“I would like that, though the bed’s a little small.”
“I’ve shared smaller.”
Oliver locked the door and returned to Felipe’s side to wordlessly unknot his tie. Opening the covers, Oliver settled on his side with his back against the wall and waited for Felipe to slot in beside him. Within minutes of getting comfortable under the quilt, Oliver’s breathing grew heavy as did the arm flung over Felipe’s stomach. Closing his eyes, Felipe focused on the tether to feel Oliver’s heart beating normally on the other end.
Felipe smiled, running his fingertips through Oliver’s hair. How had Oliver Barlow gone from an untouchable fantasy to a quiet constant in such a short time? If he knew all it would have taken was a box of specimens, he would have done that long ago. More than anything, he wanted to rub away the worried furrow between the other man’s black brows and make his life as smooth as he could for as long as he could. That was what he was good at. Tightening his arm around Oliver, Felipe fought the urge to close his eyes. He needed to talk to the head inspector, and he would, but for now, he wanted to just be.
***
“What do you mean they’regone?” Felipe said louder than he intended, if the other secretary’s popeyed expression was any indication.
Miss Mitzner’s lips thinned as she glared at him. “I mean that Head Inspector Williams and Gale and most of the investigators and those with useful powers left over an hour ago. They’re all down at the Battery dealing with a ghoul or demon or something, not sure which. Did you not hear the all-hands call?”
In Oliver’s basement laboratory, it would have been impossible to hear the clanging of the alarm, and no one had installed one down there since Oliver’s talents weren’t suited to that sort of work. “No, I wasn’t here. Technically, I’m on leave right now. But I need to speak to him.”
“Well, I can’t help you, Galvan. If you want to walk up to the Battery, feel free.”
Felipe ground his jaw. If he hadn’t fallen asleep, he could have spoken to the head inspector in time. He could almost forget he was dead most of the time, except for how much his body craved food and sleep. The last time he hadneededso much sleep was when Teresa was a fussy infant. He couldn’t have known, he reminded himself, but it was still his fault. Grabbing paper and a pen off the secretary’s desk, Felipe scrawled a missive to the head inspector about the boat to South Brother Island, the potential relics, and the missing book. He was about to sign his name when he froze. Newman’s specialty was hauntings and possessions.
Fuck. “I need you to give him this note the moment he’s back or give it to the next investigator heading out to help. I think the attack at the Battery might be a distraction from something worse.”
“Worse than demons?”
“Potentially. Just make sure the head inspector gets this, please.”
Before the secretary could ask more, Felipe ducked out and dashed down the empty halls to the armory. A fair amount had been cleaned out when the troop of investigators left for the Battery, but there were still plenty of standard issue knives and ammo to go around. Pocketing a box of bullets and a proper knife for Oliver, he turned his attention to the more unorthodox weaponry. Somehow, he doubted holy water would work on a priest. What could defeat an enemy who could control his mind or suck the very air from his lungs? Every weapon, whether it be blade or bullet, could be turned against him, against Oliver. Beneath a half-empty shelf of revolvers sat what looked like a canon and, beside it on the shelf, a pile of innocuous little boxes. These would do.
When he returned to the laboratory, he found Oliver arranging plates of food and coffee at the laboratory bench as if he hadn’t looked like death warmed over only hours ago. The moment he saw Felipe’s face he froze.
“What’s wrong?”
“They’re gone. Everyone’s gone to some kerfuffle at the Battery, and I’m certain Newman is behind it. The Battery’s about as far as you can be from South Brother Island, and it seems nearly everyone is there.”
“What are we going to do? Should we go, too?”
“No, that’s what Newman would want. I left the head inspector a note saying where we are and what’s going on, but we need to take that boat over. If unleashing a demon in a public park is a distraction, I don’t want to know what the main event is.”
Panic stole over Oliver’s features as he looked from Felipe to the food. “But I’m not a fighter. I don’t—”
“I know. I’m hoping it won’t come to that. Trust me, Oliver, the last thing I want to do is put you in harm’s way, but we have no choice. Here, even if you only menace someone with it, it’s better than nothing,” he replied, handing him the dagger.
“Where do I even put it?” Setting the dagger aside as if it were laced with poison, Oliver sank onto his stool with a sigh. “Can we at least have dinner first? I think we could both use it.”
Felipe wanted to argue, but he was right. The plate of roast beef with its pool of blood-tinged gravy would fill the growing hollow in his stomach. Rest hadn’t been enough, and if they were to fight Newman and the priest, they would need to be in top form. Sitting beside him, they ate in tense silence.
When they had finished, Felipe pulled the boxes from his pocket. “I brought these for added protection against the priest. Ear plugs.”
“They look like chess pieces. Did someone else use these?” Oliver asked with a frown as he turned his in his hand. “Give me yours; I’m cleaning both sets. I’ve been thinking about Father Gareth’s powers as well. I think we may need to plug our noses with gauze. I sneezed out some of the magic when he tried to compulse us.”
Felipe didn’t like the idea of being so deprived of his senses. By the time they made it to South Brother Island, it would be dark. He wouldn’t be able to smell or hear well, and while he didn’t expect them to be working in total darkness, they still might be at a disadvantage. Everything he did in the field required him to be aware of himself and his surroundings. Felipe ran a hand over his face. Even for him, this felt foolhardy, but they had to go. No one else would, and if Father Gareth managed to get his hands on a relic to amplify his powers, there would be little anyone could do to stop him.
“One more thing,” Oliver began, taking Felipe’s hand. With a pen, he carefully wrote in the space between his right thumb and forefinger,Oliver loves you.On his left hand, he wrote,Oliver wouldn’t hurt you. “In case he tries to make you doubt that.”
Swallowing against the knot in his throat, Felipe stared down at the words scrawled across his skin. He should abandon the plan. He should keep this man with his open features and soft grey eyes safe from harm. If he truly loved him, that’s what he would do, but duty took precedence over love, always had, and Felipe couldn’t afford to stop now.
