AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Primarily informational. We investigate reports of supernatural activity based on web searches similar to mine. Usually the people are crackpots, but sometimes something real comes up. ”
“Why keep your day job?”
“Because of you. ”
“Me?”
He sat on the edge of my bed, his hip against the side of my leg, but I didn’t pull back.
“You saved my life when you could have let that monster take Mercedes and me. I know what you did, telling your vampires I was yours. That’s akin to putting me under your protection. You took a big leap letting me in. ”
“And you went and told the government. ”
“The government already knew, Secret. You think vampires don’t like to dirty their hands in politics? Are you honestly so naïve you think no one knows about vampires and werewolves and all the rest of it?”
Apparently I had been naïve because I had believed this entire time our secret had been kept. Now I was finding out everyone seemed to know. Military, FBI, whack-job psycho doctors.
“So why isn’t it public knowledge?”
“You think the public could handle knowing something like that?” He shook his head without waiting for my answer. “No. I consider myself a levelheaded, educated guy, and even I didn’t take the knowledge well. I don’t know how Mercedes did it for so long without going nuts. ”
“She’s not…”
&nbs
p; “No, she didn’t register a blip. If she’s Googled the word vampire, she must have been looking for Twilight reviews, because she never showed up on the system. ”
Discovering my best friend wasn’t in the mix on this multi-leveled lie relieved me somewhat. “You said you stayed because of me. ”
“I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. ”
“Okay?” I wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but if he was about to make a confession of love, I wasn’t sure this was the time or place for him to do it.
“You are a magnet for trouble. ”
“I… What?”
“You draw things to you. In the few years I’ve known you, from what you’ve allowed me to remember, you killed a creature who was dismembering teenagers, you beheaded a demon who was able to steal human forms, and you almost died at your own wedding because of a jealous werewolf. Can you think of a better place for me to get field experience? Because I sure can’t. ”
“You stay in New York, working as a police detective, because you like how much trouble I get into?”
“More or less. ”
“Will things change now that the FBI has a file on me?”
Emilio announced his return with a polite warning cough and handed Tyler a coffee. “I asked the doc if you were allowed one, but he said no dice. ” He gave an apologetic shrug.
“Thanks for trying. ”
“Secret is asking me about her file,” Tyler said, catching Emilio up on the only pertinent fact he’d missed.
“Did you get to the good part?”
“There’s a good part about having the federal government know you’re a super-freak?” I asked.
“There is,” Tyler assured me. “I’ve convinced my supervisors on the project you’re more useful to the good of humanity if you’re kept on the streets as opposed to…” His voice trailed off, gaze drifting over my broken arm and the choir of machines.
Studied. The word he couldn’t say was studied.
