want.”
“Don’t presume to tell me what I want!” She sucked in a few deep breaths and blew them out. “If I had an alpha, he could help me calm down. Plus, I’d have a group where I’d meet other wolves and a potential mate.”
“It doesn’t matter, Vie. Look at me and Nathan. We’re doing fine.”
Off she went flying along the road again. “I don’t agree with your pairing, but you both can do what you want.”
“You really think it’ll only work out if you’re with a werewolf? People are people. We all have our challenges, whether we’re human or nonhuman, wolf or anything else. You’re scared he’ll be hurt, but if you were human, can you honestly say you would worry less about him? Worrying about the ones we love comes with the territory.”
She didn’t seem to like this logic, but I believed she understood it. Violet was too stubborn to acknowledge my reasoning, so she stayed silent. I figured a change of subject was in order. Semi -change. “So, about last night… If your partner is sick, you need backup. These ghouls are a big challenge, and if I wasn’t there at the theatre, I don’t know what would have happened. I propose—”
“No.”
“You haven’t heard my suggestion.”
“I know what you want, Rue, and this case is not going to be for your entertainment.”
I rested a hand over my chest. “I would never.”
She sneered.
“Almost never. Vie, you have to admit the cops are no help, especially when a bullet won’t keep these things down. We both had a hard time with that fight.”
“We did, but it’s my job to take care of it, not yours. I don’t want a civilian under foot and getting in my way. Those people were killed right under my nose, Rue.”
“All the more reason for my help.”
She refused to agree. If I wanted to do anything about the ghouls, I would have to work alone. I had one last question to ask her before returning to my night patrol.
“Did Cam say anything about the incident?”
For a second, Violet’s eyes blazed brighter. “He put your strength down to adrenaline, but he’s already talking about questioning you.”
“I could glamour him,” I offered.
“And I could make you sorry,” she shot back.
I rolled my eyes. “The sensitivity of some people.”
She pulled to the side of the road and pointed. I got the message and stepped out of the squad car. As soon as my feet touched the ground and I shut the door, her tires squealed on the asphalt. We had made excellent progress as friends.
Chapter Seven
After scouring the city twice—maybe I missed a spot or two because I wasn’t that fast—I decided I wasn’t going to find the ghouls. Perhaps we had killed them all off the night before, but instinct told me we didn’t. I believed more would crop up, and right now I had no choice but to wait for it to happen.
Instead, I worked on my second important task, that of finding a job. Now that The Rusty Ankle no longer existed, I didn’t have a steady source of income. I assumed I was still working part-time as a sort of private investigator, but no one had buzzed my phone since I came back from the past. My phone had mysteriously been at Nathan’s apartment along with a few other personal items. Time changing was quite confusing.
I chose to first stop by the hotel I used to work at before I walked off the job when my boss tried to put me on the afternoon shift. As I strode along the alley leading to the service entrance, I expected to spot Carl, a former coworker, who never failed to grab a last smoke before he had to go in for the night. Instead of Carl, a woman maybe in her early thirties leaned in his spot. Because I was hungry, I sniffed the air as I approached and wrinkled my nose. Her blood smelled odd, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Hey,” I said when I drew alongside her. “Carl around?”
Dull eyes drifted in my direction. She dragged long and deep on a cigarette. “No.”
I waited, expecting more and
“Don’t presume to tell me what I want!” She sucked in a few deep breaths and blew them out. “If I had an alpha, he could help me calm down. Plus, I’d have a group where I’d meet other wolves and a potential mate.”
“It doesn’t matter, Vie. Look at me and Nathan. We’re doing fine.”
Off she went flying along the road again. “I don’t agree with your pairing, but you both can do what you want.”
“You really think it’ll only work out if you’re with a werewolf? People are people. We all have our challenges, whether we’re human or nonhuman, wolf or anything else. You’re scared he’ll be hurt, but if you were human, can you honestly say you would worry less about him? Worrying about the ones we love comes with the territory.”
She didn’t seem to like this logic, but I believed she understood it. Violet was too stubborn to acknowledge my reasoning, so she stayed silent. I figured a change of subject was in order. Semi -change. “So, about last night… If your partner is sick, you need backup. These ghouls are a big challenge, and if I wasn’t there at the theatre, I don’t know what would have happened. I propose—”
“No.”
“You haven’t heard my suggestion.”
“I know what you want, Rue, and this case is not going to be for your entertainment.”
I rested a hand over my chest. “I would never.”
She sneered.
“Almost never. Vie, you have to admit the cops are no help, especially when a bullet won’t keep these things down. We both had a hard time with that fight.”
“We did, but it’s my job to take care of it, not yours. I don’t want a civilian under foot and getting in my way. Those people were killed right under my nose, Rue.”
“All the more reason for my help.”
She refused to agree. If I wanted to do anything about the ghouls, I would have to work alone. I had one last question to ask her before returning to my night patrol.
“Did Cam say anything about the incident?”
For a second, Violet’s eyes blazed brighter. “He put your strength down to adrenaline, but he’s already talking about questioning you.”
“I could glamour him,” I offered.
“And I could make you sorry,” she shot back.
I rolled my eyes. “The sensitivity of some people.”
She pulled to the side of the road and pointed. I got the message and stepped out of the squad car. As soon as my feet touched the ground and I shut the door, her tires squealed on the asphalt. We had made excellent progress as friends.
Chapter Seven
After scouring the city twice—maybe I missed a spot or two because I wasn’t that fast—I decided I wasn’t going to find the ghouls. Perhaps we had killed them all off the night before, but instinct told me we didn’t. I believed more would crop up, and right now I had no choice but to wait for it to happen.
Instead, I worked on my second important task, that of finding a job. Now that The Rusty Ankle no longer existed, I didn’t have a steady source of income. I assumed I was still working part-time as a sort of private investigator, but no one had buzzed my phone since I came back from the past. My phone had mysteriously been at Nathan’s apartment along with a few other personal items. Time changing was quite confusing.
I chose to first stop by the hotel I used to work at before I walked off the job when my boss tried to put me on the afternoon shift. As I strode along the alley leading to the service entrance, I expected to spot Carl, a former coworker, who never failed to grab a last smoke before he had to go in for the night. Instead of Carl, a woman maybe in her early thirties leaned in his spot. Because I was hungry, I sniffed the air as I approached and wrinkled my nose. Her blood smelled odd, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Hey,” I said when I drew alongside her. “Carl around?”
Dull eyes drifted in my direction. She dragged long and deep on a cigarette. “No.”
I waited, expecting more and
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