Page 13

Chapter 13

G ordon would have preferred to ride with Corinne, but being mated to Detective Adler meant he got to take the unmarked police car every once in a while. He was all protective. Probably couldn’t stand the thought of me being in the van with the dead people.

That made Gordon smile as he followed the gray van that held the corpses. Gordon didn’t usually drive. There wasn’t all that much reason to keep a car in New Amsterdam with its excellent public transport system that was heavily subsidized by the Forum. Being behind the wheel brought back memories of driving to the beach when Gordon had needed to escape the house after Paula’s death and before he’d left for college.

“That was a lifetime ago. Fuck, but I was young. And brunet.”

I’m still young though, right? I’m older than Adler. Gordon tapped the steering wheel of his werewolf’s car. He seems way more grown up. He’s totally responsible enough to be a foster parent. Gordon sucked on his bottom lip. What if the kid walks in on us? Do we kiss in front of her? Mom and Dad used to, and that was always awkward.

If he was totally honest with himself, Gordon had never once thought of himself as a parent. His interns were the closest he’d ever gotten to the role.

“We’re mated though. Through thick and thin I guess.”

Being mated was yet another thing Gordon had never thought would apply to him. It was both easy and strange. Adler doted on him and would go out of his way to offer Gordon a vein. It was almost vampire groupie behavior if not for the selfless concern Gordon could see in Adler’s eyes whenever he fed.

And then, the loneliness Gordon had gotten used to over the past few decades had just vanished without him really noticing. Adler didn’t like being apart from Gordon at all. The one time Gordon had a corpse come in late, Adler had come to the morgue despite Gordon telling him he didn’t have to.

I was worried you’d go hungry, and I wanted to see you, the werewolf had said while at the same time looking apologetic about interrupting Gordon’s work.

Gordon sighed as he followed the van onto the Forum campus. “I need to do better in this relationship. At least pull my fucking weight. Putting on a wig and letting him tie me up shouldn’t be all I contribute.”

Gordon parked the car in front of the forensics building while Corinne drove the van around the back from where the corpses could be moved to Gordon’s lab via the service elevator.

Gordon headed for the front entrance of their building, taking the steps leading up to the door two at a time. Like most vampires, he appreciated being indoors during the day. Gordon was ready to breeze past the person behind the reception desk, but the werewolf on duty stood to greet him with a firm nod.

“Good day, Dr. Morris.” She smiled, her body language signaling that she was glad to see him.

Which was funny, because Gordon didn’t know her.

Since he’d gotten together with Adler, Gordon had noticed that the werewolves around the Forum generally showed more respect to him, at least to his face. Gordon didn’t understand pack dynamics that well, but he had some kind of standing in Willa’s pack now, even if he was only the mate of her second-in-command.

If the werewolves didn’t like him mated to one of their own, they hid it. Gordon had overheard at least one vampire and one donor talking openly about how sleeping with an animal was…all kinds of derogatory things, though, and by “animal,” they’d meant the man Gordon loved.

Gordon sighed, smiling to the wolf as he walked past her. “Hi.”

I wonder if my two guests had to deal with that kind of prejudice.

Once Gordon got to the familiar corridors outside his lab, the ones he’d tastefully decorated with old creature feature movie posters, his mind settled into the right frame to work with the bodies.

Inside the morgue with its bright light, gray tiles, and abundance of stainless steel, Corinne was busy moving the corpses, and Gordon got ready, donning the forensic lab gear that was the only proper attire in which to welcome the Williamsons to his morgue.

“I’m about to get started on the forms,” Corinne said. “Dictation program is ready to go.” She pointed at the little microphone mounted above their guests.

“Thanks.” Gordon turned to the corpses. “Mr. and Mrs. Williamson, welcome to our morgue. You’ve met Corinne.” Corinne groaned, mumbling something about formaldehyde fumes and soft vampire brains. “We are a modern establishment with all the amenities you might require at this stage of your existence.” Gordon showed them his tools. “We can even send you off for X-rays or an MRI if that is necessary.”

“The only thing we’re missing is a shrink,” Corinne said.

Gordon tsked. “The Williamsons don’t need one.”

She looked up from her clipboard. “You don’t say.”

Gordon turned back to his guests. “I trained her myself. I think having a critical voice around who isn’t afraid to speak up is healthy, no pun intended.”

“How’s that a pun?” Corinne asked.

“Because we’re at a morgue, and you’re past healthy when you get here.”

“That still doesn’t make it a pun, Dr. Morris.”

“Well, fine. You’re very nitpicky today, Corinne. Would you like a cookie?”

“No. And I’m not nitpicky.”

“She is though,” Gordon told Mrs. Williamson.

Corinne moved to her desk to enter the information into the rudimentary system they were using. The Forum loved a hardcopy, and before Gordon had been allowed to hire Corinne, one of the older bureaucratic vampires had examined her handwriting, had lamented every improper curl of her cursive in the hopes of vetoing her contract.

One call to Maxim had taken care of that nonsense.

“I don’t think I need to be part of this conversation,” Corinne said and began typing away.

“Manners, Corinne. What will our guests think? We’re about to get started, Mr. and Mrs. Williamson,” Gordon told the corpses. He turned back to Mrs. Williamson. “I think you’ll go first. And don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.” He centered the bright light on the horror of her chest. “The worst is already over.”

Gordon had his autopsies finished within a few hours, and when he moved the Williamsons to the freezer, his mind was going back to the events earlier in the day.

“It was a long and unusual day, but clearly not as bad as yours,” Gordon told Mrs. Williamson before he closed her compartment.

“What was so unusual?” Corinne asked as she was holding out a finished printout of her incident report for Gordon to look over and countersign.

Gordon turned and removed his gloves and gown and deposited them in the medical waste bin before taking it. “Oh, just…there is this kid in Adler’s pack who’s been living with her grandmother because her parents died. Her grandmother had a stroke this morning.”

“Wow,” Corinne said. “The poor kid. Does she have anyone to stay with now?”

Gordon shrugged, collected his own paperwork, added Corinne’s report to the pile, and headed to his office, leaving the morgue with its once more empty slabs behind.

“Well apparently she has Adler. And me, that is.”

Corinne’s eyebrows rose. “Wow.”

Gordon switched on the lights in his office, and the comfort of his collectibles aligned on shelves washed over him.

“Corinne, do I hear judgment?”

Gordon plopped into his chair and put her report to the side to be read later. He started scanning the Williamsons’ autopsy report, the dictation the new and shiny program had converted to text.

Corinne sat down in one of the chairs across from the desk and went for the Lord Helmet cookie jar directly without Gordon having to do any prompting at all. He smiled. The herby richness of fine cannabis cookies scented the air, and Corinne bit down on a cookie.

“That has to be weird. I mean, I’m not judging, but you know I took that seminar—”

“ Supernatural Society and Culture Specific Reactions ? The one for which you left the lab for most of the week?”

Gordon had missed her, even if the corpses had been good company. None of the new interns came close to Corinne though.

“Yeah, that one.” She chewed her cookie thoughtfully. “According to that guest lecturer—and I found his ideas about vampire and human relationships offensive by the way—but according to him, wolves and vampires don’t mix all that well because of the pack structures.”

Gordon snorted while he typed a few additional notes into the autopsy file. “I think I had that same guest lecturer when I first took that seminar.”

Corinne nodded. “I figure I should ask your hunter buddy for a second opinion.”

Gordon glanced at her, then broke out laughing. “That’s a great idea, actually. I didn’t know Maxim that well back when I first went to that seminar, but he will probably take your offended feelings more seriously than the powers that be here at the Forum.”

“So I figured. Does the kid mind? Does she mind you, I mean.”

“Ouch,” Gordon said. “But I don’t think so.” He shrugged. “Then again, I wouldn’t know how to tell whether she minds or not. As I told Detective Adler, I am very familiar with child and adolescent anatomy, less so with their psychology.”

Corinne rolled her eyes and groaned as she devoured the last bit of her cookie.

Gordon cocked his head. “What?”

“Boss, a kid isn’t a problem that you need to figure out or understand. It’s just a person who needs you to hold their hand while they figure shit out themselves. Maybe hand them a tissue if they end up with a bloody nose. That kind of thing.”

Gordon sent off his preliminary report to Maxim. “That actually makes sense.”

Corinne shrugged. “I have a sister who’s ten years younger than me. She thinks she is the source of all my wisdom. I learned to never leave food unattended in her presence unless it’s broccoli.”

“Ah.”

Before Gordon could ask her more about younger people, his phone rang. Maxim.

“Well, I’m done for the day.”

Corinne left Gordon to his phone call, her pupils slightly enlarged.

Gordon waited before she closed the door behind herself, then picked up. “Maxim, hi.”

“I see you and the corpses got on well,” the hunter said. “Are you quite finished there? If so, join us back at my house.”

“Is Adler there?”

“Adler, your mate is asking for you! He is ensuring you are here.”

Gordon heard Adler’s grumbling voice in the background though he couldn’t make out the words. A warm shiver ran over his skin.

“I take that as a yes. I’m on my way.” He hung up before Maxim could rhyme at him.