himself.
A familiar figure walked past the dining room only to turn and come back. Galvan raised his gaze to find Newman cutting across the room straight toward the seat in front of him. Newman gave him a once over before fixating on the massive pile of food. Felipe rolled his eyes. He was in no mood to hear an asinine comment about his appetite.
“May I join you?” Newman asked with a polite smile.
“If you must.”
Not taking the hint, Newman plopped down and motioned for the server to come over with the carafe of coffee. “Everything all right?”
“Just a rough morning.” Slicing into the slab of beef, Felipe nearly moaned at the first bite. He didn’t realize how badly he needed this. He continued to eat as if Newman wasn’t there. “You still haven’t given me your notes on the Sister Mary Agnes case.”
“My apologies. I submitted my report to the head inspector. I assumed his office would disseminate it. I can slip a summary under your door later.”
“Please do. I had hoped to take a look before I head out to interview Father Gareth.”
Newman narrowed his eyes as he brought the coffee cup to his lips. “Why are you visiting Father Gareth? I thought the case was closed.”
“Why would it be closed? We didn’t figure out what happened to Sister Mary Agnes.”
“Oh. The head inspector seemed to think it was.”
“Then, I will need to have a conversation with him. The priest is the next logical place to look. He is one of the few known outsiders to have a consistent relationship with the women in the monastery, so we can assume he had easy access to the building.”
“I guess, though I doubt he would summon a demon or creature to kill a nun.”
“Barlow and I discussed it, and based on our findings, the killer was probably human. Father Gareth could have been hiding his powers for years. Perhaps the sister found out and threatened to tell someone or they might have had a relationship. Either way, it’s worth looking into, isn’t it? We can’t have a magical murderer wandering free.”
The other man curled his lip and shook his head. “Why are you taking Barlow?”
“Why wouldn’t I take him? He’s as involved in the case as you or I am. If you want to come with us, you’re more than welcome,” Felipe retorted, though he sincerely hoped the other man wouldn’t.
