The train rides were nerve-wracking. The El after midnight could be dangerous, and the whole way to HQ Joey was reprimanding himself for not just catching a Lyft. A ball of anxiety sat in his gut, but the closer he got to his stop on the Red line, the more sure he felt of his decision.

Caden was waiting in the alley behind HQ, his face in its disguise looking wan under a flickering streetlight, breath fogging in the air. The cold was sharp in Joey’s nose, and in his mouth when he opened it to say, “Hey.”

Looking up from the ground, Caden’s face lit up on seeing Joey. “Hey.” His voice was warm, his expression nervous but hopeful.

Joey stopped a few feet away from Caden, hands jammed in his pockets, and for a moment they just regarded each other. Then Joey was reaching out and Caden reached back, letting Joey fold him into his arms. As in Joey’s memory, Caden smelled a bit like spice, mixed in with a vaguely floral shampoo where Joey’s cheek rested against his hair.

“I missed you, too,” said Joey, and felt Caden’s breath catch against him. After a long moment, then drew apart, and Joey pulled the keys to HQ from his pocket.

The clank of the back door opening echoed through the alley. Joey let Caden in first, then followed, guiding the door into a soft close behind them. When Joey flipped the light switch and the fluorescents buzzed on, it leant a surreal quality to the back room, as you’d only feel in the middle of the night.

Mac’s office was the same mess as usual. Joey crossed to the safe then hesitated, looking back at Caden who was standing in the doorway, one hand squeezing the fingers of the other. “You don’t have to,” said Caden finally, voice soft.

Without meaning to, Joey blurted, “Can I see you?”

Caden blinked, seemingly taken aback, and drew a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “You keep doing that,” he observed.

“It just feels like…like it’s wrong,” Joey tried to explain. His feelings were for the real Caden, not this facsimile. “This isn’t you.” He gestured uselessly. “I don’t want to see this, just you.” Folding his arms, he finished, “Just…I’d like to. You know?”

Caden was taking him in with unreadable emotion in his eyes. The moment stretched and Joey was about to take back his words when Caden acquiesced. “Okay.”

When Caden pulled off his ring, the disguise dropped and a wave of unexpectedly powerful relief swept over Joey. This was who he’d been texting with all these weeks. Without thinking, Joey reached out again and pulled Caden into a second tight embrace, closing his eyes this time. He could feel Caden’s hands shaking where they rested on his back. It would have seemed natural to press a kiss to Caden’s temple, or to his lips even, but something about the situation made it seem like it wasn’t the right time.

Right. They were there for a reason. Pulling back and not allowing his gaze to linger on Caden’s face, Joey touched the handle of the safe, setting off the blue spark and swinging the door open. For once the music box stayed silent—could magical music boxes sleep?

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“It should be fine, right?” asked Joey, touching the lid of the telescope’s box and looking at Caden. “The shields? With the new artifact?”

All business suddenly, Caden said, “Let me see,” moving forward. Joey stepped out of the way, letting Caden lift the lid of the wooden box.

It belatedly occurred to Joey that this was a hell of a lot of trust he was placing in Caden. This wasn’t something he would have allowed even a month ago. Now it seemed only right, as though it were something he should have already done.

“Woof,” said Caden, touching fingertips to the golden cylinder of the closed telescope. “This is really powerful.”

“’Woof’,” repeated Joey with a smile and Caden grinned up at him, equally amused.

“I’m serious, though, the—the watch is a drop in the bucket next to this piece, especially since you said the watch doesn’t work anymore. A lot of the magic has worn off due to lack of upkeep.” Now Caden closed the lid of the ornate box and reached to the back left corner of the safe, grasping the watch gently and pulling it out. With great care, he cradled it in his hands, then with a quick glance at Joey, shut the safe door. A gentle click sounded as Caden unclasped the top of the watch, peering at the stopped timepiece inside.

Now Caden looked back up at Joey. It was odd—Caden’s face was still angular, gray, and otherworldly, but now to Joey it just seemed normal. This was who he’d been picturing behind all those messages: a non-human, a different species. Sometimes he thought of what Frankie might say if she found out that Joey hadn’t stopped…caring…about Caden, even after the big revelation. She’d probably be pissed. And who even knew what his estranged parents would say. Not only was Caden a man; he wasn’t even human.

Not that it was anyone else’s business, anyway.

“Are you going to leave?” Joey made himself ask.

Caden blinked slowly up at him, almost cat-like. “I—I can’t…I don’t know. I need to take this back to my family so my aunt can take care of it. It’s not exactly something you can send in the mail,” he joked weakly.

Joey’s voice was hushed in the silent office. “Will you come back?”

“I want to,” admitted Caden, equally hushed. “But I—I don’t have a work visa or anything, my job is on hold in London, my family—”

“Yeah,” agreed Joey, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. Mac turned the heat down in HQ overnight, but Joey was still getting overheated in his heavy coat. “No, I know. I get it.”

Breaking eye contact with Joey, Caden looked down at the watch, which was glinting under the fluorescent lights as he turned it to and fro. Without any ceremony, he tucked it into the inside breast pocket of his black peacoat. “I’ll be around for a bit. Gotta get plane tickets and all that,” he told the floor before flickering his eyes back to Joey’s. “Are you…you’re going to get in trouble, aren’t you? For giving this to me?”

Laughing, Joey said, “Yeah. Like so much trouble.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Then, gathering his courage, he forced out, “It’s for you.”

“Oh,” Caden said, voice faint, and Joey had never wanted to kiss him more. Something held him back, though, something about it being after midnight, or the fact that Joey was actively stealing from his employer, something…something.

Instead, he reached out and tangled his fingers with Caden’s. Briefly, Caden’s mouth opened in surprise, then his fingers squeezed Joey’s and they smiled at each other. With a tug of his hand, Joey led the way back out of HQ, flipping off the lights as they went and locking the door. Hand in hand and silent, breaths puffing steam, they walked to the El stop. Finally they had to part.

“You’ll text?” asked Caden, seeming unsure of the answer.

Joey lifted an eyebrow. “Of course. Of course.” He huffed out a laugh. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I just thought…never mind. Thank you.” Caden’s hand brushed over where the watch was tucked away inside his coat. It almost looked like he was touching his heart. “For this. And for…well, just thank you.”

With a final squeeze of his hand, Caden stepped back and headed for the opposite platform from Joey. Once Joey had climbed the stairs, he saw Caden standing across the tracks and they smiled at each other, bittersweet. Then the northbound train came rattling into the station, and Caden was out of sight.