fake shit they’ve got set up here. But the real deal.”
The Everglades were a protected territory. Nobody can hunt there. Not humans. Not us. Why would the kid think to try? Yeah, there were plenty of wild animals, but still.
Although the forbidden aspect was probably part of the appeal.
Sitting out in the car, resting my head on the steering wheel, I tried to work that piece of information through my aching head.
It wasn’t exactly a quick hike, going to the ′glades, but if the kid was spiking, he’d already have some of the were traits, including speed and stamina. Eventually, even the carriers grew into some of that. They’d never have the full array of shifter gifts, but they’d be stronger than humans, faster. If he was spiking, he could make that trip pretty fast even if he was on foot. Depending on what breed of cat he was, it might even just be a quick jaunt in the park.
The door next to me slammed shut.
“Chang offers his apologies once more.”
I lifted my head and turned the key in the ignition. For the past ten minutes, Damon had been out there talking with the club’s owner—Chang, I assumed. Yeah, yeah. I don’t care.
“I feel like I should say I’m sorry, too,” he added.
I revved the engine and took off flying down the road. I needed to go by my office. Wouldn’t hurt to make a few phone calls. I had contacts with the police forces: mortal, Banner and ANH. More than likely, though, one of my ANH or Banner contacts would be the one who would have inside info on anything related to this.
“He asked me to give you this.”
Something white appeared in my line of vision.
And stayed there.
As I slowed for a light, I took the card and tore it into tiny little shreds. Dumping the bits and pieces in the cupholder that I used as a catchall, I shot Damon a look. “Do me a favor. You’re an asshole. Don’t pretend to be otherwise. You’re willing to throw my ass under the bus to find this kid. Fine—I get that. The Alpha is ready to murder to find him. Maybe if I had a nephew, I’d be willing to do the same. I don’t know. You’re willing to rough me up to make sure I understand the rules of your very fucked-up world. Fine. Don’t go getting all bent out of shape because of some perverted bastard decided he’d grab my tits and shove his dick against my ass.”
I shot him a narrow look. He stared at me with a stony look on his face.
“You sent me in there as a target—they see me as human, and I had no weapons, nothing,” I said and the words sounded even more stark, thanks to the ruin of my voice. “They saw a target, that’s how I was treated. End of story. Don’t act all sorry about it when it happens.”
Silence fell in the car.
Finally.
Chapter Five
By the time seven o’clock rolled around, I couldn’t have been any more desperate to call it quits. The sun was still burning in the sky, there were still calls I could have made, but I had several irons in the fire and that was going to have to be enough for now.
I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, my throat was killing me and my head wasn’t much better. The ache in my arm had faded fast enough and the headache was stress-related. All in all, if it wasn’t for my throat, I guess I’d come through the day well enough.
Spinning around in my chair with my back to the bastard shadow, I took a moment to massage my temples and then I touched the skin of my neck. It felt hot—swollen and bruised, pretty much what I’d expected.
I’d already checked it out when I went to the bathroom earlier. One place he didn’t follow me, thank God. I’d taken some Motrin, hoping it would help with the inflammation, although it didn’t do much for the pain.
It looked just as bad as I’d figure it would
Angry red marks and ugly black bruises stood out against pale flesh. I now looked like somebody had tried to smash my throat in—imagine that. There was also bruising along the right side of my face where he’d slammed me down against the trunk, but that wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.
Shutting down my computer, I pushed back from my desk and started shoving files into my bag. There were various police