Shifter Wars (10 page)

“‘Evil thrives amongst us

Angels descend, preparing for battle

Key of Knowledge in hand

With it the tides turn

And light will triumph.

“‘The war will be long

And fraught with treachery

Lives will be lost

And the Key will change hands’”

When he finished I looked at him to continue. “And…”

“And I have been able to interpret the last two lines of the second stanza.”

My breath left me in a rush. I closed my eyes and he continued.

“‘Only the true keeper will

Save us from annihilation.’”

After a moment of silence, I opened my eyes and found Father Brown staring at me. “Does any of it make sense to you?

“Maybe. I don’t know for sure. What about the third stanza?”

“Not yet. My prayers have not been answered.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had been working on the translation of that second stanza for months and finally decided to pray that my eyes would be opened. Two nights later, the words came to me in a dream.”

I swallowed. Who was I to doubt a dream? “Keep praying, Father.”

Chapter 12

I had just gotten back from my visit with Father Brown when Jason called. He was picking me up early since he had errands he needed to take care of before we went to the body shop. So I dressed in a pair of jeans, a black sweater, plus the black work boots I normally wore when working. Even in the summer they came in handy for those calls where slime or supe body parts were involved. This job was definitely
not
an open-toed shoes gig.

I climbed into the cab of Jason’s truck, which was thankfully warm, and handed him a traveler’s mug of coffee.

“Thanks.” He took a sip.

“No problem. Where to now?”

“I have to drop off some case evidence at the facility and then sort through some files.”

My stomach dropped. “Oh. Will Doc be there?”

He looked at me before starting the truck. “I don’t know. Is there a problem?”

“No, no problem.” No problem…other than I had not spoken to Doc since I ran off without a word last August. Doctor Sabrina Miller was the only real female friend I had, and by now she was probably mightily pissed at me. Not that I could blame her. I was in for an earful when we did come face to face.

We drove through a warehouse district to an abandoned-looking area. Which was the way the team liked it. We had even gone so far as to post biohazard signs to keep people from snooping around our storage facility. When Jason drove into the back bay area and it was empty of cars, I let out a sigh of relief.

He picked up a box from the back of the cab, and we walked through the storage area where we housed anything supernatural that popped up in our cases.

“What’s in the box?” I asked.

“A dagger infused with demon’s blood, a couple of deactivated energy bombs some demon twins made for their school science project, and a bag of chocolate-covered pretzels.”

“Chocolate-covered pretzels?”

Jason didn’t answer me as we walked up to the lab door. Instead, he typed in a series of numbers on the touchpad and the door slid open. I always loved that. Misha said it reminded him of
Star Trek
. The lab looked much the same. Beakers, microscopes, empty—thank goodness—autopsy tables. We stepped in, and he set the box down.

“So what’s the deal with the pretzels?”

He sighed and turned to me. “They’re for Doc.”

I smirked. “
Really
?”

Jason’s face flushed slightly. “Yes, really. Sabrina likes them, and I owe her for sewing me up after those vamps attacked me last summer.”

It was one of those memories I wished I could forget. “True. But I would think you would have paid her back by now.”

He avoided eye contact. “Well she saved my life. I think I may need to keep her in chocolate for the next few years.” He picked up the box. “I’m going in the back to look through the files and shelve these. You okay up here?”

“Sure.”

I sat down and closed my eyes for a second. I was slipping too easily into my old routine, and I didn’t like it. There were people I would have to face sooner or later, including Nicholas, my old boss, and Sabrina. Would Sabrina forgive me for taking off?

I took out my phone and searched the web…Thomas Wilson, Key of Knowledge, Joe Dalton…my OCD trifecta. Nothing new appeared.

My search was interrupted when the lab door swished open. “That didn’t take you long.”

I turned. It wasn’t Jason.

Sabrina was one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. She reminded me of a Swedish supermodel, which made sense since she was a Succubus demon. Right now, she was a beautiful and mad woman. I stood up and shoved my phone into my pocket.

“Doc. It’s good to see you.”

“Kyle.” It was the extent of her response. She stared at me.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” She hung her coat on the hook next to the door.

She wasn’t going to make this easy, but I didn’t expect her to. “For running off and not saying goodbye or contacting you in the last six months.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

Ouch.
“All right, Sabrina. Lay into me, already. This cold shoulder routine isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

She walked over and dropped her purse on the chair. “You’re right.” And then she grabbed me and yanked me into her arms. I gasped. Sabrina and I were not touchy-feely by any stretch of the imagination, but I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed hard. My throat closed while tears threatened to fall. I pushed back from her and smiled, blinking back the moisture.

She smiled back. “Stupid bitch. Don’t ever do it again.”

“Okay, I deserved that one.”

“Let’s go in the back and sit down for a couple of minutes.” I followed her down the hall into her office. We both sat on the couch. “So how are you doing?”

“I’m better,” I said.

“I’m sorry about Joe.”

“I’m just happy he’s well now.”

Sabrina leaned forward. “If I had known what was going to happen, I would have never pushed you toward him.”

“Don’t. None of us could have known. Yeah, he doesn’t remember me, but the alternative was worse.”

“So Misha got you to come back, huh?”

“You knew I was back?”

“Yeah.”

I cringed. “Sorry I didn’t call you right away. I was being a chickenshit.”

She grinned. “Glad you said it so I didn’t have to. Have you found out anything about this case yet?”

“We’re investigating the body shop where the poacher who kidnapped Trina worked. So far we don’t have much.”

“I heard the transport got hairy the other night. Was anybody hurt?”

“They used some kind of sound gun which incapacitated the shifters, but the effects were temporary. And Jason got banged up a bit.”

Her eyes sharpened. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah. He had to get a few stitches on his face, but he’s fine.”

“Good.”

I stood up and walked over to her desk. Jason had left the pretzels there. “Jason brought you some chocolate.” I turned around and held out the bag. My mouth fell open when I got a good look at Sabrina. “Are you blushing?”

“No!”

“Holy crap, yes you are! What the hell is going on?”

“Nothing.”

I sat down next to her on the couch. “Do you like him?”

“Don’t…don’t be ridiculous.”

“Sabrina. You are a Succubus. Seducing men is part of your nature. Why are you stammering like a twelve-year-old with her first crush?”

She sighed. “He’s different.”

“How so?”

“Most men pretty much have one thing on their minds when they’re around me.”

“Hel-loooo? You are a walking condom commercial.”

She scrunched up her nose. “I know, but believe it or not, it gets old. Sure, the first century or so, you’re flattered by all the attention. But I want a male who actually listens to what I have to say instead of just acting like he cares so he can nail me.”

“And you think Jason is this guy?”

“He hasn’t tried to lay a finger on me. He listens to me and brings me little things, like chocolate.”

I whooshed out a breath. “I’ll be damned.”

“Enough about me. What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You’ve been spending time with Griffin. Is the spark still there?”

“I’m here to help Trina. I’m not thinking about anything else.”

“Kyle. Listen to me. I know it hurt when you lost Joe. But he’s not dead. He’s moving on with his life, and you need to do the same.”

I nodded. She didn’t need to know I had just now been stalking him.

“I’m not saying you have to fall in love with Griffin. But if there’s something between you two, explore it. It’s all right if he’s your rebound guy. Besides, I bet he’s great in bed.”

I didn’t argue with her. Even with my compulsion to watch over Dalton, I had to face the fact that I was attracted to Griffin. I couldn’t deny it anymore, especially when I realized how incredibly relieved I was to learn Sabrina had never slept with him.

Chapter 13

Jason and I parked right in front of the body shop and walked into the office. Once again, the front area was empty, the smell of burnt coffee tainting the air.

With a weird sense of been-there-done-that, I called out, “Hello?”

This time, instead of Jim coming around the partition, Bruce stepped in. “Morning, you two.”

“Good morning,” Jason replied.

“Sorry about no one being here to greet you. Monica is on vacation. She always deserts me in February to go somewhere warm for a couple of weeks.”

I gave a thumbs-up. “Smart woman.”

“Yeah.” Bruce rubbed his hands together. “So let me get a look at your truck.”

Jason reached into his pocket for his keys. “Do you want me to drive around back?”

“No, it’s okay. I like to examine it in daylight the first time. Give me a sec.” Bruce walked away and came back with coat in hand, shoving his arms in as we stepped outside.

Bruce circled the truck slowly, examining the dents and rust spots. After a minute he looked up at us. “The good news is it’s not a lost cause. There are spots which need some work, but once those are fixed, I think it would just be a paint job. I’ll know more once I can get it up on the lift. Can I see the engine?”

“Sure.” Jason popped the hood.

Bruce leaned over the side and poked around for a couple of minutes before straightening. “You did a good job on this.”

“Thanks.” If I wasn’t mistaken, Jason’s chest puffed out a little.

“Did you help him with it?” Bruce asked me.

I smiled. “No, I met him afterward.”

“Why don’t we go back into the shop and write up a preliminary estimate of what I think needs to be done? Then once I get the truck up on a lift, I can give you the full-blown estimate.”

We followed him inside, and Bruce led us around the counter to a desk that made mine look uber-tidy and clean. He plopped down and gestured to two guest seats, then finally located an estimate form.

“Do either of you want a cup of coffee?”

“Only if you let me brew a new pot,” I answered.

Bruce laughed. “Help yourself. The supplies are in the drawer by the coffee pot, and the sink is around the wall to the left.”

I sauntered out to the reception area and the coffee pot, took out the old filter and coffee grounds, and chucked them into the garbage. Taking the carafe with me, I walked past the partition to the left and found a small kitchenette area, where I dumped the old coffee and rinsed out the carafe before filling it with fresh water. I stopped for a second when I heard a voice on the other side of the partition. It sounded like Jim Smith.

“Stop calling me at work! … I know, but I don’t have it.”

He slammed down the phone, and I hurried back over to the coffee maker so I wouldn’t be caught eavesdropping and put the pot on to brew.

Then I ambled back to Bruce and Jason. “Coffee will be ready in a couple of minutes.”

Bruce looked up from the estimate form. “Great. Let me finish this. I’ll have to wait until Monica gets back to give you a written estimate.”

I smiled. “Do you have the program on your computer?”

“Yeah.”

“Scooch over and let me see.”

He let me sit down and then pointed to the icon. I clicked it. The program was relatively easy. The various services and parts were in a picklist with corresponding prices. I got to work entering the information already listed on his paper estimate. After a couple of minutes I stopped typing.

“What else do you need on here?”