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  He spoke before she could voice any other objections. “No one’s even sure if this type of unit will work out.” His voice held a touch of kindness. “But if anyone can make it work, I have every confidence that you can.” Hearing the dismissal in his voice, she turned and left the office.

  Too bad I don’t have that confidence in myself, she mused as she returned to her tiny office on the other side of the bullpen. The bare, stingy room, at the moment, had no door to slam, though she had been hounding the drones in maintenance about it for six months now. Instead she kicked at the rickety desk chair in frustration. With a creak of sticky wheels, the chair rolled about four inches before coming to a halt.

  The office smelled stale, as it always did; the filtration system in the building was old and over-burdened with the scents of old coffee, leather duty belts, and often unclean suspects. Her sensitive nose, as always, picked up the coppery smell of human blood, a scent that would forever plague her. To give herself a moment to settle, she sat at her desk and thought about history as she had experienced it.

  ~~”Wolves cannot be trusted. There remains too much of the animal in them.” She clearly heard Aegon’s voice, though he was turned away from her, busy at his work table. “Just remember that.”~~

  The Undead, a mixture of Immortal species such as Vampires, Werewolves, and many more had, certainly, been around as long as humans, but their numbers at the beginning of recorded time were low enough to conceal them from society. Of course, there was always rumor and myth surrounding these supernatural beings, often morphing into fairy tale nightmares about monsters drinking blood or stealing souls, sometimes told to frighten misbehaving children. At first, the Undead could be passed off as legends. Eventually, however, the number of Undead individuals had become too great for humanity to ignore.

  Later, the passing of the Undead Registry was an attempt by governments to track and control all of the many Immortal species. At first, anyone deemed Undead was required to undergo rigorous medical and genetic testing, and their DNA was downloaded into a database so they could quickly be identified. For a long time, the ruling classes of the world’s governments had also maintained a group of ‘volunteers’ used for research and testing purposes.

  These days, the Immortals, or Undead, while accepted by the general public, still suffered prejudice from humans, similar to the bias endured by any variety of minorities throughout recorded history. Yes, they had equal rights, that is, until they went looking for a job, a promotion, or even a decent education. And human parents never wanted their children to bring home a member of the Undead, it just wouldn’t be proper!

  With a sigh, Lacey stood. Guess I have to break the news now. Part of the perks of being the boss?

  She stuck her head out the office door, looking in the direction of numerous tiny, boxed cubicles where officers from the Major Crimes unit went about their duties. “Colton!”

  He looked up with a jerk, as if she had caught him in the act of playing hooky. When she waved him in the direction of her office, he scowled at her.

  Untangling his long, muscular body from his desk chair, he shook his mane of thick, slightly wavy black hair away from his face, causing it to fall down to his shoulders. He always wore it loose, not bothering to tie it back at the neck. Not even close to regulation. I don’t know why they let him get away with that! It wasn’t the first time a similar thought had come to mind. But she knew when to pick her battles, and at the moment, this was not one she was ready to start. But I’ll be remembering this later.

  His shoulders were wide and muscular, and his arms were bulging under the sleeves of his casual shirt. His skin was the color of creamed coffee, and it seemed to her that he had a perpetual five o’clock shadow of dark, coarse-looking hair. His entire body was built like a linebacker. He walked with an odd gait common among Wolves; he padded on the balls of his feet, his knees slightly bent, his heels never striking the floor. It gave him the appearance of being ready to pounce at any moment. It amazed her that he was able to move his bulky body on the tiptoes of small feet so out of proportion to the rest of him.

  Wishing she had a door to close to ensure even a modicum of privacy, Lacey decided to get it over with quickly, like removing a bandage stuck to the skin. She put the desk between them, both as a precaution and as a prop, and rested her hands on the back of the chair.

  His dark brown eyes bored into hers. “Yeah?” His voice was sullen with a hint of impatience.

  “I’ve just been informed of some reassignments.”

  “You’re kidding me?” He threw up his hands as if in frustration. “What, are they shipping me off to Parking Violations or some crap?”

  “Since the Equal Opportunity Law has changed, they have plenty of Zombies pulling that duty. You know as well as I do that they’re not good for much else.” That earned her a wry chuckle. “No, this is going to be something new. Some smart ass upstairs decided to put together a special unit of Undead, specifically to work cases dealing with either victims or perps who are Immortals.”

  “Wow! Never thought I’d see the day. So, they’re sending me to this unit?”

  “Both of us, actually.” With an imperceptible movement, her hands tightened on the chair back. “I’ve been promoted, and you’ll be my second.”

  On alert for the hair-trigger temper of a Wolf, she stood her ground while he choked and sputtered, almost gasping for breath, his face turning a bright shade of red, until he finally howled outright in anger. For a brief moment, the entire bullpen outside her office fell silent. But everyone was used to his frequent outbursts, and the normal chatter of a roomful of cops soon resumed as if nothing had ever happened.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Colton felt the boil of his blood as he struggled to control himself. Even though he could turn to a Wolf only with the cycle of the full moon (unlike a Shifter who could turn at will into their Animal), his mind and body still retained Wolf-like characteristics even while in his human form. They usually had anger management issues, and his temper was worse than most. He had often been praised by his father and mother; traditionally, among Wolves, this facet of their personalities had been encouraged rather than repressed. He grunted and sputtered, and didn’t care who might hear.

  Every male Wolf wants to be an Alpha, at the top of the pack, instead of taking orders from another. Especially a female. Especially a vamp female. It wasn’t embarrassment over his earlier outburst of howling that angered him; that reaction to anger was common among Wolves. No, it was the fact that he would have to answer to a woman that had his temper soaring out of his control.

  Body trembling with fury, he stared at his co-worker for a long time. She stood motionless, as if she were carved out of a slab of marble, arms crossed over her chest. Her pale skin looked pasty next to the dark blue of the pressed cotton shirt she wore. The grayish color of a ragged series of scars was visible trailing from under the right sleeve. Her exotically-slanted, ice-blue eyes, unblinking, stared into his, and her shorter-than-shoulder-length blonde hair was bobbed as straight and neat as a pin. She faced him down as if she felt no fear, but he knew that she must; how could one have gone through what she did and not feel a touch of fear when confronted with her enemy? And a furious enemy, at that?

  God knows why they’d partner me up with a vamp! Especially this one, knowing her history. She’d rather put a knife in my back than work with me! As if I had anything to do with it! To give himself time to rein in his anger, he paced to the open doorway, leaning his weight on the wooden frame, gazing out into the bullpen without seeing it. His hands were fisted at his sides, and he took several deep breaths, as he’d been taught in anger management classes, though at the time, he’d thought the classes were trivial and useless.

  When he could speak in a civil manner again, he turned to face her. Guess I need to start thinking of her as my boss, for Christ’s sake! She still hadn’t moved a muscle. Unnerving, that way Vampires have of being perfectly still. That’s just
not natural!

  “So, when is this big change?” It took all his effort to keep his voice even.

  “They’d like to have it set up by the beginning of next week.” She stepped out from behind the desk, perhaps feeling the need for a buffer was gone. “We won’t even need to move to another department, we can stay right here in Major Crimes.”

  “Well, what’s the deal? I mean, anyone can investigate crimes against any of the Undead. Techniques remain the same. Why form a special unit?” He remained where he was, leaning on the door frame as if for support.

  She shook her head. “We’re all aware that there’s a certain...challenge in dealing with Immortal crimes. Especially when it comes to the judicial case after we’ve passed them on.”

  “There’s no such thing as a ‘jury of your peers’ when you’re talking about Immortals.” His lips curled with the sneer.

  “Well, regardless.” She shrugged her shoulders as if it didn’t make a difference to her. “I think this is just an experiment to bring up the number of ‘solveds’ involving Undead individuals. You know, something to make the department appear more politically correct. I mean, next year is an election year.”

  “But the investigation of the case is no different whether it’s involving humans or Undead.”

  She raised a hand. “That’s not always true. After all, we’re more likely to talk to another Undead, even of a different species, than we are to humans.”

  He could see her point; he’d felt the same way himself, and many times. Still, he wasn’t happy to know that she had gotten the promotion he’d been expecting, but, as a lieutenant, she would now be his superior officer in a new unit he wanted nothing to do with. Unless, of course, he was put in charge of it. Again, his anger boiled and he paced. The cramped confines of the office didn’t allow much room, and his strides brought him from one side of the room to the other in a few steps.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t like this any more than you do. And the commander’s not even sure if it’ll work. More than likely, after a few months when nothing’s really changed, things will go back to normal and we’ll be back in Major Crimes.” She said it as if she believed that it would.

  “So what are they calling this new specialty unit?” He held his chin up in disdain, a subtle behavioral sign of defiance that he suspected she picked up on.

  “What else could they call it?” She answered with a wry grin on her lips, hinting at amusement. “The Undead Unit, of course.”

  2

  “In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught.” ~~Hunter S. Thompson

  Their first case came in a mere two nights after the official and formal formation of the Undead Unit. Lacey was in her office, initialing paperwork from the last cases she’d supervised before her promotion, when her aide, David, stuck his head into her doorway.

  “Call for you.”

  “What?” She looked up from her work, distracted.

  “Dispatch.” He scratched his head. “They’re on the phone. Line one.” She often wondered what phenomenon caused all Zombies to sound like they’d just climbed out of the Everglades with a mouthful of mud. Or perhaps it’s the fact that they dug themselves up out of their own graves?

  “Thanks.” She snatched the phone from its cradle. “Lieutenant Anderson.”

  “We have a call for you, lieutenant.” The woman had an unfamiliar voice. “A domestic disturbance. Uniforms are already on the scene.”

  With the phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder, she grabbed a yellow legal pad and a pen, jotting down the address and all the information dispatch had gathered from the call. With a groan, she noticed that the complainant was a Wolf, and her boyfriend was a Shifter.

  Well, I gotta break Colton in as a partner sooner or later, she thought. Might as well take him along on this one, rather than one of the human officers. Gotta get to know him, to see if I can trust him. But a Wolf! She shuddered at the thought of him watching her back.

  Securing her weapon’s shoulder harness and shrugging into the pale blue jacket she had slung over the back of her chair, she walked out of the office and waved at her new second-in-command, and partner. She was grateful again that her new position didn’t require her (or her men) to wear the hideous and unflattering uniform of the street cops.

  “Let’s roll, we’ve got a case.”

  He fell into step behind her as they left the cavernous building housing the Dallas Police Department, his slow pace showing his reluctance to go out on a case with her. Several times, she forced herself to look behind her, to ensure he was still following her.

  Out in the parking ramp, Lacey walked to a sleek, liquid black Audi S4 sport sedan; after her promotion, she had been offered one of the department’s Chargers, an ugly, wannabe sports car with blackened windows, cheap rims, and LED police warning lights not well-hidden in many places. She had refused and continued to use her personal vehicle, which was within company policy. She had portable lights and a built-in siren; that was all the flash she cared to have.

  Before approaching the car, Lacey hit the button on the remote in her hand to disarm the alarm system and unlock the doors; otherwise, anyone within the car’s pre-set perimeter would earn a nasty electric shock. Colton held back a moment, as if impressed by her choice of vehicle. He let out a quick whistle of appreciation.

  “That’s some ride you’ve got there.”

  The windows were tinted so dark it was impossible to see through them. The vehicle had soft, rounded curves that encouraged the eye to follow them, and shiny chrome in all the right places. Four chromed rings were centered in the flat black grille, giving the appearance of teeth in a dark mouth, and the headlights became eyes, forming the ‘face’ of the car. Five-spoke chrome rims held low-profile tires, and a slight spoiler curved gently upwards from the trunk. Sexy ground effects trailed along the side from front tire to back tire. The car’s deep black paint job gleamed even in the fading daylight, and Lacey’s hyper-sensitive senses could just pick up the feeling of static from the vehicle’s anti-theft features.

  “I like it.” She leaned into the car and pulled a stack of files off the passenger seat, tossing them into the back so he could sit. She never had company in her car. He adjusted the seat to fit his bulky stature and settled into the soft, gray leather. She gave an inward grimace. Her ride would forever stink of Wolf from this moment on. Nothing to be done about it.

  The engine started with a low purr, masking the power of the 400-horsepower, supercharged 3.0 V-6 engine tucked under its hood. The interior was the epitome of luxury, with wood-grain dash and accents, and when the lights came on, the inside lit up like the cockpit of a jet. The in-dash computer between the seats was softly lit, awaiting instruction from the driver. The red LED lights were designed not to interfere with the night vision of humans, but were also less annoying to the sharp eyes of a Vampire than the white light most often used in vehicles.

  Not bothering with auto drive, Lacey zoomed down the parking lot’s ramp in manual mode, the sporty car with its powerful and throaty engine more than satisfying her need for speed. It was past rush hour; traffic was heavy but at least the cars were still moving. She zipped into the left-hand lane of the highway and continued to make quick lane changes as she wound her way through traffic. The engine never strained though she was driving close to 100 miles per hour.

  “So, what’s the call?” Colton’s silky voice broke the silence.

  “DD.” She made another lane change, barely glancing over her shoulder to verify she had a clear lane. “Your kind, sort of.”

  “Wolves? Or Shifters?” Humans often didn’t understand the difference.

  “One of each.” She never took her eyes from the road. Yet she saw Colton fidgeting out of the corner of her eye, and mentally dared him to try and touch the radio or adjust the climate control. He’d be lucky if she just broke his fingers.

  “This should be interesting.” His right hand
held a death grip on the “chicken stick”, the small, retractable handle above the passenger side window. “That’s the most unlikely pairing I’ve ever heard of.”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s why I brought you along.”

  “Nice to know I’m good for something.” Lacey didn’t have to look at his face to pick up on the sarcasm.

  She grunted as she took the off-ramp at top speed, and slowed as she pulled into a residential area. Homes and apartment buildings were crammed together, stingy strips of grass the only lawn. Lacey couldn’t understand how people could live here, almost right on top of their neighbors. She was again grateful for her own house, on its ten acres full of trees and rolling hills. From her windows she couldn’t even see any neighboring homes, much less hear anything from them unless she tried. Or they were throwing a raucous party, which was, of course, too low-class for them to even consider.

  Her partner, on the other hand, probably preferred to live in an area similar to this. With his pack mentality, he’d go crazy if he lived away from the bustle and press of people. Wolves enjoyed the company of their own kind, and multi-generational homes were commonplace among them. For that reason, domestic disturbances were one of the rarest of crimes among the caste of Wolves.

  Lacey pulled up to the house and blocked the driveway; she had made this a habit after a call several years ago during which the suspect had escaped custody and led them on a high-speed chase through the city. A bland-looking tan and white patrol car was sitting at the curb. She and Colton got out of the car, and she flicked the remote, locking the doors and setting the alarm.