"Because if you were, you couldn't be human." He gave me that flat, searching gaze.
"My blood work is on record."
"You carry, at last count, five different types of lycanthropy, which isn't possible. The whole idea of lycanthropy is that once you get it, you can't catch anything else."
"Yeah, I'm a medical miracle."
"How can you carry active lycanthropy and not shapeshift?"
"Just lucky, I guess." Actually, I didn't know for sure, but we'd begun to suspect it was the vampire marks that I carried as Jean-Claude's human servant. It was as if his control and inability to change shape were shared with me. I didn't care what kept me from shifting; I was just happy for it. If I ever shifted for real, I'd lose my badge. I'd be considered unfit for duty due to disability.
"It makes you more than human-strong, though, doesn't it?"
"You'll turn a girl's head complimenting me like that," I said.
"I've seen your fitness reports, Blake; don't be coy."
"Then you know I can pretty much lift weight until the mass of the weight to be lifted exceeds my body mass. Any other questions?"
He looked at me and tapped his finger on the edge of the file that had held the photos. "Not right now."
"Good." I stood up.
"The preternatural branch of the service is becoming more and more its own unit; did you know there's talk of forming a new branch of service altogether?"
"I've heard the rumor," I said, looking down at him.
"Some of the preternatural branch marshals are just killers with badges."