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Damon gave only a mild grunt in acknowledgement.
Jace pointed a finger at him and clicked his tongue with a wink. “That mean mug is how I know I’m getting a hell of a lot more action than you, that’s for sure.”
In fact, torn arm or not, he could think of one very naked, gorgeous she-wolf he’d like to get some action with. The passing thought instantly soured his mood.
Now was definitely not the time or place. Hell, thereneverwould be a time and place. Human-shifter relationships were forbidden, and hunter-shifter relations? Ha, not in this life. Not to mention, that didn’t even account for his own hang ups. He had bigger problems than attraction to some random she-wolf.
“There something extra interesting in that paperwork, kid?” Jace nudged the edge of Shane’s chair leg underneath the table, casting all thought of the night’s less-than-desirable turn of events from his mind.
Shane grinned, finally abandoning what he was reading. He straightened his gold rimmed glasses and smoothed a hand over the buttons on his dress shirt. “Call me kid again and see what happens.” A religious studies professor by day and the division’s occult specialist by night, Dr. Shane Gray may have looked the part of the buttoned-down academic, but he was anything but. On the street, he went full-blown Indiana Jones with a blade instead of a whip.
Of course, that didn’t stop Jace from ribbing him on the regular for being several years the rest of the group’s junior.
“In your dreams.” Jace chuckled.
Damon frowned. “If all of you would quit screwing around, we’ve got a bunch of mutilated victims and we’d best get the details straight before Chet’s here.”
Like Jace would ever forget that viscous mess he’d encountered in the alley. “Mutilated victims—way to spoil the mood.”
“Get your head out of your ass and focus,” Damon barked. “This concerns you more than anyone.” Jace scowled, but managed to keep his mouth shut while Damon addressed the group. “It’s been three weeks, and the frequency is escalating, which means we’ve got to end this, and soon. Four young women, mutilated and dead, means—”
“Five.” Jace sighed.
Damon closed his mouth, and the room fell still.
Jace pushed back his chair and stood, before he leaned against the nearest wall. “Right after David called me about the meeting, I found another victim in an alley. Same M.O. That monster called in his own crime this time.”
A string of curses came from his fellow hunters.
Damon pegged him with a hard stare. “You’ve had three weeks. Three weeks to find this son of a bitch, and yet innocent girls are still being murdered on your watch.”
The anger Jace directed toward himself and his rage at the killer combined. His frustration bubbled beneath his skin. He pointed straight at Damon. “Talk to me when you’re the one out there every night, trying to track this monster down. I’m the only one working this damn assignment.”
“Because it’s your area of expertise,” Damon shot back.
Jace pushed away from the wall and straightened to his full height. “Just because the guy’s a wolf, that doesn’t make it solely my problem. What’s so pressing on your docket?”
Damon snarled, opening his mouth to speak, before Shane interjected.
“What if he isn’t a shifter?”
Jace’s head whipped in Shane’s direction. “What are you getting at?”
Shane ignored his pissed-off tone and continued. Sometimes the kid had more guts than anyone gave him credit for. Not to mention, an effortlessly calm, level head. “What if the killer’s something else? Maybe that’s why we’ve had such difficulty catching him?”
“Shane has a point,” David said, pawing a large hand over his five o’clock shadow. “For all we know, it could be some bastard who likes to pretend he’s the new and improved Ted Bundy. He could be human.”
Jace slammed his fist against table with an exasperated sigh. “I know this is a wolf shifter, all right?”
Shane piped in again. “How can you be certain?”
Jace frowned at the challenge. “Because I’ve got a she-wolf sitting in the interview room whose been sniffing around the crime scenes enough that she’ll confirm as much.”
Damon’s glower faded into a neutral line at this new break in the case, the closest Jace had seen him to a grin in weeks. “You think she’s good for it?”
Jace shook his head. “I don’t think she’s involved, but she’s hiding something.”
“And you’re certain it’s a wolf shifter?” David challenged.
