Department 57: Bloody Crystal by Lynne Connolly

her, right?
    And one of them was dead. The one she’d fed from.
    She jumped back when a pair of hands appeared on either side of hers, and she landed heavily against a powerful body she’d come to know over the course of the last week. He grunted and waited for her to regain her balance. When she had, she pushed back and turned to face him. “Did you know about this?”
    “It’s why I’m here,” he murmured. “I saw the paper about an hour ago. Did you know him?”
    She shook her head. “Other than serving him last week, no.”
    He leaned closer. To the observer, it looked as if he was nuzzling her ear. “Let that be your answer. The police will interview you. Tell them they were here, anything they want to know about him being here. Even me, if you want. After, we went to your place. Nothing else.”
    Tears filled her eyes. “But I could have—” “killed him,” she finished in her mind.
    “You didn’t , cariad . Think about it. You fed from him. He was alive then, wasn’t he? And you didn’t take enough to kill him. I’ve watched you feed every night since then, and not once did I see you lose control and take too much.”
    He sounded so calm, so sure.
    “Truly?”
    “Really and truly.”
    He bent and dropped a light kiss on her lips. “Now you’d better get to work before Dave ropes me in to work a shift.”
    “Too late.” A tea towel appeared between them, clutched in Dave’s meaty fist.
    Rhodri took it with a wry grin, but the resignation in his eyes didn’t fool her. He’d come prepared to help.
    * * *
    Four hours later, Rhodri stood in a sparsely populated room. This was a holiday town, so weekends were the most frantic. Even lunches were busy. Thank fuck they didn’t have to do more than stack the dishwashers with the glasses. Even those were plastic on Saturday nights, an indication that this relatively respectable place had seen trouble. The kitchen staff did the crockery, and the cleaners would take care of the rest.
    He didn’t like her situation here. He didn’t like it at all. Without a community to support her, Cerys was in danger. These days, when abducting Talents to use in the laboratories was heading for epidemic proportions, Cerys was asking for it. Her best defense was that nobody knew what she was. Except for him, and although he hadn’t told her, it had taken his special training to spot her.
    Not that he hadn’t suspected the presence of a Talent or two in the bar this week. They’d drifted in and drifted out. Unlike Cerys, he had no compunction in showing a glimpse of himself to them. They moved on. He’d never let on that he wasn’t the only Talent in this place.
    They’d worked an afternoon shift for Dave after a member of the staff let him down. Dave finally let them go at three. Rhodri grabbed his jacket and slung it over his shoulder before heading for Cerys. “There’s something I need to do. You’re off tonight, aren’t you? Can I come fetch you?”
    “You have plans?” She batted her lashes at him in a mock-seductive pose.
    Only his response wasn’t mock at all. His cock shifted, already preparing itself for action. Not right now, buddy . Just as well he didn’t go in for skintight jeans. “Oh yes, I do. I won’t be more than an hour.”
    “Good, because I need to collect a few groceries.”
    Even that concerned him. Telling himself she’d managed perfectly well before his arrival didn’t help. Because he knew to his cost that the attack could come out of the blue. He’d helped to break up so many of those fucking illegal labs they’d made him edgy. He’d seen things no Talent should ever have to witness. But somebody had to.
    He pushed away from the bar and strode out, only just remembering to smile back at her before he left. Hopefully the sun streaming in through the open doors helped obfuscate his grim expression.
    He walked up the street, almost automatically turning right and heading for the bay. He passed under the covered