“You’re welcome, Snow.” I winked at her and watched the fire in her eyes burn brighter.
“Right. Well, I’ll bring back your stuff, and if you ever need a good detective, I owe you a favor for saving me.” She walked over and held her hand out for a shake. I looked down at her hand and back up to her face. I was the troublemaker of the coven, and I had a feeling my story with this woman was only beginning. My fingers wrapped around hers in a gentle shake before gripping tighter and pulling her body closer to mine.
My lips pressed against hers, and that’s when it happened: the little shock that reverberated down my body then came back up to tingle against her mouth.
Her energy fed mine and held me captive. Even in the few seconds our lips were touching, I knew this was something different.
Something wild and untamed.
Chapter Four
Echo
“Great.” I rubbed the charred plant between my fingers. Having figured out which island I had been captive on, I got on a boat and made my way there, only to find the building destroyed. I’d heard all about what supposedly went down here a week ago—Hero Society had stopped a man that was a danger to humankind. The building got blasted in the process. Griffin Enterprises would be starting to create a replica in another week, because the fort was part of Seahill’s history.
I stood from my crouched position and looked around at the rubble. Nothing. I had no clue as to what they wanted from me, and the only word I had to go on was the Hero Society’s, who could be lying to everyone.
Some people were happy to have them running about in the streets, cleaning up the mess that we at the Seahill P.D. were already working on, and some were not, scared of what they didn’t understand. They were afraid of the freaks with powers, who could break into banks and steal, or do worse.
Tension between the two sides of people were growing. As of right now, things were stable, manageable. I truly hoped it stayed that way, not just because my city would turn to chaos, but for my own protection. I was a freak, just like some of the people were screaming in the streets about.
I sighed and walked back to the boat, knowing there wasn’t anything else I was going to get here. I’d have to talk to the Hero Society soon, and find out what they knew about my captors.
The ride back to the mainland was easy. With the weather being colder and no winds, the waves were almost non-existent. I wasn’t much of a water girl anyways, always preferring the forest to the sea.
I tied the boat into its designated spot at the marina, making a mental note to message Ryan, the owner, that it was back, safe and sound. I was the detective on the case that had found Ryan’s daughter after she’d gotten lost in the woods three years ago. He said if I ever needed anything, he owed me. I never took people up on their offers for favors. It was my job, and I wanted to help people. But this time I needed a boat, so I called it in.
My boots crunched on the gravel as I walked back to my Camaro. Time to head home, eat something, and run over the files Chief Dillon gave me this morning.
Light fluffs of snow started to fall as I drove back to my apartment, making people extra cautious on the road. It was nice that people were being careful, but the decreasing speeds made what should have been a fifteen-minute ride a thirty-minute ride home.
I smiled slightly to myself when I saw that the parking spot next to the little garden was free. A neighbor and I competed for the spot on a regular basis, both of us wanting that extra foot of space for our car.
“You snooze, you lose, Kevin.” I grinned as I pulled in and parked in the coveted spot.
Just as I was walking into my building I saw Kevin’s car pull into the lot and stop in front of my car in his shiny red Lexus. My smile grew even bigger as I walked inside the lobby and up the stairs to my home. I always chose the stairs over elevator. Better exercise, and I would be the first to admit I had control issues. Elevators were beyond my control—they could break, and there wouldn’t be jack I could do about it.
Once inside my apartment I tossed my keys on the little table by the door and took off my black boots. My apartment wasn’t anything special: a one-bedroom, one-bath, with a shower tub combo and the basics. A television, couch—no dining table because I either ate at the bar or on the couch. My bedroom had a king-sized bed because sometimes my animals liked to take shape and spread out, so I made sure I had a bed big enough for the majority of them. I had one picture in my whole house, and that was one of my parents and me when I was ten. We’d gone on a trip to the zoo, and it was one of my favorite memories of us together. Other than that, the only personal touch to my apartment was my big book shelf that was filled with books about animals. Ever since I could change, I started soaking up as much information as I could about all the animals of the earth. I knew their strengths, their weaknesses, and how I could work with being an animal.
Otherwise, that was it for my home. I wasn’t there too much; work kept me busy and I liked that. I did some stuff on the side for people, too, depending on what they needed.
I opened my fridge and pulled out a frozen dinner, tossing it into the microwave before I tossed my leather jacket on the bar stool that faced the living room.
By the time I set my files on the coffee table and walked back to the microwave, my food was done. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, parked my ass on the couch and got to work.
When I opened the folder up, I saw all the info on a missing woman’s case.
Janie May. Twenty-three years old. Librarian. Blonde, curly hair that came down to her lower back. Green eyes, voluptuous figure, but seemed like a quiet type of personality.
Parents, Claudia and Joe, reported her gone last night. Her room in the apartment she shared with a fellow coworker was trashed. Not Janie’s style, so it seemed plausible that there was foul play. Someone took her, trashing the place in the process, or maybe she left, and the room was trashed after the fact. I’d seen it before. First thing in the morning, I’d talk to the parents, the roommate, coworkers—get a feel for who she was and what was happening in her life.
I’d also scent her and could use my powers to help figure out some clues that normal humans couldn’t.
An hour passed as I went through everything I could find out about Janie in the files, online, and her parents’ statements. My stomach growled, and I looked over at the untouched microwaved food. Work got the best of my mind again; I completely forgot to eat my food.
I sighed, knowing it would probably taste like shit if I heated it up again, but I stood up and went into the kitchen with it anyway.
Taking a break from the case, I turned on the TV to watch the news for a bit, just to make sure nothing was happening in our city that I needed to know about.
“He just grabbed my car with that super-strength, and now I have to have the whole front of my car repaired.” A woman, who was bundled up in a thick jacket and hat covering her blonde hair, was complaining to the reporter standing next to her.
“His statements claimed that your brakes were broken and were about to crash into a crowd of people, so he stopped a disaster from occurring,” Brent, a popular television personality, stated, and the woman gave him a distraught face.
“Tell that to my sore neck and broken car!” The woman looked into the camera and really played up the victim role to the viewers.
“Thank you for your side, ma’am. Hero Society: for the good of mankind, or a danger to the public? Give us a call and let us know your thoughts. Until next time, this is Brent Joel with Seahill News 4 on your side.”