temple. Whether it was true or not, it eased his heart to think there was something beyond the physical plane, something that felt benevolent toward humans, because the gods knew there wasn’t much on the physical plane that felt benevolent toward them.
He opened the door to the entranceway, stomped the snow off his boots, then went into the temple itself.
Soft natural light filtered through snow-dusted windows. Vanilla candles delicately scented the air. The random tones of meditation bells drifted through the temple from the hidden sound system. The padded benches could be arranged in various patterns. Today they were scattered to provide seating at each of the alcoves that held representations of guardian spirits.
Mikhos, guardian of police, firefighters, and medical personnel, was in an alcove nearest the door, which made sense with the temple being so close to a police station.
Taking a match from the holder, he lit a candle in front of the alcove, then settled on the bench and practiced the controlled breathing that would clear his mind of busy thoughts in order to hear the quiet voice of wisdom.
It wasn’t wisdom but memory that filled his mind.
You shot a human to protect a Wolf
.
I shot a pedophile who had a girl imprisoned in his house. He had a knife and threatened to kill her.
You left a wounded human with one of the
terra indigene.
I didn’t feel a pulse. I didn’t realize he was still alive when I went to check out the rest of the house.
He hadn’t known the girl was a
terra indigene
Wolf. He hadn’t known the bastard he shot was still technically alive when he called for help and a medical unit and then left the girl so he could quickly check the rest of the house. He hadn’t known how much destruction a starving young Wolf could do to a human body in so short a time.
He shouldn’t have gone in alone. He shouldn’t have left the girl. There were a lot of things he shouldn’t have done. Considering what it cost him afterward, he regretted doing the things he shouldn’t have done. But shooting the pedophile? He didn’t regret
that
choice, especially after he found the bodies of six other girls.
If the girl he saved had been human, he’d still be living in Toland with his lover Elayne Borden and their daughter, Lizzy. He’d still be reading a bedtime story to his little girl every night instead of living in a one-bedroom apartment a few hundred miles away.
But he had shot a human to protect a Wolf,
and no one was going to forget that. The Toland police commissioner had given him a choice: transfer to Lakeside or resign from any kind of police work forever.
Elayne had been furious, appalled, humiliated that he had brought the scandal down on her by association, making her a social pariah, making Lizzy the victim of teasing and taunts and even pushing and slaps from schoolmates who had been friends the week before.
No legal contracts bound them together. Elayne hadn’t wanted that much structure—at least until he proved his work could provide her with the social contacts she craved. But she’d been quick enough to call a lawyer and turn his promise of support money for Lizzy into a legal document after she flatly refused to consider coming with him and starting over. Live in Lakeside? Was he insane?
Lizzy. His little Lizzy. Would Elayne allow her to visit him? If he took the train back to Toland for a weekend trip, would Elayne even let him see his daughter?
I didn’t see a Wolf
,
Lizzy. I saw a girl not much older than you, and for a moment, I saw you in the hands of such a man. I don’t know if a policeman or a father pulled the trigger. I don’t know if you’ll ever understand.
And I don’t know what I’m going to do in this place without you.
Taking a last deep breath of scented air, he left the temple and went to the police station to find out if he had a future.
----
Captain Douglas Burke was a big man with neatly trimmed dark hair below a bald pate. His blue eyes
He opened the door to the entranceway, stomped the snow off his boots, then went into the temple itself.
Soft natural light filtered through snow-dusted windows. Vanilla candles delicately scented the air. The random tones of meditation bells drifted through the temple from the hidden sound system. The padded benches could be arranged in various patterns. Today they were scattered to provide seating at each of the alcoves that held representations of guardian spirits.
Mikhos, guardian of police, firefighters, and medical personnel, was in an alcove nearest the door, which made sense with the temple being so close to a police station.
Taking a match from the holder, he lit a candle in front of the alcove, then settled on the bench and practiced the controlled breathing that would clear his mind of busy thoughts in order to hear the quiet voice of wisdom.
It wasn’t wisdom but memory that filled his mind.
You shot a human to protect a Wolf
.
I shot a pedophile who had a girl imprisoned in his house. He had a knife and threatened to kill her.
You left a wounded human with one of the
terra indigene.
I didn’t feel a pulse. I didn’t realize he was still alive when I went to check out the rest of the house.
He hadn’t known the girl was a
terra indigene
Wolf. He hadn’t known the bastard he shot was still technically alive when he called for help and a medical unit and then left the girl so he could quickly check the rest of the house. He hadn’t known how much destruction a starving young Wolf could do to a human body in so short a time.
He shouldn’t have gone in alone. He shouldn’t have left the girl. There were a lot of things he shouldn’t have done. Considering what it cost him afterward, he regretted doing the things he shouldn’t have done. But shooting the pedophile? He didn’t regret
that
choice, especially after he found the bodies of six other girls.
If the girl he saved had been human, he’d still be living in Toland with his lover Elayne Borden and their daughter, Lizzy. He’d still be reading a bedtime story to his little girl every night instead of living in a one-bedroom apartment a few hundred miles away.
But he had shot a human to protect a Wolf,
and no one was going to forget that. The Toland police commissioner had given him a choice: transfer to Lakeside or resign from any kind of police work forever.
Elayne had been furious, appalled, humiliated that he had brought the scandal down on her by association, making her a social pariah, making Lizzy the victim of teasing and taunts and even pushing and slaps from schoolmates who had been friends the week before.
No legal contracts bound them together. Elayne hadn’t wanted that much structure—at least until he proved his work could provide her with the social contacts she craved. But she’d been quick enough to call a lawyer and turn his promise of support money for Lizzy into a legal document after she flatly refused to consider coming with him and starting over. Live in Lakeside? Was he insane?
Lizzy. His little Lizzy. Would Elayne allow her to visit him? If he took the train back to Toland for a weekend trip, would Elayne even let him see his daughter?
I didn’t see a Wolf
,
Lizzy. I saw a girl not much older than you, and for a moment, I saw you in the hands of such a man. I don’t know if a policeman or a father pulled the trigger. I don’t know if you’ll ever understand.
And I don’t know what I’m going to do in this place without you.
Taking a last deep breath of scented air, he left the temple and went to the police station to find out if he had a future.
----
Captain Douglas Burke was a big man with neatly trimmed dark hair below a bald pate. His blue eyes
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