Page 31

Chapter 30

H andling the first responders put Adler at ease, right up until Gordon hopped into the back of the ambulance that had parked not too far away from the hotel room.

“You’re going with them?” Adler heard the almost-whine in his voice, and Maxim, who’d been on the phone and had walked a few paces away so the EMTs could do their jobs, looked over at him.

Gordon took his eyes off his patient. He gave Adler a nod.

“I promised her. Besides, I don’t have any skills that can be used by staying here.”

Adler nodded because that was correct. It didn’t help with the way his insides wanted to twist and turn so he could better protect Gordon in his wolf form. I hate that instinct can never work with the higher brain functions where my mate is concerned.

Adler, rather than abandoning everything, forced himself to smile right back at his beautiful vampire twink who—come to think of it—should be prohibited from wearing such tight pants outside the house, only if he would tolerate such a prohibition, of course, but in the name of decency, perhaps Adler would have to attempt to insist on it. A tiny little bit.

“Call me. I’ll pick you up, okay?”

Gordon gave him a two-finger salute, because he was just that goofy. “Sure thing.”

The EMTs closed the back of the ambulance then, and Adler watched it speed off.

The officers that had come to pick up Pearson had just gotten out of their car by then, and Maxim came over to greet them with a silly rhyme or other. Adler found it difficult to focus.

It didn’t take long to tell them to take the murderer into custody to await the finalized hunter verdict, which would come through the Forum. Maxim would be the one handing it out. The treaties the Forum had with most countries didn’t allow capital punishment for humans. In such cases, it was lifelong imprisonment.

In Adler’s opinion, this was as good an outcome as they could have hoped for, a bad person behind bars for the rest of her life, no time or breath wasted to argue her innocence. No matter what Maxim or anyone thought about the Forum’s bureaucracy, when it came to punishment—or protecting and avenging those affected by the crime, rather—the Forum wasn’t doing too bad.

He stood there, watched with satisfaction as Pearson was put into the back of the police car, glaring at him and Maxim, who was back to fiddling with his phone. Adler indulged in the staring contest until he couldn’t see Pearson anymore.

“You and Gordon make such a lovely couple,” Maxim said, grinning.

“Huh? This isn’t the time for that.” Adler gestured at the motel room. “We should—”

Maxim clicked his tongue. “I called the minions. The Forum minions. A formality, really.”

“Ah. Right. Unlimited funding. I guess we’re heading there first?”

Maxim groaned and let his eyes roll back in his head as if he were about to faint like a lady. “Yes, the nest of hazard form harpies. There’s nothing for it, Adler, we must. I’m very much afraid, though, once the forms are done, we shall never be free of their bureaucratic coil, of the toil they toss at us with their embossed letterheads and copious copies of sentencing forms.”

Adler eyed him. “You know, none of this is good, but according to Gordon, Dr. Jackson will be okay. And we get to close this case today. I for one am satisfied.”

“Yes,” Maxim said. “I will make the rounds to notify the relatives.”

Adler took in Maxim, that very sexy hunter outfit and the tendency to make light of everything. Behind all of that, Maxim could be kind. Still.

“I can come with you if you want?”

Maxim shook his head. “This is my burden, mine alone. It comes with what I do and chose to do. It’s as important as these beautiful swords, you know.” He tapped the hilt of one.

Across from them, an unmarked Forum van drove onto the lot and the old motel receptionist with the disadvantageous hair came out of her office, looking ready to pick a fight.

She narrowed her eyes at them and hollered. “Hey, what’s happening out here? I was just busy reading when I heard that racket you folks been making.”

“Adler, we should run,” Maxim said. “Do wave your badge at her while we do. I doubt she can catch us, looking at those slippers she is wearing. Not made for running, those.”

Adler snickered, pulled out his badge as the two of them started walking. “Ever such a people pleaser, Maxim. Ma’am, excuse me, we had some official police business here. Please stay inside while our colleagues clear the scene.”

She looked about ready to argue, then Adler noticed her gaze slip away from him and over to Maxim, who was possibly strutting a bit.

She wrinkled the corners of her mouth. “Fine, but you better don’t damage anything or you’ll pay for it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Adler said, doing his best to keep pace with Maxim. Hopefully, she’d not notice the door he’d broken down before they were done.

Gordon was satisfied he would not have to welcome Dr. Jackson in his lab as a corpse, but riding in the back of a bumpy ambulance with her unmoving was very much not his idea of a job well done. I know I’m trained to handle the living as well, but I’m not the best for this .

Regardless, he stayed with her, holding her hand while he could. When they arrived at the hospital, he gave the attending—a tall blond with shoulders nowhere near as nice as Adler’s—the rundown of her condition and what had happened. Once she was stable, he took a seat next to her bed in the ER.

Dr. Jackson opened her eyes with a groan, twisting and turning, clearly glad to be able to move again now that the drugs had mostly worn off.

“What happened?” she asked before Gordon could ask her who to call for her.

Gordon shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. “Welcome back, Dr. Jackson. I’m not sure I can answer in any detail. Maxim is handling this case now. You met him during the autopsy the other day, the hunter. I can let him know to drop by and explain to you what he can.”

She nodded, her eyes heavy-lidded. “I think…that would help. He was nice. Patient, you know.” Her voice was rough and brittle from the choking. There was bruising, but nothing that required more than an overnight stay to monitor her. “There is a joke here, right? About how I really took getting to your morgue seriously.” Her gaze drifted into the distance.

“We would be nothing without our black humor,” Gordon agreed. “Who do I call for you?”

“My brother.”

She recited the number for him, and Gordon made the call from his phone. It was short, different from any notification he’d ever had to make in his line of work.

“Do you want me to wait with you until he gets here?” he asked afterward.

Dr. Jackson looked up at the ceiling before shaking her head. “I think I would like to be alone for a bit. But thank you. You’re quite good with the not-yet-corpse community.”

Gordon chuckled. “High praise.” He bent in conspiratorially. “I don’t talk about it a lot, but I am actually fonder of that community than most people think.”

She nodded, and a smile flickered across her face. Gordon pulled the curtain around her bed open so he could leave.

“I mean it, thank you for coming to save me,” she said.

“Anytime, but hopefully not in the near future.” Gordon winked at her and pulled the curtain closed behind himself. He took a deep breath, rattled by the smell of disinfectant, the odor of human ailments, and an undercurrent through it all: blood. He walked away from Dr. Jackson, trying to clear his head.

The ER was similar to the one he’d interned at as a medical student, even if back then, Gordon had been human, unable to discern the smells like he did now. The ER was also not like the place he remembered because that had been decades ago, and things had changed, diagnostics had improved, meds too. People still get hurt, same as then . But this is better. This is not like Paula. Dr. Jackson will be okay. She’ll feel stupid and used, maybe even guilty, but she’ll be alive to get over it all and move on.

Half lost in thoughts and memories, Gordon walked down the hall to the nurses’ desk to ask them nicely if they would let him know if Dr. Jackson’s condition changed. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Adler was already at the desk and talking with a nurse. The nurse pointed at Gordon, and Adler turned to him.

Gordon felt himself go weak in the knees, even before Adler’s eyes found his, even before Gordon remembered the taste of chocolate, the consistency of the dark sweetness melting on his tongue. Adler’s taste, the best in this world. They walked toward one another in one of those moments Gordon had always found silly in the movies.

“I was about to call a cab,” Gordon said.

Adler frowned. “I told you to call me. I’m your ride, sweetheart.”

Not caring where they were, the wolf reached out and wrapped his hand around Gordon’s neck, that big, warm hand pulled Gordon close and kissed him hungrily.

“Sorry for not calling you first,” Gordon whispered when they broke apart for air and consideration of the people around them.

“Whatever should we do about that, sweetheart? You’ll have to make it up to me, won’t you?”

Gordon licked his lips. “Yes, please.”