Missing Magic by Karen Whiddon

sense.” She thought of Mick.
He’d had similar, elaborate rituals, making him the subject of a
lot of good-natured teasing over the years. “Mick used to do the
same, though I never knew the reason why.”
    “One of the downsides to being Fae.” He
glanced at her, his dark eyes bright. “I’ve been working for years
trying to find a solution, some sort of antidote, without any luck.
Fae and steel are incompatible.”
    “You know, I seem to remember reading
something about that once, somewhere. Must have been in some fairy
tale.” He grimaced. “Very funny.”
    “Sorry.” But she wasn’t. Wisecracks were a
cop’s way of dealing with stressful situations. Finding out her
best friend had been lying to her all along simply added to her
frustration. Not that she’d let this Cenrick know that. The less he
knew about her, the better.
    Biting her lip, she began backing from her
parking spot. If she focused on Cenrick, she didn’t have to think
too much about her own situation. “What about leather?”
    He gave her a blank look. “What?”
    “Leather. I noticed everything you wear
appears to be man-made. Even your shoes are cloth. Do you have
something against leather?”
    “It’s made from cattle and we don’t wear
animal skin,” he said, as if that explained everything.
    She thought about Mick, remembering his
extensive wardrobe. “I could swear Mick wore leather shoes.”
    Cenrick shrugged. “Maybe they were
imitation.”
    Forcing herself to relax, Dee concentrated on
the road. Driving felt good. Doing something, taking action. She
felt empowered being on the move again.
    They stopped at her place. Pocketing the
keys, Dee left him in the car while she ran in and grabbed a pair
of Peter’s khakis and a t-shirt. She handed them to him through the
car window and turned her back to give him privacy while he
changed.
    Try as she might, she couldn’t keep from
imagining him naked. All corded muscles and tanned skin, with his
long dark hair and bedroom eyes; he’d tempt a saint into hell.
    Whatever else she was, when it came to sex,
she wasn’t a saint.
    “All right,” he said. “I’m ready.”
    She sucked in her breath when she saw him.
The t-shirt clung to his broad shoulders, accenting his narrow
waist. With regular clothes on, his masculine beauty seemed
otherworldly, more… Fae.
    Damn.
    She forced herself to remember what they were
doing, and why.
    How would Jack react to her showing up
unannounced and uninvited? She hadn’t seen him in awhile, but
they’d always gotten along well. Though that had been before Mick
gave her the brush-off. Normally, she’d call first, sound him out,
but now she needed the element of surprise. She wanted answers,
especially since she’d seen what happened to those poor Fae who had
been Mick’s other friends.
    Was Mick involved in what had been done to
them? Mick was too kind, too good-hearted to do something so
ruthless, so evil.
    Bu then, Mick was also apparently an
accomplished liar. She’d thought she’d known him, believed they
were best friends. But not only had he pretended to be an orphan
like her, he’d also pretended to be human when he wasn’t. And, when
she needed him the most, he’d bailed.
    She had to wonder – how much did Mick
know?
    Cenrick fell silent while she drove, staring
out the window. After ten minutes, she realized it was a
comfortable silence, similar to the ones she’d enjoyed in the past,
riding around with Mick. As though she and Cenrick too were old
friends . Odd.
    She sighed. Her connection to Cenrick was
most likely transference, her putting all her feelings for Mick on
to this stranger.
    Downtown bustled. Even in the summer, the
trees were awash with twinkling lights. No matter the season,
Sundance Square always looked festive. Throngs of people crowded
the sidewalk, visiting the various bars and restaurants and movie
theaters.
    Jack’s condominiums were part of the new,
upscale, downtown development along the river, a