Page 30 of His to Claim
“Okay, what do we have?” Max asked his partner as he pulled out a pair of gloves.
“Nothing special. That’s for sure,” Logan said as he scratched his head. “Although I’ll be honest with you. I’m not entirely certain why the guy died, unless he had an underlying health condition. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you take a look at the wounds.” He led us through several police officers, who said nothing but made certain we knew they weren’t pleased at our interference.
The medical examiner was just arriving on scene, the guy looking green around the gills. He was a new hire since the former chief had been arrested only months before. That was the extent of what I knew about the guy, except he had no knowledge of the lore that seemed to be showing up more often within the city limits.
Do werewolves exist?
I could only imagine tomorrow’s news headlines.
I knelt down next to Max, careful to keep my distance. I could tell instantly what Logan had indicated. The two shots, while crippling in nature, certainly didn’t need to be deadly. My initial conclusion held merit. The poison must have leached out from the bullets. Christ. While I wasn’t feeling one hundred percent, I did feel damn lucky to be alive.
“From the looks of it, 9mm,” Logan said.
Max sucked in his breath, darting a glance in my direction. We had a connection with the caliber used. “He was dressed for bed. Any sign of forced entry?” He directed his question to a group of officers.
One of them cleared his throat, finally coming over. “No, sir, but we did find two bullet holes in the kitchen window.”
“See what you can get from the wounds while I take a look at the window,” Max said, keeping his voice low. He handed me a pair of gloves from his back pocket, growling slightly under his breath, his gaze penetrating as a warning. Be careful what I allowed others to see.
I nodded, glancing around the room before inching closer and slapping on the gloves. I eased the pajama top aside, studying the two wounds. The skin was inflamed, the veins near the points of entry appearing almost black. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say the poison was still crawling through his system. Fuck. This wasn’t a good situation. There was no way of knowing whether the bullets would have the same effect on humans, but if I had to venture a guess, they would.
Or worse.
While I’d come prepared with a makeshift collection container, there would be no way of obtaining samples at this crime scene. There were too many cops who would ask questions.
Max returned only a few minutes later, lifting a single eyebrow. “I’m going to let the police do their jobs from here.” He turned toward Logan. “You and I need to have a conversation later.”
“That’s fine,” Logan said, giving me a respectful nod. “I know you have other things to do.”
“Yeah. Other things,” Max huffed. As we walked out of the house, I could sense the man bristling. “Short range shot.”
“Definitely a 9mm,” I confirmed, keeping my voice low. “The poison is spreading even after death.”
“Which means that the instant the bullet makes contact, the poison begins to enter the system.”
“Exactly. That’s why even a clean through created a septic reaction in my body.” I climbed into the truck, wrestling with everything I’d seen.
When he closed the driver’s door, he peered out the windshield. “I’m going to need to establish a council meeting and you’re going to be there. We will deal with this shit together, for now, but Stone, you’re not going off halfcocked on anything at this point. We need to get a handle on this.”
There was no question of whether I could be there and I knew why. Fear would begin almost immediately, panic following soon after.
“Understood. What about this wolf?”
“You need to give me a detailed description of the third perpetrator. The first two are in the hospital, one in critical condition with a goddamn slash opening up half his veins on his neck and chest.” He allowed the words to sink in. “As you can imagine, that particular perp isn’t doing any talking. From what I was told, the second asshole hasn’t said more than he wants a lawyer. Hopefully, Kathleen is aware of the attack and has access to their names and who the fuck they are.” As he started the engine, I wanted nothing more than to talk with Vanessa, but that was going to have to wait.
For now.
“What do you want me to say, Max? The wolf would have killed her if I hadn’t intervened,” I snapped.
“Jesus. What a fucking mess,” he said under his breath, checking his rearview mirror several times. I’d never seen Max truly fearful. Tonight he was under duress.
“If we’re not careful, the ME involved with the autopsy will likely want to call the CDC.”
He tipped his head in my direction. “You really think this is some foreign substance?”
“What I think doesn’t matter, but what I know is that there is no known metal or other element that has a lasting effect on the Wolfen. You are well aware of the two ways our kind can be killed.”
“Now, we have a third way.”