Harris mumbled quickly . “ T his is going to take some getting used to. ”
“ Fine, I can ’ t hold your thoughts against you, ” I groaned . “ But I am your boss, okay? ”
“ Right, sorry. ” He looked truly repentant and I ’ m sure this wasn ’ t an easy change for him to get used to either. Hell, the man was blushing.
“ Now I ’ ve got some shifter questions for you. How long after you became a l ycanthrope until your first shift? ”
“ The first full moon. ”
“ Have you ever heard of anyone being able to shift before that? ” I cring ed as I waited for his answer.
“ No, why? Can you shift already, Chief? ” he asked, shock written all over his face. “ That ’ s not supposed to be possible. ”
“ Yeah, I ’ ve shifted into both other forms already . ” I felt a headache coming on and a large need to drink . “ I can also partial shift. ”
“ Wow, ” he whispered. “ I wouldn ’ t tell people that, Chief. That ’ s got to make you really powerful. I can ’ t even shift into part - man part - cheetah. Only one or the other. ”
Great. I ’ d been afraid of that. “ Once you shift, how long until you can shift back? ”
“ Um, I don ’ t know. About seven or eight hours I guess. Most of us shift and stay that way until we ’ re too wiped out. Then we pass out and change back to human. ”
“ Do know of anyone who can shift right back to human? ”
“ Yeah, normally the leader of each group, ” Harris answered, his eyebrows furr ow ing as if deep in thought. “ Or the Alpha of each group, only the big dogs can do that. ”
“ I can do that , too . What does that mean for me? ”
“ It means you ’ re a force to be reckoned with, Chief. ” His tone held awe and intrigue, neither of which I had time for right now.
“ Spell it out for me, Harris. ” I needed to just deal with the facts or the severity of the situation might knock me on my ass.
“ It means , not only are you a really strong shifter, ” he explained , looking at me with almost reverence , “ b ut you ’ re powerful, like you can do things normal shifters can ’ t. Your blood can probably heal other shifters, you ’ ll be near impossible to kill , and shifters will want to follow your lead. ”
“ Great, just fuckin g great . ” I rubb ed my forehead. While I liked the idea of almost being indestructible, I could do without the other two. “ Okay, let me think about this. Can you get me any extra information about what I should expect? ”
“ Yeah, sure, Chief, ” he answered. “ I ’ ll ask around but keep it on the down low. ”
“ Thanks Harris . ” I g a v e him a weak smile , none of this was his fault and I couldn ’ t hold his answers against him. He was just trying to help me . “ Also, we ’ re going to do some follow - up on my last case. I want to know everything about Bernard, especially his shifter ties. Was he part of the local pack? Are they involved in his illegal activities? That sort of thing. ”
“ I know he was a member of the pack, ” Harris answered, looking over the extra file I had just given him. “ I don ’ t know of any pack involvement, most of the pack are good people. I don ’ t think the Chicago Master was part of it either. ”
“ Chicago Master? ” I asked , raising an eyebrow.
“ Vampires have a hierarchy, ” he explained. “ You can be a vampire and have no rank, but there ’ s the council over in Europe, then a vamp in charge of each continent, one over every country, then lastly one over each major city. For the US, I know there ’ s one for the Midwest as well. So, there ’ s the East Coast Master who ’ s in charge of all the Master vampires in charge of cities on the East Coast. ”
“ Okay, I ’ m following you so far . So Bernard had ties to the Chicago Master vampire? ”
“ Yes, if a vampire is powerful enough, they have a tie with a breed of shifters . Every vampire gets some type of gift or talent. As they
“ Fine, I can ’ t hold your thoughts against you, ” I groaned . “ But I am your boss, okay? ”
“ Right, sorry. ” He looked truly repentant and I ’ m sure this wasn ’ t an easy change for him to get used to either. Hell, the man was blushing.
“ Now I ’ ve got some shifter questions for you. How long after you became a l ycanthrope until your first shift? ”
“ The first full moon. ”
“ Have you ever heard of anyone being able to shift before that? ” I cring ed as I waited for his answer.
“ No, why? Can you shift already, Chief? ” he asked, shock written all over his face. “ That ’ s not supposed to be possible. ”
“ Yeah, I ’ ve shifted into both other forms already . ” I felt a headache coming on and a large need to drink . “ I can also partial shift. ”
“ Wow, ” he whispered. “ I wouldn ’ t tell people that, Chief. That ’ s got to make you really powerful. I can ’ t even shift into part - man part - cheetah. Only one or the other. ”
Great. I ’ d been afraid of that. “ Once you shift, how long until you can shift back? ”
“ Um, I don ’ t know. About seven or eight hours I guess. Most of us shift and stay that way until we ’ re too wiped out. Then we pass out and change back to human. ”
“ Do know of anyone who can shift right back to human? ”
“ Yeah, normally the leader of each group, ” Harris answered, his eyebrows furr ow ing as if deep in thought. “ Or the Alpha of each group, only the big dogs can do that. ”
“ I can do that , too . What does that mean for me? ”
“ It means you ’ re a force to be reckoned with, Chief. ” His tone held awe and intrigue, neither of which I had time for right now.
“ Spell it out for me, Harris. ” I needed to just deal with the facts or the severity of the situation might knock me on my ass.
“ It means , not only are you a really strong shifter, ” he explained , looking at me with almost reverence , “ b ut you ’ re powerful, like you can do things normal shifters can ’ t. Your blood can probably heal other shifters, you ’ ll be near impossible to kill , and shifters will want to follow your lead. ”
“ Great, just fuckin g great . ” I rubb ed my forehead. While I liked the idea of almost being indestructible, I could do without the other two. “ Okay, let me think about this. Can you get me any extra information about what I should expect? ”
“ Yeah, sure, Chief, ” he answered. “ I ’ ll ask around but keep it on the down low. ”
“ Thanks Harris . ” I g a v e him a weak smile , none of this was his fault and I couldn ’ t hold his answers against him. He was just trying to help me . “ Also, we ’ re going to do some follow - up on my last case. I want to know everything about Bernard, especially his shifter ties. Was he part of the local pack? Are they involved in his illegal activities? That sort of thing. ”
“ I know he was a member of the pack, ” Harris answered, looking over the extra file I had just given him. “ I don ’ t know of any pack involvement, most of the pack are good people. I don ’ t think the Chicago Master was part of it either. ”
“ Chicago Master? ” I asked , raising an eyebrow.
“ Vampires have a hierarchy, ” he explained. “ You can be a vampire and have no rank, but there ’ s the council over in Europe, then a vamp in charge of each continent, one over every country, then lastly one over each major city. For the US, I know there ’ s one for the Midwest as well. So, there ’ s the East Coast Master who ’ s in charge of all the Master vampires in charge of cities on the East Coast. ”
“ Okay, I ’ m following you so far . So Bernard had ties to the Chicago Master vampire? ”
“ Yes, if a vampire is powerful enough, they have a tie with a breed of shifters . Every vampire gets some type of gift or talent. As they
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