Will huffed and threw his gloved hands up. “You squid sucking—erg! Stay still!”
“What’d you call me?!” Victor whirled on my friend, the ugly gash on his cheek gaping, bottle raised as a weapon.
Neo leaped forward to intervene, but Will just shot Victor a flat look. My friend was an enormous bear of a man (who did actually happen to be a bear shifter) and wasn’t easily intimidated.
He sneered at the wiry thug. “I’d love to see you try.”
“Wha’ever.” Victor scoffed and spun back to face me before taking another swig.
Will rolled his shoulders and pressed his lips together. “May I continue?”
Victor snorted.
“Oh, a grunt, very civilized. I suppose that’s a yes.” My friend went back to fixing the guy’s cut-up face.
I watched Will’s enormous hands fly. It never ceased to amaze me how such thick fingers could do such delicate work. Will had been one of, if not the, top surgeon in Bijou Mer, the capital of the Water Kingdom, before his temper got the best of him at a dinner party with the island’s elite.
He’d shifted into bear form, and it’d killed his career. Depressed, he’d quickly lost his home—everything—and had to go to the shifter mob boss, Ludolf Caterwaul, for a favor.
Ludolf had set Will up with this clinic in exchange for a monthly protection fee (which just kept Neo and his goons from vandalizing the place) and for patching up his people when they got hurt. Which was often with these idiots.
I leaned against the wall and sighed. Will now used his skills to heal pets and familiars and shifters—since normal magical folk were so prejudiced against our kind. But he was so talented—he deserved so much better than this hole in the wall down a dark alley.
I, on the other hand, had done everything in my power to fly under the sonar with Luldof Caterwaul. I wanted nothing to do with him or his “favors.” I shuddered at the thought of owing anything to a man like that.
Neo, also leaning against the wall, slid closer to me, his strong cologne masking the exam room’s scent of lemon cleaner, blood, and booze. I raised a hand to my face and sneezed.
“So…, Jolene….”
I tried hard not to roll my eyes. If he tried to ask me out after drawing a wand on me and acting like I couldn’t speak for myself, I’d kick him in the shin. I admired the shiny new boots I’d bought with the bonus Peter had given me for going above and beyond on the case we’d worked together. It’d be a shame to scuff the toe over a guy like Neo.
He glanced over at me—or rather my chest—and I resisted the urge to hike my T-shirt up higher. “I heard a rumor about you.”
Oh, boy. Here it came. I glanced up into his chiseled face and gave him a simpering smile. “That I punch people who spread rumors about me?”
He glared at me. “That you’re hanging around with cops now?”
Will choked, and we both looked over at him. He snatched the glowing green bottle from Victor, threw his head back, and took a swig. He slammed the bottle on the metal table and shot me a heavy look that reeked of “I told you so.”
I rolled my eyes. Will had been warning me for the last week, ever since I worked with Peter, that Ludolf was bound to find out and that there’d be dire consequences. Blah blah blah. Which, though annoying, had given me time to come up with an excuse for an occasion just such as this.
I waved a hand and turned back to Neo. “Me? Nah.”
He lifted a brow with a scar running through it.
I shrugged. “I witnessed that murder last week—you know the one where the lady flew out of the window?”
He just shrugged.
Yeah. It was tough to keep track of all the murders in the Darkmoon District.
I raised a nonchalant brow. “The cops just came by for a statement, that’s all.”
“Mm-hmm.” Neo’s eyes searched my face, then he turned to face the other guys and spoke loudly. “I told everyone it was just a rumor.” He lifted his brows. “I knew that would be ludicrous, seeing as cops are mortal enemies to us shifters.” He shot me a pointed look. “But it’s good to hear you deny it from your own lips.”
I raised my brows. “Which you can stop staring at.”
His throat bobbed, and his eyes grew wide for just a flash.
Three knocks sounded from behind me, ringing against the metal door to the alley.
“Hi! Is Jolene there?”
My stomach tightened. Peter—the cop—was here. Now. Not good.
Will’s enormous eyes got even bigger, the whites showing all around as he flashed me a wild look. He pressed his pale lips together behind his scruffy beard, a vein popping in his temple. I felt tempted to remind him that if he popped a blood vessel, he was the surgeon and no one else would be able to help him.
Neo’s expression grew grim. “Who’s that?”
Sacha, the boulder of man to my left, reached for his wand.
Will curled his lip at me in a snarl. “Yes, Jolene.” His words came out taut. “Who is it?”
Heidi popped her head through the swinging door, her black braids dangling over her shoulders. “Sorry to interrupt.” She scrunched her nose up in a big smile. “Jolene, you have a, uh—someone wants to see you.”
“Who is it? He looking for us or—” Neo reached for his wand and leaned to the side to see past me.
“I believe he asked after me.” I winked at him. “And none of your business.” I twiddled my fingers at Will. “See ya later.”
He flashed me a bright smile, though his
