Chapter One #2
Gunnar poured himself a glass of water more for something to do than anything.
He didn’t do well with sitting still so wandered across to the filing cabinets.
He tested a couple of drawers but they were locked.
The only view out of the window was of a brick wall and the top of the desk was clear.
There were no clues in the room to its occupant or the organization he worked for.
The sound of low voices reached his sharp ears a while before the office door opened.
Warden was first to come inside, followed by a striking young man.
He was dressed entirely in black, had black hair and pale skin.
He also had on very dark sunglasses, which was peculiar considering it wasn’t that bright in the room.
Gunnar stared at him with blatant curiosity.
Doesn’t smell like a vamp, but there’s something about him…
“Detective Gunnar Ericson, I’d like you to meet Bryn Ashton, your new partner,” Warden stated.
“Hi, I guess,” Gunnar said, holding out his hand.
“Hi, yourself.” It wasn’t until Bryn shook his hand that Gunnar noticed he was wearing tightfitting leather gloves.
Warden looked at Bryn then at Gunnar. “Sit down, gentlemen.”
Gunnar had to admit that his curiosity needed satisfying. He took a seat. Warden joined him then, after a moment’s hesitation, so did Bryn.
He’s young, can’t be more than early twenties. But what the fuck is he?
“I can see you have questions, Detective, and they will be answered, but first I have to ask you to sign a statement agreeing to keep everything you learn here completely confidential. Will that be a problem?” Warden extracted an envelope from his inside jacket pocket.
He took out a single sheet of paper and put it on the table in front of Gunnar along with a silver pen.
Gunnar took his time reading it, but it was fairly standard.
He’d seen similar before working cases that involved other government agencies.
He signed at the bottom then pushed the piece of paper back to Warden.
“Not a problem.”
“Thank you. Very well, I would imagine that your wolf senses have detected that Bryn is neither wolf nor vampire. That’s because he is an augur.”
“Fucking hell.” Gunnar had not seen that coming.
“Quite.” Warden was too polite to roll his eyes, but Gunnar sensed he wanted to.
“Are you sure this was the best Boston PD had to offer?” Bryn’s tone had a sharp edge. “Because I’m not seeing it so far.”
“Be nice, Bryn. You’re going to be working and living with the detective, so I suggest you curb your tone.”
“Wait, what?” Gunnar thought he must’ve misheard. “What do you mean living with?”
“I understand that this is all something of a shock to you, Detective, but hear me out. As I said, Bryn is an augur. An extremely gifted one. He’s rare and as such highly valuable.
His…abilities match well with police work, and I’ll explain more about that shortly, but the partner he works with also has to keep him safe.
Once his existence becomes known in criminal circles, he’ll be in constant danger. ”
“So why not keep him hidden? Keep him safe?”
“Because the law does not allow us to keep him prisoner, Detective. Legislation gave us three years to train him, which we have done. We also have the right to secure his services for the government. But, we have to allow him a life. Living together isn’t compulsory but it would be easier for you.
Bryn has been given a secure apartment at the top of this building, which will also be at your disposal.
You will escort him at all times when you are at work.
He is never, and I can’t emphasize this enough, never to be left alone outside of this building or a secure premises. Do you understand?”
“I get it, but I didn’t sign up for this. I was told I was joining a specialist unit attached to Boston PD.”
“Yes…we had to have a reasonable story to give your superiors. You’ll be working with a range of law enforcement agencies including Boston PD.”
“Why me?”
“The question I ask myself every goddamned day,” Bryn muttered. “Welcome to the asylum.”
“You’ve brought down some very nasty people, Detective. You also have close protection experience. We needed someone with a reputation for being trustworthy and it had to be a wolf. Your enhanced senses and physical advantages will make Bryn safer.”
“And if I graciously decline this opportunity?”
“You’ll go back to your precinct and Bryn will return to the secure training facility whilst we identify another partner for him. How about I leave you two alone for a while? You can get to know each other.”
“Sure.” Gunnar was curious if nothing else.
Bryn shrugged. “Whatever.”
Warden left the room, closing the door behind him. “He looked anxious,” Gunnar commented.
“He thinks I’ll piss you off and you’ll walk,” Bryn said.
“I wonder what gives him that idea.” Gunnar’s tone oozed sarcasm. “What’s with the shades?”
In response, Bryn took them off. His green eyes glowed, cat-like. “Another neat side-effect of being a freak.”
“Wow.” Gunnar leaned closer. Bryn smelled of fresh apples. “Does everything look green to you?”
“Nope. Normal vision.”
“And do they do that all the time?”
“Pretty much.” Bryn gripped the arm of his seat, leather tight across his knuckles.
“Okay. You get to ask me a question now.”
“So you’re a wolf?”
“Yep. Why are you wearing gloves?”
“Wait, I didn’t get to ask…”
“You asked a question. I answered. My turn.”
“My abilities work through touch. Has to be skin-to-skin contact. I have to be careful.”
“Fair enough.”
“What does being a wolf mean?”
“I’m strong, fast, my senses are sharper than normal. I like chasing stuff, it’s the wolf desire to hunt prey coming through.”
“So if I threw a ball…”
“That’s another question, but no, you little brat, I won’t be running after your ball, Frisbee or any other random projectile.” Gunnar played with a loose thread on the hem of his T-shirt. “So what can you do?”
“I can tell if someone is lying. I can see possible futures for a person that reflect their intent and their past, if violence or very strong emotion was involved. The memory has to have power.”
“I can see why you have value to law enforcement. Interrogating scumbags would be a whole lot easier with you around.”
“Do you have family?” Bryn asked.
“No. Group home kid. Parents didn’t survive the virus and I was their only child.” Gunnar released his hair from its tie, shaking it out around his shoulders. “You?”
“Same. It was okay, though. I had a great housemother.”
“Do you want to touch me?” Gunnar asked, grinning.
“That’s a fucking leading question.”
“You’re too young for me…if you’re even into men, and that’s not what I meant and you know it. You’re not too young to put over my knee.”
“That’s…you’re…fuck.” Bryn stripped off his gloves. “Give me your arm. Pulse point in the wrist works better than the hand, too many bones.”
Gunnar complied and Bryn gripped his wrist. His fingers were surprisingly cool. Gunnar watched his face intently. “You’re truthful. You’re…wow, you’re going to take the gig and oh…” Bryn let go, his forehead creased. He put his glasses back on.
“That hurt you.”
“Yeah. I’m used to it.”
“You should have said. I wouldn’t have suggested it if I’d known. You saw something else, what was it?”
“I’m not telling you that.” There was a stubborn set to Bryn’s lips.
His pink, plump lips. Gunnar had a good idea what Bryn had seen.
The telltale bulge in his pants was a giveaway.
Interesting. Wonder if it was spanking or sex.
“Well, I’m in. You need someone who isn’t going to take any of your angsty crap and you can keep your gloves off around me.
I’m an open book. No secrets. The eyes don’t bother me either. ”
Bryn’s shoulders dropped and he sat back in his seat. He’d clenched his hands in his lap and now his fingers relaxed.
“Didn’t want to go back to the Facility, huh?”
“No.”
There was a world of meaning in that single snapped word. “Have you moved into the apartment yet?”
“Most of my stuff is here but I didn’t want to go see it in case things didn’t work out with you.”
Protecting himself. He’s tougher than he looks. “So you wanna go take a look around?”
“I guess.”
Gunnar had no idea where to go so he gestured for Bryn to lead the way. They passed Warden in the corridor. He gave Gunnar a speculative glance but didn’t comment.
The townhouse was four stories and the entire top floor had been converted into a self-contained apartment.
Bryn poked his head into every room, more animated than Gunnar had seen him so far.
There was a small but well-equipped kitchen with a table on one side, two bedrooms—each with an attached bathroom—an L-shaped sitting room with a dining table and chairs in the smaller section and a study set up with two desks, computers and shelves already stacked with books.
“I got to pick out bedding, flatware and stuff,” Bryn said. “I only had a single room at the Facility.”
“It’s comfortable. You can add more homey touches over time. Who owns this building?”
“It’s the headquarters of an organization called GCR, Gene Control & Research. Warden is the boss. Its government funded and is responsible for monitoring all gene research into wolves and vamps. They set legislation around gene-active people and decide what happens to people like me.”
“What color did you test?”
“Blue.”
“Didn’t know that was a thing,” Gunnar admitted. “I know wolves and vamps test in different shades of the same colors depending on the strength of their gene traits.”
“There was a constant flow of both through the Facility. Not resident, though.”
Gunnar wandered into one of the bedrooms and tested the bounce of the mattress. “So, do you want this place to yourself? I’m easy either way. I won’t be offended if you want some space. I need to find out where we’ll be working from, but I can come pick you up.”