Chapter 37 Bruno
brUNO
The buzz of a dryer from far away in the silent house woke Bruno.
He wasn’t sure how he’d fallen asleep. Exhaustion from nearly freezing to death, probably, and Clarice’s warm, safe presence.
But as soon as he remembered where he was, he remembered Gil and got worried. Clarice stirred in his arms and sat up.
“Oh, your clothes!” She scrambled out of the layers of curtains they were covered in, and the air that replaced her was toasty warm.
“I hope I didn’t melt your jacket. The instructions said tumble dry low was okay, so it must not be real down, but one of those synthetics.
I think I have PTSD from accidentally ruining my sister’s favorite dress in the dryer.
See, I told you that you should have given me a business card instead of a date! ”
Bruno examined his fingers and toes while she was gone.
They were tender and tingling, but had sensation, and aside from one discolored fingertip, seemed to have survived unscathed.
Did Clarice think he was weak? Tracy had hated it when he showed any signs of inadequacy.
She thought he was too invested in feelings for a man, and not alpha enough.
Bruno shook his head firmly. He was only thinking about Tracy at all because he and Clarice had talked about her…
and because he wanted to let Clarice into his life the way he’d once let Tracy in.
Clarice felt like all their best moments and none of their bad ones, and she already knew all of his secrets and frailties.
“It’s almost a shame to give you these back,” Clarice said from the doorway, her voice teasing, and Bruno realized that he’d opened the coat and was sitting basically nude.
He leaned back to give her a view. He couldn’t make out her expression without his glasses, but she whistled in appreciation.
“You’re definitely warmer than you were! ”
Worry for Gil or not, he might have indulged in nude Olympics with Clarice if Veronica’s phone had not rung then.
“Yes?”
“I’m calling about a house you have listed on Zillow—”
Bruno cursed. “Veronica’s not here. Call back later.”
But the might-have-been-sexy moment was gone. He got dressed swiftly.
“Would it do any good to call Juliette?” Clarice suggested.
“Probably not,” Bruno guessed. “Juliette’s taking care of more important things right now. She’ll call when she can.”
“So, who’s Juliette? How does she know about Tiny Paws?”
That required a great deal of careful explanation, about the shifter agency that protected their secrets, and Juliette’s maternal relationship with Tiny Paws, about the gene company, Stork, that was trying to unlock the keys to shifting and had already tried to steal children to study, including Addison while she was in labor. .
“So wait,” Clarice said. “Shifters can sense each other. That’s how the man next to Hunter knew you were a shifter. So, was he a shifter, too?”
“Yes, and one of the men in the Stork jackets was, too,” Bruno said.
“Why would a shifter be helping any of them?”
“Being a good or bad person isn’t limited to being human,” Bruno said dryly. “As much as I’d like to believe that having an animal sharing my skin inherently speaks to the quality of my soul, the truth is that money and power are strong motivations, and everyone has selfish hierarchical needs.”
“I need a flowchart,” Clarice complained. “I need my binder of shifter information.”
“You have a binder of shifter information?”
“I didn’t know they were shifters. I was pretty firmly on the side of wizards at the time, because I thought Gil could teleport. So, where do wizards actually fit into this?”
“I have no earthly idea,” Bruno confessed. “I know one of the kids at Tiny Paws can teleport, but I figured it was part of being a gryphon.”
“He’s a gryphon? Are there other mythological shifters, too?” Clarice actually clapped her hands in glee, which was incredibly cute.
“One of the irregular kids at the day care is a dryad,” Bruno said. “She drags her tree around with her in a pot.”
“That is adorable,” Clarice said. “Are there dragons and unicorns, too?”
“I can’t tell you all our secrets,” Bruno protested, though he really wanted to.
The phone rang and saved him. “Yes?”
“Agents Noah and Aiden are on their way to get you.”
“Gil?” Bruno begged.
“Everyone is fine. We moved the kids and intercepted the raid. Interestingly, Veronica Chase tripped the alarm on their way in, instead of disarming it.” Bruno looked at Clarice but still couldn’t make out her expression.
That certainly supported her theory that Veronica wasn’t playing ball with any of these evil organizations.
“Did you arrest them?”
Juliette was quiet long enough for Bruno to guess her disappointing answer. “They took our unwillingness to start a shooting battle downtown as an opportunity to get away before our backup could get there and pin them in.”
“And Veronica?” Clarice asked anxiously
“They took her with them. To all appearances under duress.”
“You have to help her!”
“Ms. Turner, I hope you understand that we have bigger problems than protecting a woman who has been causing problems for us for several years now.”
“I know you don’t like her, but she doesn’t deserve what those people will probably do to her if they think she crossed them.”
Juliette’s silence was skeptical.
Bruno had more pressing concerns. “Where’s Gil now?”
“We’ve got the kids at a safe house. You’ll be brought there for a full debrief.”
“What about me?” Clarice asked meekly.
“We have plenty of questions for you, Ms. Turner, and you’re definitely on some unsavory radars now. Consider yourself our guest in protective custody for the next few days.”
Juliette hung up and Bruno put Veronica’s phone down.
“He’s going to be okay,” Clarice said, immediately understanding what concerned him most. “He’s safe, and so are we.”
Bruno gathered her into his arms. “Thanks to you.”