“Shit, Coop. That’s a helluva greeting.” Ignoring the gun still pointed at his chest, Vic Trask shoved past him and headed for the living room. “I mean, I know you said call, but…”He stopped suddenly in the doorway to the living room, his words trailing off as he took in the young man sitting on the sofa, draped in Lamar’s too-big clothes. “Crap. I guess I don’t need to ask if I’m interrupting something.”
Swinging the door closed, Lamar snorted. “Not what you’re thinking, man.” Nudging Trask the rest of the way into the room and stepping around him, he made the introductions. “Detective Vic Trask, this is Aeren. Aeren, this is my usual partner, Vic.”
Trask stepped toward him, hand outstretched, but Aeren’s eyes widened and he shrank back. His breathing sped up as he stared around the room, looking for an escape.
“Aeren? What’s wrong?” Lamar asked, confused. “He doesn’t want to hurt you.”
Trask stopped in his tracks and took a large step backward. “He’s not human, Coop.”
“No shit,” Lamar huffed, reaching Aeren’s side and laying his hand on the bare skin at the nape of his neck. “What’s wrong, kiddo?”
“He can tell I’m not either, Coop.” Trask’s words caught his attention. “He knows I’m a dragon.”
Aeren’s wide eyes locked onto Lamar’s. “You know?”
“That he’s a shifter? Yeah. Why?” He huffed at his friend. “Damn it, Vic, would you tell him you aren’t going to hurt him?”
“Of course, I’m not,” Trask agreed immediately. He walked across the room and sat in the recliner, hoping that offered enough space to help Coop calm the boy down. “I understand why you’re scared, but you’re safe with me.”
Lamar eased onto the sofa, tugging Aeren down beside him and letting him hide against the cushions as he turned to his partner. “So, want to tell me what the surprise visit is about?”
“I had some thoughts on that question that you asked me the other day,” Trask said carefully. “Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I’d swing by.”
Even though Trask paid no attention to Aeren as he spoke, Lamar caught the hint. Before he could think of how to frame his response, the doorbell rang again. “That must be the pizza.”
Trask stood. “I’ll leave you to your dinner. Give me a call when you have a minute.”
“I’ll walk you out while I get that,” Lamar offered. “You’ll be okay?” The last bit was for Aeren, who nodded. “Good.”
Accepting the pizza at the door, Lamar shoved a twenty at the driver and waved off his change. Setting the pizza on the counter, he walked out to the curb with his partner. “Let me guess what you came up with?”
Trask shrugged and laughed. “Sure. Why not?”
“Shapeshifter.”
Trask nodded. “Not bad.”
Lamar sighed. “Tell me something?”
“Sure.”
“Is Aeren one?”
“You mean a shifter?”
Lamar nodded.
Trask shook his head emphatically. “No. No chance. The scent is all wrong. Some kind of Fey, I’d guess, but not a shifter.”
Lamar exhaled long and slow. “Thanks. That matches what he told me.”
“You want to tell me about it?”
“I really do,” Lamar said with a wry laugh, “but not out here. Can you come to the precinct tomorrow?”
“Sure. Just let me know when.”
“Will do.”
Trask’s assurance that Aeren was definitely not a shifter lifted a weight that Lamar hadn’t even realized he was carrying. Turning back into the house, he grabbed the pizza in one hand and a couple of beers in the other on his way to rejoin Aeren in the living room.
