Daisy growled. Liar! Whatever you’re saying, you’re lying!
Peter looked at his dog, then at me and, apparently putting it together, chuckled.
Chief McCray threw her arm around Bon’s shoulders and hugged him tight to her side, jostling him. “Well, look at that! Incredible, just incredible! Don’t you think, Inspector?”
Bon, whose shoulders were hunched up into his large ears and arms pinned to his sides, scowled. “Amazing.”
She let him go, and he edged away from her. “You know, I asked the inspector to call you three up here because I particularly wanted to meet you. I hear you helped take down ol’ Taylor.”
She shot me a pointed look that lingered a little too long. I rolled my shoulder. Her sudden shifts from casual and jovial to observant and focused were unnerving. I was going to have to stay on my fins around this one.
Peter and I exchanged looks. Did McCray consider it a good thing that we’d exposed the previous chief’s misdeeds? Loyalty among the police was expected by many. There were quite a few cops who’d supported Peter, but I knew that many felt he and Bon had betrayed the police brotherhood code of protecting their own.
She smirked. “Taylor’s been a pain in my derrière for the last decade!” She nudged Bon with her elbow. “Now I’m gonna be this guy’s pain in the rear.”
Bon curled his lip in a sad attempt at a smile. That couldn’t be comfortable. “Flint, we’ve got some business to discuss with you—privately.” He shot me a glare.
Geez. I could take a hint. I turned to Peter. “I’ll catch up with you later.” I pointed at him. “I’m definitely in on this case.”
He grinned. “Glad to hear it.” His smile faltered and he lowered his voice. “Are—are you alright to get home alone?” He glanced at Bon, then back to me. “I’m sure this won’t take too long. If you wait till I’m off duty, I can walk you back down?”
I grinned, touched by his thoughtfulness and also sort of exasperated by this new concern for my safety. “I’m fine.” I squeezed his arm. “But thanks.”
He watched me, a crease of concern between his brows, until Bon startled him out of it. “Flint! My office—now!”
He jumped. “Okay. Talk to you soon.”
I gave Peter a little wave goodbye as he and Daisy headed off. It’d be a long walk down the mountain, but I’d be fine. I thought of my warm bed—it’d keep me moving.
I was ready to collapse from exhaustion; it’d been a long night, and the first rays of dawn were lightening the cloudy sky when I arrived back at my door. The streets were empty, save for some rats and the ever-present smell of sewer. Keys in hand, I was reaching for the knob when I recognized the slightly askew t carved into the metal.
“Snakes!”
I’d been summoned to go see the mob boss of shifters—Ludolf Caterwaul.
10
SUMMONED
I tromped through the sewers behind Viktor, who skipped ahead, kicking up sludge, and Neo. The giant brute of a man, Sacha, marched along behind me. Just where I wanted to be in the wee hours of the morning after a long night—traipsing through the cold, damp, smelly sewer tunnels with Ludolf’s dream team of goons.
My head ached and my body felt heavy. Stupid summons. I thought of the mark carved in my metal door. I didn’t have powers, so I’d had to bribe Will with ramen the last time this had happened to magically erase it. I was already on thin ice with my landlady, so this was just what I needed.
I huffed and called ahead to Neo, who’d grown up in the orphanage with me. Heidi thought he had a crush on me, but I found that hard to believe. Which may have just been due to his lack of skills with the ladies.
“Does Ludolf have to be this dramatic?”
Neo cast a glance over his shoulder at me, the torch he held casting sharp shadows under his cheekbones. “Dramatic?”
I rolled a hand. “The underground lair, the rune carved in my door…” I arched a brow. “Couldn’t we just meet for drinks or something?”
Behind me, Sacha snorted out a laugh, and Neo shot him a dark look. He shook his head. His hair was shaved on the sides, with the long top slicked back—it didn’t even move. How much product did the guy use?
“You should show more respect.”
I huffed. “Oh, please.” I rolled my eyes as I followed along through the sludge in my old boots—no way was I ruining my new ones with sewer water. Rats and cockroaches scuttled by along the sides of the rounded tunnel. “So what’d I do this time?”
Was this about me and Peter dancing in the rain a couple of weeks ago? We’d nearly done more, but I’d caught Neo spying on us and it’d ruined the moment. He’d probably scuttled off and told Ludolf that I’d been fraternizing with a cop—the most dreaded enemy of shifters. Or something like that.
Not like being a shifter was technically illegal, but it practically was. Shifters knew not to trust cops—that they’d bust you on any excuse. I’d grown up thinking this way my whole life—until I’d met Peter. He was one of the good ones.
Neo’s shoulders stiffened and a long pause followed, filled only with the sounds of our wet footsteps and an echoing drip. “You’ll soon find out.”
“Ha!” I grinned. “Which translates to, you have no idea and just do his bidding without asking questions. Oh, blind allegiance—it’s a beautiful thing.”
Neo spun around and jabbed a finger at me. “You should have more allegiance to your own kind!”
Anger burned in my chest. “Is this about me and Peter the other night?”
His taut cheeks flushed pink.
“Is that why I’m being called down here?” My nostrils flared. “You always were a tattletale.”
Viktor giggled up ahead, half soaked with sewer water as he skipped along.
“Shut up,” Neo snapped at him.
“You know, green’s a terrible color on you.”
Neo
