Page 11 (1/2)

Annnnnd that just solved the riddle

"Sean explained whatthe door a little further closed and half hiding behind it There was no reason to give hiuys It sounded crazy" He scrubbed his fingers through his hair and tore his gaze away He turned sideways again, staring vaguely into the distance "Crazy"

"If you weren’t born into it, hoould you know?"

"You were born into it?" His gaze was iain "I saw all three bodies I saw the pile of ash in the French Quarter I saw a e fro a hand on an," he said, his eyes haunted "What the hell?"

"Yes It can take a second to get used to it"

He exhaled noisily and shook his head "The wolf-turned-hu as best he could, but he wasn’t able to get his crew there in tiuys were already on scene But he wanted to extend his offer to help in the future should we need anything"

"No, he did not!" My nails dug into the wood "Those sneaky little bastards Trying to move in on our setup Well, it as ical police in the Brink Oh man, the captain won’t be pleased If the shifters offer you their muscle, that’ll cut jobs froical police, Reagan?" JM’s eyes were tight

"My bad Look, you’ll cootten this far in a couple hours That’s huge"

"How could I not? I saw that guy change"

"Most people would think an animal did it"

"The rest of my department, yeah Sean spun that tale and they ate it up" He shook his head "Look, Reagan, would you go to dinner with me? I’d love some insider perspective on this"

No was on the tip of ive him a hand up out of the pit he’d fallen into I felt bad for the guy, since I was basically the reason he’d landed in this mess If not for my impatience, Sean would’ve let hier

"Sure," I said with a sigh "When?"

Gratitude and longing both crossed his face, and I felt a weird pang Likeout with hiht?"

A seething presence took up real estate behind otten about Mr Overprotective there for a second

I glanced behindthat Darius stood there His face was shut down into a hardwas clearly intended to display his size and power

"Don’tback "He’s like a stray cat"

"Is this your--" JM gestured at Darius

"Yes, I a to say, but--"

"You are ain "He’s a vae, but true There is literally nothing else going on here, trust ht after dinner"

JM’s eyes drifted towas never on ed nonchalantly "Give me your phone and I’ll put its and name and handed it back "Talk to you tooodbye, and then sloorked his way down the steps He glanced back before he crossed the street His car had to be the Mustang parked on the other side This hadn’t been a business call, though I’d already guessed as much from the lost look in his eyes

"Well, that eird" I closed the door

"Reagan, that human cannot treat you how you need to be treated," Darius said

"Nu session to help hiical stuff Number two, I would ask how you think I should be treated, but you’ll just--"