Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton

your work.”
    â€œHave you ever seen someone raise the dead, Special Agent Fox?”
    He was quiet again. Then, “Yes.” Just that one word.
    I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. “So you’re happy with the information I’ve got.”
    â€œYes,” he said again, and there was a tone that said this conversation was about over. “Why do I thinkthat if I’d called you in first instead of Kirkland, you’d have been a much bigger pain in the ass?”
    That made me laugh. “Oh, yes,” I said. “I’m a much bigger pain in the ass than Larry.”
    â€œHow’s his wife doing?”
    â€œI’m going to call them when I get off the phone with you.”
    â€œGive him my best.” He hung up.
    I sighed and hung up my end. Then I went for my cell phone in the front of the briefcase. I turned it on, and there was a message. I pushed buttons until the phone gave up the message. Larry’s voice: “Anita, it’s Larry. They’ve got the labor stopped. They’re going to keep her overnight, just to be safe, but it looks good. Thanks for taking the run to Philadelphia. Thanks for everything.” Then he laughed. “How do you like the file? Real informative, isn’t it?” He laughed again, then hung up.
    I sat down on the couch sort of suddenly. I don’t think I’d realized how worried I was until it was all right. I didn’t even like Tammy much, but Larry was my friend and it would have broken his heart.
    Micah was standing in front of me. I looked up. “Tammy and the baby are going to be fine. He must have called while we were in the air.”
    Micah smiled and touched my face. “You’re pale. You were really worried about it, weren’t you?”
    I nodded.
    â€œWere you hiding it from me or didn’t you know either?”
    I gave him a smile that was a bit too wry to be happy. “Stop knowing me so well, dammit.”
    â€œBetter than you know yourself, sometimes,” he said softly. And that was a little too close to the truth.

CHAPTER
6

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    Room service came with a knock and a polite voice. Micah got to the door before I did, but he didn’t just open it. Some people in my life I’ve had to teach caution to, but Micah had come with it as part of the standard boyfriend package.
    He checked the peephole, then looked at me. “Room service.” But he didn’t open the door. I watched him take a very deep breath, scenting the air. “Smells like room service.”
    My hand eased back from the gun under my arm. I hadn’t even realized my hand was on it until thatmoment. His scenting at the door had made me think, just for a second, that something was wrong, not that he was simply scenting the air because it smelled good.
    He put his sunglasses on before he opened the door. I made sure my jacket was covering the gun. Didn’t want to weird anyone out, and definitely didn’t want to give the staff a reason to talk. Hiding how far outside normal we were was standard practice. People tend to get nervous around guns and shapeshifters. Go figure.
    The guy smiled and asked where we’d like the tray set up. We let him put a cloth on the table by the window.
    It seemed to take a long time for him to get everything ready. He placed water glasses, real napkins, even a rose in a vase in the center of the table. I’d never seen anything this elaborate from room service.
    Finally, he was done. Micah signed for the food, and the guy left with a Have a nice day that actually sounded sincere.
    Micah shut the door behind him, putting all the locks in place. I approved. Locks don’t help you if you don’t use them.
    I was trying to decide whether to frown. “I like the caution—you know I do.”
    â€œBut,” he said, setting the sunglasses on the coffee table.
    â€œBut I thought I should compliment you before I complain about something