[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Rick closed the laptop.He had personal knowledge of just how bad that could be for the bitches themselves, and for the humans who came into contact with them.He reached up and scratched the scars on his shoulder.That had to be why Smythe wanted the name of his friend, the witch who had provided the counter-spell for his own were-shifting problem.To help Laura find a measure of peace from the binding of the were-taint.From his pallet, Brute whined and thumped his tail.Slowly Rick turned his head to Brute and met the wolf’s eyes.Brute was watching his hand on the scars.The wolf dropped his head to his paws and whined again.Rick frowned.He recalled little of his time with the Lupus Pack, under their control, but it had all been bad.Beatings.And worse.Stuff Rick chose not to remember.Some of it at Brute’s hands back when the were had been able to shift to human.But Rick had been there when Brute came into contact with the angel Hayyel.Maybe the angel’s presence had affected both of them, because having Brute in the corner of his bedroom didn’t seem as awful as maybe it should have.Rick slid his hand away from the scars, ridged and numb, and yet somehow burning.Brute’s eyes followed.“Full moon is coming,” he said, and Brute whined again.Rick closed the folder, dropped it to the floor, and turned off the lamp.Rolled over and pulled up the blanket.“Go to sleep.”—Morning was back to basics, which meant breakfast in the farmhouse kitchen.From the yard, as he climbed the steps, Rick could hear dishes clatter and classmates chatter.He wondered who would try to cause trouble this time.The cook frowned on weres and had tried to keep his entire unit out of the kitchen, saying that, “Animals should eat outside.” Some of Rick’s fellow trainees weren’t much better.Brute and Pea beside him, wearing red and blue PsyLED K9 harnesses, Rick entered the big room and moved to the left of the doorway, out of silhouette—instinct, to get a wall at his back.Mary, three tables down, looked over the rim of her coffee cup and nudged Walker.“Our were-animals are here,” she murmured.“I had hoped they’d be out of the program by now.”Walker pursed his lips.“I tried.”Rick reached up and touched his face.The fading bruises were no longer painful, but they had been a virulent yellow in his shaving mirror this morning.“Not animals,” he said, loudly enough to be heard by the other trainees.The room went silent and Mary blushed scarlet, the tell-tale of pale-skinned redheads.The other trainees swiveled their heads toward him, then to the couple.Rick stared Walker down and said, “A PsyLED unit.My unit.” He pretended not to see Brute’s ears prick up, and kept his eyes on Walker.He dropped his voice to a low growl and lied through his teeth, “And the next time you try to kick Brute, I’ll either let him eat you, or I’ll take you down.No chance to sucker-punch me again.” Brute chuffed and smiled at Walker, showing way too many teeth.“You may have me by forty pounds, but you won’t get back up.”The other trainees looked from the guilty couple, to the table holding the instructors and mentors, and then back to Rick.From the corner of his eye, he saw Soul put her hand on the arm of his jujitsu teacher, holding the man still.Rick winked at her, and her brows went up in surprise.“It’s okay.He’s lying,” she murmured, her words audible to Rick only because of his enhanced hearing.“And the wolf is perfectly in control.”Two tables down, a blonde named Polly stood to see Walker.Into the uneasy silence, she said, “You tried to kick his partner? If LaFleur doesn’t take you down, I will.”Brute chuffed quietly at the term partner.Pea chittered and sat up on the wolf’s back to see better, sounding pleased.The girl beside Polly leaned back in her chair and said, “And I’ll help.” She looked at Rick.“I knew he was hassling you.Sorry I didn’t step in.” She raised her voice so the instructors couldn’t pretend not to hear.“I don’t tolerate bullies.”Some of the tension Rick carried melted away as both girls patted an empty place at their table.“Come on, gorgeous,” Polly said.“You can eat with us.” She flicked a look up at Rick.“And your ugly, bruised handler too.”Rick shook his head at the ribbing.“Go sit with the nice ladies, Brute.Be charming.I’ll bring you a plate.” The wolf rolled his eyes up and Rick said, “Yeah, I know.Six eggs over easy, half a chicken, raw, and apples, quartered.Come on, Pea.Let’s go through the line.”Rick tossed the grindylow to his shoulder and turned his back on the wolf, going to the buffet.While loading up three plates, he watched in the mirrors over the serving table as Brute padded to the table and sat beside Polly, who was a dead ringer for a young Gwyneth Paltrow.Brute rested his head on her thigh and looked up at her with puppy-dog eyes.Both girls went all mushy and started petting him.It was ridiculous.Brute got more female attention than he did.And it wasn’t like Rick was ugly, despite the bruises.At six feet even, with black eyes and black curling hair, he’d been known as a ladies’ man, a player.Of course, that was part of the reason he’d been bitten by a female black were-leopard, tortured by werewolves, lost his humanity, his job with NOPD, and his girlfriend, but that was another story.Rick set Brute’s plate on the floor, Pea’s beside his on the table, and slid into the proffered seat, digging in.The eggs were perfect, and the pancakes, while not as good as his mom’s, weren’t bad, especially when he poured warm blueberry syrup over them.“Is he really a werewolf?” Polly asked, her fingers in Brute’s fur.“Yep.The only tame werewolf in the world.”“You tamed him?” she said, her tone going skeptical.“Nope.An angel named Hayyel did.”“No shit?”“No shit at all.I was there.Saw the whole thing.Pass the coffee?” The girls exchanged a pointed look and Polly poured him a cup [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]