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anyone he’d been in communication. John had
already broken one promise to Caleb; he couldn’t bring himself to
break another.
    “ I just miss him,” John said. It
sounded lame as hell, even to him.
    Sean eyed him for a long moment, but when
John didn’t elaborate, he sighed. “You really do have it bad, don’t
you?”
    “ Yeah. I really do.”
    “ A shame you couldn’t have met under
other circumstances. If he’d come down to visit his brother instead
of for a funeral, and you’d met in a bar or something…” Sean put
his cigarette to his lips, realized he’d never lit it, and fumbled
for his lighter.
    “ I guess.” Except then John wouldn’t
have met Gray…and hell if he’d ever had a more selfish thought in
his entire life. “You’re right. I don’t have my head
together.”
    Sean took a long drag off the cigarette, its
tip glowing cherry red. “At least you admit it. Look, if you’re
determined to keep at this, just stick with me tomorrow, all right?
Tiffany can handle herself.”
    He didn’t like letting Sean babysit him, but
getting killed by a ghoul wouldn’t help Caleb or Gray. “Okay.”
    “ Glad you’re being reasonable. For
once.”
    Sean started to turn away, but John stopped
him with a hand to his shoulder. Pulling his friend in close, he
embraced Sean, clapping him on the back. “Thanks, man. I don’t know
what I’d do without you.”
    “ Get your face eaten off by ghouls,”
Sean groused. But he returned the hug. “Go home and get some
sleep.”
    “ I will,” John lied. But as they headed
to their separate cars, his heart lightened slightly. He might not
be able to confess his feelings for Gray, but he knew without
question Sean would always be there for him.
    * * *
    Caleb poked at his dinner and reflected at
least he couldn’t complain about the food. He’d figured he’d be
lucky if he got anything edible, or would have to put up with
cheese burritos, or salads of nothing but iceberg lettuce and a
slice of tomato. Even Jell-O because the cook didn’t realize they
made it out of boiled-down pig skins.
    Instead, every meal had been, if not gourmet
fare, pretty damned edible. No doubt part of Forsyth’s plan to keep
him compliant—a trap baited with stir-fried tofu instead of
honey.
    And a trap it was. The more “tests” he
performed as the week went on, the more convinced of it he
became.
    “ I agree.”
    Taken apart from each other, the tests didn’t
seem particularly menacing. How hard he could punch a steel slab.
Whether or not he could break cables of a certain thickness. Just
to measure his strength, they told him, nothing more. Just meant to
rank a drakul in comparison to other NHEs. Harmless.
    Except, combined with the tests on spirit
wards and a few other things, it didn’t seem harmless at all. More
like Forsyth was trying to figure out how to restrain Gray once the
possession became irreversible.
    Caleb pretended to cooperate, but held back
every time. If no exorcism light waited at the end of this tunnel,
he had no intention of becoming a permanent guest of RD. At least
there didn’t seem to be any empaths here. Why, Caleb didn’t know,
but he would have been fucked on day one if there were.
    He wanted to leave. Every day they
stayed ran the risk it would be the last, if Forsyth decided he had
enough data and tried to trap them. Not knowing exactly what the
man had in mind, Caleb couldn’t be sure a trap wouldn’t hold them, even given his
deceptions.
    “ We have not yet found the
demons.”
    I know. Caleb
took a bite of tofu and kale, the simple flavors bursting on his
tongue. Eating wouldn’t be the same without Gray. Although at least
he’d have garlic again. Believe me, it’s
the only reason I’m not heading for the hills right now.
    “ There are no hills in this
area.”
    Yeah, thanks for the update, Captain
Literal.
    “ If you mortals would simply
say what you mean, I would not need to correct you.”
    Caleb rolled his eyes. Just a little