He straightened his shoulders. “Hey, maybe my Breed isn’t as glamorous as shifting into animals or draining people with your teeth, but we do something else that no one else can, and sometimes it has its rewards. Like identifying the soul of a missing person. It’s not always a happy ending, but at least it’s closure for the family. I don’t engage in that kind of help very often, but they can be persistent.”
“Where’s Christian? I haven’t seen him.”
Wyatt mumbled an unintelligible answer, his lips coated with flaky icing. After five tremendous chews and a swallow, he said, “Why do people always ask you a question the second after you take a bite of something?” He wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and smiled at the girl behind the counter. “No idea what Christian’s up to. Viktor might have sent him on a job, or maybe he’s taking a break. We don’t keep tabs on anyone except our partners.”
I tilted my head to the side and gave him a cold stare.
Wyatt chuckled. “Oh, yeah. Well, that’s for you two to figure out. When Viktor first paired us up, Shepherd wanted to kill me.”
“By the menacing look on his face, I’d say nothing’s changed.”
Wyatt wagged his sticky finger at me. “Yeah, but at least he doesn’t try anymore. You develop a bond with your partner that defies all logic. You’ll see. It’s always an adjustment period when someone new comes in. I thought you two would get along since you’re kind of the same.”
I poked at my brownie. “I don’t trust Vampires.”
“That’s a therapy session I ain’t got time for,” he said around a mouthful of cinnamon bun.
“We’re so busted.” I slouched in my chair and shielded my eyes. “Cover your face. It’s Blue.”
When Blue entered the shop and glanced at the back of Shepherd’s head, her eyes went glacial. Maybe it was the way the stubble leaned or a freckle on his ear, but she knew exactly who was sitting in that chair.
“Hey, Blue!” Wyatt boomed. He turned around in his chair and blithely waved his sticky fingers at her. “The cinnamon buns are out of sight.”
She had a thin hood pulled over her head, but I recognized her remarkably long hair.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed, gripping the ends of the table. “Viktor will—”
“Start rambling on in Russian and put us on video game restriction. Blah-blah. Did you really think we were going to let you have all the fun? Take a seat; you’re making a scene and drawing attention to us.”
I gave him a cross look as she pulled up a chair and sat to my right. “How did you know that was Shepherd?”
Blue tucked her hair behind her ear. “The Celtic tattoo on the back of his neck.”
I craned my neck and looked across the room. “I never noticed. What did you find out about Darius?”
Blue pulled out her phone and checked her messages. “He’s across the street. They’ve been in there for about an hour, but the information you got from that Mage was right. He’s definitely staying at that house. Are you going to eat that?” She dragged my plate in front of her when I shrugged indifferently.
Wyatt chuckled. “Is that your Shifter craving?”
She shoved half the brownie into her mouth. “No, but it’ll distract me.”
These were questions I’d always wanted to ask before but didn’t. The last thing you wanted to do in a bar or club was stand out for not knowing anything about the Breed world, especially when you were illegally made. “What’s a Shifter craving?”
Blue wedged the remaining half into her mouth, giving me a guarded look.
Wyatt pulled more of his hair out from beneath his hat, playing with the ends. “Since she’s busy eating half the bakery, I’ll tell you. When they shift back from animal form, they each have a craving. It’s different for everyone, and nobody knows why. At least, that’s what they’ve told me. I once knew a guy who craved peas and gravy.”
I laughed when he shuddered dramatically.
Wyatt smeared his finger around his plate, gathering up flecks of icing. “Blue won’t tell us what hers is. I don’t know why all the secrecy.”
“Because not all my business is your business,” she said, glancing back at the window. “Oh, no. He’s coming this way. Raven, does he know what you look like?”
“I don’t think…” I glanced past her, searching for the Mage I’d fought in the bathroom. “His partner should have my face memorized, but I don’t see him.”
Blue stripped off her thin jacket and wrapped it around me, drawing the hood over my eyes. “It doesn’t matter,” she said in a hushed voice. “We can’t take the chance since your eyes stand out. Keep your head down, and go sit with Shepherd. It looks suspicious to have him sitting there by himself. Hurry!”
I launched to my feet and scuttled over to the table in front, taking a seat so I was facing the door.
Shepherd discreetly slid his brownie in front of me and held my hand as if we were dating. I felt myself blush with the weight of his touch. He seemed to be a contradiction in so many ways. I always thought Sensors would be more empathetic and compassionate, but Shepherd was hard and raw. Maybe that was why it caught me off guard to have an affectionate moment with him, even a staged one.