Page 3 of Slay All Day

I rolled my eyes and sighed, “You’re myonlybrother.”

“Mom would be so disappointed,” he teased.

“She wouldn’t be even a little bit surprised, and you know it.” Cara got irritated with my lack of attention and jumped off my lap, so I set my phone in her spot and picked up my hot chocolate again. “What’s up?”

“Nothing new on my end.”

I heard the thread of frustration in my brother’s tone and wished he’d take me up on my offer to help. “There’s no trace of her?”

“Nothing more than the same barest hint of her scent that I’ve caught a few times over the past month.”

My big brother was the best tracker I knew, which made his lack of success in this instance so shocking. For the first time in his life, the outcome of his chase was personal, but he hadn’t caught a single break since Carrick had told him he was acting like a shifter who had found his mate. Damien had been visiting the bear shifter who served on the council when he’d first encountered the subtle scent that stirred his dragon. “Are you sure you don’t want me to fly out there? I can call Jude to ask for a little time off. He’s got to be happy with me right now since I nabbed my last bounty within hours of getting into the town he’d turned into his killing grounds.”

“That’s actually why I’m calling; to ask you to reach out to Jude.” My sigh of relief turned into a groan when he added, “Seth wanted me to see if you’d be able to take a case on for the council since a vampire is involved.”

Normally, Seth would’ve called the head of E.V.I.E. with his request, but he had gone through my brother a few times instead since I’d joined the organization eleven years ago. The head of the shifter council had tried to recruit me to become one of their enforcers back then, but I hadn’t wanted to work under my brother. As much as I loved Damien, having him boss me around wouldn’t have been good for our relationship. After I turned him down, Seth had proven that he wasn’t above using that relationship to get what he wanted—me working for the council in a roundabout fashion sometimes. “I was really looking forward to having some downtime, but I’ll take on this case since you’re the one who’s asking.”

“Thanks, sis. I’ll send you the contact information for the alpha and enforcer of the pack who asked Seth for help with this,” he said before giving me a rundown of what he knew about the situation.

“Crap, it sounds as though I’d better give Jude a call now and get ready to head out soon.” I took a quick swig of my hot chocolate, refusing to let the delicious concoction go to waste. Luckily, I had a high tolerance for alcohol, and the measly shot of vodka wouldn’t hinder my abilities.

“Good luck. Stay sharp out there, Denica.”

I didn’t expect Damien to run into any trouble while he was tracking his mate, but out of habit I still replied, “You too, bro.”

After taking five minutes to enjoy the rest of my hot chocolate and the view, I called Jude and wasn’t surprised when he answered on the first ring. “Jude Reyes.”

It was easy to picture the E.V.I.E. head honcho in his office at our headquarters in New York City. He was probably looking at the neighboring skyscrapers through the huge plate-glass window behind his desk and wearing his usual tailored suit and Italian loafers even though it was late at night, and he most likely had the entire building to himself. I wasn’t sure exactly how old Jude was, but I pegged him for late thirties or early forties. He’d worked his way up through the ranks to the director role and had a well-earned reputation for being ruthless but fair. I respected the heck out of the man, which was a big part of why I had never second-guessed my decision to become a slayer.

“Hey, Jude. It’s Denica.” I knew he had caller ID, but I still always identified myself when I called because it felt weird not to.

“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon after you filed the report on your last mission. Everything okay?” he asked.

Wanting to enjoy my time at home, I had finished my report as soon as I returned. Although I was going to head right back out on another bounty, at least I wouldn’t still have it hanging over my head since I hated doing paperwork. “Damien called. There’s a tiger streak with a vampire problem, and Seth wants my help.”

“Of course the bear shifter had your brother reach out to you instead of calling me himself. Again.” He’d gotten used to Seth going around the usual protocols years ago, so there was only the slightest hint of exasperation in his tone. “What’s going on?”

I shared the details Damien had given me, ending with, “If you sign off on the bounty, I’ll head there tonight.”

“Like there was any doubt I’d agree,” he grumbled, making me smile.

Standing, I lifted Cara out of her faux-fur bed and carried her into the house. “I’ll take that as your official go-ahead then.”

“Please do, and check in with me if you think you’ll need additional resources once you get to Tigerville.”

“Tigerville?” I echoed, bringing Cara up to my face to press a kiss to her nose and earning myself a swipe of her paw. “Not exactly subtle for a streak of tigers trying to keep their secret from humans.”

As I set her on the floor, Jude explained, “Their alpha, Connor Tigre, is a descendant of the town’s founding family. His great-great-great-grandfather spun it as a typo they chose not to fix, and everyone seemed to buy it without too many questions. Now it’s the story that the locals enjoy telling whenever someone asks about the uniqueness of the town name.”

“So what you’re saying is I should definitely make a smart-ass remark about a bunch of tiger shifters living in Tigerville,” I joked.

“Sure, go ahead and pull a tiger’s tail,” he smoothly agreed. “See what it gets you.”

Making fun of the town that was named by an ancestor of the streak’s alpha would probably end up with a brawl since tiger shifters tended to be relentless fighters with a short fuse. “Sounds like a fun time to me.”

“Your warped sense of adventure is part of what makes you such a great slayer.”

His compliment—albeit a touch backhanded—made me grin. “Aww, thanks Jude.”

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