“I’m glad you didn’t go down there, too,” Major Grendel said from behind them, making Ezra jump a bit. They turned to see the major walking toward them, satisfaction pouring off her in waves. “Even with maps of the tunnels it got confusing downthere for a hot minute. Regardless, Simmons was caught a few minutes ago.”
“He’s in custody?” Ezra asked.
“He is indeed. We’re taking him to our base to be debriefed before we turn him over to the authorities—he’s facing numerous charges for the deaths of his dig team and environmental damage, along with whatever else I can think of in the meantime.” Major Grendel joined them at the window and gave Ezra and Raum a once-over, taking in their embrace. She said nothing about it, merely quirking a sharp brow before continuing. “Do you want to talk to Simmons about the skull?”
The thought of being face to face with Simmons didn’t appeal—the man was a murderer as far as Ezra was concerned, but he did have some questions. Whether or not the answers would help with the skull situation was another matter.
“He’s not a practitioner,” Ezra said, reaffirming what he’d been told when Simmons first disappeared, and the major nodded in agreement. “He was reckless with a magical artifact and killed people. I want to know how he knew about it, and what he thought he was doing, but I don’t see how he can help me deactivate it.”
“He might know something,” Raum said.
“We’re going to be interrogating him—give me a list of questions you have and I’ll see what we get from Simmons,” Grendel offered. “No need to put you in a room with the man. I’ll pass along everything relevant immediately.”
“That sounds like the best option. I’m a curse-breaker, not a cop,” Ezra said with a half-shrug. “I have no idea what to do with a suspect.”
“You do investigate all the time with artifacts, though, right? I think you’d do fine with an investigation, like a private investigator,” Raum said. “But I’m also selfishly glad you don’twant to walk into a room with a man who got his entire research team killed.”
“Almost his whole team—Monica Blevins is alive, as is that other professor,” Ezra reminded Raum. “And thank you for the support, but I won’t be interrogating anyone if I can help it.”
“I’ll get a transcript of the interrogation sent to your email as soon as we’re done with him,” Grendel said, and she dug into her cargo pants and pulled out both of Ezra’s phones. “I had the sergeants go to your room and grab your phones. The hospital let them in your room. Keep the phones on you, please, and send me a list of questions ASAP.”
Ezra reached out and took the phones, chagrined. “Yes, ma’am.”
She gave them both a short nod and left, her stride long and full of purpose.
Ezra felt like the scolding came from a schoolteacher and he was lucky not to get detention. He pocketed his personal phone and leaned on Raum as he typed up a list of questions for Grendel on the MERS phone. Raum held him in his arms, and Lilith meowed from the stacks, happy to explore.
“I wonder why Simmons came back to the university? Surely he knew MERS and the police would be searching for him here,” Raum mused after a long moment of comfortable silence.
“In a lot of my cases, people do stupid things all the time, even people with high intelligence,” Ezra said, looking up from his phone. “Desperation tends to erode common sense.”
Raum made a humming sound in agreement and pressed a kiss to Ezra’s temple, making him smile.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
RAUM
Watching Ezra pace between the stacks was one of his new favorite things to do. Ezra was lean and trim, handsome in a pretty fashion with elegant features and an invigorating energy that crackled across his aura like little fireflies.
Raum, now that Ezra knew about his empathy, wasn’t working on suppressing it around his new lover, and he easily made out the chaotic jumble of Ezra’s emotions, and it was easy to guess where his thoughts were going.
“Maybe I should have gone with Grendel,” Ezra stopped and spun on his heel, facing Raum where he sat in his desk chair that he’d pulled out of his office and into the wider area of Special Collections.
“And do what?” Raum asked, not unkindly. That seemed to stymie Ezra for a second, and he saw when Ezra took a deeper breath and let it out slowly, his anxiety slowly ratcheting down.
“I don’t know. Which means there’s no reason for me to go interview a murderer. I don’t know what to do—this is the biggest case I’ve worked on before and it’s messing with my head. I’m just feeling useless.”
“You’re not useless,” Raum protested immediately. “Half of Alberta would be buried under a blizzard if you hadn’t stoppedthe storm skull when you did. And you’re going to figure out how to stop it permanently. I have no doubt.”
Raum was glad they were alone because Ezra walked over to him, moved his arms, and promptly sat in his lap. Raum grinned, wrapped both arms around Ezra, and held him close to his chest, Ezra sighing deeply and snuggling under his chin. The chair creaked a bit but held up to the weight of two grown men occupying it.
They sat like that for a few minutes, silent, just enjoying each other.
Lilithmerpedfrom the stacks, the inquisitive sound echoing a bit off the ceiling as the familiar investigated the rare books and materials in the Special Collections room, sniffing everything.
Ezra ran his hands over Raum’s arms, not with any purpose in mind, more absent-minded touching that Raum enjoyed. It showed that Ezra wanted to touch him, and he sought out Raum for comfort. That made Raum very happy.
He dropped a kiss on Ezra’s hair, and Ezra made a pleased sound, almost a purr, and Raum grinned, doing it again.
