of things. So you can go back to... wherever it is you came from." I frowned. "Where did you come from?"
"New York."
"Just now?"
His lips twisted in what should have been a smile but wasn't. "No, originally."
Which explained the slight accent - the Bronx maybe, I wasn't sure. A Kansas girl who'd spent the last few years in the forest chasing werewolves didn't have too many opportunities to check out the accents of hot Irish men from New York City.
"Have you lived here long?" I turned away, using a hefty stick to poke up the fire.
"You never told me your name," he countered. "Do you have some kind of ID?"
I continued to stir the fire, considering what I should say. It wouldn't hurt to give him my name. I had DNR ID in my back pocket. The resources of the J-S society were far-reaching, even downright amazing in some cases. But why was he so interested?
"What are you?" I countered. "A cop?"
"Actually, yes."
I let out a yelp and spun around. Damien Fitzgerald had disappeared as if he'd never been.
The woman who stepped into the clearing wore a sheriff's uniform. She was both tall and voluptuous, which annoyed me on sight, and she walked with a confidence that bespoke someone who could take care of herself, even without the gun. Her dark hair had been cut short to frame an attractive, though not exactly pretty, face.
Her gaze took in the wolf pyre, then lifted to mine. "You must be the Juger-Sucher."
Chapter 3
I winced and glanced around the clearing. " Shh," I snapped.
Her eyebrows lifted. "Who do you think's going to hear me? The raccoons?"
"There was a man - " I frowned. "Didn't you see him?"
"No. You were talking to yourself when I got here."
"I was not. There was a man." I waved my hand. "He was wearing pants."
"Always a good choice."
"But nothing else."
"Even better. The last time I met a naked man in the forest it was the start of something big."
"He wasn't naked. Completely."
The woman shrugged. "Too bad. Where'd he go?"
"I don't know."
"You're sure there was a man?"
Was I? Yes. Definitely. I hadn't lost my mind since... I'd found it the last time.
"He said his name was Damien Fitzgerald. Don't you know him?"
"Can't say that I do. But then Mandenauer and I just got here last week. From what you're telling me, he sounds like a prime candidate for the fanged and furry club."
Finally I heard what she'd said, what she'd been saying. She knew about the Juger-Suchers, the werewolves, Edward. The guy I was supposed to train had just turned into a girl. "You're..."
"Jessie McQuade. And you must be Leigh, my trainer."
I scowled. We'd see about that. I could think of few things I'd like to do less than teach this spectacularly competent woman all my tricks.
"You are Leigh," she said.
I grunted.
She took that as a yes. "Mandenauer is waiting at my place. Follow me."
Without so much as a by-your-leave, she kicked apart the remnants of the fire and stomped on the cinders. Then she marched back in the direction I'd come.
My gaze scanned the clearing, but there was no sign of the half-naked man. I even hurried to the place I'd last seen him and crouched in the leaves to examine the ground for a footprint. But the earth was hard and he'd been wearing... hardly anything.
A wolf howled near enough to make me jump, far enough away so that I followed Jessie at a walk instead of a run. I wasn't going to let her, or them, know just how spooked I was.
Had there been a man named Damien? Probably.
Was he merely a man? Or had he been more? I might never know that for sure.
Jessie's place was an apartment located in a small complex adjacent to the sheriff's office. I parked beside the squad car and followed her up the flight of stairs to the second floor.
"Are you really a cop?" I asked. "Or is this just pretend?"
"I'm a cop."
She didn't elaborate and irritation flared again. Jessie got to do her chosen job while she saved the world.
I got to pretend I was a warden and earn the scorn of every community.
But I couldn't exactly be a werewolf hunter and a kindergarten teacher. The very thought was ludicrous.
The door sprang open before she could touch it, and a tall, emaciated silhouette spread across the hall floor.
"Edward," I murmured.
Jessie cast me a quick, surprised glance, and I realized I'd said his name aloud in a delighted voice