Page 104 of The Queen’s Shadow

“How many shifts did you manage tonight?” He asked me. I raised my eyebrows at him, surprised that he knew what I had been doing.

“Don’t look so shocked.” He muttered. He reached into the built in pocket of his own armor and pulled out a full vial of hemoglo. My jaw dropped open.

“I’m a detective, remember. I’ve been watching you for a while now. You’ve come a long way from the first night I followed you.”

“What the fuck?” I coughed, more blood erupting from my mouth. I wiped it away with the back of my wrist. I was still weak as all hell. I couldn’t even sit up.

“Surprised?” He asked, with a cocky little smirk on his face. “You’re a panther, which means you have an excellent sense of smell. All I needed to do was make sure I stayed down wind and you couldn’t pick up my scent at all. I snooped through your stuff too. It was easy when you were constantly going out on your own, leaving your bags unattended.”

I barked out a bloody laugh that quickly turned into a wet cough.

“You have a warrant for that?” I croaked, still chuckling. Jeremy smirked down at me, holding the full vial of hemoglo up to the moon light.

“What is this stuff? Did you steal it from the magick folk?” He asked, frowning at the sparkling bottle that he held pinched between his fingers.

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s called hemoglo. I don’t know what’s in it, but it’s kept me from dying so far. You gonna give that to me? Or is this your villain’s monologue at the end of the movie before you decide to finally kill me off?” I asked, closing my eyes, and resting my head back against the gravel. I wasn’t even in pain anymore. I was just numb and cold.

“I’ll give it to you, in exchange for the truth.” He said. I slitted one eye open to glare at him.

“Hmm. And what is it, exactly, that the good old detective wants to know?” I asked, roughly.

“Why are you doing this?” He gestured to my prone form. “What is driving you to push yourself to such lengths? And why, outside of this bond you keep mentioning, did you say that you would go out of your way to protect my daughter? What is your motive?” I watched him warily, and he met my gaze head on, clearly enjoying the recent shift in power.

“If you give me an honest answer, and I believe you, I’ll give you the hemoglo.”

“And if I don’t?”

He shrugged. “Then I guess we’ll see if cats really do have nine lives.”

I almost laughed again. Amon had said that to me once when he had nearly strangled me to death. Everyone loved to make a good cat joke. I was still waiting for someone to tell me one I hadn’t heard before.

“Fine.” If all he wanted in exchange for my life was to talk about my damn feelings it was no fur off my tail. I just wanted to fucking save Kasha. I couldn’t do that if I was dead.

“To answer your first question, about why I’m forcing myself through these shifts… this is how they stole Kasha from me. That Flute they have can force a change of state. It totally blindsided me. If I hadn’t been such a fucking pussy my whole life, and avoided shifting frequently, I would have been able to get to her.” I fell silent, allowing myself to feel the crushing wave of guilt that crashed through me. I deserved it, this pain. I was a failure. I hadn’t been able to save my parents. I hadn’t been able to save Kasha. I was done not being able to save the people I wanted to protect.

“If we run into them, and they use The Flute on me, I need to be ready. I will not be the reason we fail again.”

Jeremy stayed silent for a moment, watching me with a considering look on his face.

“This Kasha person… it seems you’re romantically interested in her in some way.” He commented and I snorted, refusing to respond.

He continued. “That, I can understand. What I don’t understand is the motivation to protect Raven. From what I’ve observed, neither of you seem to have a romantic interest in the other. The bond you have with her prevents you from killing her, but that did not stop you from betraying her before. Tell me why I should believe you when you tell me you are not a threat to my daughter.”

I thought about it for a moment, knowing that he would not be satisfied with a half ass answer. If I wanted that damn hemoglo, I would need to give him what he needed to feel better about our partnership.

“Raven is… I don’t know, Pops. She reminds me of myself a lot. She’s angry, and violent, and honestly, she cracks me up. The shit that comes out of her mouth sometimes… She’s hilarious. She’s had several opportunities to end me, and to be honest, she probably should have. She respects my privacy, even though she has the power to go through my head or open the bond at any time.

“She told you to fuck off earlier when you tried to get her to pry inside my head. She saved my life, and carried me out with the Obeah Man, as if my life was worth the same to her as his was. I think she cares about me, and I don’t have many people in my life that I can confidently say that about.

“She feels like… family. I don’t have a lot of family anymore. Both my parents are dead and have been since I was a cub. I do have a sister though. That’s what Raven feels like. An annoying ass kid sister that I’m allowed to pick on, but the second someone else does, I want to skin them the fuck alive.” I met his eyes, wincing as another wave of pain rolled through me.

“Does that answer your question?” I asked him, my voice flat. “You going to finally stop doubting me and let me help your daughter slaughter these fuckers, or what?”

Jeremy looked at me for a long moment, before finally nodding, giving me a small smile.

“Like a sister, huh?” He asked.

I sighed and nodded, closing my eyes again.