A Wolf After My Own Heart by MaryJanice Davidson (good books for high schoolers .TXT) 📕

That earned her glares from both men, possibly for the—uh—well, mansplaining was a thing. What could this be? Slangsplaining? Scotsplaining?

Gulo had folded his arms across his chest and took a step closer. “Are you suggesting that someone murdered her on the way to that field? And then fled the scene?”

“I’m suggesting that some shithead messed with my plane, which pisses me off to no small extent,” Magnus replied. “And I’ve no idea why, which pisses me off even more.”

Gulo shrugged again. “That’s not my purview, obviously. I’ll be submitting my report when the labs are back.”

“And when will that be?” Magnus asked.

“When the labs are back.”

“Thank you for your time, Doctor,” Annette put in hastily. She’d been so quiet, Oz had almost forgotten she was there. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or anxious that she meant what she said: it was his case; her role was strictly advisory. “We’ll leave you to it, if that’s okay with Oz.”

Was it? Yeah, that actually worked. There wasn’t much more to be learned here, and he wanted to put his idea in motion. Oz cleared his throat. “D’you have a card, Dr. Gulo?”

“Fresh out.”

Oz took one last look around the morgue, then followed Magnus and Annette back out to the sitting area, where Nadia and David were waiting.

Oz had been surprised yet again at how unlike the movies it was. There was no dramatic reveal, no whipping away the sheet to suddenly reveal a corpse. There wasn’t a sheet at all. And they wouldn’t have been in the morgue proper in the first place—a crisis counselor had met them in a small, comfortable, almost parlor-like room, with discreet photos of what was left of Sue Smalls—if Annette hadn’t pulled a little weight. So David and Nadia stayed with the grief counselor, talking about who knew what, while Oz, Annette, and Magnus went deeper into the building.

Even inside, it didn’t look like a gigantic operating room, all cold and sterile and shiny. Depending on what part of the morgue you were looking at, it could have been an ordinary office.

Television has lied to me. For years!

“All sorted, then?” Nadia asked as David put his phone away.

“No,” Magnus said shortly. “I hope we’re on the same page, lad. And if we are, I should be headed north right this minute.”

“And then south.” Oz turned to Annette. “If Game of Thrones and every graphic novel in the world have taught me anything, it’s that unless we see the body, we can’t assume they’re dead. And sometimes even if you do see the body.”

“I don’t think basing your casework on Game of Thrones is a good idea.”

“We need to get a look at the crash site.”

She arched her brows, considering. “In a perfect world, yes. But you know our boss will never okay the paperwork. Our mandate allows investigation to a point, but there’s no way he’ll sign off on a trip so social workers with no lawful authority can visit the site. Bob will tell us to leave it to the local cops.”

“Local Stable cops,” he reminded her. “No Shifters in the Lake Mills PD down there.”

“It’s still out of our purview. I hate to admit it, but Bob might be right.”

“Not our table,” Nadia chimed in. Then, almost to herself, “I cannot pull that off. I am officially declaring ‘not our table’ to be overused and off-putting.”

“Fuck Bob. I’ll pay for it myself.” To Magnus: “Will you take us? Today?”

Magnus grinned, showing so many teeth Oz felt his hackles rise in response. “So we are on the same page. You know I will, lad.”

“When can we leave?”

“Twenty-five minutes after I get to the airport. I’ll see you there.”

“Exit Magnus, and oh my. I don’t like bears,” Nadia murmured as the man marched out to the parking lot. “All that hair. Ech.”

“Two werebears are still in the room with you.” David coughed.

“And their bulky shoulders remind me of bison,” she continued. “Not yours, Annette. Your bulky shoulders are really quite feminine. The shaggy hair, too.”

“Good God,” Annette sighed.

“Bears are altogether too much to reliably handle.” Nadia was still staring in the direction Magnus had left. “But occasionally, exceptions might be made. He has his own island, didn’t one of you tell me that?”

“Nadia, jeez. The near-drooling is shit timing. The guy just lost his friends, maybe. One for sure.”

“Yes.” Nadia turned and fixed him with her bright blue gaze. She’d worked with Annette for years, he’d met her dozens of times, and still, her steady gaze was disconcerting. “His friend is dead. And that is a tragedy. Sally’s mother is dead, and the child is perhaps an orphan. Another tragedy.”

“Your point?” The worst part of whatever-this-was? She didn’t sound like Classic Nadia at all: smug and condescending and razor-sharp teasing. She sounded sad and sorry…for him.

“And you will likely meet a new orphan tomorrow, and the day after, and next month, and next year. In this job, you will always meet people undergoing the worst phase of their lives. Set your watch by it, Oz. It is disagreeably stressful, and it is your new reality. Find a way to deal, or you’ll be swallowed like prey.”

“And lusting after random weres is the way you deal?”

“That, and loads of Glenfiddich,” she confessed, which cracked him up.

Chapter 26

“This is gonna sound nuts—” Oz panted.

“Yes,” Lila agreed.

“—but will you come—”

Lila hid a smile. “Uh-huh.”

“—to a field just outside Scarville, Iowa—”

“Ready when you are.” She paused. “Wait, Scarville? Seriously?”

“Yeah, it’s a little town just outside Albert Lea. Anyway, will you come with us to see if we can figure out what happened? That’s…” Oz, who’d burst into her house and skidded to a halt in front of her, was staring at her. More than usual, even. “You’re not surprised. Not to see me, not to be invited.”

She shrugged. “It was only a matter of time before you guys actually got down to business and did something. And I told you: I’m in.”

Oz’s mouth opened