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I reached out and stroked her cheek. "You have feelings for him, don't you?"
She blushed--and on an elf, flaming cheeks were not that attractive--and flinched. Just enough to tel me she was afraid of how I'd react.
"It's okay to tel me how you feel. Please, I'd rather know. After Erika, secrets are not my most favorite of pastimes."
"Please, don't think I'm like her--I'd never, ever step in where I wasn't invited." She lowered her gaze to the floor.
"I know you wouldn't. I just . . . meant I'd rather know up front. So, do you love him?"
"Yes," she whispered. "Over the past two years that I've worked with him, I've grown extremely . . . fond of him. I truly see the goodness in his heart, even if he doesn't know what to do with it and bungles it up. He real y does love you, Delilah, but I think . . . I think he doesn't know whether he loves himself."
I closed my eyes, listening to my pain. It stung to hear her say she cared about him, but it wasn't the sting of betrayal. It wasn't the sting of abandonment.
It was simply the sting of letting go.
"He doesn't know how you feel, does he?"
She shook her head. "And I'l never tel him if you are just on a break. I'd never step in and try to take him from you. And if you are truly through as a couple, I promise you that I won't say a word until he's ready--and that won't be for a while yet. If ever. "
Taking her gently by the shoulders, I gazed into her gamin face. She real y was beautiful, in a pale and breathless sort of way. Ethereal, even as she was practical. She was brave and strong, but gentle enough to make a man like Chase feel secure.
"Sharah, Chase and I have run our course. We learned from each other, and we'l always be friends. I'l always love him, and he'l probably always love me, but . . . I don't think we'l ever go back to being in love. If you feel the time is right, don't stand back because of me. Take a chance and talk to him. You might just be the woman he needs, because I'm not that person."
Her eyes lit up and I thought she was going to cry, and I knew I'd done the right thing. Inside, whispering in my ear, I could hear the boreal wind and on it, Hi'ran whispered, "Don't fret, my love. You'll never be alone." And then he fel silent again. I gave her a sad smile.
"I'm going to miss having him around the house as much, but sometimes, no matter how much you love someone, it's just not going to work."
"Yes, I know that." Sharah glanced up at me. "I left someone back in Elqaneve for that very reason. He was . . . too set in his ways. He disapproved of my assignment to come Earthside--he wanted me to stay home and make babies. And I couldn't do that, even though I loved him."
As I sat back and gave her a smile, the pensiveness left her face in a sudden wash, and I saw a woman sitting there who might real y be able to make my detective happy. Sharah was safe enough for him, she was stoic and strong-wil ed, but she wouldn't constantly make him feel like he was running to keep up, like he was compromising himself for his love.
"So," I said after a moment. "Shal we go see how my sister is doing?"
And with that, our discussion was over, and my future with Chase was settled and history.
Before heading back to the medic unit, I dropped in to Dispatch.
"Chase around?" I wasn't about to tel him what I'd discussed with Sharah, but I wanted to bring him up to speed on Van and Jaycee.
"No," Yugi said. "There's been some sort of explosion at one of the magical shops, and he headed out on the cal ."
Suddenly feeling chil ed, I asked, "Which one?"
Yugi consulted his clipboard. "Madame Pompey's Magical Emporium. Looks like somebody total y trashed the place."
Crap--so that's where Smoky had been off to. I decided to keep my mouth shut. No good getting the dragon pissed at me. Especial y when he was defending his wife.
Instead, I asked, "I was wondering if Andy Gambit decided to press charges against me?" Might as wel kil two birds with one stone, I thought.
Yugi shook his head. "Don't worry about him pressing charges--my men had a little talk with him when we hauled his ass away from your house. But, Delilah, you know he's going to make a hash out of this in the Seattle Tattler. That rag's going to mop you up like a sponge."
Grimacing, I nodded. He was right, meaning I'd better double-check when next week's issue hit the mailbox. We subscribed just to keep tabs on what the freak was up to. Usual y he was taking potshots at Camil e, but this time I knew I'd be on the menu.
"Thanks, Yugi. Tel Chase . . . just tel him I said hel o, would you?"
He nodded, and I took off to see how Camil e was doing. By the time I got there, she was sitting up, looking a little worse for wear. Her skin looked like she'd tried to shave and nicked herself in a hundred places.
"Maybe Roz's wonder salve can prevent scarring?" I winced as I saw the pile of shards and slivers sitting in the tray next to the table. "Crap, that's nasty.
