Indigo grimaced.
“Definitely not a bear. I don’t know what the fuck it is.” He glanced at his partner.
“Look at those fangs. It’s gotta be a vamp.” Deputy two looked like he might pass out.
“Its heart is beating.”
“Wait, wait. Are there elephant shifters? Could be tusks.”
“No, dumbass.” The deputy with the phone went back to his call. “Sorry boss. No. Charles isn’t with them. Okay. We’ll check.” He ended the call and whispered, “Sheriff wants us to check the house.”
“Could there be more?” deputy two asked as they left through the front.
“Nah. The Rogues team isn’t that big.”
Ethan came back. “The cougar across the street has orders to follow us. That’s it. He’ll still be there when we come out.”
A waitress scurried over with menus, eyeing Ethan and telling him the specials while ignoring the rest of us. Ethan had movie star looks, but none of the ego.
“I’m Dottie. You know what you want?”
Our orders came lightning fast. It turned out everyone wanted to eat again.
“Two bacon cheeseburgers. Rare. Fries. Water,” Ethan said.
“Same,” Kyle said.
“Same, but add black coffee,” Aaron said.
“One burger with bacon and cheese, medium rare, french fries and water.” Kaera folded her menu and handed it to Kyle. Ethan and Aaron followed suit.
“Two orders exactly like his.” Indigo pointed to Ethan. She smiled and passed his menu along. Its circular journey ended on Kyle’s pile like the rest.
“You want four bacon cheeseburgers and two orders of fries?” Dottie asked.
“Yes, cougar female. Exactly that.”
“A garden salad with vinaigrette dressing on the side, a plate of various cheeses and breads, a bowl of fruit salad and water, please.” Elle stacked hers on the emerging mountain of menus.
“This is really funny, guys,” Kyle grumbled.
Dottie frowned at Elle. “We have sliced cheddar, swiss, and muenster cheese. Nothing fancy.”
“That would be lovely.”
“How many slices do you want?”
“One of each, please.”
“I’ll have the fruit salad but also one bacon cheeseburger, medium rare, and an unsweetened iced tea.” Liam handed me his menu and I passed it along to Ethan who gave it to Elle who lowered it to the top. Diner menus were notoriously hefty and the pile had grown to chest height.
“And you, ma’am?”
Finally it was my turn. “I’d like a banana split with strawberry, butter pecan and chocolate ice cream and lots of hot fudge and whipped cream.” Even the dragon looked amazed. “I burn calories at shifter speed.” I plunked my menu on the pile.
“No sprinkles?” Sash asked.
“Too much sugar.”
“I’d like a glass of cabernet, please.” Garrett hadn’t taken a menu.
“Do I look like the damn host?” Kyle groaned.
Dottie sighed but didn’t take them away. “You can leave ‘em on the counter. We’re understaffed today.”
No one else was in the restaurant.
Kyle frowned. “You want me to…” She arched a brow. “Yes, ma’am.” Kyle rose with the stack, kicking his chair back and out of the way.
“Stay still.” Liam flicked his hand as he often did to clear away the breakfast plates. The fat menus dissolved in front of us and ended up stacked in three neat piles on the counter.
“Um… Thank you.” The waitress backed away a few steps then scurried toward the kitchen, scribbling on her small pad.
“Thanks Lee. Think she got our order right?” Kyle grabbed a breadstick from the basket in the middle of the table, then sat again.
“You make a big deal out of carrying a stack of menus. Imagine if it were plates full of food. Wait staff work hard.” Aaron shrugged. He wasn’t patient with whiners like Kyle.
“We’ll leave her a good tip.” Sasha winked at me.
“She’s a cougar. Maybe we can get on her good side and she’ll spill some info,” Ethan suggested.
Kyle grinned. “Getting on her good side might mean something very different to her than it does to you, lover boy.”
“Shut up, Kyle. I have a wonderful mate and I’d never do anything to…”
“You’re too easy, Eth.” Kyle leaned back in his chair, the front legs lifting off the ground.
Ethan tapped the chair with his elbow and it fell over with Kyle in it. “Oh, sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Kyle sprang to his feet. “I deserved it.”
Indigo choked back a laugh. “Your team entertains.”
“But it gets old.” Liam’s eyes narrowed. “We are working today, children.”
Indigo leaned closer to Garrett. “The male who entered is wearing garb similar to what the deputies wore. The ones who thought I was an elephant shifter. This one may be the sheriff.”
Liam shifted his gaze toward the alpha wolf. “Might he recognize you?”
Aaron had his back to the front of the restaurant. “I’ve had business in town twice since he’s taken office, but we’ve never spoken.”
“He just sat down and he’s looking this way.” Elle’s eyes grew wide.
“He should be nervous around our team. He is nothing to us,” Kaera pointed out. She squeezed Elle’s hand. Elle had been brutalized and still suffered from PTSD around strange males who seemed aggressive.
“But the firearm is distressing,” Elle whispered.
“Liam can finger-wiggle it away in a flash.” I made one of the twisty gestures I’d seen Liam use.
He laughed. “Add some magic and that particular movement would turn Kyle into a salamander.”
“How handy. I’ll make a note of it.” I grinned at my friend only Kyle wasn’t smiling back.
“Must be something in the water that makes everyone hate leopards in this town,” Kyle grumbled.
“Let’s ask the expert,” I said. We turned toward Sheriff Webber. He stared back as our drinks arrived.
When Dottie and another waitress left, the sheriff rose, striding around our table until he faced Aaron. “Alpha Green. Haven’t seen you for a time.”
The sheriff was around six foot, broad-shouldered, and immaculately dressed in a crisp tan uniform, large brown hat, and shiny boots. His eyes were mahogany brown, his lips thin, and his complexion rugged.
“Sheriff Webber.” Aaron’s voice was cool. “I don’t believe we’ve actually been introduced.”
“Maybe not, but I keep track of who comes and goes in my town.”
“One of my pack alphas told me you were hired very soon after the tragic deaths of the former officers. What did the coroner say regarding that strange incident?”
“Not much. Horrible accident.” The Sheriff’s smile flattened to a more neutral expression.
“Did the fire investigators come up with a cause for the explosion?”
“Faulty gas line.”
“And the gas company confirmed this?” Aaron asked.
“Why are you in town today, Mr. Green?”
“Alpha Green.” Because Aaron was on the Board of the Western Pack Council, Alpha was the accepted designation, just like Sheriff was Sheriff Webber’s.
“Oh, yeah. Forgive me. Alpha Green.” Hostility raised its ugly head.
“Our group has an appointment to see you tomorrow.” I squeezed a slice of lemon into my water, then took a sip.
“Yes, I know. But why?”
“The vampire attacks,” I said.
“Never heard of vampires settling in this territory.”
“Are the bodies of the leopards being held in the town morgue?” Garrett asked.
“Why do you need to know?”
“We believe they are victims of a vampire attack,” Garrett said. “Didn’t the officer who answered the phone explain?”
“And who are you?”
“I’m Garrett Cuvier and this is my mate, Jac
queline Cuvier. I represent NAVA. Everyone else is a member of our investigative team, Rogues Inc.”
“I’ll need a list of all your team members including addresses and phone numbers.”
“We have no obligation to give you that information. You can, however, learn about our services at Rogues Inc dot com.”
“The leopard deaths were not caused by vampires. One suicide. One car accident. Last was a bear attack.”
“And the coroner agrees?”
“He’s out of town.”
“We have permission from the families to see the bodies.”
“Sorry. Can’t allow any non-family members or non-medical personnel anywhere near the victims.”
“But you haven’t even allowed the families to come in and identify their own relatives.” My tone was not quite as professional now.
“I ran the prints. I know who the victims were.”
“Wasn’t one of them a mother of three cubs?” I asked
“Maybe that’s why she killed herself.”
“That was completely inappropriate. Who appointed you?” I started to stand, but Garrett held me back with a hand on my thigh.
“Mon ange, we must keep our anger in check if we are to have a chance to see the bodies.” I nodded and Garrett continued. “You haven’t released them for burial. In fact, we only have your word that the shifters are dead. This isn’t the 1800s. You don’t have the legal authority to keep information regarding an unexplained death from the authorities. We’re here to investigate one or more possible murders.”
“I’ll say this one last time. I’ve seen the bodies and they were not murdered.”
Before I opened my mouth again, Liam took over. “The newly appointed Master Vampire of NAVA has instructed Garrett to investigate.” Liam didn’t mention François’ name. “As NAVA’s representative, Garrett is the best one qualified to certify the deaths as caused by a vampire attack or another source.”
“This isn’t his jurisdiction, or yours either, fae.”
Elle tensed. Sash draped a protective arm around her and smiled at the sheriff. “You have very little common sense. You talk to a table of dominant supernaturals as if you wield the power to stop us from leading our investigation. I am vampire and I already sense the location of the nest you say does not live here. Liam and Jackie can discern every one of your lies. Think twice before you threaten us again. We have a secret weapon.” Sasha grinned at the dragon, who nodded regally in response.
“Weapons are not allowed in my town.”
“You won’t find any at the house or in the van. We can summon them from the ether,” I said. The weapons and other equipment were hidden behind a magical veil Liam had devised. It just sounded cooler the other way.
Aaron chimed in. “In vampire matters, this territory is Garrett’s jurisdiction so he is working within the law in regards to any incident taking place on his turf.
“Vampire law or fae law has nothin’ to do with shifter law. Shifters died, not any other species, so NAVA and Faerie should keep their noses out of our town’s business.”
Aaron put down his coffee and pulled out his phone. “Will you allow Garrett, Liam, Jackie and Indigo to view the bodies, or do we need to call in NAVA or possibly the Western Pack Council to see to this?”
“You won’t call them in. These vampires got NAVA’s permission to be here.”
“The administration has changed hands. That permission has been withdrawn.”
“I believe you mentioned previously that you know nothing regarding a nest of vampires moving into your town. Now you say you know they received permission to reside here.” Indigo grinned at the sheriff.
The sheriff shifted his stance, losing some of his confidence. “What sort of supe are you?”
“I am shifter.”
He scrutinized the dragon, scowling. “What the heck species?”
“As I have recently been called a secret weapon by Garrett’s second-in-command, I will not reveal my species. Some believe me to be an elephant, others bear, but I can tell you truly, I am neither elephant nor bear.”
Sash laughed.
Indigo turned toward our Russian friend and sent a mind to mind message to the group. “I know of bear, but what is elephant?”
I replied to Indigo in the same way. “We’ll show you pictures later, okay?”
“As you wish, Jacqueline.”
Aaron pulled out his phone and punched in a number. “Sheriff Webber, you were appointed on a temporary basis and not elected to the office. I believe your term will be up in the spring. If you’d like to keep your position, you may want to think about cooperating with the team.” His phone stopped ringing on the other end and a machine picked up asking people to leave a message for the County Supervisor. Aaron asked for a call back and left his number.
The sheriff barked out a laugh. “You won’t get any cooperation there.”
“We’ll see.”
Sheriff Webber glanced at a family of leopards who’d just entered the diner. Looking around for a table, they froze in place when their gazes met the sheriff’s.
“I recommend you find another place to eat.” He tilted his head toward our table and the adult female’s eyes widened. She looked to her mate and mouthed the word rogues. He shook his head in a tiny jerk, then began to bustle his group out the door again.
Because the evening was on the warmer side, the mother’s coat was open. A strange tattoo, the symbols horribly familiar, formed a ring around the base of her neck.
Liam shot me a mental message. “Do you see?”
“Yes.” I swallowed hard. Memories of torcs and torture slithered unwelcome into my mind.
“Dragon, did you see the symbols around the female’s neck?” Liam sent.
Indigo might be able to interpret the designs. “Yes.” Her angry mental tone told me she had bad news. “They are symbols in an archaic tongue used by powerful demons. Symbols of submission and surrender. Symbols a slave might have worn in ages past.”
Garrett grasped Ethan’s arm. “Go after them. Take Kaera.” They disappeared the moment Kaera touched the back of his hand.
Our food came and the sheriff excused himself so we could eat. Everyone’s appetite had diminished. Ethan and Kaera were back before five minutes had passed.
“They went for pizza two blocks away. They’re eating at the restaurant.” Ethan downed half his burger in two bites, but even he couldn’t finish. Indigo was the only one who cleaned her plate. We took everything but the ice cream in takeout bags and left an enormous tip.
Before we left, we stopped by the sheriff’s table. “We’ll see you tomorrow at ten, Sheriff Webber.” Garrett smiled.
“No. Not possible. I’m sorry but—”
“Unless you’d like a group of NAVA investigators banging on your door, I suggest you rethink that answer.”
“You don’t know who I’m working with.”
“Oh, we do, but do you know who’s supporting the vampires you’re working with?”
“I’m shifter. I’d never work with vampires against other shifters.” He’d loosened his collar to eat his lunch and the lie was inked around his neck.
“Where did you…” Garrett pointed to the design.
The sheriff appeared confused at first. “A carnival came through. It’s nothing.”
“Anyone with that tattoo is in danger. She’ll cut off your head the minute you’re no longer useful.”
“She… She…” He clutched at his neck as if he were having trouble swallowing.
Naberia must be listening somehow, but I wasn’t backing down. “Get the tattoo removed as soon as you can. Urge everyone to do the same. It’s spelled with blood magic.”
“No… She…”
“She can murder you with a thought. Believe me.”
The sheriff rose, straightening to his full height. “Whatever weird assed creature you’re talking about is not controlling my territory.”
“She’s controlling the vampires and
they’re controlling you and some of the residents.”
“You have until midnight to leave my town and take your lies with you.”
“Leopard shifters have died on your turf,” Kyle said. “I’m leopard and I take that seriously.”
“You’re less than leopard.”
“What the fuck!” Kyle fisted his hands, but Ethan and I yanked him away from the table before he could do any real damage. The last thing we needed was to have to break our favorite leopard out of jail.
“Let’s go.” I leaned against my friend as we waited for the others at the bottom of the stairs. “Naberia has her claws in him.”
Kyle grunted. “She’s got nothin’ to do with his attitude. A lot of alpha shifters are jerks. That’s why Peter and I didn’t join the local leap when we settled in Crescent City. The leopard alpha kicked out other queers and leopards whose skin color didn’t match up with his. We created an online support group for all kinds of shifters who don’t fit in with their local packs or prides or whatever. Crazy we have to do this, right? I mean we’re all freakin’ shifters, but it isn’t enough.”
“You’ve got the Rogues Team at your back, always.”
“Nothin’ better.” He kissed my cheek. “Anyone ever tell you you’re the best stand-in mom on the West Coast?”
“Thanks.” I laughed. Kyle was a few years older than me and had a wonderful mother who lived in New York City. But everyone needed some on-the-spot mom advice once in a while.
Kyle’s face was stony as we took the stairs down. “It’s always a shock. It always hurts. Wish it didn’t.
We stopped by the pizza shop but the family had already left. The people at the counter wouldn’t talk to us, so we started walking back to the van, disheartened.
“Excuse me.” The female with the tattoo had followed us down the street.
“Can we help you?” Garrett kept his voice gentle.
“You the Rogues team?” She glanced back at the diner. “I have something to show you, only you can’t tell anyone.”
“First, where did you get the tattoo?”
She covered her neck with one hand. “It’s not a true tattoo. The design appeared on my neck one night while I slept. I know of twelve other leopards who woke up with the same symbols. Emeline came to me that same night and took blood by force. Claimed me, she said. Only her mind control spell never worked on me or the other leopards. We’re playing along to save our families, but if she finds out, she’ll start using the metal torcs. Then we’re all done for.”
At Risk Page 21
