“Uh, looks that way, huh?” My answer left a lot to be desired.
“And you,” he turned to Frost. “What are you?"
"Not important," Frost answered.
"He’s an angel," I supplied.
Lucas hit his limit there. His head dropped back between his legs, murmuringno waysandoh my gods.
Frost forgot about the guy quietly losing his damn mind and glared at me. “You aren’t supposed to tell people.”
I threw up a hand in annoyance. “Everybody already friggin’ knows.”
"Yes, and given this ‘open secret’ allowed the subjects on a previous case to find a relic capable of subduing me, maybe we should all tryclosing our damn mouths?"
“Anangeljust saiddamn,” Lucas whispered, now adding some rocking back and forth to his panicking.
“Uh, sorry.” I addressed Frost, unsure what else to do. “That’s a good point, but I only shifted to find the intruder in my apartment, so this wouldn’t have happened if you had just knocked. It kinda felt fair to reveal you too.”
“…I accept that.” Frost nodded since he had the mind of a vindictive 12-year-old, much like myself. Then he regarded Lucas. “It might have been too much for him.”
I risked getting closer to the guy on the futon spiraling into panic. “Hey, it’s alright.”
When close enough to touch him, his head snapped up and frantic eyes met mine. He kept struggling for breath.
“He’s having a panic attack,” Frost said.
Dammit. “I’m coming closer, okay?” I dropped down next to him, placing my hand against his back. I wasn’t expecting him to reach out and grab my other hand and grip it tight.
“It, it, I-I—” he tried.
"Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to speak."
“I-it’s not you,” he forced out with determination. “W-why I’m upset.” That’s what was so important, a reassurance to me? And what else could it even be? “C-can’t b-believe—"
"Yeah, it takes some getting used to, and then it’s all going to be okay."
“—can’t believeI forgot.”And as soon as he uttered the words, he seemed stronger. “How did I forget what happened?”
"What?" I must have been the one who sounded a tad breathless then because he squeezed my hand.
“When my car collided with a tree,” Lucas said. Remembering? “I was in a car accident. There was someone on the road. There, he, h-he had an animal’s face. Not like you, but his eyes glowed and…”
"What, you saw a shifter?"
Lucas nodded frantically.
Not a wolf, so big cats or—the scent at the gas station. “A fox?”
"Chase," Frost warned.
"Yeah,” Lucas said. “A fox."
Lucas had an encounter with a fox shifter before? Did somebody target him? What had I stumbled into?
Whatever this turned out to be, I was right. This was definitely right up my alley. Something supernatural was going on here.
5.The Harsh (and Totally Judgmental) Light of Day
