Page 32 of Draco's Fire

"No, you can't get back on the Stallard detail. You asked for a reassignment initially. We denied it. Then after your..." her commander paused. "After your entanglements with the asset made things complicated, you were finally granted it. Now, you want back on the case?"

He breathed out a long sigh.

"You're not doing your career any favors, Agent Simmons. You're lucky to still have a job. Don't throw away a good career because of some guy."

His expression softened.

"But I'm putting good people on his detail. They've already been briefed. While this may be news to you, we've been aware of his actions for some time now. There's nothing more for you to do. Just get back to work on the cases piling up on your desk."

Shayla bit back her anger and said, "Yes, sir."

"Anything else?" he asked.

"No, sir."

Mercer waved her away, and she left, closing the door behind her. She'd barely resisted the urge to slam it.

Shayla returned to her desk. She was putting her career in jeopardy. She was sure that Mercer had already done plenty to pull for her to not get fired. Which made her plan seem like an even worse move, but she didn't think she could avoid it.

She finished out her day trying to set up interviews with local law enforcement to see if they had any leads that hadn't already been revealed. She wanted to talk to anyone who'd had any contact with the Torch or its members in the area. But there wasn't much else she could do for the girl.

As the end of the day neared, she made sure all her files were in order. And, just in case her actions led to her immediate dismissal, she left detailed notes about who she had talked to and when. She didn't have a lot of hope for the girl, but she wasn't going to be the reason a young shifter was never found.

She logged out of the system, grabbed her things, and went down to her car. After pulling out of the parking garage, she drove, gripping the steering wheel tight. She'd been angry before, but this was something new.

She found a spot in the parking lot near a tall office building. Getting on the elevator, she pushed the button and headed up. The other people on the elevator settled into the natural etiquette of everyone standing equidistant apart.

Which was good because Shayla was pretty sure if someone was standing too close to her, they could feel the heat of her anger coming off her in waves. Then the door opened in front of a sign that read, HOPE—Humans Opposing Paranormal Exclusion in big block letters.

She was going to tell Tyson exactly how stupid and reckless he was being.

Twenty-One

Tyson

Tyson was working on the final touches for his speech, but he was distracted. Though, that was just the way of things now. He'd been distracted for the entirety of the previous month. He kept thinking back to the last time he talked to Shayla.

It wasn't a great memory, but like many of his bad memories, he couldn't shake it, and it replayed over and over in his head. There was no escape from it. And no matter how many times he played the whole stupid argument out in his head, he couldn't figure out how to fix what was broken.

He hadn't wanted it to end, but there was no reconciling the fundamental differences. He couldn't understand why she'd rather have died than let the shooter escape. She couldn't understand why he hadn't done what needed to be done.

In short, clipped phrases, he watched their whole relationship fall apart. His joy at her still breathing seemed to be only angering her more. The actual end had been when he said, "I'd make the same choice every time."

Somehow, she didn't see him saying he'd choose her over some mission as some undying declaration of devotion but as not seeing value in her work. Somehow in the anger of the moment, it had become about disrespecting her wishes and not about saving her life.

They'd argued themselves into a corner. He couldn't say that he would do any of it differently, and she couldn't say that her life was more important than the mission of bringing down the killer.

Before he could stop it, she was gone, her flesh still red and raw in places from the iron particles. And he hadn't seen her since she stormed out of Gil's ranch house and drove off in one of the PEACE-issued vehicles.

He wanted to talk to her and try to smooth things over, but they didn't make greeting cards that said, "I promise next time I'll let you die," or whatever it was he was supposed to say to repair the rift between them. He just wished he had a chance to talk to her again.

And that was when she burst into his office, his assistant, Jeremy, right behind him saying, "You need an appointment."

But Shayla didn't seem to care much about that. She looked at Tyson and yelled, "You are a fucking idiot. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He tried to say something, but she kept going.

"After all the hell I went through to keep your dumbass alive, are you really going to just piss it away. You don't seem to understand just how much danger you're in. Someone shot you. You almost died, and now you're going to stand behind a podium and make yourself a target again. After everything we went through, are you just going to throw your life away?!"

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