The Reaper and the Cop by Mina Carter Page B

if it were a venomous snake. Curling his lip, he took it and caught his own hair back. Duke nodded in approval as he studied their reflections in the window. At least they looked presentable now. Kind of.
    “Why?” He slid a sideways glance at Duke. His brother was way too quiet. Which meant he was thinking, which never led anywhere good, or he had done something, which also never led anywhere good. Especially since their last job had been at a house with stables. Stables with horses. Horses which, as far as Duke was concerned, were just steaks on legs and Duke sure as hell liked steak. He also hadn’t bugged the shit out of Baron to stop for pizza on the way to the offices, a fact that hadn’t occurred to Baron until just now.
    “ Please tell me you didn’t snack at the Jenkins.”
    Duke turned to look at him and…yes, there it was. The wide-eyed, oh-so-innocent look that was completely believable to everyone but Baron. His breath punched out of his lungs in a hiss just as Iliona’s door opened.
    “Keep shut and let me do the talking,” he ordered as the slender form of their boss was outlined in the door.
    Iliona was human, which meant small and delicate. Where the agency was concerned though, she had balls of steel and would face down even the scariest of the paras. No one argued, not if they wanted a job. Work could be hard to come by if you were a paranormal, especially without the backing of an established pack like the wolves, and old money like the vamps. Hell, even the elves were organized, but dragons? Nada. Those that had to work were relegated to niche jobs or, Duke shuddered, construction. He fucking hated construction work. The agency had changed all that for them. Within five minutes of walking into the front office in desperation, they’d been hired and hadn’t looked back. Just sideways and up, normally while Iliona was shouting at them because Duke had eaten yet another family pet.
    This time though, the little human’s face was wreathed in a smile. It looked good on her. Quickly Baron shut down that train of thought. He might be a dragon, and rather hard to kill, but that didn’t mean he was suicidal. All the guys working for the agency, whatever their species, knew the boss was in a triad with the two gargoyles, Cal and Gran, neither of whom would hesitate to prove exactly why gargoyles referred to other species as ‘squishable’.
    “Just in time.” Iliona stood to one side of the door and waved them forward. “Come on in, sit down. I’ve got something I want to run by you.”
    Like naughty schoolboys, the two brothers filed into the office with Baron, as always, in the lead. Clocking a stranger in the room, he stopped, and Duke walked smack into the back of him. Absorbing the impact with a soft grunt, he cast a swift glance over the guy—suited, booted, and human by the smell of him—then rolled his gaze to Iliona.
    “Ahh, yes.” She hurried forward, putting herself between the dragons and the human. Their dislike of strangers, particularly human strangers, was well known. “This is Detective Hammond, he’s with the local police department. Detective Hammond, can I introduce you to Duke and Baron, two of our best operatives.”
    Baron’s eyebrow rose at her praise. That certainly wasn’t what she’d called them the last time they’d wound up in here, shuffling their feet like kids summoned to the headmaster’s office. What she’d called them then would’ve made a marine blush.
    He turned from glaring at his brother to find the detective on his feet, hand out to shake. Duke ignored it, taking one of the seats behind them without a word. No surprise there. Duke wasn’t a talker at the best of times. Baron shook the guy’s hand, offering a small, polite smile he didn’t feel. Humans and their damn rituals.
    “Pleasure to meet you, Mr…?” The detective let his words trail off in question.
    “No mister. Just Baron.”
    “Not all of our operatives are human,