Page 70 of A Wolf After My Own Heart
She arched her brows, considering. “In a perfect world, yes. But you know our boss will never okay the paperwork. Our mandate allows investigation to a point, but there’s no way he’ll sign off on a trip so social workers with no lawful authority can visit the site. Bob will tell us to leave it to the local cops.”
“Local Stable cops,” he reminded her. “No Shifters in the Lake Mills PD down there.”
“It’s still out of our purview. I hate to admit it, but Bob might be right.”
“Not our table,” Nadia chimed in. Then, almost to herself, “I cannot pull that off. I am officially declaring ‘not our table’ to be overused and off-putting.”
“Fuck Bob. I’ll pay for it myself.” To Magnus: “Will you take us? Today?”
Magnus grinned, showing so many teeth Oz felt his hackles rise in response. “So weareon the same page. You know I will, lad.”
“When can we leave?”
“Twenty-five minutes after I get to the airport. I’ll see you there.”
“Exit Magnus, and oh my. I don’t like bears,” Nadia murmured as the man marched out to the parking lot. “All that hair. Ech.”
“Two werebears are still in the room with you.” David coughed.
“And their bulky shoulders remind me of bison,” she continued. “Not yours, Annette. Your bulky shoulders are really quite feminine. The shaggy hair, too.”
“GoodGod,” Annette sighed.
“Bears are altogether too much to reliably handle.” Nadia was still staring in the direction Magnus had left. “But occasionally, exceptions might be made. He has his own island, didn’t one of you tell me that?”
“Nadia, jeez. The near-drooling is shit timing. The guy just lost his friends, maybe. One for sure.”
“Yes.” Nadia turned and fixed him with her bright blue gaze. She’d worked with Annette for years, he’d met her dozens of times, and still, her steady gaze was disconcerting. “His friend is dead. And that is a tragedy. Sally’s mother is dead, and the child is perhaps an orphan. Another tragedy.”
“Your point?” The worst part of whatever-this-was? She didn’t sound like Classic Nadia at all: smug and condescending and razor-sharp teasing. She sounded sad and sorry…forhim.
“And you will likely meet a new orphan tomorrow, and the day after, and next month, and next year. In this job, you will always meet people undergoing the worst phase of their lives. Set your watch by it, Oz. It is disagreeably stressful, and it is your new reality. Find a way to deal, or you’ll be swallowed like prey.”
“And lusting after random weres is the way you deal?”
“That, and loads of Glenfiddich,” she confessed, which cracked him up.
Chapter 26
“This is gonna sound nuts—” Oz panted.
“Yes,” Lila agreed.
“—but will you come—”
Lila hid a smile. “Uh-huh.”
“—to a field just outside Scarville, Iowa—”
“Ready when you are.” She paused. “Wait, Scarville? Seriously?”
“Yeah, it’s a little town just outside Albert Lea. Anyway, will you come with us to see if we can figure out what happened? That’s…” Oz, who’d burst into her house and skidded to a halt in front of her, was staring at her. More than usual, even. “You’re not surprised. Not to see me, not to be invited.”
She shrugged. “It was only a matter of time before you guys actually got down to business anddidsomething. And I told you: I’m in.”
Oz’s mouth opened and closed like a trout on a dock, until he finally came out with “You areterrifying.” Which would have been annoying, save for the admiration in the man’s tone.
“And you’re late. I’ll bet Berne is champing at the bit to get into the air or the Shifter equivalent.”
