Dark Wings Descending by Lesley Davis

then.” She gestured between Ashley and Eli. “No glamours, no white lights, no healing when I damn well didn’t ask for it. No rerouting whatever is going on in my brain that’s making me feel so fucking paranoid!”
    Rafe brushed off Ashley’s hand that reached out to her. “I warn you, both of you, stay the hell out of my investigation or I’ll arrest you both so fast neither of you will have time to turn on the lights.” Rafe stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her and wincing at the pull in her side the sudden movement had caused. She headed toward the elevator, muttering under her breath. “Rerouting of synapses. If I need healing, let’s start with the fucking knife wound in my side.” She pressed the button for the elevator, and when it didn’t come immediately she pounded on it numerous times to vent her frustration. “If she’s compromised any of my scenes I’ll glamour her ass all the way to jail.”

Chapter Eight
     
    “So,” Eli said, “that’s your detective.”
    Ashley’s ears were still ringing from the slamming of the door. I bet that’s woken most of the neighbors . “Yes, Eli, that’s Rafe Douglas.”
    “Humans don’t usually survive a demon attack.”
    “She’s like no other human I’ve ever met.” Ashley busied herself leafing through the file Rafe had left behind. She was curious what Rafe had managed to find out.
    “And?”
    “And nothing, nosy. She’s dedicated, determined.”
    “And very handsome. You said so yourself, I recall, after your first encounter.”
    Ashley groaned. “I admit it. She’s so damn hot I’m frightened of going up in flames every time I see her.”
    “Is this a problem?”
    Only if I can’t manage to keep my hands to myself . Ashley thought back to the previous night when she’d held Rafe’s face in her hands and watched over her as she’d slept. Instant attraction , and I’m not the only one who felt it. And it wasn’t the draining of poison talking when she told me I was beautiful . Could she get Rafe to be that unguarded again, to put down her shield so that Ashley could reach the woman behind it?
    “You’ve gone very quiet,” Eli said.
    “I have to go back and face her. I’m trying to think of the best strategy to do that without ending up behind bars.”
    “You can be very persuasive; I’ve seen you. You’re good at getting what you want.”
    Ashley’s breath caught a little at Eli’s innocent words. Want? It’s just a job , she told herself. Solve the crimes and then move on to the next case. “She’s not going to make this easy.”
    “No, I don’t think she will, but she’ll be a worthy ally by your side. You complement each other.”
    “You got all that from her barging in here and yelling at me to stay away?”
    “No. I got it from her eyes and heart and all that she didn’t say out loud when she looked at you.”
    “Eli, you’re just an old romantic at heart.”
    “I have no time for romance; it’s too human an emotion.”
    “Thank God for that.”
    “My thoughts exactly.”
     
    *
     
    Rafe was glad to see Dean and Alona hard at work when she returned to the DDU. She slipped a large box of doughnuts, along with fresh coffee, beside Alona as she headed back to her own desk.
    “Where have you been, boss?” Dean looked up over his computer at her entrance and gratefully accepted his own coffee from her.
    “I was following up on a lead I got last night, but it went nowhere.” Rafe busied herself at her desk, picking up her telephone messages and discarding most of them. She was not willing to talk even to Dean about Ashley Scott or the bizarre happenings that kept occurring around her. She flicked on her computer and decided to just forget Ashley and all the crazy baggage that came with her.
    “Alona, have we got the medical reports for the first two murders somewhere at your fingertips?” She waited while Alona brought them up on the big screen. Rafe read through them again, a