Afterlife

by Dannika Dark

  My mouth watered at the idea of tequila sliding down my throat. “No, we’re good.”

  “Fetch me a pint, lass!” Christian barked at a waitress.

  I glared.

  He rested his arms on the table. “I’m not the one driving.”

  After the waitress swooped in with a glass for my thirsty partner, I began the interview. “You know the reason we’re speaking. I think I explained everything on the phone. It wasn’t easy to find your number.”

  She lifted her wineglass. “I’m not that accessible these days.”

  “We’re just looking into recent deaths to see if there’s anything the Shifter community needs. That includes you, even though you’re not part of a group,” I assured her.

  Her eyes rolled as she set down the glass. “You sound like a man on a first date.”

  Christian cocked his head to the side. “And how’s that?”

  She arched an eyebrow. “Lots of sweet talk and empty promises. You look like the kind of man who knows what I’m talking about.”

  “I’ll have you know that I never make promises I can’t deliver on.”

  “Someone isn’t getting enough pussy.” She lifted her wine to her lips. “So much pent-up frustration.”

  Though his tone remained placid, he lightly tapped his fingernail against his glass. “What you know about my sex life would fill a thimble.”

  After a sip of wine, Harper leaned in. “I sell sex toys for a living. If there’s one thing I’m familiar with, dear, it’s that desperate look in your eyes. Besides, I’m a wolf. I can practically smell an unsatisfied man.”

  I stifled a laugh.

  “What was that?” he asked me.

  “Nothing. I just had a tickle in my throat.”

  I loved seeing Christian get flustered. We never finished our sexual encounter the other night—just heavy petting followed by my falling asleep in his arms.

  Harper spoke, her voice textured and sultry. “It’s not an insult; it’s merely an observation. Maybe you have trouble keeping it up. Completely normal. Or maybe your busy schedule doesn’t allow for much playtime.” A smile touched her lips as she circled her finger around the rim of her glass. “Maybe you need someone to crawl underneath the table and suck you off.” Her eyes narrowed slightly, studying his reaction. “You need excitement, don’t you? Risk. Danger.”

  Christian put his hands in his lap. “Now that’ll be enough. We’ll be the ones asking the questions.”

  I glanced up at him. My God, was he actually blushing? I wondered if he was also as hard as a diamond down there, but I kept my hands to myself.

  Harper chuckled quietly. “Sorry. I’m good at my job because I know how to read people and figure out what they need. Sometimes they don’t even know.”

  “What toys do you sell?” I asked, genuinely curious if that was something Christian might like.

  “All kinds. Some I guarantee you’ve never heard of. Some I’d rather not talk about in present company.”

  Apparently, Harper was dealing in illegal items. I pondered as to what they might be. Mage-infused cuffs? Sensor-infused vibrators? Penis-shaped impalement wood?

  She reached inside her jacket and slid a business card toward Christian. “Anytime you feel like spicing things up, give me a call. I’ve got something for everyone.”

  He lifted the card between two fingers. “I know just where to put it.”

  “What can you tell us about your mate?” I began, easing into the subject.

  Harper gave a mournful sigh. Grief flickered in her green eyes like embers in a fire. “Bono was my life mate. They say every wolf has one. Not everyone is lucky enough to find their other half, but I found mine. And I’m not just saying that because I loved him. I felt it.”

  I furrowed my brow. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s not something talked about, but when a Shifter finds their true life mate, they can sometimes sense when they’re in danger. It’s more than love—it’s a connection. And I felt that connection sever the day he died.” She took a slow sip of wine, her eyes glittering. “He was younger than me. His parents liked the band U2, and that’s how he got his name.”

  Harper was at least a hundred. Probably two. But I didn’t dare ask. Even if Bono was forty, that was a pretty significant age gap.

  “Did it cause problems with his family?” I asked, feeling out every angle.

  “Bono left his pack at seventeen. He had a difficult relationship with his father, and they quit talking.” She reached for her coat and pulled out a silver cigarette case. “Do you mind?”

  I shook my head.

  Harper lit up a slim cigarette, took a drag, and then stared at the lipstick on the filter. “I met Bono while running across a street on a rainy day. It was the perfect meet-cute.”

  I frowned. “A meet what?”

  “A meet-cute is what they call it in the movies when a couple meets in a charming or funny way. I lost a shoe in the road and huddled beneath one of those awnings. Bono dashed toward me, collected the shoe, and asked if I could be his Cinderella.” Harper smiled and tapped the cigarette ash into a marble ashtray. “He was always corny when it came to romance. He courted me the old-fashioned way. Maybe because I was older, he wanted to show me what I’d been missing my whole life. I was a bit dubious about the whole thing, but it didn’t take long for me to fall head over heels. Bono was six three, charismatic, and had a smile that got him in trouble with women. He looked like a young Heath Ledger. Do you know who that is? Bono always made me watch those old movies.” She took another puff from her cigarette. “Anyway, we didn’t have an official mating ceremony. Those are optional and more customary with packs. Going to the Council is just a formality, so we exchanged our own vows and made it exclusive.”

  “How long were you together?” I asked.

  Harper kept staring at her cigarette. “Six short years. Bono couldn’t start his own pack, and nobody wanted us in theirs, so we had to fend for ourselves.”

  Christian set down his glass and wiped foam from his lip. “Why couldn’t you join a pack? A handsome couple, looking for a place to start a family.”

  Harper stubbed out the cigarette. “We couldn’t have children.” She gave me a deliberate look. “I was born without ovaries.”

  Christian tipped his head to the side. “Is that possible?”

  I kicked him underneath the table. “I didn’t think packs would turn away childless couples. Shouldn’t kids be a choice and not a requirement?”

  Harper indulged in more wine. “Sometimes I think they make things up just to keep the family tight. But I get it. Shifters are all about procreation to keep the Breed alive. People fall in love. People who are different animals and different Breeds. But you don’t usually see those couples in a pack, do you? Packmasters don’t want that kind of influence under their roof.”

  “Now let me get this straight.” Christian cut in, his fingers steepled and a confounded look on his face. “You don’t have ovaries, or you don’t have eggs?”

  Her lips thinned. “Ovaries.”

  “And what about your other lady parts? Do you have a uterus?”

  I regarded him for a moment. “Do I know you?”

  Harper adjusted the silver watch on her wrist. “I don’t know how to spell it out for you that wouldn’t involve a whiteboard. Honey, I was born with a penis.”

  Christian stroked a hand over his beard. “Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph. You don’t say? And your beau didn’t mind?”

  Harper chortled and shook her head at me. I had suspected her secret based on a few physical clues, but I wasn’t certain until she confirmed it. Christian seemed less embarrassed about his faux pas than he was curious.

  She leaned back and dusted a rogue ash off her black dress. “Bono knew from the beginning. You can’t hide a shoe size.”

  Christian gave her a crooked smile. “I’ve known a few women in my time with large hooves.”

  Attempting to shut Christian up, I asked, “Do
people know about you, or do you keep that private?”

  Harper pinched the stem of her wineglass. “Admittedly, most can’t tell. I was born a girl in a male body, and as I got older, people started calling me a girl. I didn’t grow up in a pack. My mother wanted to shield me from all the hate, but to be honest, I never felt any until I mated Bono.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I took a virile male out of the mating pool. We wanted kids but obviously couldn’t have them. I went through extensive surgery, but that doesn’t fix the problem.” She waved her hand around as she spoke. “Some packs didn’t want us because of the controversy. Others were afraid it might upset the single women. Heaven forbid. I suppose we could have tried other cities, but frankly, I was tired of the rejection. We didn’t need that negativity in our relationship. I didn’t grow up in a pack, and I turned out fine. Bono grew up in a pack, so that was all he knew. We had a long talk, and I convinced him we could make it on our own. Bono suggested getting a kid off the black market, but I was against it.”

  “Is that so?” Christian asked, not hiding his skepticism.

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not just saying that because of you. Bono could have children, so it didn’t make sense to acquire someone else’s child. But he also didn’t want to have sex with another woman. It would complicate things. We talked to a Relic, but in vitro fertilization wasn’t his specialty. Aside from that, it’s impossible to find a Shifter who’s willing to carry someone’s baby and give it away. It’s not in our nature. That meant finding a woman who wasn’t in a pack and had no desire to join one. A secret like that would ruin her. Anyhow, we never got that far. Bono died.” Harper’s lip quivered as she stared at the last drops in her wineglass. “It would have been nice to have a piece of him left behind.”

  “I’m sorry.” I lowered my eyes for a moment to offer sympathy before delving into the details we really needed to know. “How did he die?”

  “Watching TV. He was alive one minute, and the next…” She shook her head. “I’d gone into the kitchen to get ice cream and then found him slumped over. I thought maybe he’d nodded off or was playing a prank, but his eyes— When you see a dead person’s eyes, you just know. They don’t always close.”

  I furrowed my brow. “He was just watching TV?”

  Harper nodded slowly. “No hanky-panky. Nothing that would have spiked his heart rate. Bono was fit. It’s not like he sat around all day on the couch. He was a jogger, but I think he ran because of his sweet tooth.”

  “How long were you out of the room?” Christian asked before sipping his beer.

  “I wasn’t. We had an open floor plan, so there wasn’t a wall between the kitchen and living room. I just turned my back for a minute. No one could have sneaked in and done something without my knowing. And besides, there would have been a struggle. I just couldn’t believe it. The Relic said it happens sometimes—babies born with defects that go undetected. It just seems like that would have shown up on a regular checkup when he used to see a Relic as a kid. I asked the Council for an investigation, but they turned me away. They wanted to cremate him, but I—I probably shouldn’t tell you this.”

  “Go on,” I said. “We’re not here to arrest anyone.”

  Harper pinched the stem of her wineglass. “I stole his body. The higher authority prefers cremation so humans won’t get ahold of the body, but packs are allowed to bury the dead on their land. I don’t see any difference in giving me those same rights. Bono didn’t want to be cremated.”

  Christian straightened his back. “So you put him in the trunk of your car?”

  She gave him a look of derision. “I’m not telling you where he is, and if you charm me, I’ll make you regret it for the rest of your unnatural life. Burials aren’t against the law.”

  I picked at my black nail polish. Ren was right. This didn’t feel normal at all. Maybe I didn’t know enough about Shifters, but people dropping dead while couch surfing? This story was similar to some of the others we’d heard. A few deaths we ruled out entirely. They were suspicious, but we had no evidence to prove the deceased was murdered by their partner or, in one case, a disgruntled landlord. That still left a decent number of unexplainable deaths. One minute they were fine, and the next, gone.

  “Had he been feeling sick?” I asked, wondering if Bono might have exhibited the same symptoms as a few others.

  Harper shrugged. “Just heartburn. Nothing a little ice cream couldn’t cure. He didn’t look sick. He didn’t look like a man who was about to die. I just don’t get it. Is the higher authority going to open an investigation on his death? Is that why you’re here?”

  The heartburn could simply have been a precursor to a heart attack. What exactly could I promise her? “I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “We’re just looking into things to see where help is needed, but I don’t know what can be done in this case. If you need anything, you have my number. I’ll see what I can do.”

  Harper put on her jacket and flipped her wavy hair out from beneath the collar. “You two make a handsome couple.”

  Startled, I blinked at her. “We’re partners.”

  As if sensing my surprise, she stood and gave me a cunning smile. “A girl can always tell. He’s handsome in a brooding, serial killer kind of way. A fanghole, but some women like a challenge. I’d keep an eye on him if I were you.” She steered her gaze to Christian. “And if you want my help achieving the ultimate satisfaction in bed, give me a call.” Harper rounded our chairs and placed her hands on Christian’s shoulders, leaning in close. “Don’t worry. You’re not my type.”

  After she left, Christian quietly resumed drinking his beer.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  He wiped his mouth. “I don’t need any sexual assistance in bed. You hear? If that lunatic thinks I require special toys, she can saunter on and shove that little cigarette case where the sun doesn’t shine.”

  “I meant about her mate. Do you think…” I mouthed the word virus.

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe you shouldn’t have committed to a case you can’t solve. We’re not a charity.”

  When I got up to sit across from him, I sat on Harper’s cigarette case. “She left this,” I said, opening it up.

  “Throw it in the bin. It’s a vile habit for a woman, to be sure.”

  I read the inscription etched inside the lid: All my love, Bono.

  “Order me some onion rings. I’ll be right back.” Before leaving, I leaned down and whispered in Christian’s ear, “Aren’t you a little bit curious about a few kinky sex toys?”

  After kissing his neck, I weaved through the crowd toward the front door. She couldn’t have gotten far, and maybe I could ask her some personal questions that she wouldn’t answer around a Vampire. Especially one with a mouth like Christian’s.

  Jogging through the parking lot, I called out, “Harper!” I scanned the area, hoping she hadn’t driven off. As I distanced myself from the club, I could still hear the music thumping. Pockets of laughter and chatter erupted from the front of the building. A white car drove past me, but it wasn’t Harper in the driver’s seat.

  “Harper?” I tried again, tucking the cigarette case inside my back pocket.

  Something hard thumped against the back of my head, and a soda bottle fell to my feet. I staggered forward, pain briefly radiating throughout my skull as I turned around. Four men moved on me in a flash, and I didn’t have time to sharpen my light, let alone flee.

  Two seized my arms, and a third backhanded me across the face. Certainly not the hardest I’d ever been hit, but I was annoyed as hell that I didn’t know why. When he shook back his stringy hair, I recognized the scrawny physique and concave cheeks.

  “Skeleton Man,” I murmured. These guys were from the sleuth we’d run into earlier.

  Damn bears.

  “What the fuck did you just call me?” he growled, backing up and raking his gaze over me.

  I kicked like a socce
r player aiming for the goal, striking his chin so hard that his teeth clicked together.

  My hands were bent behind my back, so I couldn’t blast the two men holding me. Instead, I leaned over and sank my fangs into one guy’s shoulder.

  “Owww…Fuck! She bit me!”

  When he let go, I swung my free arm and punched the guy to my left. Then I bent forward and gripped his arm, blasting him with energy while simultaneously kicking the man behind me in the stomach.

  Skeleton Man suddenly shifted, and if he was the smallest guy in the group, I’d never be able to tell by the size of his grizzly. The bear craned his neck and roared, slobber dripping from its massive jaws. I stumbled back, putting as much distance as I could between us before bumping into a sedan.

  When the two other men morphed, I flashed to the end of the parking lot, which ran into a brick wall. I whirled around, facing three bears who were coming for me. I jumped on top of a Mercedes, ran down the trunk, and hopped onto a taller vehicle. One of the bears stood up on its hind legs and rocked the SUV.

  Surrounded by angry and potentially hungry predators, I pulled out my phone in a panic.

  “I just ordered a second pint. Can this wait? Your onion rings just arrived,” Christian said.

  A bear swiped at my feet, and I jumped. “I need your help.”

  “Is that so? Could have sworn this was all about phone sex. Don’t be thinking that woman was right. I don’t need help in the bedroom.”

  “Dammit, Christian. I’m surrounded.”

  “You can’t handle a few juicers? You’re getting rusty.”

  “They’re not juicers.” I looked around but couldn’t see a safe way off the vehicle without getting mauled. God forbid if I slipped and wound up a meal.

  “I’m disappointed in you, Raven. Didn’t we teach you better than that? All those hours in the training room, and you’re asking me for help? Jaysus, lass. What could possibly be so important that you’d actually pick up the phone to ring me for help?”