by Laken Cane
He inclined his head. “As you wish.”
She turned away from him and faced her wolves and her men. It was going to take half the morning to get everything sorted.
Fucking Others.
It was good to be home.
Chapter Two
Rune strode into the RISC building, eager to see Ellis and, though part of her dreaded it, to meet the new Regional Investigations of Supernatural Crimes boss.
She’d lived through the horror that had been Jeremy Cross, the former captain of RISC. It was no surprise that there was some anxiety about the person taking his place.
Right before she’d gone away, RISC and her old department, Spiritgrove’s Criminal Recovery Unit—SCRU—had been merged. Now there was only RISC.
“This place was not the same without you,” Ellis said, finally letting her out of one of his famous hugs. He handed them out like cigars at a birth, and she liked them about as much.
Lex stood by the window of Ellis’s new office, looking out at the world as though she weren’t blind. Rune sent Ellis a questioning look—which he answered with a shrug—and walked to stand beside the girl.
“Hello, Lex.”
Lex was an Other, one of the most unusual Rune knew. She turned toward Rune, her eyes shaking, her body vibrating. But only a little. “Welcome home, Rune.”
She shot out a hand and grabbed Rune’s arm, then slid her fingers down to grasp Rune’s wrist.
Rune withdrew, gently. “You know I don’t like you to read me.”
“Or touch you,” Lex replied, and there was a hint of smile at the corners of her mouth. Her eyes picked up speed and her body vibrated with a little more zeal.
Rune watched the little Other, waiting for some hint about what was bothering her. “Why weren’t you at Wormwood helping the crew kick hairy wolf ass?”
“Your head hurts,” Lex said.
“You’re a fast reader.”
Ellis sighed. “You were hurt in the fight?”
Rune smiled, fingering the still-sore spot on the back of her head. She’d showered away the blood that had made her long hair a sticky mess, and the wound had closed up. That’s what being half Other did for her. Still, a bit of a headache lingered. “One of the fuckers hit me from behind while I was fighting the alpha.”
“You weren’t paying attention,” Z said from the doorway. “You were busy playing with the alpha—at least that’s what I heard.”
Rune grinned. “Hi, baby.”
He walked toward her. “You’re getting a hug.”
“Fuck me,” she said, groaning. “Shiv Crew is full of huggers.”
They all laughed and Z pulled her into a bear hug almost fierce enough to break her ribs. “You look great, Rune.”
“What, you were thinking I’d come back with my hair in my face, drooling? Wearing a straitjacket, maybe?”
He snorted. “Anyone heard from Strad?”
Rune stiffened at once. Too casually, she picked some imaginary lint off her shirt sleeve. “Not me. What’s he doing in fucking Pennsylvania?”
“I don’t know,” Ellis answered. “He just said he was going and told the crew to look after your wolves. He said he wasn’t sure when he’d return.”
Or if.
She deliberately ignored Z’s considering look and changed the subject. “How much longer is Raze in jail?”
“Two days,” Z said. “He’s having a rough time.”
Rune nodded. “Put a man like Raze inside a cell for a month…”
“He’s lucky he only got a month,” Ellis said. “APRO wanted him in prison for a couple years.”
American Protection and Rights of Others had gotten involved when Raze had been sent to oust some trespassing rat shifters and one of them had bitten him. Raze suffered from musophobia—an extreme fear of rats—and had julienned the poor son of a bitch. If the rat had shifted back to his human form Raze would have maintained control, but all he could see were little red eyes and long front teeth.
Scared the fuck out of him.
Because it was self-defense, kind of, and because it was only an Other he’d killed—and a rat, at that—Raze had gotten off lightly. Still, APRO had needed placating and times were changing.
In the last month a law had passed in Ohio allowing humans to feed vampires if they so wished. Tools, they were called. Bite junkies.
It was a tricky situation. If a human became pissed at a vampire he or she could report the vampire bite as an attack and the vampire was likely to be destroyed.
The masters had taken to requiring notarized signatures from the humans, proving the vampire in question had the human’s permission.
It was a strange time—but she could see it happening. The Others were becoming more accepted every day.
COS—the Church of Slayers—was surely screaming in rage with each tiny Other step forward. At the thought of COS, she glanced at Lex.
Z took a miniature turtle from his pocket and while he was busy showing it to Lex, Rune pulled Ellis into the hallway.
“Tell me what’s going on with Lexi.”
“I really don’t know. She was like that the entire time you were gone. If I didn’t know her I’d have said she was withdrawing from drugs.”
Rune pursed her lips, thinking. “We know that’s not it. I’ll talk to the twins.”
“She seems better now. Now that you’re back.”
“You think she’s become dependent on me?”
He shrugged, rubbing absentmindedly at his right arm. He’d had some breaks in that arm during the Hawthorne battle, and the cast had just come off. “Her anxiety levels went through the roof a few days after you left. If something else happened, she didn’t tell me.”
Rune studied him. Ellie had changed after the battle. They all had. She wasn’t sure quite how to take the newly mature, less naive Ellis. Maybe he just needed more time to get back his joy. His…zest. “I love you, Ellie.”
He winked, but his eyes remained sad. “I know.”
“What’s wrong?”
He hesitated. “I fell in love.”
“Ellie! But that’s great. Isn’t it?”
“It is if that love is returned.”
“Who could not love you?”
That brought out a hint of his old grin. “Fishing, are you?”
“Fuck yeah. Who is it?”
But he shook his head and refused to say.
Dammit. She’d been gone for a few short weeks and her crew had changed. Ellie was teetering on the edge of a broken heart, Raze was in fucking jail, and Strad was gone.
“Where did the berserker go?” she asked, even though she’d asked already…as if Ellis would suddenly have knowledge he didn’t have half an hour ago. She regretted the question as soon as she spoke it.
“Rune Marie Alexander. You’re—”
She put her fingers against his lips. Hard. “Do not say whatever it is you’re getting ready to say. Just…don’t.”
He smiled against her fingers, his eyes sparkling.
She glared. “Show me my office, then point me toward the new captain.”
“You’ll like her, Rune. She’s a little…different, but once you get used to her—”
Rune groaned. “Fuck me.”
“You’ll like her,” he said again, laughing, and laced his arm through hers. “I promise. You can trust her.”
“Yeah.” Like she believed that.
Her new office wasn’t any larger than her old office, but her old office had been pretty huge. Big enough to hold her desk, a couple of chairs, and all of Shiv Crew.
This one had a wall of windows, and someone—probably Ellis—had added a few personal touches. A couple of plants, a framed photo of Shiv Crew Mitch Percell had presented her with before the Hawthorne battle. One side wall was taken up with a huge corkboard on which someone—again, probably Ellis—had pinned a welcome home message.
She took a moment to close her eyes and pull in a deep breath. She was home—and life was lo
oking up.
Ellis stood in the hall talking with one of RISC’s employees, and when Rune joined them the guy darted a look at her then away. Not everyone in River County would accept her. A lot more of them had than she’d expected, but not all of them.
Ellis noticed and put his hands on his hips. “Of course you know Rune Alexander, Shiv Crew captain?” he asked the guy.
Inwardly, she grinned. Ellie was protective of those he loved and no one was going to mess with Rune in his presence.
She kept her face blank and offered a hand to the guy. “Dale Royce, right?”
He paused, then took her hand. “Welcome back, Alexander.”
“Thanks. Let’s go meet the boss, Ellis.”
She hesitated outside Jeremy’s old office, pretending to read the sign on the door. Honestly, she just needed a minute.
Ellis touched her arm. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“Fucking Jeremy Cross,” she murmured.
Unwilling to let her think about recent pain, Ellis rapped on the door, then pushed it open. “Ms. Peel?”
A tall woman, around forty, arose from behind her gleaming, organized desk and motioned them inside. “Please. Come in.”
Her voice was quiet, her eyes peaceful. Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck, but not a severe one. More to keep her hair out of her face while she worked, the same reason Rune usually pulled hers back into a ponytail.
Brown eyes stared at Rune from a subtly made-up face. Her suit was a simple but expensive skirt and jacket, and she wore only a single pair of gold hoop earrings.
She showed no curiosity—more of a patient knowledge that put Rune immediately at ease.
She didn’t look anything like the man whose place she’d taken, but everyone had the potential to be a killer.
“Ms. Peel,” Rune said, and extended her hand.
Her boss smiled. “Elizabeth, please. May I call you Rune?”
“Yeah.”
“Lovely name.” She glanced at Ellis. “Thank you, Ellis.”
He nodded and smiled. “I’ll leave you two to get acquainted.”
When he’d left the room and closed the door behind him, Elizabeth pointed to a chair. “Would you sit for a moment?”
Rune sat.
Elizabeth sat as well, then folded her hands on top of her desk. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about you. I’m aware of what you’ve recently gone through, and I know it will take time for trust to develop between us.” She paused, but continued when Rune remained silent.
“If you have problems, questions, or just need to talk, I encourage you to come to me. My door is always open.” She smiled a wry smile. “And I am almost always here.”
“You’ve heard I’m not exactly human,” Rune said. “If you have issues with that fact we need to discuss them now.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I have no issues with any group—human or Other. I don’t care what you are. If you treat me with respect, I will treat you with respect. I will trust you unless you prove I can’t.” She pointed to a plaque hanging on the wall behind Rune. “Those are words I live by.”
Rune turned in her chair to read the plaque. When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. “Maya Angelou.”
“Yes.”
Rune nodded slowly and stood. “I’ll start work officially tomorrow.”
“I heard you’ve already had a busy morning.”
“Yes, but I wasn’t on the clock. That was just for fun.” She grinned and headed for the door. Her new boss seemed peachy, but she’d been fooled before. Time. It always took time.
And Elizabeth Peel was probably thinking the same thing about her. “Rune…”
Rune stopped in the doorway. “Yes?”
“Strad Matheson.”
She stilled. “What about him?”
“I know he was Jeremy Cross’s…confidant, if you will. Do you trust him?”
Rune nodded slowly. “Yeah. I think I do.”
“Good. I’ve been waiting for him to make an appearance since he returned from Pennsylvania, but he has yet to come in.”
The knot inside Rune’s stomach tightened. It was almost always present, that knot, and depending on the circumstances it could be a huge, painful knot, or a smaller, less obvious one. And at the RISC captain’s words it grew and twisted inside her. She had to swallow hard before she could speak. “He’s back?”
A tiny line appeared between Elizabeth’s eyes. “For four days.”
Fucking berserker. She nodded and left the room, thinking hard. Why the fuck had Strad not contacted his crew? What was he hiding?
But at least the new boss hadn’t sat there with dark, secret things sliding through her eyes. How refreshing that was.
She’d go to her ugly house and air out the place after one more stop. She was going to see Raze. She’d been informed that Raze had refused visitors the entire time he’d been incarcerated, but Rune wasn’t going to let that stand in her way.
As she neared Ellis’s office thoughts of Raze flew from her mind. The berserker’s voice rumbled from inside the room and despite her attempt at nonchalance, her heart went crazy.
Strad Matheson had always made her nervous. Freaked her right the fuck out. She wiped her palms on her jeans, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
And then wished with everything inside her that she hadn’t.
Chapter Three
Please don’t let them read anything in my fucking eyes. She nodded a hello to Strad, who stood beside a small blonde woman and an angelic looking boy of around eight years old. The kid had wispy blond hair and was so little a light wind could have carried him away.
Strad sported dark circles under his eyes and lines she hadn’t seen before had appeared on his face. He looked like he’d been through some rough shit in the last few weeks.
Lex immediately left her chair and grabbed Rune’s hand. That almost made Rune more nervous than the look of total dismay in Ellis’s eyes.
What the fuck?
But somehow, she knew. Just knew. Bad news, that’s what the fuck.
Strad pinned her with his fierce blue gaze but after a glance at him she had to look away. She couldn’t stare at him. Couldn’t do it and nothing short of a bullet could have made her.
The blonde left Strad’s side, her smile guileless, hand outstretched. “You’re Rune, aren’t you? I’ve seen you on TV, of course. I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I already know you.” She stopped in front of Rune and Lex. “I’m Tina, Strad’s wife, and this is our son Matthew.”
Rune had to pry Lex’s grip from her hand before she could trade handshakes with the blonde. She muttered something, she must have.
She hoped it wasn’t fuck me, because that’s all that was running through her head. Not only because she was dazed, but because she’d figured during her time away that repeating nonsense might keep Lex from reading her.
Fuck me.
Lex snatched Rune’s hand from the stranger, her body vibrating wildly. “Go away,” she said, as though she were a scared child.
“Lex,” Rune said, startled. Lex wasn’t usually rude unless the situation warranted it.
And it wasn’t the fucking blonde’s fault Strad was a son of a bitch.
She hadn’t fed for eight weeks. Dreams and thoughts of the berserker’s blood had kept her going in the clinic. It was the treat at the end of a long, hard time away.
And he was married.
With a kid.
Fuck me.
Tina withdrew, paling at Lex’s venom. Or maybe it was because she’d gotten an up close and personal look at the Other’s crazy, dancing eyes. “I’m…” she put a hand to her chest and went back to Strad.
Compartmentalize, Rune.
She cleared her throat. “Nice to meet you.” Then she nodded at the boy. “Hey, kid.” She didn’t really have a clue how to act with kids so she generally talked to them like she would an adult and hoped for the best.
&
nbsp; So far, none of them had bitten her or kicked her shins or anything. She must have been doing something right.
The little boy jerked his stare from Lex to Rune. “I saw my dad give you blood. It’s on YouTube. He has a scar on his wrist.”
He has a scar on his fucking neck, too.
“Matthew,” Tina cautioned. “I asked you not to—”
“Yeah, your dad saved my life,” Rune interrupted. “He’s a real hero.” Maybe he heard the coldness in her voice or maybe he just knew her. Whatever, her words made Strad flinch.
She smiled down at the kid. Wasn’t his fault, either, that his father had hidden an entire family away in Pennsylvania and hadn’t bothered to tell any-fucking-one.
The silence came then, awkward and heavy.
Ellis broke it. “Strad’s…family is in trouble, Rune. He was just explaining.”
Nice. “Tell me.”
Strad spoke for the first time since she’d entered the room. “My son is a…” He lifted his big hands helplessly, words eluding him.
“A clairvoyant,” Tina finished for him. “Since birth.” She leveled a long look at Strad. “A birth defect, according to some people.”
Trouble in paradise.
Of course, there must have been trouble long before then. Why else would Strad be living in Ohio while his wife and kid lived in Pennsylvania?
“It’s dangerous and only hurts him,” Strad said. “I attempted to keep his gift secret, but somehow…” he threw the look right back at Mrs. Matheson. An unfriendly look. “It escaped.”
“Nothing stays hidden forever,” Rune murmured.
Ellis hurried over to Matthew. “Let’s go find you a candy bar, Matthew.” He led the boy from the room after a quick glance of disapproval at the adults.
Before Strad could continue his story, the office door opened and Jack and Z entered, followed by the twins.
Jack slapped Strad on the back—next to Raze, Jack had been the biggest of the Shiv Crew members, until Strad had joined them.
Her giants.
“Guys,” Rune said, “This is Tina Matheson. Tina, this is Jack, Z, Denim, and Levi. Shiv Crew.”
