Assuming he knew I was a hyena.
“Where’s Stone?”
“I cannot say, sir.”
“He was supposed to be coming down to my office to get my laptop.”
“I only just arrived, sir. Would you like me to get it for you?”
“I’ll get it.” I wheeled past the man and into the office. My laptop was sitting right where I said it was, on my desk.
It was on.
“Conrad?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Did you use my laptop?”
It was a simple question, but the look Conrad gave me made it seem like I had just insulted his heritage. “I would never use your laptop without permission, sir.”
I wheeled myself around the desk to look at my laptop. The moment I did, the strong coppery scent of blood flooded my senses. I held my breath as I glanced around, trying to find the source of that thick smell.
“Conrad!”
“Sir?” the man asked as he stepped into the office.
“Do you smell blood?”
Conrad sniffed the air.
It was a discrete sniff.
“I do, sir. Did you hit your desk?”
I shook my head. “It’s not mine.”
So, whose was it?
And where was it?
I scooted my chair back from the desk and looked down at the floor.
Nothing.
“Here, sir.”
I glanced up. Conrad was standing beside the bookshelf. I quickly wheeled myself over. The smell grew stronger the closer I got. “Where?”
“It’s just a drop or two, sir.” Conrad pointed to a couple of red drops drying on the edge of the bottom shelf of the wooden bookshelf.
I leaned down to wipe my finger through the blood so I could taste it—because there was no mistaking Stone’s taste—when I felt an explosion of pain in the back of my head. The floor rushed up to meet me as I fell out of my chair. The world around me faded to black before I could identify the figure looming over the top of me.
* * * *
“Come on, mister. Open your eyes.”
I groaned as the world came flooding back, the bright lights overhead blinding me. I reached up and shaded my eyes as I tried to figure out where I was, and what had happened. How had I ended up wherever I was?
