Heart and Soul by Jackie May (reading list .TXT) 📗

be unleashed. I want to run and pounce and snap my teeth. But at the same time, I feel relieved to see Jay asserting himself over me. If he’s ever going to be the alpha of our pack, then it’s important for me to respond appropriately to this kind of aggression. It’s up to me to foster his confidence. And so, even though I don’t feel any natural urge to submit, I lower my eyes, staring down at my feet. “Well, I’m out of shoes, so…”

Brenner pulls me into a bear hug. I cling to him desperately, not caring that we have an audience. “We’re all frustrated,” he says. “We’ll think of something.”

Russo walks down the hall to retrieve my shoe. “Brenner, you do realize, of course, where a case like this would end up, if we were in Chicago?”

Apparently, Jay hadn’t realized shit, because he has to think about it for a moment before answering, “Right in our laps.”

“I don’t get it,” I say. “Narco squad? What does this have to do with drugs?”

“Not the drugs part,” Russo says. “The undercover part. This is textbook. We got intel on an actionable item, but your snitch can’t remember the details, so we gotta get a look at that thing for ourselves. We go out and get our own invite to this secret place.”

There are many obvious reasons why we can’t go down this path with Russo. Hillerman jumps on the only one we can actually tell him. “We’re known to these people. Won’t work.”

“Not me,” he counters. “I’m new in town. I could be anyone we need me to be.”

My heart revs to life. The entire scheme unfolds in my mind’s eye, and I know it will work. Hillerman—curse the woman—recognizes that look in my eye and says firmly, “Not a chance.”

“But think about it. He’s perfect for the type of community we need to infiltrate. Imposing figure, arrogantly handsome, refined, and filthy rich!”

Russo cocks his head. “Rich?”

“We can fake that.”

Jay brings up the tougher one. “Refined?”

Russo gives a belly laugh. “I know, right?”

“I have a way, trust me.”

“This isn’t a matter of trust,” Hillerman says. “I have full confidence that you could pull this off. It doesn’t hurt that Detective Russo does, in fact”—her face flashes with color—“that he looks, as you said…”

“What, that he’s handsome to a degree of justified arrogance? Is that what you’re saying?”

Russo beams proudly. “Whoa, now, better pump those brakes.”

“I’m only agreeing that he would absolutely fit in. But this community, as you put it, is notoriously, dangerously private.” Her threatening look screams at me to drop the subject.

“Okay, so, executive decision. I’m telling him,” I announce. Hillerman stiffens, and Jay shifts his weight uncomfortably.

“Agent Davies, you are not saying a word, and that’s an order that comes down from On High, as far as you’re concerned. This conversation is over.”

“I’m sure by now you know exactly where you can shove your authority, Special Agent Hypocrite. If you can recruit a vampire master, then I can recruit a human. Look, Nora Jacobs took out Elijah, and we eliminated King Paul. Beyona’s got to be desperate for another recruit for her necromancy ring, so let’s give her one. We need a high-powered sorcerer nobody knows. With a little help, Russo can knock that shit outta the park.”

“Shayne,” Jay warns.

“I’m not waiting for another bomb, Jay. We need to do this, and we need to do it right now. You said yourself he’d believe. He’s got it mostly figured out all by himself. Look at him. I just mentioned vampires and sorcerers, and he hasn’t batted an eye.”

Jay tries again. “Shayne.”

“Russo, it’s all true. Everything you’ve heard, everything you’ve suspected about the supernatural world—it’s real, and it’s here in Detroit. That’s what we’re dealing with. Vampires and werewolves, magic and monsters, okay? You always knew it. You could almost feel it, couldn’t you?” I scrutinize Russo’s reaction, which is…nothing. He seems completely unaffected, which scares me, because it means he’s waiting for me to deliver a punch line. He thinks I must be joking.

“Shayne,” Brenner says for the third time, “I already told him.”

“You…what?”

“He was there. At the crime scene. He saw Nick Gorgeous shield me from the blast. There wasn’t a scratch on him. How do I explain that?”

“Wait, does Nick know he was seen?”

“No. Russo didn’t bring it up until we left.”

Hillerman stares at Russo with a strange look, almost as though she’s afraid of him. “You’ve known for the past hour? But, you don’t…”

“I don’t what?” he asks calmly.

“You don’t…” Hillerman looks him up and down. It’s like she can’t believe what she’s seeing. “You don’t seem any different.”

“Different, how?”

I help her out. “She means, you don’t have a pitchfork in your hands. See, for most humans, the only way they find this out is…”

“Like me,” Jay says.

“Like us,” Hillerman adds.

Russo nods gravely. “Right. I get it.”

“I doubt that,” she fires back.

“No, I do.”

“You can’t. I’m sorry, it’s just not that simple. I think it’s better for all of us if you walk away right now and consider this whole conversation a stress-induced joke.”

I peel my socks off. “Yeah, no. Russo, look at me. What she means is this isn’t some shadow you thought you might have seen when you were half asleep, and this isn’t a story that you heard from a guy who knew a guy whose grandpa once had a conversation with a tree. This is broad-ass daylight, walking and talking among you, right under your nose.” I pull my T-shirt over my head. “This is your best friend’s fiancée, who you’ve seen every day for weeks, who you loaned your old truck to.” I push my pants and panties down my long legs. “Don’t look away. Do you see me blushing? Just keep your eyes on mine. If you don’t see it actually happen, your brain will find ways to reject it.” Standing in the buff, I smile with no hint of embarrassment. “Russo, this is me.”

With a shiver