wouldn’t have to put up with crap like that from assholes with clovers shaved into their heads.”
After letting out a sigh, Cole walked through the restaurant until he could take a look through the front window. Not only was the parked car no longer there, but the cab was gone as well. Since there wasn’t a dead cabbie in sight, he guessed Steph really had just paid the guy and sent him away. “Is there a handbook or something I’m supposed to get?” he asked as he let the shades fall back to cover the window. “Because all my years of researching monsters through comic books and TV haven’t done me any good.”
Paige laughed from the kitchen doorway. “Myths, legend, and folklore have been rotting kids’ brains way before television was invented, so don’t feel too bad. Come on in here and let me get a look at you. Last night, didn’t you say you were scratched?”
Cole followed her into the kitchen, and Paige began rooting through one of the many sets of cabinets. “Yeah, but it’s not bad.”
“Well, tell me what happened again while I get a look for myself.”
While he repeated everything about what Jackie had told him in his hotel room, Paige dabbed away the flecks of dried blood from his shoulder and examined the scratches. They weren’t even deep enough to need a bandage.
Upon reaching the end of his story, Cole asked, “So what’s a Mongrel?”
“I’ll tell you more about them later,” Paige replied. “Are you sure all you two did in that room was talk?”
There was no mistaking the intent in Paige’s eyes as she waited for Cole’s answer. The expression she wore was encouraging, but also a bit scary. Cole knew he wasn’t nearly a good enough liar to get one past her when she was looking at him like that. Fortunately, he didn’t have to lie when he told her, “That’s all we did, Paige. Although, it seemed like there could have been more if I was on my game. What is it with these things all being so damn horny?”
She shook her head and laughed under her breath as she put away the medical kit. “You know how everyone always talks about the oldest trick in the book? Well,” she said with an irresistible wrinkle of her nose, “when a woman is dealing with a guy like you, that’s it.”
“Oh,” Cole grumbled. “You don’t even sound surprised that Jackie tracked me down like that.”
“It’s not as miraculous as it sounds.” She walked to another bedroom that Cole hadn’t seen before. Even though there was only a cot and a few piles of clothes, the room had a distinctly feminine feel. Paige didn’t seem to mind those feminine things being on display as she sifted through them and selected some to be thrown into an old gym bag. “Once they track you to civilization, they just shift into their human forms and follow you the old-fashioned way. After she got here, she could let you get a bit farther away and still be able to sniff you out just fine. They’re all real good at that”
“How far away can they get and still keep tabs on me?” he asked.
Paige shrugged, sniffed a black halter top for freshness and said, “Maybe five or six miles. Some of them can get as far as ten or twelve without too much problem. It sort of depends on what they shift into. That’s why Mongrels are so tricky. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Cole. You’ve held up pretty well so far. Charging in here the way you did was very…” Pausing, she looked at him and smiled. “It was very noble.”
“I thought you were going to tell me it was stupid.”
“No. The thing with the trash can lid was stupid. And the part where you shoved Steph into the sunlight…well, that was cute.”
“Looks like you’re packing for a trip. I take it we’re headed into dairy country for a while?”
Paige zipped up the gym bag. “You got it. Things may get a little rough, so if you’re serious about joining up, you could start your training somewhere safer and learn another specialty. There’s tracking, research, investigations…”
“Refrigeration, veterinary medicine, gun repair,” Cole added. “I’ve seen the commercials. So what’s your specialty?”
“I like to get my hands dirty.”
“And if I leave for somewhere safer?”
“I’ll send you a postcard from Wisconsin,” Paige replied. “One of our own trackers spotted something that could be connected to Henry, so between that and the thing at the diner the asshole with the clover-shaped hair mentioned, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
Cole took a moment to think about the choices in front of him. On one hand, there was the very real possibility that Paige was a lunatic who carried a weapon everywhere she went. On the other hand, there were other things out there that were a whole lot worse than guns.
“If you need to think it over…” Paige offered.
“No,” he replied. “I’ve already done stuff that I never thought I’d be doing without using a controller or watching it on a monitor. These things know about me. They’ve got my scent. I’m on their radar. However you want to say it, I don’t like the thought of running or hiding for the rest of my life. If I’m gonna give skinning a try, I’d like to stick with you.”
“You’re sure?” Paige asked. “Once I take you past a certain point, there really is no turning back. These things gossip and chatter worse than a group of old ladies at a bake sale. If you leave now, I might be able to help you stay hidden, and they’ll probably lose interest in a while. If you’re seen with me or others like me much longer, you’ll be tagged as one of us and nobody will believe any different.”
“I kind of figured as much. This isn’t exactly what I imagined I’d do with my life, but I got to admit…it’s pretty cool.”
Paige grinned. “I was hoping you’d see it that way.”
The gym bag hit Cole square in the chest like a kick from a mule.
“Put that in the car while I get a few more things,” she said. “Then you need to show me the hotel room where you were attacked.”
“That’s okay. There’s not much of anything left in there.”
“Very wrong, young one,” Paige said as she took on the tone of a kung fu master from a late night movie. “Your opponent leaves more than words in her wake.”
“Huh?”
“Just get moving!”
Chapter 13
It took a few trips back and forth from the car and the restaurant to get all of Paige’s things loaded up and ready to go. Apart from the gym bag, there were pots and pans, some funky cooking utensils, and some black plastic cases that just looked like bad news. Before Cole could ask what was in them, Paige started the car and revved the engine as if she was going to fly away from there without him. He barely managed to get into the car with all his limbs intact.
“You said you were at the Afton Inn, right?” she asked.
“That’s the place. Are there guns in some of those cases?”
“A few.”
Cole let it drop at that.
The sun was out in full force, but didn’t shine down with enough heat to burn through the early morning chill. Considering it was autumn in Chicago, that situation wasn’t bound to get much better. Morning rush hour was growing into a living, sprawling behemoth, so Cole let Paige drive without any more distractions. Before too long he was busy hanging onto whatever he could as she wove between other vehicles without the fear of a mortal being. Doing his best to let go of his love for life, he tried to focus on something more relaxing…like the plane ride into Canada.
He still hadn’t drawn a full breath by the time they’d parked at the Afton Inn and headed upstairs to the second floor. Normally, the cool, sterilized air of a vaguely nice hotel was enough to soothe his nerves. Places like that smelled like vacations or, at the very least, business trips where marginal food was put on the company’s bill. This time, even the faint odor of chlorine didn’t make him smile. Instead of thinking about whirlpools and saunas, he
