Page 17 of The Diamond in the Rough

“Not a bad idea, Tony.” He pushed away from the wall. “I’ll call her.”

I looked at Parikh after Hart walked into the bedroom at the back of the suite. “Who’s Cass?” I asked him.

He offered me a small smile, and the expression made his features suddenly seem warm, but then the expression flickered away, returning his face to its customary sternness. I wanted to see him smile again—and to smile more. Not that I knew how to make that happen.

“Cass is Cassandra Reinhertz, a seer who works with us in A-Branch.” He held up a hand, his palm toward me. “I know seers and contact psychics don’t have exactly the same abilities, but they might be similar enough that her methods might be able to help you… focus more.”

“And be more useful,” I finished.

He looked startled. “That is not what I meant,” he protested.

I tilted my head to the side, confused. “But that would be more useful,” I said. “Isn’t that why you suggested it? So that I could be more useful. More targeted?”

“I—yes, but…” His brow furrowed. “The point wasn’t that you aren’t beinguseful,” he explained. “You’re not a tool.”

It was my turn to frown. “Yes, I am. That’s why you came to me.”

His cheeks darkened. “Yes, but—you’re a person, Rayn. Not an object.”

I wasn’t sure why he found this embarrassing or frustrating. “We’re all tools,” I pointed out. “With different abilities that are needed in order to find or evaluate evidence. Why do you think that would upset me?”

Now he looked just as confused as I felt. “Because a hammer is a tool,” he replied. “A gun or a microscope or a… summoning circle. They’re tools. The people who wield them are people and deserve respect—and not just because of what they cando.”

I studied him. “But it is because of what we can do that we are here,” I argued, although I wasn’t sure why I was arguing this with him. “If we didn’t have those abilities, we wouldn’t be able to solve this murder—or try to.”

Parikh ran a hand through his hair, agitated, although I didn’t understand why. “Yes, but you’re a person. You have value above and beyond your abilities.”

“Do I?” I blurted it without thinking—it was a genuine question, although I usually managed to stop myself from asking things like that, since I knew it upset Ward.

I’m under no illusions that most of the people who knew me thought highly of me. I knew that Ward and Mason had hired me because they felt bad about how I’d been treated at Tranquil Brook. Perhaps because Ward felt guilty that it had taken him as long as it had to find me—although I don’t think he should. Perhaps because he felt a connection to me and therefore wanted to help me. Perhaps both. Mason, Beck, and Hart mirrored Ward’s actions, but I didn’t expect that Parikh—who didn’t know me—shared that sympathy.

Which meant that he had some other reason for wanting to value me beyond my admittedly weak psychic abilities.

I had no idea what that reason might be.

“Cass is on her way,” Hart announced, walking back into the room and startling me into jumping a little. He arched an eyebrow at me. “Jumpy, aren’t you, kid?”

“I don’t like murder scenes.”

“No fucking shit, kid. Want to hear a trade secret?”

“What?” I asked, curious.

“None of us fucking do.”

Parikh snorted.

“You wanna argue with me, Tony?”

“Absolutely not, Keebler.”

“Why do you call him Tony, Hart?” I asked.

“Tony the Tiger,” he replied, lips quirking. “On the Frosted Flakes box.” There was a pause in which I hoped it would become clear that I still didn’t understand. “He’s a tiger shifter, kid.”

Oh.

“You know it’s rude to out shifters, right, Keebler?” Parikh didn’t sound particularly upset, although he was right that itwasrude to tell people about someone else’s Arcane status without their explicit permission.