City of Fae

“Coffee would be great, thanks.” He left the room, I assumed for the kitchen. While I’d slept, he’d attempted to tidy. The circled articles had gone. Probably tucked into several leaning stacks of magazines and paperwork dotted about the floor. The chaos brought a smile to my lips. He seemed so controlled when in detective mode. I hadn’t expected him to be, well, normal.

Shay’s dress and my lack of shoes confirmed I hadn’t dreamed the nightmare at Reign’s apartment. Reign. Had the FA taken him? Would he be okay? Damn bespellment, even after he’d stolen from me again, I couldn’t stop myself caring. That asshole. I’d seen a side of him I didn’t like one bit. But my feelings for Reign paled in comparison to the horror left behind by my own actions.

I shuffled upright in the chair and hissed as my shoulder resisted.

Andrews returned with a steaming mug of coffee. “Sorry about the mess. I wasn’t expecting company.”

I smiled up at him and took the mug. “I’m sorry, about all of this …” I winced, shoulder ablaze. “I’ll be out of your hair soon. You must have work, and … I shouldn’t have called, it’s just … I … I didn’t know what to do.”

“It’s okay.” He tucked his hands into his pockets, a tentative smile forming onto one cheek. “I’m not working today.”

I curled my hands around the hot drink and took a sip. It tasted good, sweet, just what I needed. Andrews busied himself with tidying, which he was terrible at. “This isn’t me, y’know; the guy I share with … my sister’s boyfriend.” He straightened, frowned at the mess, and raked a hand through his hair, regarding the chaos like it was a losing battle.

I smiled behind my coffee. He had an awkward appeal, the sort of nice-guy charm he probably wasn’t even aware of. So caught up in his work, he wouldn’t be the type to worry about the little things. “Is your sister the girl in the picture?” I asked, nodding at the framed photo on the mantelpiece.

“Yeah.” He dropped his hand. The cheerful glint in his eyes dulled. “She’s the reason I moved from uniform to SO-Thirty, became a detective.”

I’d have to be a fool not to see the change in him. He withdrew from the room, without moving an inch. It was in the way he straightened, leveled his shoulders, and hardened his gaze.

I mentally scrabbled around for something to say that wouldn’t have him clamming up on me. “You … you’re kinda young to be a detective.”

His smile was a genuine one, the topic of his work more comfortable territory than his family. “I specialized in fae relations when I was in uniform. Fae Command, part of Special Operations, recruited me because of my experience. That’s what SO-Thirty do, keep an eye on the fae, or try to.”

I wondered if SO-Thirty Division came under the same “confidential” information Andrews had mentioned in his car. “Andrews, do SO-Thirty do more than monitor the fae?”

“Like?”

“Like, maybe … I don’t know,” I searched for the words. How do you tell someone another world exists, and it’s full of monsters? “Do they look into Faerie at all? Ya know, the land the fae say is a fantasy, but maybe it might not be fantasy, and could maybe be, ya know, real.”

He held my gaze. “SO-Thirty Division was created after the ’74 fae reveal. We investigate, shall we say, some of the less savory aspects of the fae. What makes you think Faerie is real?”

He was as straight-faced as always. I couldn’t tell if he was testing me, or just asking out of curiosity. “What if it was?”

“Well, then, the fae would have a lot of explaining to do.”

He knew. At least, I thought he did. “If Faerie was real, would you be able to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Okay then. I’m glad we cleared that up.” I placed my coffee down, and shoved the blanket back. Dark patches of dried blood stained Shay’s beautiful dress. Blood: mine, the fae’s, and lots of it. My startled gasp drew Andrews’s attention.

“Why don’t you take a shower?” He could have asked what the hell had happened and started with the interrogation. I expected him to. I did not expect his sympathetic expression, or the explicit sadness on his face. “I’ve left out some of my sister’s clothes. She’s about your size.”