for the spell, like illegally obtained human body parts.”
“I’m just plain ordinary human, you can’t kill a human being like you can a monster or a witch. I know my rights.”
“Normally, you’d be right. If you were the owner of an herb shop, or a new age store, and you sold someone books or crystals or what have you, then you’d be safe under the law, but it’s illegal to sell human remains outside of very special circumstances. It’s also illegal to fuck about with the remains of people’s loved ones. It could mean that this entire place gets closed down, all because you got greedy.”
“I didn’t . . . I would never . . .”
“Would never what, Harold?” I asked, voice almost a whisper, leaning so close that our faces almost touched.
His eyes got frantic for a second, and I thought he was going to tell us the truth, but then something harder and more stubborn filled his eyes, and I knew I’d lost him.
“I do my job, that’s it.” He sounded angry.
I sighed and stepped back. “We don’t have time for you to be stubborn, Harold.” I motioned Nicky forward like I’d given up a partner on the dance floor so he could cut in.
He moved like the mountain of muscle that he was, and almost growled, “My turn.”
Harold stayed stubborn and firmly innocent, until Nicky put his face next to his and ripped off the eye patch. Harold made a yip sound.
“I can smell that you’re lying,” Nicky growled, and meant the growl now. The warm, prickling energy of his inner lion trailed off him and made me shiver.
“I didn’t do anything illegal.” Harold’s voice was a little high pitched, but he was standing firm.
The heat of Nicky’s beast ramped up, spreading through the room like invisible bathwater, hot and ready for a soak. I had to take some deep breaths to keep my own inner beasts from rising to the surface. We didn’t have time for my metaphysics to get out of hand.
Harold screamed.
His boss stood up from his chair behind the big desk. “What did you do to him? Even if he’s guilty, I won’t let you abuse him.”
“I didn’t touch him,” Nicky said in a voice that was almost too low to understand. “Not yet.”
“Get him away from me! Get him away from me! I’ll tell you who I sold it to, I’ll tell you everything, just don’t let him hurt me.”
“No one is going to hurt you, Harold, I’ll see to that,” his boss said, all indignant.
Nicky stood up and looked at the other man with an eye that was pale gold with an edge of orange around the pupil. “Sweet Jesus, what are you?” the boss asked.
Nicky opened his mouth to show the very beginnings of pointed teeth to match the eye. Boss Man screamed and put his chair between them, as if that would help.
Nicky gave a little bow and let me step up and take Harold’s information, while he found a bathroom so he could get himself back together. Eyes go first for most shapeshifters, but sometimes when the teeth start to change it’s harder to stop the process. Nicky would be fine, but teeth meant the bones started to reshape, and that can be a little weird to watch the first time. No reason to scare the civilians.
Harold told us everything we needed to know and more, and none of us had laid a finger on him. Let’s hear it for teamwork.
* * *
—
We thought Zerbrowski would have to stay behind with Harold to make sure he didn’t warn anyone, but when Zerbrowski called for backup, a uniform showed up in moments. Maybe luck was on our side, or maybe it was on Justine’s side. I said a quick prayer of thanks and for her to hold on. Right now I owed the Hendersons a debt I could pay; if she died, I’d owe them forever.
The address Harold had given us was only a few blocks away from the Fabulous Fox Theater, where