I chuckled. “If they don’t want the higher authority involved, what makes you think they want me? They think I’m a Mage, and my kind used to keep their kind as slaves. Remember?”
“They trust me, and that includes you by default. They’ve known you since you were a little girl. My buddy Ren is impressed with your work. You saved Shifters, and that’s something they won’t forget. Ren wanted to know if this was something in your wheelhouse, but hell, I’m not even sure what all you do. He wants to know what’s involved and how much it’ll cost.”
I stared at the spilled drops of ice cream on the table. Viktor didn’t work exclusively with the higher authority. Granted, that was where the big money came from, but we did other jobs. People might not know our names or faces, but the right ones knew about Keystone. Viktor was already passing out smaller assignments. Would he let me form a small group to check this out?
“You’re not in any danger, are you?”
Crush wiped his mouth on the back of his arm and sank the spoon into the center of the ice cream. “Shifters are dying, but it was a few dead alphas that got everyone’s attention.”
My eyebrows reached for my hairline. “I thought Packmasters were strong and well guarded by their pack.”
“I didn’t say they were Packmasters. And it’s not all alphas. Some women, some children. We don’t have all the details.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not just wolves. Some of the other animal groups don’t like comparing notes, so we only know what we’ve heard. Shifters don’t report deaths to the Council. It’s not protocol.”
“But you think someone’s killing them?”
Crush studied the tattoos on his left arm. “It’s just speculation. Better than the alternative.”
“Which is?”
“A disease. I think Ren just wants to cover all bases. Even if it’s a virus,someonehad to cook it up in a lab. If it’s contagious, I don’t know what the fuck they’ll do. The higher authority will probably quarantine all Shifters.”
I stood up and went to wash my spoon in the sink. “I’m not really sure what I can do. This might be out of my scope.”
“I’m asking as a favor.”
It got real quiet, and I returned to my seat.
Crush put the lid back on the carton of ice cream. “I just want them to know that I did everything in my power to help, and you’re my everything. Only a few Packmasters know about it, and they’re not going public. They don’t want to start a panic before they’ve looked into it. Maybe it’s nothing. Ren will talk to Viktor, but I think he wants to sit down with you first and see what you think. He doesn’t want anyone else involved; that’s why he’s not going to Viktor first.”
“It doesn’t work like that. I won’t do a job without Viktor’s permission, and I sure as hell won’t work it alone.”
“He won’t want a Vamp on the case.”
“That’s not up to him.” I folded my arms. “He’ll just have to get over it if he wants my help. We have partners for a reason—we look out for each other.”
“I know,” he said, waving his hand. “I don’t like the peckerhead, but only a fool goes into danger alone.”
I tapped my chin. “Hmm. Like that time loan sharks were coming after you?”
He gave me an indignant look that we both knew I didn’t deserve, but that was Crush. He always had to be the exception to the rule, always had to protect his pride. But his grit was exactly why I was still alive. Crush had given me all the tools I needed to survive in this world even though he didn’t know at the time that I would lead a less than normal life.
“Do you have his number?” I asked.
“I’ll set up a meeting.”
“Maybe you better not. If you involve yourself and this turns out to be something, I don’t want you in the middle of it. You’re all alone out here.”
He swung his arm and pointed at a shotgun mounted on the living room wall. “See that? A man with a gun is never alone.”
“Jesus. You should be a billboard for one of those gun shows.”
He wiped an ice cream stain from his Harley shirt. “I live in a sketchy area of town and run with Shifters. I’d be an idiot not to be packing. If I’d been a banker living in some middle-class neighborhood, I might have raised you differently.”
“Bankers get robbed.”
