Read Online Dog with a Bone by Hailey Edwards - Free Book Online Page A

things got difficult.
    “You handle inventory.” The whisper of my voice gained force. “I’ll catalog.”
    Might as well put the phone to use. Shock had fused it to my hand. My fingers refused to let go.
    Warm lips brushed my temple. Shaw pressed the side of his face against mine, and I knew then I could survive this. A hard exhale stuttered from my lungs against his neck. I breathed in him instead.
    Reluctant as I was, Shaw was the first to break away, to reenter the room, and I followed.
    My phone’s light beam helped me find a row of switches mounted to the wall by the door. I flipped several, and fluorescent light washed over us, illuminating the horrors of the room. I slumped against the wall, eyes drawn as if magnetized to the unicorn I had first uncovered. Its silver horn glinted. Dried blossoms twined with its sterling mane.
    One by one, we uncovered them all.
    Rare fae gazed numbly through painted eyes. They posed on wooden bases carpeted with grasses or peat, gruesome trophies on display. Brassy plaques identified each specimen, detailed the proud story of the beasts’ origins and the scope of their abilities, as if the engraved reverence of those words mattered to them now.
    Faint traces of magic shimmered in the air. Faded essence from the great powers these creatures had possessed in life all but abandoned them in death. They were tragic statues, each one frozen in its prime.
    As the initial shock ebbed, a memory surfaced. “Shaw?”
    He emerged holding a spiral notebook with a pen in his hand. “Are you okay?”
    No, I wasn’t. Judging by the dark shadows under his eyes, he wasn’t either.
    “This case is bigger than we thought.” I dragged a hand down my face. “Should we be here? Should I be here? We aren’t exactly inspectors. What if we’re following the wrong leads?”
    “We’re part of a team,” he assured me. “Mr. Richardson is being investigated by the team on the ground in Odessa. The ranch and this warehouse are the extent of his holdings. Between them and us, we have both Richardsons covered.”
    Nodding, I let him go back to his list-making while I began snapping pictures of the inventory.
    I had to think of the victims as stock. I needed the mental distance.
    Distance was good. Distance meant I could do my job without breaking down. Distance kept me too busy to connect the dots between what the Richardsons had done to these creatures and what my left palm and I did to the chimera. A living, fire-breathing, natural wonder, and I had skinned it alive.
    A heavy weight landed on my shoulder, and I jumped as Shaw came to stand beside me.
    “Don’t.” His thumb smoothed over my collarbone.
    I pushed out the word. “What?”
    “Make this about you.” He led me forward into the shelter of his arms. “You’re one of the good guys. You don’t take innocent lives. You don’t hurt innocent fae or people. You’re a good marshal.”
    I buried my face against his hard chest, taking solace in his familiar scent. Not the earthy citrus one, the tempting lure, but his essence, bare skin that reminded me of sunrises and wet grass, new beginnings.
    His chin dug into my scalp when he rested it on top of my head. “I don’t know what’s changing with your magic. The magistrates kept you suppressed for so long while you were in school, it’s possible you have skills none of us suspect. We’ll learn them as we go, okay?” He drew back to pin me with his gaze. “Even if this thing between us goes south, I’m always here for you, got that? Promise me that much, Thierry.”
    Numb as I was, his words couldn’t hurt me. “You sound certain we’re going to fail.”
    “Spectacularly,” he said with a tender smile, “and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
    His lips brushed over mine softly before he faded back into the dark corner of the room to work. I raised my phone’s camera, grateful for the separation the screen gave me. Each tidy row of this grim exhibit exposed a new horror.