“Me. You can have me and all that comes with that in exchange for a new bargain.”
Chapter One
Secrets and Surprises
Oliver Barlow did not keep secrets or enjoy surprises, yet he found himself eagerly doing both for Felipe. As Oliver buttoned his waistcoat, he went over the plan for that night’s outing once more. First, he would borrow one of the Paranormal Society’s steamers and take Felipe to the botanical gardens. Oliver wasn’t certain Felipe particularly cared about plants, but he enjoyed walking far more than sitting through a play. Besides, going to the greenhouses would be like visiting forests and gardens all over the world without ever leaving New York. Unlike at the theater, they could freely talk, and there was still a chance they could sneak a touch or kiss on a secluded trail. On the way back to the society, Oliver planned to stop at an Italian restaurant Louisa and Agatha had raved about. Felipe had mentioned wanting to have dinner there one day, but in the chaos of cases and meetings, they had never gotten around to it. Oliver wasn’t certain if the restaurant served dessert, so he double-checked the maps in the archives to confirm there were places nearby where they could get an egg creamor some rugelach if Felipe was still peckish.
Oliver drew in a calming breath and shook out his hands to keep Felipe from feeling his anxiety on the other end of the tether. He didn’t need him running down to check on him and ruining the surprise. After listening to confirm Felipe hadn’t reached the laboratory or closet outside his basement bedroom yet, Oliver retrieved the strong box from under his bed. Tucked under papers and old photographs sat a ring box. A nervous smile crossed his lips as he turned it over in his hands. More than anything, he wanted Felipe to enjoy their outing because when they got back to the apartment, Oliver would give him a ring. Popping open the box, he marveled at the way the globe of polished amber set in gold caught the light. When he first saw the amber ring in a display case at the jeweler’s, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. Inside the fossilized resin were bits of ancient flower petals forever frozen in time, but what truly drew him to it was that the amber was nearly the exact shade of Felipe’s eyes when they caught the sunlight. He even got it inscribed withMy light in the darknessto drive home to Felipe how much he meant to him. A man who reminded Oliver of all the beauty and softness in the world deserved a ring that reflected that light and life.
Oliver’s thumb drifted to the gold and black enamel band on his ring finger. Even though he wore it every day and kept it on a chain around his neck during autopsies, he still couldn’t believe it was there. He had never expected to be proposed to or to be proposing to Felipe. Men like them rarely found someone, let alone someone who wanted to stay with them forever. Oliver knew it was different at the Paranormal Society, that they could have some semblance of permanency and normalcy, but he never expected thathewould find anyone who loved him like that. When Felipe had suggested they take a trip to Coney Island to relax, Oliver never thought it would end with Felipe presenting him with a ring and asking him to spend the rest of his life with him. Oliver swallowed hard at the memory. He would have given anything for that, proposal or not, but the ring with its grinning skeleton and Felipe’s message ofDon’t go where I can’t followwas as mucha memento mori as it was a memento vivere. If Oliver had his way, they would have so many more years together.
Shutting the ring away, Oliver shoved the strong box back under the bed with his foot. Felipe knew the proposal was eventually coming; Oliver had asked him if he could do it in return after all, but even if it couldn’t be a true surprise, he wanted Felipe to feel special and loved, the way he had made Oliver feel. At the clack of the laboratory door, Oliver stuffed the ring box into the jacket he left hanging on the desk chair and scrambled to his feet. He had just finished smoothing the wrinkles from his trousers when the bedroom door opened, and Felipe slipped inside with a tired sigh. His curly brown hair and suit were rumpled, and beneath his eyes, dark circles blotted his tan skin, but when he saw Oliver watching him, a relieved smile spread across his lips. Oliver crossed the room in two strides and caught his partner in his arms. The shorter man sagged against him in a boneless heap.
“That bad?” Oliver asked with a small smile.
Felipe grunted into Oliver’s chest. “You don’t know the half of it. You’re lucky you work down here. If it wouldn’t make a mess for both of us, I would fully retire now just to not have to deal with these meetings.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Everyone’s getting on my nerves,” Felipe replied, leaning into Oliver’s touch as he combed his fingers through his hair. “During the meeting, the head inspector let us know that a case is being transferred to us from the New Jersey Paranormal Society, so of course, everyone has to pipe up thattheyare too busy to take it. It couldn’t possibly go to them. Give it to someone else.”
“Do you want to take it?”
“God no, but I didn’t start griping about how we’ve been run off our feet since the Institute for the Betterment of the Soul case. Everyone is busy. Yelling at each other and fighting over whose case is bigger isn’t going to make us any less short staffed. Besides, it hasn’t even been officially transferred to our branch. None of us even know what the case is about, so why start making trouble before we evenknow what we’re up against?”
“I’m assuming there’s no corpse, or it would be my problem too.”
Kissing the top of Felipe’s head, Oliver inhaled the familiar scent of his aftershave mixed with coffee. When his lips traveled down Felipe’s cheek and into the hollow beneath his jaw, the other man’s hands tightened on Oliver’s back and a low moan broke from his throat. Oliver’s tongue rasped against Felipe’s stubble as his lover’s hands snaked under his waistcoat and down his backside. Halfway down the dark blue wool, Felipe’s hand stilled.
Opening his eyes, he pulled back to look over Oliver’s form. “You’re in your new suit.”
“I am,” Oliver replied with a sly smile.
Felipe stepped back to take Oliver in. His walnut brown eyes raked over Oliver’s form, pausing pointedly on his navy-clad legs and backside as he circled him. A blush rose on Oliver’s cheeks at the heat in Felipe’s gaze. Letting out an appreciative whistle, he ran his hands down Oliver’s sides before kissing him in that slow, deliberate way that made every thought scatter like billiard balls.
“And what’s the occasion for so much color? Last time I saw you, you were in work charcoal.”
“I thought we could go out this evening. I have a whole itinerary. Unless you’re too tired, of course. We could always put it off until tomorrow if you would prefer to stay in. I don’t mind waiting.”
“I will never turn down any plans you come up with, Oliver. Let me change out of these clothes, and we can go.”
When Felipe caught his mouth in another kiss, it took everything in Oliver’s power not to pull the jacket from his shoulders and give up any hopes of following through with his plan. As Felipe shed his clothing, Oliver averted his gaze from the flashes of tan skin and strong arms that would tempt him to stay home. He put his own jacket on and double-checked that the box was safely tucked deep into his inner breast pocket. While Felipe picked through his drawers in the dresser, Oliver scooped up the clothing he lost along the way. He grabbed his discarded shirt and tried to snatch his jacket by the sleeve before itslipped off the bed, but as he did, everything in Felipe’s pockets tumbled onto the rug. Oliver silently sighed. He didn’t know how Felipe managed to cram so much into his clothes. Oliver had already mended and reinforced two of his jacket pockets due to him overloading them, and he would surely rip this one too if he wasn’t careful. Setting Felipe’s notepads and pencils on the desk along with random odds and ends he had accumulated during the day, Oliver turned his attention to the remaining pile of papers.
Felipe must have stopped at their apartment before coming down to the basement laboratory because the rest appeared to be their mail. That week’s issue ofScientific Americanand a new catalog had been folded when Felipe stuffed the mail into his pocket, so Oliver smoothed them out and stuck them under a pile of books to flatten before flipping through the remaining letters. A few were interoffice inquiries that should have gone to the laboratory and not their apartment. He would have Felipe speak to the workers in the mailroom about not cross-contaminating work and personal correspondence. Ignoring the itch in the back of his brain to answer the investigators’ questions right away, Oliver left them on the corner of his desk beside the typewriter for the next morning.
A small smile crossed Oliver’s lips as he found a thick letter from Teresa Galvan that was addressed to both of them. They hadn’t seen her since she returned to the Philadelphia School of Design for Women for the fall term a few weeks earlier, but she wrote often about her classes and sent along any sketches or news she thought they might enjoy. The rest of the mail contained advertisements for things neither of them would ever buy, but tucked at the very bottom of the stack, there was a letter addressed to Felipe. Oliver stared at it for a long moment. The envelope had been creased and stained by dust as if it had traveled across the country or been lost in the mail for some time. There was no return address, and the handwriting didn’t look like Louisa’s or Agatha’s or anyone’s he recognized. Then again, Oliver knew Felipe had numerous acquaintances and contacts all across the country, so he shouldn’t have been surprised that one of them wouldwrite to him. Flipping the letter over, Oliver found it sealed with vermillion wax. Imprinted into the seal was a sword with an eagle perched atop its guard, and pinned beneath the blade’s tip was a banner that read,Sanguine Nostro Tenebrae Vincuntur.
As Oliver repeated the phrase under his breath, a spike of anxiety flashed across the tether half a second before Felipe snatched the letter out of his hand. Shame heated Oliver’s cheeks as Felipe released a ragged breath. For a long moment, they merely stared at each other, neither moving nor saying a word until the silence and discomfort hanging between them grew so thick Oliver couldn’t stand it.
“I— I was only trying to figure out who it was from. I wasn’t going to open it without your permission,” Oliver whispered.
Deflating, Felipe scrubbed a hand across his face. “No, I know. I know you weren’t. I’m sorry, it isn’t that. I just didn’t realize it was there and… It’s from my family.” When Oliver stared at him uncomprehendingly, Felipe sighed and added, “Sanguine Nostro Tenebrae Vincuntur.‘By our blood, the darkness is conquered’; that’s the Galvan motto. The letter’s from my parents.”
Oliver’s mind reeled. He had a tendency to assume everyone’s parents were dead since he grew up without his, but even after wracking his brain, he couldn’t remember Felipe ever mentioning them. No, he was certain he had never mentioned his parents. He would have remembered and asked questions about them.My familyhad always meant Louisa, Agatha, and Teresa.
“Your parents? I assumed they were dead.”
Meeting Oliver’s gaze again, Felipe’s features slipped into the impassive mask he often used during interrogations. As he shrugged on his jacket and stuffed the letter into his pocket, a rumble of unease passed through the tether. Try as he might, he couldn’t hide the tension slowing his fingers as he fiddled with his cufflinks or the tightness at the corner of his mouth. Oliver knew him too well.
