Dim Sum Asylum(25)

“Pele’s teeth, you fucking scared me,” he finally gasped. We were both shivering, and my teeth chattered loud enough to nearly drown out the sirens drawing in on us. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Seemed like it.” I wasn’t ready to let go of him, lying to myself it was because my legs were wobbly. “Wasn’t on my to-do list when I woke up this morning, Leonard.”

“I just yanked you up off the side of a building.” He slapped my back lightly. “I think you can call me Trent.”

“Yeah. Okay, Trent.” I laughed, catching on to his curse when I reluctantly pulled away. My body ached, pain and pleasure mingled in too tight for me to separate, but I had to get some space between us. Shooting my last partner was bad enough. Fucking the next one would be just an invite for trouble to move in. “Let’s go and see what that damned thing’s done to the street. We should have caught a break and the spell’s gone because its vessel is broken.”

“What are the odds of that happening?” His voice sounded strained, rough with a promise I wasn’t willing to act on.

“Odds aren’t good,” I replied, shaking some feeling into my arm. “That’s one thing you’re going to have to learn about working Arcane Crimes. The odds are never in our favor.”





Seven


“WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO! Way to go, MacCormick!” The mountain that was Senior Inspector Brian Yamada pounded me on the back with a piglet-sized fist, rattling my brain and sending shock waves of pain through my already tender shoulder. “Some cops start a riot, but no, you had to go and start an orgy!”

We’d come back to a rumble of cheers, mockery, and teasing at the station. It was a long, shameful walk through the bull pen, then a creaky stumble up the stairs to get to the loft. It was late, so the place was nearly empty except for a few of the clerks and, of course, Yamada, who was notorious for finishing up his paperwork at the last possible minute. My desk was as I’d left it, but my partner’s now sported a bunch of sex toys, lubricant packets, streamers, and for some reason, an army of bobbleheaded rabbits nodding each time someone bumped his desk.

As cop initiations went, it was pretty subdued. I didn’t think Leonard had really taken it all in. He was too busy staring down Yamada.

Yamada, in true Brian fashion, didn’t pay my new partner any mind. It was like a pebble glaring at Fuji in the hopes of getting the mountain to move. I’d have laughed if it wouldn’t have hurt my ribs.

“I was going to get you a blow-up doll, but Valdez talked me out of it.” Yamada sighed and looked longingly at my office chair. “It would have been great. I even had a roll of duct tape.”

Another pound on my back left me gasping, and it looked like Yamada was about ready to go another round with my spine before I could object. Leonard—Trent—stepped up behind me, growling deep in his chest, but I waved him off, used to Yamada’s manhandling. I wasn’t sure what to do with Trent’s protectiveness other than be annoyed. Sure, he was larger and more muscular, but I had cunning and, well, underhandedness in my bag of tricks. And I wasn’t that bad in a brawl or knife fight. Yamada, on the other hand, was a whole ’nother level of combat, and it was far easier to take the battering affection than insult the forever-grinning bear passing itself off as a cop.

The slap came, shoving all the air out of my lungs, and Yamada’s congenial face twisted into a grimace. Of course, the manly whimper I made when he hit me probably hadn’t helped shore up my dubious reputation for being stoic, but it did make Yamada back up a few steps.

“Oh man, sorry. Heard you got hurt. Don’t know what I was thinking,” Yamada whispered apologetically. The next back slap was lighter, a wallop instead of a full-out concussion grenade going off across my shoulders. So I rode another wave of pain with gritted teeth, but I was grateful he hadn’t pulled me into a hug. “Medical see you yet?”

“No.” I hated being poked and prodded, especially by a newbie tech who hadn’t seen me before. I liked the shamans and priests in C-Town more than an actual doctor, because at least I knew I wasn’t going to be given stuff just to see how it worked on me. “I’ll go by later. Maybe. We’ve got paperwork to—”

“MacCormick!” Gaines bellowed from downstairs. “In my office! And bring the new kid I gave you!”

“Shit.” As if I wasn’t already hurt enough, I wouldn’t be able to sit down after the ass-chewing Gaines was probably going to give me. Even Yamada shuffled back a few feet as if I’d suddenly donned leper robes and started begging for alms.

“Maybe it’s not too late to hit up Medical.” My partner looked pained. I had to give Trent this, he wasn’t a stupid man. He’d been at the Asylum for all of five minutes and already knew when Gaines’s bark was going to follow with a bite.

“Avoiding the man doesn’t help things. It just pisses him off more, and then you’re doing shit like mopping up the front walk while it’s raining.” My upper arms and back ached from the muscle memory of doing just that when my thirteen-year-old brain thought I could mouth back to my mother over the phone, thinking I was safe because I was staying at Gaines’s house while she worked out of state for two weeks. It rained a lot the whole time she was gone, so the mop and I became very good friends. “Let me do the apologizing. He might go easy on you if you keep your lips shut.”