Page 22

Chapter 22

S everal more days went by during which they settled into a routine at Adler’s place. Mil would ask to go over to her granny’s place to pick up clothes or just read in her room every now and again. Twice she asked to go and see the bar Lar to learn a new cocktail recipe, and the trip to 43 Ruthaven exposed Gordon to entirely more Maxim than he was used to.

As such, his normal work at the morgue had become more relaxing than ever, and one evening, he was at his desk, humming along while flipping through the interns’ performance reports.

In the quiet office, a voice made Gordon jump.

“What’s this?” Corinne asked. She had managed to sneak up on Gordon, only to drop Forum certified paperwork on his desk. “I thought you only used your Kawaii Demon Hunter mug.”

Gordon looked at the paperwork and pushed it aside, then picked up his Mini Huntress mug to take a sip of cold coffee. “I gave that to Mil. She kept eyeing it and asked about it. In the mornings, she insists on having tea from it while Adler and I have coffee. She tried getting to the coffee once, but Adler got all stern and told her she was too young for that. Honestly, though, I don’t remember the incident too well. Mornings are hard.”

Corinne dropped into one of the chairs in front of Gordon’s desk. “When I first started here, you know, and when you were talking to the corpses all the time, I was a tiny bit afraid I’d catch you with one eventually. Like, with one. I tried making noise whenever I walked toward the morgue.”

Gordon stared at her evenly. “Please tell me you are kidding. I was wondering whether you had an old knee injury that was bothering you.”

There was a pause. Then Corinne nodded. “Yeah, sure. Joking. And I hurt my knee that one time getting out of bed.” She lifted Lord Helmet’s head. “I need one of these.” She bit into the pleasingly aromatic cookie while glancing at a printout of his notes. “You’re still looking at the Ripper case?”

Gordon pushed the printout back under the performance reports. “Yes. I got curious. It’s a true crime staple after all, and I didn’t know much about any of it.”

Corinne took another bite of her cookie and nodded. “What’s funny is, I’ve been thinking about it too. Those other murders—the fae and the werewolf couple. It reminded me of the Ripper case. I’m not even exactly sure why, but maybe because they’re both all about the spectacle.”

Gordon had considered that too. He’d wondered whether it frustrated the murderer that the current murders were less dramatized in the media, that Maxim and Heath had done a decent job of keeping the journalists at bay.

“I guess you’re right about that.” He cocked his head, looked at the half-eaten cookie in her hand. “Are you done for the day?”

“I am, and you should be too instead of throwing yourself into your work. You do realize it’s the full moon today?”

Oh, shit. That was when it hit Gordon that he should have left well before Corinne’s shift ended. Adler and he had talked about it this morning, but then of course Gordon tended to lose things that were said to him early in the day. He cursed under his breath, packed up his notes and laptop, and made for the door.

“Can you—”

“Finish my cookie, close up your office, and send the interns home? Fair warning, if one of them wants to raid Lord Helmet’s brains, I’ll let them.” Corinne grinned at him, and Gordon suppressed the desire to tell her he would have done the same.

“That works for me. Thanks, Corinne.”

He dashed through the Forum and toward the closest subway stop. It was five stops to Seneca Park, and the indigo horizon was already taking on its veil of black.

When he was on the subway finally, he pulled out his phone. Of course there was a text from Adler waiting.

Did you have to work long? You can cuddle me later if you need to decompress. Changing at home. Meet you at the park.

Yes, sorry!

Gordon texted back, but likely, Adler wouldn’t see it because at this point of the night, he’d no longer have the opposable thumbs needed to operate a phone.

“Fucking hell,” Gordon said, and a middle-aged woman sitting close to the door next to which he was standing, gave him the weird kind of look that told Gordon he was being, well, the weird vampire on the subway. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

She returned a careful smile and a shrug as if to say, just another long day, right? Gordon was happy to agree.

The car stopped moments later, and Gordon hurried out and up. From the subway stop, it was just a few moments on foot to Seneca park, and if he was unbelievably lucky, Mil and Adler were still on their way to the park.

Wolves were out and about, and howls filled the night. When the park came into view, Gordon headed straight for Innsmouth Arch. It was one of the more prominent entrances, a stone arch topped with metal spikes and showing off a metal gate that was very rarely closed.

Wolves, much faster on four paws and eager to run with the full moon rising above, sped past Gordon, who kept scanning the darkness for black fur and blue eyes, Adler-wolf.

I don’t even know what Mil-wolf looks like. Why didn’t I ask her about that?

A group of wolves and human runners overtook Gordon. They were moon runners, friends, family, or mates to wolves who enjoyed running. Just like human marathons, there was an annual Moon Run according to Adler, a tradition Gordon was completely unfamiliar with, seeing as how it involved exercise.

“Fucking hell,” Gordon said to the night in general. Seeing the moon runners and their wolves with them made him miss Adler. I told them I’d head to the park with them. How on earth did I not keep an eye on the time?

Gordon looked left and right at a crossing in the paths that ran through the park like blood vessels. He decided to go right.

Seneca Park turned into a strange and magical place during the full moon, Gordon had learned. Before Adler, he’d not realized it. Now that he did, he was grateful for the chance to see something new, explore the park at this time of the month.

The park, after all, was possibly the most welcoming place in all of New Amsterdam when the wolves ran.

Other than the moon runners, there were plenty of humans there sharing food on picnic blankets on one of the lawns or even grilling when the weather allowed. There were always musicians as well, and Gordon had come to notice one guitarist in particular.

The guitarist always changed locations, but his straight white-blond hair made him easy to notice. He had a mellow voice and usually strummed away on his guitar with four wolves around him, howling along while dreamy songs flowed from the human’s lips.

Gordon could hear the guitarist now as he headed toward the Meer, the big water reservoir in the northern corner of the park, sticking to the paths illuminated by the lamps while beyond the cones of light, shadows rushed between the trees. A small shadow detached herself and dashed toward Gordon from his right, but the wolf stopped her sprint and approached Gordon at a trot.

“Mil?” Gordon asked. Her coat was a dark copper that lightened at her legs and belly, and her ears were tipped black. She was the size of a full-grown German shepherd.

Before Mil could do anything to answer, Adler joined her, approaching faster and thanks to his near black coat, mostly unnoticed. Unlike Mil, Adler didn’t stop but bumped his head into Gordon’s hip and made a sort of guttural noise that Gordon had learned meant his mate was happy.

“Yeah, sorry, guys. I just lost track of time. I was doing some research and then started on the intern reports, you know, and time just got away from me.”

Adler-wolf just huffed, giving no indication at all that he was upset. Mil-wolf nodded her head in a human way, barking in understanding. So far as Gordon could tell, he had been forgiven.

“So did you guys want to run? I think I might just walk around a bit myself, enjoy the night.”

The Mil-wolf howled, then came up to Gordon’s side. She was big alright, considering that she was just a girl. Adler, his blue eyes incredibly pretty in the moonlight, was far larger, scary even, except of course he really wasn’t. He fell into step on Gordon’s other side, walking close so that their bodies touched.

That made heat course through Gordon’s veins. Right. He did ask me for a belly rub… and then some. The Adler-wolf looked up at Gordon, and Gordon realized he could probably scent Gordon’s lust. Or feel it through the mate bite. I wonder what he can sense. Probably not nothing, but I’m too scared to ask .

Gordon blushed. They weren’t here for that of course. They were here so the wolves could run and be their best wolf selves.

Adler-wolf huffed out a laugh, throwing a bit more of his weight against Gordon.

“Oh, stop that,” Gordon said while digging his fingers into Adler’s fur to keep his balance. On his other side, Mil watched them, and her wolfish laughter came out an octave or so higher than Adler’s.

Gordon huffed. “Great. Now there’s two.”

And that, of course, ensured Gordon was surrounded by wolfish laughter on either side.

A few moments later, when Gordon had found a park bench to sit on and wait for them, they dashed away, chasing waterfowl, milkmaids, or whatnot. Gordon relaxed, enjoyed the night and the fact that the burning ball of anger in the sky, also known as the sun, wasn’t out right now.

After enjoying the night for a few minutes, he felt something odd though, a prickling of his skin at the back of his neck as if someone were watching him.

Gordon looked around, but he saw nothing.

“Adler? Detective, is that you? Are you planning to ambush me?”

Gordon narrowed his eyes at the trees, the underbrush, the shadows his vampire eyes could penetrate, but to no avail. There didn’t seem to be anyone there.

Just your imagination. Come on, this place isn’t scary. Unless you’re a swan or a duck.

His skin still pricking slightly, Gordon pulled out his phone to read a Kawaii Demon Hunter fanfic he’d set aside for the full moon specifically. This had become his way of enjoying the night when his mate ran and howled only to then come back to Gordon and wake next to him, person-shaped once more.