by AE Jones
Sylvia squinted at me, looking me over from head to toe. “Good Lord, girl. You’re like a walking glow stick.”
I blinked at her, since words escaped me. That was not the reaction I’d been expecting.
“What are you?” she asked.
“Human.”
Sylvia’s mouth quirked up and she studied me some more, like I was a science experiment. “Whatever you say, kiddo. You’ve been to the realm, huh?”
“Yep. And the in-between. You’re right. They don’t have much of anything there. The border patrol lives the same way.”
“You’ve met the patrol?” She sighed. “I almost feel worse for them. They’ve been programmed to stop demons from coming to earth, giving up their own freedom in the process. All subterfuge.”
She plowed on before I could speak. “Ask yourself this. How exactly were the more powerful demons forced from earth by the less powerful ones? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe they were defeated by sheer numbers. There are twelve clans here on earth and five in the realm,” I argued.
“Maybe. Or maybe someone helped tip the scales. And if so, why?”
“I don’t have the answer to that, Sylvia.”
“Well, it’s what you should be investigating. Not how to send demons back to the hellhole they’ve been living in for millennia.”
Okay…I had to bring her back to the crux of the issue. “I’m not here to argue whether the realm demons should be allowed on earth. If most of these demons are living on earth minding their own business, then I don’t have a problem with them. But when one comes here, breaks into the museum, steals something, and kills a guard, then we need to deal with the ramifications.”
Misha opened the folder on the coffee table and put the composite picture on the side table next to Sylvia. She looked at it, and her eyes widened slightly before she could hide it.
“You know him?” I asked.
“What makes you think he broke into the museum?” she asked, which pretty much meant she did know him.
“I saw him run out of the museum, and a witness saw him kill the guard.”
Sylvia stared hard at the picture without looking up at me.
“He snapped the guard’s neck. Carl Willis was married with two kids.”
Sylvia flinched slightly. “I didn’t acclimate him to earth. But I’ve seen him before. When he showed up at the motel, he told me someone tried to rob him. He’d been shot in the shoulder.”
My heart sped up. “I shot him when he tried to hurt me using his telekinesis. So you’ve seen him in the past couple of days?”
Sylvia finally met my eye. “I helped dig the bullet out of his shoulder.”
“Do you know where he is now?”
She shook her head. “No. He took off shortly after I cleaned him up.”
“We’re also looking for twin demons, heads shaved with arm tattoos.”
Misha pulled the drawing out of the folder, and Sylvia waved her hand like she didn’t need to see it.
She scowled. “I know exactly who you’re talking about. I kicked those two out months ago. Troublemakers, both of them.”
“Do you have any idea where they hang out now?”
“No. The demons who stay with me try to steer clear of them.”
“Do you think you could ask around a bit and see if you can find out about the three of them?” I asked. “Nothing too risky, maybe a couple of feelers?”
Sylvia looked between the three of us. “So you aren’t going to shut my business down?”
I smiled. “Not right now. Especially if you’ll help us out.”
She opened her mouth as if she was going to disagree, so I decided she could use some added incentive.
“And if you help us, we won’t ask your real name, even though we know Sylvia Reynolds didn’t exist five years ago.”
Sylvia pursed her lips. “I can do a little digging for you. Give me a day or two, and I’ll get you something.”
I nodded. “You’re not going to run, are you?”
She huffed. “I’m too old to run. Plus my tenants need me.”
“Good.” I sat on the chair across from her. “I’m really curious about your ability to see auras. Are you human?”
“I’m human. Always have been able to see them. My parents used to have conniption fits when I talked about it as a child…before I knew better.”
“And different supes have different-colored auras?”
“For the most part. Humans, too.”
“So what does your aura look like?”
She stared at me like I was speaking in demon tongue. “I can’t see my own aura. That would be weird.”
I had to smile. After everything she’d told us, that’s what she thought was weird?
Talia and Misha ushered her out of the room, and I walked back into the adjoining room to find Dalton turning the recording equipment off.
“Thoughts?” I asked.
“She’s a bit of a kook.”
“She might come across that way when she’s on her soapbox, but she’s whip smart. And if she can connect us to the realm demons, all the better. That little kook might be the break we’ve been waiting for.”
“You were real interested in her ability.”
I sat in the chair next to him. “Yeah. I haven’t met many humans with powers like me before.”
Dalton cleared his throat. “Are you feeling better?”
I looked at him in confusion.
“From yesterday. Have you recuperated from using your power?”
Ah. “Yeah. I bounce back pretty fast.”
“If it hurts you, maybe you shouldn’t use it.”
It was hard not to gasp. Dalton had said the same thing to me last year. He had been more concerned for me than what my powers could do. And here he was again, thinking about me first. Damn. I closed my eyes. That very statement demonstrated why I had fallen in love with him in the first place.
“McKinley? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I can’t stop using my powers. There’s a reason why I have them.”
He stared at me for a moment. “Does it make it hard fitting in?”
“The truth? Yeah, it does. Or it did. I thought I was a total freak for years. Then when I found out about supernaturals, my powers actually came in handy.”
“You make the monsters go away. That’s why you’re so adamant about keeping supernaturals hidden. You’ve experienced how humans react when they’re faced with the truth.”
I studied his eyes for a moment. There was no judgement peeking out at me from those turquoise depths. Just curiosity. After a few more seconds, he blinked, and the connection was lost.
“Sounds like this job was tailor-made for you.”
“Nicholas, my boss, would agree with you. He’s always said my working for the BSR was meant to be.”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know if it’s a destiny thing or not. I’m just glad that when it comes to my powers, the Fates let me use them for good.” I took a deep breath. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“How are you doing, really doing, since the serial killer case last summer?”
Dalton busied himself with putting away the equipment. “I’m fine.”
“Hmm.”
He looked up from what he was doing and frowned at me. “What’s with the hmm?”
“You don’t seem fine.”
He placed some cords in the equipment case and closed it with a loud snap. “What exactly are you basing that on?”
“I know you need to get back to your life in Chicago. Your nice, orderly life. Where you work non-stop, and…?”
“And?”
“What else do you do, Special Agent Dalton?”
“What do you want to know?”
“I want you to tell me you don’t work all day and then go home with your case files at night and review them. I want you to tell me you have friends in Chicago. I want you to tell me you aren’t afraid to live.
”
He glared at me, his iridescent eyes sparking with fury. “I don’t need a pop psychology lesson from you. How, exactly, are you an expert on my pain?”
His words stabbed me like shards of glass. I swallowed hard on the retort I wanted to make. So much for our touching moment mere seconds ago. “I’ve experienced what it’s like to have your world pulled out from under you and not know where to turn. To wonder what the hell to do next. When it happened to me, I ran away. Is that what you’re doing, too?”
He picked up the case from the floor and stalked across the room. “We’re working a case together. It doesn’t make you an expert on me or my past.” He opened the door and pinned me with those turquoise eyes. “You don’t know me.”
The door shut behind him, and I blinked back tears.
That went well.
Chapter 32
We were in a holding pattern, waiting for Sylvia to give us some info, so when Trina called and asked me to her house for breakfast, I immediately said yes. It had been a while since I’d seen her, and I wanted to see how she was doing, plus it didn’t hurt that her mom was cooking. Stephanie was an amazing cook.
I called the office to let them know I would be in later. I’d hoped Dolly would answer, but of course, as luck would have it, Misha picked up the phone.
“Hey, Mish. I’m going to be in late today. I’m having breakfast at Trina’s house.”
“Trina? Is something wrong?”
“No. She and Stephanie want to thank me for helping Trina shift for the first time.”
“Stephanie? How are they thanking you?”
“Um…” This was why I had wanted to talk to Dolly. “They invited me for banana stuffed French toast. Apparently, it’s Stephanie’s specialty.”
Misha whimpered.
“Sorry, buddy. Maybe next time. I’ll tell you all about how they taste.”
“You are a cruel woman, Kyle McKinley. A cruel, cruel woman.”
Thirty minutes later, this cruel woman knocked on the door of the Connors’ two-story house in the heart of suburbia. Trina answered the door with a huge grin on her face, a girl of twelve going on thirty, with long dark hair and twinkling brown eyes. I was surprised to discover I no longer needed to look down to meet her eyes. She was starting to catch up with me already, and we would be eye-to-eye soon.
“Hi, Kyle! Still blond, huh?”
I chuckled. “Trina. Yep. Still blond.”
She opened the door further, and I followed her into the entry. “Mom’s working on the French toast now. Come on in.”
Trina led the way down the hall to the back of the house. When we entered the large, homey kitchen decorated in sunflowers, there was Stephanie, standing by the stove. Her long blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was wearing an honest-to-goodness apron. I think I gaped for a second before I could stop myself. I’d never experienced anything like the Connor family. Hell, my mother was the antithesis of Stephanie. The closest thing I could compare this to was a Leave it to Beaver episode. If Beaver had been a wolf-shifter, that is.
“Hello, Stephanie.”
“Kyle! So glad you could come today. Would you like some coffee?”
“Sure.” I waved her off as she moved to get it for me. “I can pour my own.” I selected a mug from the mug rack on the counter and poured a cup, the aroma of vanilla teasing my nose.
Trina plopped into a chair and motioned for me to sit beside her.
“Why aren’t you in school today?” I asked.
“Teacher conferences.”
I took a sip of the coffee, and the flavor burst on my tongue. “Wow, Stephanie, this is delicious.”
Stephanie smiled as she flipped the toast and placed it on plates. “French vanilla. One of my favorites.” She put a plate in front of each of us. “Whipped cream?”
I moaned a little bit. “Sure, why not?”
Trina giggled. “It is a celebration.”
Stephanie topped both of our dishes with whipped cream and sat across from us with a mug of coffee.
“Aren’t you having any?” I asked.
“No. Too rich for me this early in the morning.”
“Where are Tim and Molly?”
“Tim had a meeting this morning, and Molly’s kindergarten didn’t have conferences today, so she went to school.”
I cut a corner of the toast off and took a bite of it, my eyes practically rolling to the back of my head as the warm banana and toast melted in my mouth. “Oh my God, this is amazing. I told Misha I would report back about these, but I’m afraid if I tell him how good they are, he’ll camp out on your front lawn until you make him some.”
Stephanie laughed. “Misha can come over anytime.”
“Mom will just have to buy double the supplies.”
I grinned. “Triple. Okay, time to tell me how school is going.”
Trina regaled me with stories that had me flashing to my own pre-teen angst. When I set my fork down a few minutes later, I sat back and tried to decide if it was bad manners to rub my stomach and groan a bit. “That was amazing.”
“Would you like some more?” Stephanie asked.
“No. I have to be able to function today. Thanks for inviting me.”
Stephanie carried the plates to the sink. “It’s the least we can do for you. You’ve helped our family in so many ways.”
I smiled and cleared my throat to break up the lump that was forming. Trina was a well-adjusted example of what could happen when my powers got rid of the monsters. “It was a pleasure.”
Stephanie smiled back at me, and if I wasn’t mistaken, blinked away moisture from her eyes. There would be no crying today. I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I didn’t want to think about what they had been through only a few short weeks ago. The entire shifter population had been on the brink of civil war. Griffin almost died. Griffin. Nope. Not the time to dwell on what could have happened.
Trina took my hand, and I looked into her too-knowledgeable eyes. “I want to show you something, Kyle.”
“Okay.”
“Can I, Mom?”
“Sure, honey. Go on.”
I followed her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom, where I stopped and stared for a moment. I had been in her bedroom last year, and it had obviously belonged to a little girl. Now her room was painted gray and lavender, with matching abstract swirl patterns on the comforter and chairs in the room.
“This is great, Trina.”
She smiled. “I’m going to be thirteen in a couple of months, so Mom and I redecorated.”
“Makes sense to me. You need a room for a teenager.”
“Right! Plus, I wanted to get it done before the baby comes.”
I stared at her. “Your Mom is pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“That’s great. Why didn’t she say anything?”
“She doesn’t know yet.”
I frowned. “What do you mean, Trina?”
“She doesn’t know she’s pregnant yet.”
“How do you know?”
She shrugged. “I just do. Daddy will figure it out soon, too. Shifter females’ scents change when they’re pregnant.”
Trina did have the strongest scenting ability I had ever encountered in a shifter. Maybe that was how she knew what was going on.
“Why don’t you tell her your suspicions, Trina?”
“It’s not my place.” She turned away from me and sat in her desk chair, giving it a spin, as if to change the flow of conversation. “I’m sorry about you and Griffin.”
I swallowed. Her words spun me around like she’d done to the chair. “Griffin and I will always be friends.”
Trina smiled. “I know. You’re both sad right now, but things will change. You both will be stronger for it.”
Where did a twelve-year-old get this stuff? I let the subject drop and walked to the shelving unit that now took up one wall. On the shelves were a clutter of books, a jewelry box, a skateboard, hair bands, and art s
upplies. On the wall was a poster of a bunch of small, abstract shapes close together.
I leaned closer to it. “What’s this?”
“If you stare at it long enough you’ll see another picture inside it.”
I frowned. “I’ve never been able to decipher these.”
“You’re standing too close.” She motioned for me to move farther back. “Stand right here and stare at it without concentrating too hard.”
I was about to give up when the picture moved, shapes pushing themselves outward into a three-dimensional picture of a wolf looking up at the moon. “I see it!”
“I knew you would. When you’re too close to it you can’t see the whole picture.”
“Yes, ma’am. Speaking of which, how is your wolf doing?”
“Good. The transitions don’t hurt anymore, and I feel stronger when I’m my wolf side. Thank you for helping me set her free, Kyle.”
I moved away from the poster. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Yes, you did. I didn’t think I would ever be able to change. But you helped me let go of my fear.” She grabbed my hands. “You will always be my friend, Kyle. No matter what.”
She squeezed my hands, and I marveled at her childlike enthusiasm coupled with innate, natural wisdom…except when I looked into her eyes. They gazed back at me with a mix of melancholy. As if she had a secret she wasn’t ready to tell.
I squeezed her hands back. “I’m not going anywhere, Trina.”
Chapter 33
I was still buzzing from my banana French toast sugar overload as I walked through the office parking garage to the elevator. A limo pulled up to me and stopped, blocking my path. The back window rolled down, and there was Nicholas. And just like that, my buzz disappeared.
He gave me a slight nod. “Kyle.”
“Nicholas. What brings you back to the office so soon?”
His eyebrow rose at my question. “The case. May we talk for a moment?”
The driver got out of the car, circled around the back, and opened the door for me.
“We’ve been keeping you apprised on what’s going on.”
“Yes. Misha just filled me in on your interview with Sylvia. Please, Kyle. Get in.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
