Page 9 of Siren in the Rain

Riding shotgun, I scarf down my bagel and drink the last of the coffee in my thermos as we barrel down the freeway. By the time I’m done, I’m wide awake and practically vibrating with energy.

Dallas chuckles. “Simmer down, Griff. My contact at the shelter told me the guy’s in stable physical condition.”

I crack my knuckles. “Can’t help it. This could be tied to some of the trafficking cases we’ve been called in on lately. They just keep getting worse and more frequent. We’ve got to find out who’s behind all of this.”

Our team is a bit of a covert operation. We’re sanctioned by the main Otherkind Council but work outside the parameters of the human authorities most of the time. Mainly, we deal with the kinds of cases human agencies aren’t interested in pursuing. Los Angeles isn’t a Sanctuary Haven where Otherkind species are safe from danger, protected by the mysterious magic such places possess. Such towns are rare and far more remote. Cities like LA are ruled by humans and we’re still second-class citizens in the eyes of most.

Dallas reaches over and pats my head the way I like. I press into his touch.

It’s a Wolfkin thing. Don’t judge.

“Believe me, I get it. Have patience, Griff. We’ll keep doing everything we can to help rescue missing and endangered Otherkind. That’s our mission after all. If, as we suspect, there is a bigger trafficking ring at work, we’ll bring them down some day. Until then, we have to focus on what we can do here and now.”

Harper leans over the console from his position in the seat behind me. “I can smell your agitation. Are you all right, Griffin?” His voice is as refined and almost musical as always. He apparently grew up in Hong Kong when it was still a crown colony of England. Fully bilingual, his speech has a British lilt but also reflects the influence of his own native Cantonese.

“Yeah, I’m letting myself get a bit too worked up. I’ll focus on my breathing exercises.”

“I say we should just execute any of the traffickers we find,” Cal chimes in. I lean over in my seat and crane my neck to see him slouched against the window where he’s seated in the back row of the SUV. “Fuck those monsters. They don’t deserve to live if you ask me.”

Dallas sighs heavily. “That’s not helpful, Callum Keating. Unless lives are in imminent danger, we must follow protocol and hand over anyone we capture to the Otherkind Council.”

Ruby snickers. “Ha! You got full-named, Cal!”

Dallas usually only does that when we’re in trouble.

Total Papa Bear, amirite?

Cal sticks out his tongue and flips her the bird. “Fuck you too, Ruby Sue. I said what I said and I stand by it.”

They start bickering like siblings, and I tune them out.

A big part of me agrees with Cal, but I don’t say anything. Far too many of my kind have been targets for human traffickers looking to sell and abuse vulnerable Otherkind to anyone willing to buy us. Wolfkin, for instance, are often viewed as little better than animals by some humans.

Then again, some Otherkind can be equally prejudiced for other reasons.

I clench my fists as unpleasant memories flit through my mind.

For the rest of the ride, my leg jiggles with nervous energy, and I’m grateful Dallas doesn’t say anything. He knows me and how I deal with stuff after so long.

We make good time—never a guarantee when it comes to LA traffic—and arrive at the shelter in a respectable thirty-five minutes. Climbing out of the vehicle, we all head for the building. Harper pops open his parasol, which looks super chic with his outfit but can also convert into some kind of weapon if necessary.

Vampires aren’t unable to go out in the sun like silly human movies suggest, but their skin is very sensitive to UV rays, so Harper wears heavy sunscreen and uses a parasol when out during daylight hours. He told me the weapon thing was just an extra precautionary measure.

But I’ve seen him in action. He’s strong and far more deadly than most of our team members. Harper hasn’t divulged much about his life before he joined us, so a lot of his background is still a mystery to me.

Then again, we’ve all got secrets we don’t want to share.

Eager to help, I bound toward the building, only to be momentarily brought up short by the captivating glint of something bright and shiny on the ground.

No one else seems to notice it, but I stop and squat down to examine it when I get close enough.

A… gold coin?

A big one too.

Unable to contain my curiosity, I pick it up.

I admit it, I’m basically Peregrine Took, unable to not touch the bright, shiny, interesting thing.

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