Page 70 of Tooth and Nail

He nodded. “Yes. He got away and headed for California. We found that out when the I.S.R. did a deep dive into his cartel affiliates. He was probably headed here the whole time but we didn’t know that the Texas marshals had overlooked that until they died. Anyway, I’d finished my first six months of training and Gladys thought I needed the field experience, so she asked the chief to let us hunt the fugitive.” When Ariwas silent, Eoghan glanced up at his face. He was frowning and Eoghan knew what he was thinking.

“Don’t look at me like that. Gladys thought I was ready for the assignment. She respected the hell out of me and knew I’d never take chances. Out in the field, I’d proven myself to her over and over again but in a split second of indecision, I let my guard down. She was there to back me up. I’m the one who let her down.”

“I’d never disparage a fallen colleague, Eoghan. Don’t get me wrong. I was in the field with a lot of fresh-faced kids when I served in the Army. Man or woman, they thought they were just as able to take on the enemy as the more experienced guys in my unit. And when one of them fell on the battlefield, the more experienced ones took the blame for it. But when it all shakes out…theyshouldtake the blame. They knew what they were facing, and those kids didn’t.”

“Let me tell you what happened before you blame Gladys for putting me at risk, okay?”

Ari nodded, reaching out and caressing Eoghan’s thigh. “Go ahead.”

“Once we identified his cartel affiliates in Los Angeles, we knew approximately where he was going and who he was set to meet. We determined that only one other member of the Los Angeles cartel was a werewolf, so taking him down wasn’t difficult. Gladys and I went and staked him out, armed with silver bullets as well as a silver spray which, when aerosolized, has the ability to paralyze a werewolf.”

“So, if it was that easy, what went wrong?” Ari asked.

“We thought there were only two werewolves as a part of the cartel’s L.A. crew but there were actually three. When Gladys and I went in to capture them, we were ambushed. They’d smelled us.”

“Smelled you?” Ari said. He frowned. “I assume werewolves have scent glands similar to those of other wolves or dogs, right?”

“Yes. But we were wearing a masking scent that I.S.R. marshals typically use when hunting werewolves. Unfortunately, the third wolf was one who was raised around law enforcement. In fact, he’d been raised by a civilian marshal when he was a kid and he knew the unique brand of gun oil he used. The I.S.R. used the same brand.”

“Used? That’s past tense. They don’t use it anymore?”

Eoghan shook his head. “After the incident, we changed everything from the oil we use on our guns to the soles we use on our boots. Everything about us is unique to us so that we won’t be caught out again. A similar incident had been identified three other times to teams in the field before I was attacked but for whatever bureaucratic reasons, the Agency hadn’t gotten around to fixing the shortcomings. In any case, after my attack, we changed out anything that IDs us similarly to the civilian Marshals Service.”

“I’ll get back to that in a minute, but first I’d like to know the nature of this puppy who’d been raised by a law enforcement officer. Was the guy a bastard? Did he beat the puppy? Why’d he grow up to join a cartel and become violent?” Ari asked.

Eoghan shook his head. “I can’t give you an answer to that. Gladys was pissed after the attack. She looked into it and found out that the marshal was a decent guy. The service had no reason to suspect that he’d treated the werewolf puppy badly but therein lies the issue. He was a werewolf and not a wolf. It could have been something bred into his line that made him turn violent, but more than likely, it was just the nature of wolves. I have known a few werewolves in my time and to be honest with you, I haven’t liked any of them but thatdidn’t mean I was afraid of them. Still, there is a reason Teddy Roosevelt put aside public lands for reservations to keep these populations as well as vampire and shifter communities segregated. I know it sounds sad or bad or I don’t know, pick your own adjective, but that’s what we deal with every day.”

“I get it. Anyway, please tell me what happened to you.”

“We were able to disable the fugitive and his friend by pumping the paralyzing gas into the house where they were holed up. It affects humans as a low level knock out gas and amnesiac as well. After I used a parabolic mic to determine everyone had been knocked out, we went in and cuffed the two werewolves. Then, it was a matter of waiting for our backup to bring them out. Unfortunately, when we walked out of the house, the third wolf jumped out of the shadows and attacked me. He’d seen us staking out the house and tried calling in to warn his buddies, but since we’d jammed all cell calls, he hadn’t been able to. Instead, he waited to ambush us and attacked.”

“Really?” Ari said. His eyes were as wide as saucers. “What happened?”

“Sadly, Gladys was forced to kill him but not until he threw me to the ground and did the damage you saw.”

Ari shook his head, staring at Eoghan with so much compassion it nearly took his breath away. “You could have bled out.”

“I nearly did. I was in the hospital for almost three months, but I was off work for more than six before coming back to do desk duty. And then another three months before they allowed me to resume regular duties out in the field. It was touch and go there for a little while, though.”

“I should say so. I’m so sorry, Eoghan.” Ari held open his arms, and Eoghan willingly moved back into them, rolling toface him and lifting his hands to frame his face as he gazed into his beautiful eyes.

“I can’t emphasize how important it is for you to always listen to me out there, Ari. This is a dangerous job,” he said.

“I can still blame Gladys for not protecting you, can’t I?” Ari asked.

Eoghan shook his head. “No. Not if we’re going to be friends. She did enough of that in her last four years on Earth for a lifetime. Just do me a favor, okay?” He leaned in and kissed Ari before he could answer. When he pulled back, his partner was watching him.

“What, Eoghan?”

“Tomorrow, when we go into the forest to confront those space fairie fuckers, you have to listen to everything I tell you, when I tell you. Will you do that for me?”

Ari nodded. “Yes, Eoghan, I promise.”

Chapter Nineteen

Eoghan swiped the phone to hang up and looked across the table at Ari in their booth. “She wants us to take extreme caution when we go into the forest after them, but the Agency has given their green light.”

“Well, that’s kind of a given, isn’t it? Your reputation speaks for itself. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a reputation for blundering into things I don’t understand and certainly not working for the I.S.R. the first week on the job,” Ari said. “I hope she put a little trust in us, though.”

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