She popped up onto her toes to examine his shoulder, which was bleeding.
“This is flesh wound,” he said solemnly. “Do not worry.”
The wolf made a low growling noise, then shifted back to his human form as he regained consciousness.
“On your knees!” I ordered, training my gun at his head. “Cora, see if the driver has any tape or rope in the emergency kit.”
We tied rope around the wolf. It wouldn’t hold a healthy shifter for long, but the wolf was undernourished and injured. He started babbling in a language that sounded like Russian, something that was confirmed when Alexei answered him. Russian was one of the five languages the three bear brothers spoke.
“He claims he doesn’t speak English,” Alexei translated.
The rest of the team rolled out from underneath the bus as Alexei interrogated our prisoner.
“He is contractor. Someone pulls him from prison in Siberia, brings him here to help kill players,” Alexei continued. “He is one of many. They give no information why there is a hit. This wolf only wants to escape prison and have the new life they promised.”
“So whoever wants to hurt us is either a shifter or able to control them, and probably not from the U.S.,” I surmised. “Ask about who hired him.”
After a few minutes of back and forth Alexei said, “He does not know the name. He gets assignments by text, then money is transferred through app.”
I sighed. That was no help at all.
“I’d better call this in to Lois. Someone is bound to have called the cops by now.”
Ruby
Ithought for sure we’d be stuck in Centralia for hours, but not long after the local cops arrived on the scene federal agents swooped in and took over. Lois’s work, Cassie explained.
“Shifters can’t go to a human jail,” she said. “They need special handling. These feds are part of a supernatural unit of the FBI.”
Alexei had been unsuccessful in getting any more information from the shooter. His claim to be a contractor who didn’t know his boss seemed true enough that Alexei and Cassie believed him, but if there was anything else to learn from him, they assured me the feds would get it out of him.
The bus was eerily quiet the entire way back to Seattle, all of us shaken up by what had happened. I wasn’t an anxious person as a rule, but I shuddered every time I remembered Cassie shovingme under that bus and facing the shooter. I knew it was her job, and I knew that Alexei was the one who actually caught him, but it didn’t make what happened less scary.
When we got back to the stadium, Cassie loaded us into the Sapphic Security SUV and drove to the office so we could debrief with the team. We filed into a large conference room with several agents I hadn’t met yet. As soon as Lois entered the room, her eyes flew to Alexei.
“You too Alexei? Damn it, what do you think I’m doing here? Staging the Super-freaking-Natural Dating Game? Maybe we can broadcast it on that Hulu channel to make money since you idiots are going to ruin our chance to have any future clients!”
The older wolf’s criticism made Eleanor puff up with protective anger. She placed one hand on Alexei’s arm, her claws showing, and growled at Lois, who simply laughed at her.
“Take a chill pill, little wolf. Your bear can defend himself.”
Eleanor immediately shrank back, lowering her eyes.
I didn’t pretend to understand supernatural politics, but it was interesting to me that all the creatures in the room deferred to Lois. It seemed like more than just her being the boss. At one point in the meeting she let out a low growl and every person in the room immediately shrank back and fell silent, including Cassie and Alexei.
By the time we were done at Sapphic Security the events of the past few days were hitting me hard. Between playing a tough three game series in Portland, with the stress of traveling, us being shot at, and spending several nights staying up way too late having sex with Cassie instead of sleeping, I was a weird combination of wired and exhausted.
Alexei and Cassie agreed that Alexei would go home with Eleanor while Cassie stayed with me. I wasn’t sad about it. It had only been for that one night but having two extra people in my house had felt like a lot. Also Eleanor and Alexei could scarcely keep their hands… paws?... off each other right now and it was becoming a little bit uncomfortable.
“I know it’s too late to take a nap, but I’m hoping for a quiet night tonight,” Cassie said as we entered my condo.
With a finger on her lips, she scanned all the rooms for listening devices or explosives while I followed her. As soon as she gave me the all clear, I threw myself at her, catching her by surprise. Cassie took a step back from the impact of me crashing into her, her back connecting with the wall, and I pulled her head down to give her a hard, desperate kiss.
“You could have been killed today,” I whispered when I pulled away. I trailed little kisses down her neck, my body pressed against hers as if I couldn’t possibly get close enough to her.
“It’s my job,” she reminded me, her voice the tiniest bit breathless.
“I don’t care.”
