SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (182 page)

* * *

Jesse stood over Evelyn’s bed with mug in hand, staring down at her. Her long brown hair was a mess and glued to the side of her head with what had probably been saliva, but was now just thin white crusty stuff. The morning sun didn’t look exactly the same shining in her hair this morning as it had yesterday at the kitchen table, but she was still a knockout.

He wanted to run his thumbs along the swollen ridges of her eyelids and wipe away the salty evidence of her tears. He’d heard her crying late into the night and had called Sasha when he couldn’t figure out what to do about it. She’d told him that it was okay to cry, and sometimes you just had to get stuff out to get over it. That was just…stupid. But he hadn’t been able to come up with a better idea.

Jesse had worked with plenty of different men and women on Special Teams over the years, so it wasn’t like he only knew how to deal with Sentinels. It was just that he’d never felt so protective of someone before. Evelyn had pulled herself up by her bootstraps all her life, and he bet there were times when all that kept her going was her pride and her desire to care for those she loved. He wasn’t sure how he was feeling…it was like he wanted to cover her in five layers of bubble wrap so he never had to see her swallow her fragile pride again.

When she’d asked him about Clark wanting to fire her, he’d been more scared than when the victim’s spirit had gone supernova. He hadn’t lied…Clark hadn’t threatened to fire Evelyn for yesterday’s incident because in Clark’s mind, she was already gone. As he watched Evelyn sleep, he vowed that he would do whatever it took to make sure that didn’t happen.

Evelyn stirred, her eyes slowly drifting open and closed. Then hers eyes flashed open and locked straight onto Jesse’s. She fumbled for a pillow and threw it at his head. He caught it in one hand. “Stalker,” she grumbled. “Knock next time.”

Yeah, yesterday was a much better morning.

“Do stalkers bring…this?” He held the coffee close to her nose, and she lifted her head to get a better look at it.

She pushed her pillows into a heap behind her and sat back then held her hand out for the coffee. When he placed the Christmas tree mug in her hands, she smiled. “You’re forgiven.”

“Thanks.” He sat on the edge of the bed, not too close since he didn’t want to get in trouble again. “How are you feeling?”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “I’m doing okay. My plan is to forget yesterday ever happened and focus on our mission here. I figure I have three more weeks to show Clark what I’m made of. When we kick this cartel’s ass, the steward is going to be my biggest fan.”

Wow. Maybe Sasha was right and sometimes you just had to get the tears out. Next time someone in Blue Unit needed an attitude adjustment, Jesse would give them something to really cry about. “That’s my girl. You want breakfast before we go?”

“Go?”

“Yeah, to the shelter. We need to be back before noon. Sasha will be over at one, dressed as a cleaning lady, to help you summon Lauren.” When her face fell, he added, “Not because of yesterday. You know that was always the plan. We need to make sure that Lauren can come and go as needed. We need to start working with her on extending her stay in your body.”

“I understand.” She took a long sip of coffee.

“Just so you know, Clark called in our best tracker to help. Her name is Luna. And if she can track the latest victim’s spirit to her final resting place, we may be able to get some more answers from her that we weren’t able to get yesterday. We’ve been attempting to contact the spirits of the other victims as well, but so far, we’ve only been able to positively ID two of them. One was too weak to communicate and the other is too scrambled by her violent death.”

“Sounds like Clark has thought of everything.”

Jesse stood. “Well, let’s hope it leads to something that helps us continue to narrow our focus. In the meantime, I’m itching to get a running partner so I can start really casing the neighborhood. So get your ass out of bed, Vale, and let’s get going. I’ll see you downstairs in ten minutes.”

When he heard the shower turn on, he knew he’d have to readjust his timetable. But twenty minutes later, Evelyn came down the stairs with her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail and wearing workout clothes. They hadn’t bought her much casual wear, mostly just sexy, ritzy stuff, and her jeans from home wouldn’t do in this neighborhood if they wanted to blend in. She walked past him in gray yoga pants and headed to the kitchen to put her cup in the sink. His eyes tracked her movement the entire way.

Who the hell invented yoga pants anyway? Were they meant to do a guy a favor, or make him want to shoot himself in the head? Because he’d been attracted to Evelyn since day one, but he’d never seen her in pants like that, glued to every curve, even the crack of her amazing ass. Shit…should he even let her leave the house in those? How was every guy in Parkfield County not going to follow her home like stray dogs looking for a tasty snack—just like Haveland tried to do yesterday.

Maybe that had been Jesse’s fault for planting the seed, but he’d meant it as a joke. Then when he’d been listening to the steward with one ear and heard Eric trying to pick up on Evelyn with the other, he’d wanted to bust his nose wide open. The fact that Haveland already had a bloody nose is all that had saved Jesse from making a fool out of himself.

On the drive to the shelter, Evelyn had taken out her reading tablet and perched a cute little pair of wire-rimmed glasses on her nose. It wasn’t fair. There were several women in his unit and he never dwelled on what they wore—just how well they fought. But he looked at Evelyn and his cock twitched. He’d never been able to resist the sexy librarian look.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses,” he said. “Was that in your profile?”

She looked up at him, all sheepish. “I don’t.”

He nodded, his face turning red in the effort not to laugh. “Then what are those clear things over your eyes?”

“They’re magnifying readers. They just give me a little boost. My vision is 20/20.”

“You know what they say about denial…”

She was already back to reading on her tablet, totally absorbed in something. She didn’t even let him finish his joke. If he’d had his motorcycle, he wouldn’t have had to sit on his ass with nothing to do but stare at the good doctor while the car did all the driving.

She was flipping through pages so fast he couldn’t imagine she was actually picking anything up. He gave her another five minutes of silence, but then he had to ask, “What are you reading?”

She looked up, squinted at his face like he was blurry, then took off her glasses. “Any original research I can get my hands on that might help me figure out what happened yesterday. There have been similar experiences reported in a few countries, but most of it is just stories relayed by people who were there during a supposed event, not proper clinical studies.”

“Okay… Well, let me know if you find anything good.”

Jesse didn’t like to get too deep into the supernatural stuff because he lacked any gifts in that area. No, he preferred planning and carrying out missions that involved actual ass kicking, and all the better if he got to be on the ground, kicking said ass.

In an effort not to stare at Evelyn and let his mind wander to what was under those yoga pants, he spent the most of the drive on his comm device, checking in with Gage. He could tell when Evelyn put down her tablet and relaxed back into her seat that she was listening to his side of the conversation. Sure enough, when he signed off with Gage, she looked over at him. “Everything okay in your unit?”

“Yeah, it’s running smooth.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m surprised Clark would choose a commander for this assignment. Shouldn’t you be back supervising your men?”

“I have people keeping an eye on things, but everyone knows their jobs and they’re well paid for what they do. It’s not like the military used to be, where they got paid shit and half the guys couldn’t wait to get out. If they don’t like what they do or they aren’t good at it, I fire them.”

“Hmm…” Her expression told him she thought he was being a hard ass.

“That’s just how things are done at Immortal Bounty. It’s contract work and we get paid commission, yeah, but we’re also given the legal authority and responsibility to police our citizens, and I don’t take that lightly. You’ve studied this long enough to know that our organization is, hands down, the best line of defense against all the shit that can—and has—gone wrong since The Great Collision.”

“I know that, Jesse.” She smiled wryly. “I just get a little twitchy when I hear the word ‘fired’.”

Their vehicle began to slow on the street where the county animal shelter was located, and he met her eyes. “I know you want this job, and I know you’re going to be great at it. Stop worrying…please.”

Her worry kept reminding him of what a mess this was. He and Lauren still hadn’t talked about the events surrounding her death. Did she even trust him anymore? And if Lauren—his partner on so many missions—didn’t trust him, why should Evelyn? He knew he had a little pull with Clark, but was it enough to get the steward to keep a woman on staff who he believed was a danger to self and others?

By the time they pulled up to the shelter, Jesse was beyond ready to get out of the car. Between his growing attraction to Evelyn and his guilt over both her and Lauren’s situations, sometimes he didn’t know if he was coming or going. He jumped out of the car as soon as it switched gears into park, but he managed to be polite enough not to leave before Evelyn got out.

“Laura, baby…” He waited to say more until he saw recognition in her eyes. In public, they were now Jessop and Laura Martin. “You take the kennels to the south, and I’ll take the kennels to the north. We can identify likely candidates and meet back in the reception area at ten o’clock sharp.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” She saluted and then smiled sweetly. “I mean…yes, Jessop, my love.”

“Smart ass,” he mumbled under his breath, and tried not to watch her back end sway as she walked away.

Jesse walked to the north end of the shelter and began peering into the kennels. There were certain criteria that needed to be met. Number one, the dog couldn’t be a dick. If anyone was going to get bit today, it would be the dog. Number two, the dog needed to be athletic so he could keep up with Jesse on long runs. Number three, it needed to be an outside dog. And number four, he would prefer a dog that would keep an eye on Evelyn. It never hurt to have an extra set of eyes.

Jesse walked down the aisles, reading the signs on the bars and inspecting the dogs within. Too old. Too short. Too mean. Too girlie. And then he saw him.
The one.

This dog was athletic and had a sleek blue-gray coat with a couple of large white patches on his back and chest. His head was big and blocky with ears that hung down, but not too far. Evelyn would like those velvety ears. But what Jesse liked was the intelligence in this dog’s eyes, not to mention his thick chest and the rock hard muscles on his hind legs. This was a warrior’s dog.

The tag on the kennel said he was a two year-old pit bull mix named Caesar, and they’d already cut his nuts off so he was ready to go home. Caesar had been available for two months but no one wanted him. Jesse felt a twinge of guilt thinking about dropping the dog off here a month from now, but at least the mutt would have a little joy in his life while it lasted.

When the attendant walked by, Jesse flagged her down. “I’ll take this one.”

* * *

Evelyn had intended to start at the south end of the shelter. She really had. But then an employee walked by with a quivering bundle wrapped in an old towel. “Aww…” she said to the man. “Can I see the puppy?”

The man shook his head. “I’m sorry, ma’am. This isn’t a puppy, and she’s not available.”

She was curious now, especially when the bundle wriggled and the dog’s head came free from the towel. “Oh!” she said before she could catch herself. “It’s uhm…”

“Yeah, she’s sick. And old. Princess Leia isn’t up for adoption anymore.”

“Why? Are you taking her to the vet?”

The man started to look annoyed. “Not exactly. I’m sorry, I have to get to work.”

“Wait!” Evelyn called after him. “You’re not putting her to sleep, are you?”

He sighed and glanced at the ground before steeling himself and meeting her eyes. “Ma’am, I’m not looking to debate you. The fact is, there are too many strays for us to house and the government keeps cutting our funding. We don’t have enough food to go around. If we kept the sickest and oldest dogs, we wouldn’t be able to take in the ones who have a better chance at finding a home.”

“That’s why I’m here, you know—to adopt a dog. And she’s…uh…pretty much exactly what I’m looking for.”

“Did I mention her breath?”

She narrowed her eyes and glared at the man. “Just let me see the dog.”

He stepped back. “Be my guest.”

Evelyn picked up Princess Leia in her arms and pulled the towel back. “Well, hello, little princess.”

The poor old girl was shivering so hard in her makeshift blanket that she practically vibrated in Evelyn’s arms. She looked to be some sort of Chihuahua mix—the size of a Chihuahua, with a tan coat and long tufts of darker hair over her ears and above her tail. Her doggy smile was…interesting, to say the least. She had a severe under bite and several of her teeth looked like they might need to be pulled due to decay. She was so skinny, the bones of her hindquarters protruded. But with those teeth, it was a wonder little Leia could eat at all. The man hadn’t been wrong about her breath. It could be used as a chemical weapon.

“What are these patches of raw skin here?” Evelyn pointed to the dog’s stomach and hind quarters.

“Probably mange, but you can ask the vet. You get a free vet visit with any adoption.”

“Mange? I thought there was a cure for that.”

He snickered. “There’s a cure for most things these days. All it takes is money, and that we don’t have.”

She met Leia’s eyes and the dog squirmed, releasing her bladder all over the towel and Evelyn’s arms. “I’ll take her.”