Heart's Price (MxM)

Chapter 23

"I can't turn it off," Julian complains as we walk towards Barker's mansion, "and it's getting worse. I can't even go out in public anymore. People just... stare."

"Have you thought of contacting the Fae?" I ask. "Maybe this is normal for a fae your age."

He grimaces. We're walking a few yards behind Dane and Ambrose, who are deep in conversation about the case.

"Of course I have," he says in an undertone. "It's just..." He lets out a breath of frustration.

I nod towards Dane's back with a question on my face, and Julian nods in return.

"Yeah," he murmurs. "I think his worst nightmare is that I'll step through that doorway again and I won't come back. Even talking about the Fae Realm upsets him."

"Okay, but Julian..."

"I know," he sighs. "If whatever's wrong with me doesn't resolve itself soon, I'll have to do something. I can't keep walking around like... like a fucking glow-worm."

I glance at him. 'Living treasure,' seems more accurate, but I keep quiet.

Reaching the house, we draw to a halt. The entrance is paved with green slate flagstones, framed by ostentatious columns that support a great balcony on the second story. Kneeling, Dane lifts the expensive-looking woven doormat and retrieves a key.

"Really?" Julian laughs. "He keeps the key under the mat?"

"Being rich don't make you smart," Dane replies, and opens the grand front doors.

Inside, he quickly punches some buttons on a little keypad on the wall, disarming the home security system.

"How'd you know the code?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Coleridge got it from the company that makes this system. I watched her use it."

As Dane's former boss, Chief Coleridge is unusually supportive of his role as a private investigator, often allowing him to accompany and assist the police at crime scenes where he usually wouldn't be allowed.

"Does Coleridge know you're doing this?" I ask now.

Again, he shrugs. "Not officially."

"Ah, wonderful," Ambrose says, "so we're breaking and entering. Good to know."

"I said not officially," Dane growls. "The department will ignore any calls they get about this place tonight. Unless it's from one of us," he adds. "Even so, we should be careful. Lots of rubberneckers been driving past lately, trying to get a look at the place, so no lights except in rooms without windows. Otherwise, flashlights only—better yet, just use your eyes, if you can."

I nod, and see a flash of amethyst as Julian looks my way. With his fae vision, he can read a book by starlight, or so he says. My own wolf-sight is a little different—I don't see colors, and some details stand out more sharply, while others are lost.

"Ambrose and I will start down here. Noah, you and Julian take the second floor. Text me if you find anything."

He turns and heads off towards the library where the portrait once hung. With a lifted brow and a slight smirk, Ambrose follows him. I know the only reason Dane invited him along is for 'observation,' and I also know Ambrose is under no illusions on that front. Maybe having to work together will make them more inclined to get along, but I'm not about to place any bets on that.

I watch them disappear through the library doors, and then turn back to Julian. He's absorbed with a large painting in a place of pride near the stairs. Like the one that was stolen, this is also a portrait, though its subject is far more handsomely depicted. Thaddeus Barker stares down at us, looking like a triumphant general, or a swashbuckling sea-captain, or something equally ridiculous.