I rode in the passenger seat of a car as a rainy evening flashed by the windows. I didn’t recognize the driver or the streets. It wasn’t Portland, that much I was sure of, since the look of the trees were unfamiliar to me. The woman in the driver’s seat wore a blue suit that emphasized the red of her hair, which was pulled back into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck. She flashed me a smile and opened her mouth to talk, when the crackly squawk of a radio cut her off.

“10-13, 10-13. Active shooter at the Petunia Apartments. Subject is a white male. Armed with a handgun. Multiple shots fired.”

I reached out to pick up the handset, only my skin was a warm brown color, much different than my cooler pale skin, and hairier. The kind of hair that I hoped to grow on T. I wanted to stop and examine it, but the dream pulled me along. This was nothing like my usual dreams. Everything felt so grounded and real, more like a vivid memory than anything else.

“Officers Prashad and Kelly responding,” I heard myself say into the handset.

Prashad? Who was that? While I struggled to make sense of what was going on, Officer Kelly—now that I looked closer I confirmed that the blue suit was, in fact, a police officer’s uniform complete with name badge—turned on the car and sirens. It wasn’t a long drive. They talked some, but I was too disoriented to catch much beyond that Officer Kelly’s first name was Andre.

We pulled up to a cluster of police cars with flashing lights parked in front a two-story apartment building—the kind with open-air walkways that looked out over the parking lot. I parked near the rest and got out of the car, drawing my gun. A growing knot of dread was forming in my gut. I strained to stop myself from getting out of the car, but I had no control of my body in the dream.

I caught sight of my face in the side view mirror as I got out, and was shocked to recognize it as Jack’s. Straining to stop myself, I drew my gun, crouch-walking across the pavement with the gun pointed at the ground to join Andre, along with a six other cops crouched behind the stairwell.

A Sargent was in the middle of a debrief of the situation. He nodded curtly to Kelly and me as we arrived, but didn’t interrupt his speech.

“The suspect has barricaded himself in one of the second-floor apartments with two hostages: his kid and ex-wife. We don’t know if they are still alive. You two,” he bobbed his head toward us, “head around the back and keep watch, make sure he doesn’t find another way out.”

“Yes, sir,” I said. We took off at a jog, guns held low, heading around the corner. The side of the building was in shadow, but enough light came from the corner streetlight that we didn’t need our flashlights. Neat squares of light shone into the alley behind the building from the apartments.

Andre rounded the corner first. There was the short crack of a gunshot and he fell back into view, his face covered in blood that poured from a jagged hole in his forehead. I screamed and lunged to catch him before he hit the ground. Andre’s brown eyes were wide in death and stared up past my face vacantly.

Footsteps thudded on pavement, and I looked up to see a man with a gun running away from us down the alley behind the apartments. I let Andre’s body fall and brought up my gun, blinking back tears. The man glanced over his shoulder. He pointed his gun back and fired off several rounds in a series of sharp cracks. One hit my body armor in the center, and the impact was enough to knock the breath out of me. The second shot went wide, pinging off the bricks next to my head. Shrapnel hit my cheeks and nose, drawing blood. I shot, but missed. My shot hit the bricks a few inches behind the running figure.

The man got off one more shot, and this one hit me in the lower neck, just missing the edge of the body armor. My world filled with pain. I tried to scream, but all that came out was a burble of blood. The taste of copper filled my mouth.

Someone pressed a thick cloth against my neck. I didn’t even know how I’d ended up lying on the pavement. Confused shouting echoed around me, but I couldn’t focus past the pain.

“You go after that bastard, I got this one!” a man yelled practically in my ear. Lower, the speaker said, “Hold on, Jack.”

I tried to respond, and blood burbled out of my lips rather than words. I tried to catch a glimpse of the man hovering over me, but my eyes refused to focus. The man was a dark halo framed by the light from the streetlamps.

“No, don’t speak. Hold on.” The pressure on my neck increased.

The world shrank and went white. My muscles began spasming and contracting, my fingers and toes curling in on themselves, tighter and tighter. I wanted to scream, but my mouth felt odd and I had no control.

Then it was gone. I opened my eyes and sat up. Everything felt oversized, and I was wrapped in a constricting swaddle of fabric. I shook myself loose from it and stood up an all fours. Blinking, I saw my front legs that were now covered in brown and black fur and ended in paws. I looked down the length of myself to see more fur and a dog-like body that ended in a tail. I knew I should be freaking out, but it felt natural. Right.

The cop who’d been tending my wound screamed, backing away from me with wide eyes.

*****

I woke up with a gasp to someone shaking my shoulder. The dream world overlapped with the real world for a moment as I looked up at Jack leaning over me. Seeing me open my eyes, Jack straightened up.

“Sun’s set, it’s safe for you to get up now. I dug up some of the supplies we keep for visiting vampires.” Jack held up a red squeeze bottle and shook it. “Sorry I couldn’t get this for you last night. It took me a while to deal with Stacy, and then, since you aren’t officially here as a vampire, I had to come up with an excuse to get into the blood stock.”

I sat up, and as I did so I realized that I still had the amulet clutched in one hand. I squeezed my fist around it, hoping Jack hadn’t spotted it. The movement made my breasts rub the blanket. I flushed, pulling the blanket up with one hand, crossing both arms across my chest and hunching my shoulders. My binder and jacket were folded over my shoes under the bed; I’d taken them off last night before laying down.

“So that’s my breakfast?” I went to point, realized that to do that I’d have to drop the blanket, instead nodding my head at the bottle in Jack’s hand.

“Yeah, I warmed it up for you, but I know from my coworker’s complaints when he has to drink this stuff that it’s not as good as fresh.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.”

Jack sat down on the cot across from me and went to hand it to me, but hesitated, glancing at my arms and hunched shoulders. He changed his movement and set the bottle on the rickety side table instead.

“Thanks.”

Jack stood and paused. “What’s that?” His eyes fixed on my hand.

I tried to cover my wince and glanced down. The amulet wasn’t that big, but I had small hands, and part of it was visible between my fingers. The gold must have glinted in the overhead lights and drawn Jack’s attention.

“Nothing. A good luck charm.” Jack looked intrigued. I needed to change the subject before he could ask anything else. “Who’s Andre?” I blurted in a panic, saying the first thing that came to mind.

The blood drained from Jack’s face and his eyes went white at the edges. His voice came out in a whisper. “Why do you ask?”

I got the distinct feeling I’d messed up big time. I gulped. What could I say? That I’d heard it in a dream that felt too real? No, I’d sound crazy. “I just heard it around. Maybe Dave said it?”

Jack’s expression went hard and he crossed his arms. “Don’t lie to me, Everett. Where. Did. You. Hear. That. Name?”

“It’s going to sound crazy…” I sputtered, but Jack just kept glaring at me. I hugged my arms tighter to my chest and bowed my head so I wouldn’t have to see Jack’s face. “I had a dream—well, it felt more real than that. More like reliving a memory that you and Andre were shot, and then you turned into a jackal.”

There was a heavy thud. I glanced back up to see that Jack had fallen heavily onto other cot. His face had gone even paler.

“That wasn’t a dream, Everett.” Jack wiped at his face and I realized he was crying, had begun crying silently at some point. “I don’t know how you saw that, but that was my last night as an officer, and my first night as a shapeshifter.”

“What?” I looked up and sat forward, leaning towards Jack. “But you weren’t bitten.”

“Shapeshifters are born, not made. But…” Jack held up one hand, wiping his face again with the other. “I can’t—” His voice cracked and he gulped. “I can’t talk about this right now. I’ll give you the whole supernatural rundown later, okay?”

I sat back and nodded. I wanted to comfort Jack, but I didn’t know what to say. I settled for saying, “I’m sorry to bring up painful memories like that. I thought it was just a dream.”

“Not your fault.” Jack stood, rubbing his palms on his jeans. “Meet me back in the waiting room after you finish your breakfast.”

After Jack left, I picked up the still-warm red bottle. I squeezed a drop onto my tongue and gagged at the taste. It was nothing like the delicious liquid that had come from Jack and the other man. I choked down another swallow, wondering if it was the anti-coagulant that they added that made it taste like ass. Though I had to admit, it slaked my thirst much better than the Gatorade had, and as a bonus settled my rumbling stomach.

Once the bottle was empty, I set it on the nightstand and finished getting dressed. I wiggled into my binder and adjusted it until everything was flat and settled, then pulled the T-shirt that Jack had brought me over it. I decided to just keep the jacket over my arm. Not only was the jacket bloodstained, I hadn’t felt the weather since I’d become a vampire. After making sure the amulet was tucked securely in the pocket of my jeans, I went out to greet the night.

The hallway was empty. I tried the door at the end of the hall, but it was locked, so I exited back into the waiting room. The smell of fresh coffee hit me as I entered. It smelled as good as it always had, which I was thankful for. Now that my diet was primarily blood, I wondered what things I used to love that I’d no longer like. This room was empty too, so I decided to help myself to a cup to wash out the taste of the gross stored blood.

I usually drowned my coffee in half-and-half—my former best friend Brooke had used to joke that I drank coffee-flavored milk—but this time I took a sip of it first; no reason to risk making myself sick. Besides, my taste buds had been strange since I’d become a vampire; the coffee wasn’t as bitter as I remembered. In fact, I almost enjoyed it. That lukewarm blood would have tasted much better if mixed with coffee. I’d have to try that next time.

Sipping from my cup of black coffee, I left the lobby and went through the swinging doors to the reception desk. Dave sat behind the desk, talking to someone on his headset. Jack stood on this side of the counter, doing something on his phone. He waved me over.

“What’s the plan tonight?” I asked as I joined him. Jack looked much better; only a slight redness around his eyes betrayed his earlier tears. I wanted to say more, but not in front of Dave.

Dave glanced up at hearing me and grimaced but didn’t stop his conversation with the person on the phone.

“I’m waiting to find out.” Jack sighed and put his phone away.

“Did you hear anything yet, about…” I trailed off, glancing at Dave. I wasn’t sure how much Jack trusted him, since he’d wanted to lie about me being a vampire.

Jack nodded his head toward the waiting room, and we headed that way together. As we went through the swinging door, a muscular, brown-haired woman entered from the other direction carrying a file folder.

“Oh, hey Jack,” she said with a wave.

“Hi, Zoe.” Jack smiled at her.

“Who’s this?” Zoe stopped in front of us and held out a hand to me. “Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Zoe.”

“I’m Everett.” I smiled at her as I shook her hand with the hand not holding the coffee cup. As I leaned close to her, I caught a musky scent that I associated with dogs.

“Zoe is a werewolf,” Jack said to me. He then turned to Zoe and nodded to the file. “Catch a case this early in the night?”

“Naw, just checking up on the fox you brought in yesterday. She just told me a very interesting story about you having a fanged, red-eyed boy in the car with you. I assume that would be Everett here?”

Jack sighed. “Yeah.”

“Yet you told Stacy he was a werewolf, not a vampire.” Zoe crossed her arms and regarded Jack. Although she didn’t look angry, merely amused.

“It’s a long story, for another night,” Jack said with a blush, and steered us towards the couch.

“I’ll hold you to that, Jack.” Zoe poured herself a cup of coffee. Over her shoulder she said, “Over drinks. Your treat.”

“Of course.” Jack waved at her as she left with her coffee. We sat on the couch together.

“We can talk freer now,” Jack said in a low voice. “Normally Dave could hear us in here, but not while he’s on the phone.”

I nodded my understanding and sat down next to him, twisting my body to the side and pulling one knee up. “Shapeshifter?” I guessed. I took a sip of coffee.

“No, but…” Jack shrugged. “Everyone who works here is a supernatural of some sort, though. Dave’s a mage. He likes to eavesdrop with listening spells. He’s a bit of a gossip.”

I hid my grin with my coffee cup and took another sip. People were people, supernatural or no. “So what are we waiting for?”

“Since I’m not officially part of the police department anymore, I can’t make an official request.” He nodded his head toward the reception room. “However, PCA has some contacts in the station that we can use to get information about supernaturals that are in trouble with human law. You heard me on the phone last night, asking them to put out feelers on your case.”

I nodded, then frowned. “But you were an officer. Can’t you ask one of your cop buddies for info?”

“No.” Jack sighed. “Officially, I died that night you saw in your dream. If my first change had happened somewhere less…” He paused, eyes flicking about as he searched for a word. “Public, with fewer witnesses, yes, I could have gone back to work the next day like nothing had happened.”

I felt like a peeping tom, despite the fact that I’d had no control over the dream. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It certainly wasn’t your fault. I didn’t know vampires could pick up memories from the blood, or I would have warned you. Anyway, Dave emailed me that he got back answers, but said he’d only tell me in person. Like I said, he loves gossip and drama. So, we wait.”

“What if we get called out on a job again tonight?” I said, and Jack shot me an amused look. “I mean you,” I hastily amended, face heating up. I took a sip of coffee to cover my blush.

“No worries, I took today off as a personal day. No calls. Today I’m one-hundred percent committed to helping you get to the bottom of your mystery.”

We had been speaking in low tones already, but I lowered my voice to a whisper so that Jack had to lean closer to hear me. “Why don’t you want them to know I’m a vampire?”

“I told you—”

“I know what you told me, but that isn’t the whole truth, is it?” I caught Jack’s gaze and held it.

Jack frowned and sat back against the couch, leaning his head back and running both hands through his hair, and then down his face. He leaned forward again and clasped his hands on his knees, talking without looking at me.

“I don’t know, just, I’m new. That incident you saw only happened a year ago. But the vampires put me on edge, they don’t tell me everything.” Jack’s frown deepened. “And if your death is connected to anything nefarious, I want to make sure you’re safe.” Jack blushed at those last words.

The sudden rush of blood drew my attention to a pulsing vein on Jack’s neck. I felt my fangs descend and press against my lips, so I sipped at my coffee until they withdrew back into wherever they came from. I wondered if my eyes betrayed me too. Hadn’t Emily said they scared her? I really needed to find a mirror one of these times and see what I looked like with fangs out.

Dave popped his head through the swinging door. “I’m off the phone, Jack.” He disappeared again.

Jack levered himself up and then offered me a hand. “Let’s go get some answers.”

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Continue on to Chapter 7

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