let’s get some meat and then I’ll drop you at a motel. I need to talk to the temporary Alpha here in Boulder about some business, but then tomorrow morning I’ll need you to drive with me to Kansas. We should be back before Ahmad gets here and I want to hear more about your experience in that cave before he starts to grill you for details. Bring your guns. I’ve already loaded up a duffel with silver ammo.”
I nodded and turned away from Sue as I felt her encouragement that I go with Lucas. I couldn’t deny that a little mindless action would keep me sane right now. And I’ve found that wherever Lucas went, action seemed to follow.
Chapter Five
THE HORIZON WAS barely edging to blue from black as we headed down into Kansas under a starless sky. “Remind me again why we’re here at such an ungodly hour? When you said tomorrow, I’d assumed you meant in broad daylight. And I was pretty sure you mentioned us driving.”
Lucas shrugged. I only knew because I heard the fabric of his shirt rustle against the seat. His scent gave away nothing. He was a blank slate, which told me he’d prepared for this trip by putting on that blasted cologne. It was handy when I was wearing it, but annoying when others did. I’ve noticed that I’ve started to consider the ability to scent emotions as nearly necessary, which is probably a mistake. Any crutch you rely on too much can be dangerous.
It was still full dark at, according to the altimeter, eight thousand feet and dropping. The lights from the instrument panel bathed us both in an eerie glow, but it wasn’t enough to see much more than broad movements. “Plans change. Peter, the local Alpha, had to cancel on me because work went nuts and he couldn’t get off early. Then Amber confiscated my old office for a meeting with the local seers. I tried to get some sleep and wound up having nightmares.”
Time to change the subject, because frankly, I don’t really like people sharing dreams. They’re often odd and have little meaning outside of the person’s own psyche and experiences. Plus, having graduated college with a psych minor usually made me listen and comment, which wound up a bad idea on nearly every occasion. “So what’s the scoop with the reconstruction? We going to have actual offices soon so I don’t have to keep wading through stacks of paperwork in my office in Chicago?” Wolven was going through a rough time right now. They either had a mole in the group, or someone managed to get access to the building in Paris, because the whole place was bugged to the nines. Computers had signs of having been cloned, files had fingerprints that didn’t match employees, and some folders were flat missing. Nonessential, nonclassified files had been moved to the headquarters of the wolf councilman—
my boss, Nikoli. That’s another reason why it sucks to be Lucas right now. He’s having to simultaneously interview agents and side employees like cleaning crew, while constantly having to deal with “scope creep” from council members with their own agendas. Naturally, I’d been the prime suspect. Duh. The thing is, though, I’m strongly in favor of Wolven’s existence, so I really don’t want to see it fail and have anarchy take over. I’d like to think that your average human could truly handle the concept of shapeshifters, but I know better. It’d just be a newer, shinier version of racism and, speaking as one who would likely be discriminated against, I’m against the idea.
Apparently, I have several supporters on the council, although I can’t imagine why. But the heat on me died down nearly as quickly as it started.
The frustrated sigh told me the answer without him continuing, but I let him anyway. “Going slower than I’d like. It’s as much the where as the when. We’d planned to move operations to America, but it’s meeting opposition. Paris was a very cosmopolitan city, so agents of different nationalities and accents could come
I nodded and turned away from Sue as I felt her encouragement that I go with Lucas. I couldn’t deny that a little mindless action would keep me sane right now. And I’ve found that wherever Lucas went, action seemed to follow.
Chapter Five
THE HORIZON WAS barely edging to blue from black as we headed down into Kansas under a starless sky. “Remind me again why we’re here at such an ungodly hour? When you said tomorrow, I’d assumed you meant in broad daylight. And I was pretty sure you mentioned us driving.”
Lucas shrugged. I only knew because I heard the fabric of his shirt rustle against the seat. His scent gave away nothing. He was a blank slate, which told me he’d prepared for this trip by putting on that blasted cologne. It was handy when I was wearing it, but annoying when others did. I’ve noticed that I’ve started to consider the ability to scent emotions as nearly necessary, which is probably a mistake. Any crutch you rely on too much can be dangerous.
It was still full dark at, according to the altimeter, eight thousand feet and dropping. The lights from the instrument panel bathed us both in an eerie glow, but it wasn’t enough to see much more than broad movements. “Plans change. Peter, the local Alpha, had to cancel on me because work went nuts and he couldn’t get off early. Then Amber confiscated my old office for a meeting with the local seers. I tried to get some sleep and wound up having nightmares.”
Time to change the subject, because frankly, I don’t really like people sharing dreams. They’re often odd and have little meaning outside of the person’s own psyche and experiences. Plus, having graduated college with a psych minor usually made me listen and comment, which wound up a bad idea on nearly every occasion. “So what’s the scoop with the reconstruction? We going to have actual offices soon so I don’t have to keep wading through stacks of paperwork in my office in Chicago?” Wolven was going through a rough time right now. They either had a mole in the group, or someone managed to get access to the building in Paris, because the whole place was bugged to the nines. Computers had signs of having been cloned, files had fingerprints that didn’t match employees, and some folders were flat missing. Nonessential, nonclassified files had been moved to the headquarters of the wolf councilman—
my boss, Nikoli. That’s another reason why it sucks to be Lucas right now. He’s having to simultaneously interview agents and side employees like cleaning crew, while constantly having to deal with “scope creep” from council members with their own agendas. Naturally, I’d been the prime suspect. Duh. The thing is, though, I’m strongly in favor of Wolven’s existence, so I really don’t want to see it fail and have anarchy take over. I’d like to think that your average human could truly handle the concept of shapeshifters, but I know better. It’d just be a newer, shinier version of racism and, speaking as one who would likely be discriminated against, I’m against the idea.
Apparently, I have several supporters on the council, although I can’t imagine why. But the heat on me died down nearly as quickly as it started.
The frustrated sigh told me the answer without him continuing, but I let him anyway. “Going slower than I’d like. It’s as much the where as the when. We’d planned to move operations to America, but it’s meeting opposition. Paris was a very cosmopolitan city, so agents of different nationalities and accents could come
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