AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chase looked up, surprised. "Thanks for the offer."
Menolly shrugged off his comment. "Hey, I'm not going to be here," she said but gave him a rare smile. She was out the door before we could say "Good night" or "Be careful."
She'd barely closed the door behind her when a noise from the kitchen told us Iris was stirring. She peeked into the living room. "I see you finally made it home. I just finished my bath and was about to go to bed, but now that you're here, I'll heat up dinner for you before I hit the sheets."
"We can do that, Iris—" Camille started to say, but Iris waved her off.
"Nonsense. You know I don't mind. Plus, you all look like you could use a good shower. Go on and get cleaned up, and by the time you're done, dinner will be on the table." She looked around. "Did Menolly leave already?"
"Yeah," I said. "She had to go in to work."
Iris nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen. I looked at Camille, Morio, and then myself. We all looked like we'd been through a mud bath.
"Okay, she's right. We're all a mess, except for Chase. Let's meet in the kitchen after a quick shower. Chase, why don't you keep Iris company until we come down?" I thought about asking him into the shower with me, but to tell the truth, I was way too tired for anything other than hot water and soap.
Camille and Morio headed up to her room. No doubt that he'd be joining her under the faucet. "Make it quick, you. two," I said as I turned the corner on the staircase, heading up to my own suite of rooms.
My apartment was the third floor of our old Victorian. It wasn't as big as Camille's suite, nevertheless it was mine, and I loved it. Three rooms and a bath. I'd set up one room as the master bedroom and the second as a workout and sitting room. The third was a kitty cat's playground, for when I felt like—or couldn't help—transforming. I'd filled the room with high-quality cat furniture: condos and climbing posts and slumber balls. In fact, sometimes when I catnapped, I preferred to change into my tabby form and curl up in one of the slumber balls. They were more comfortable than my bed.
The bathroom was filled with bath gels and supplies. I wasn't as girly as Camille, but I loved my bubbles and powders and creams. Stripping off my clothes, I tossed them in the laundry chute and climbed in the tub. No time for a lengthy bath, but the hot water was wonderful. I scrubbed my backside with the bath brush, throwing caution to the wind around the area of my butt that was still sore from the cockleburs. The scratches had scabbed over, and the bristles of the brush were soft enough that they didn't open them up again.pointed to the far side of the desk. "There. Dial nine to get a line out of the compound."
"You have quite the setup here, don't you?" I asked, picking up the receiver. I punched nine, then dialed Chase's number. His answering machine picked up, so I hung up and tried him at work. Sure enough, he was still at his desk, but he sounded happier than he had earlier in the day.
"We caught him! We caught the dwarf-killer! Or should I say killers? A couple of teens from one of the local gangs. Damned bastards killed the dwarf as an initiation stunt to some weird cult. Have you ever heard of Freedom's Angels?"
"Can't say that I have," I said.
"They seem to be some offshoot of the Guardian Watchdogs, but I'm not sure how the two are connected. I've got a man on the case to find out, though. I've filed a report with OIA, but there's no word from them yet. We're holding the creeps until we get word on what HQ wants to do. They may demand extradition rights, which would open up a whole new can of worms. But at least we got 'em. What's up, babe?" he said, abruptly stopping to catch his breath.
Hating to put a cramp in his happiness, I briefly filled him in on what we'd found out. "The Weres want to take care of their dead, and considering what we're facing, that's probably best. But this guy… he was an FBH." I gave him the name Venus the Moon Child had given me. "We're figuring it's a good bet that he was killed by a werespider."
"Werespider? Not that damned Hunters Moon Clan you told me about?"
"Um-hmm," I said, not wanting to say anything since they might be listening in. "Listen, save everything else until you get out here. And make it quick, please."
Chase seemed to catch my drift. "Any sign of… you know what?" he asked, lowering his voice.
"Unfortunately, yes. But we'll talk about it later. Bring the FH-CSI medics. We may be dealing with Earthside Supes, but they're probably the best group to tackle this. We need to know several things about this man's body, and somebody's going to have to find out if he has a family, who to notify… stuff like that." If the gods were on our side, he would be a loner, unmarried, with no kids and parents who had already passed away.
While we waited for Chase, Venus asked Zachary to bring us something to drink. I wasn't sure that I trusted the Puma Pride just yet, so I declined, and of course Menolly didn't want any. But Camille and Morio accepted hot chocolate. I noticed they both sniffed their mugs carefully before tasting. The chocolate must have been fine, because they both began to drink the steaming cocoa.
I wandered over to the bay windows overlooking the path to the woods and pulled back the velvet drapes. The snow was still coming down, but now it was mixed with sleet. Before morning, rain would be in the wash, and we'd have a soggy mess to contend with.
Zachary moved to stand in back of me. Even though I liked him, I didn't like having someone hanging over my shoulder, so I turned just in time to clip his head with mine as he bent down.
"Oops," he said. "Sorry."
I forced a smile, not feeling at all confident about what was going on. Part of me just wanted to walk away and forget the compound existed.
He leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Are you seeing anybody?"
I shivered at the kiss of his breath on my neck. "Yes… yes, I am." Then, not knowing what propelled me, I added, "But I'm half-Fae. We aren't exactly exclusive." I was opening myself up to trouble, I knew it, especially with Chase on his way. A twinge of guilt nibbled at the edge of my conscience, and I added, "The detective on his way here is my lover. He's a good man."
Zachary paused, then nodded. "I understand. We'll talk more, later."
Venus called to him then, and he hurried over to talk to the shaman, but I could still feel him in my aura and my thoughts.
By the time Chase and his team got to the compound, we were itching to go home. Camille and Morio were curled up in one of the oversized chairs. He was tracing her cheek with delicate kisses while she sat on his lap, whispering in his ear. Menolly had found a corner in which to float near the ceiling, waiting and watching.
