Page 53 of Golden Eagle

“Wolf,” Trina corrected, quietly.

Harvey didn’t so much sigh as let out a shaky breath, and Trina looked up from the remains to get a read on her expression. What she found, behind Harvey’s clear splatter glasses, was a wide-eyed look akin to desperation. “Okay, wolf,” she said, voice tight. “What the hell am I supposed to tell the detectives when they come to the postmortem?”

It probably shouldn’t have, but her sudden burst of panic surprised Trina. “What did you tell them last time?”

“The truth. That something ate that poor man. And something ate this – well, judging by the size, shape, and musculature of the hand and arm, I’m guessing man, but I won’t know for certain until DNA gets back.”

“Okay,” Trina said.

Harvey’s brows lifted; she looked truly hostile for the first time in Trina’s memory. “That’s all you have to say? ‘Okay?’”

“We’re looking into it. We’ll find the guy – the wolf, who’s doing this, and we’ll–”

“What? Arrest him?” She coughed a harsh, humorless laugh. “Trina, this is absurd. This is–”

“I know,” Trina started, and Harvey interrupted.

“Do you, though? A few months ago, I learned vampires and werewolves exist. That they aren’t just movie monsters – and I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t watched Sasha–” Her voice hitched, a tremor moving through her, as she doubtless recalled the day Sasha had shifted in front of her, to show her that it was possible. He’d been smiling afterward, until he realized how rattled she’d been. “It was the best way to prove it,” he’d said.

“You know what I did that night?” Harvey continued, voice flat and tight like she was fighting to keep it even. “I went home, and I peed in a goddamn cup, and ran a drug test on myself.”

Trina felt her brows leap. “You…you did?”

“Of course I did.” Like it was a foregone conclusion. “I watched a man turn into a wolf. What part of that would lead me to believe that I was sane or sober?”

Trina was startled by the confession, but maybe she shouldn’t have been. Harvey had always been the soul of practicality; a medical doctor, dealing in facts, and stats, and hard truths. It broke her heart a little to hear her doubt herself like this.

“Christine,” she started.

If anything, her low, soothing tone seemed to further agitate her friend. “Why are you so accepting of it?” Harvey asked. “Did you doubt? At all? Or did you just eat up whatever they told you?”

Trina bristled. “Okay, I get that you’re scared–”

Harvey’s jaw set.

“–but you weren’t in my head the night I got to look at Nik and Sasha’s memories. At my deadgreat-grandmother’smemories. Of course I questioned. I’m a detective: it’s my job to question anything and everything. It’s also my job to piece together the evidence in front of me and come to a reasonable conclusion. In this case, vampires and werewolves are real.”And things scarier than that, she didn’t say. “And I’m just me,” she pressed on. “Human, and…ill-equipped.” A chill moved down her spine, and the breathlessness of true fear threatened. She pointedly didn’t look back down at the limbs on the table. She remembered the dream she’d had before Virginia, the wolves chasing her, and Valerian appearing to cut them down. She’d been choking on the panic, then – and that had only been a dream. What would the real thing feel like? What would…

She swallowed. “Honestly? I don’t feel well-adjusted. Sometimes I think I’m just bulling ahead so I don’t freak the hell out.”

Harvey’s posture relaxed a fraction, expression softening.

“Someone’s fucking –eatingpeople, in this city. I’m just…trying my best,” she finished, lamely.

Harvey took a deep breath, and let it out in a sigh that lifted the loose hairs escaped from her bun. “I know.” Her gaze swept downward, toward her latest victim. “If you figure out who’s doing this – that Gustav guy, Nikita said? – what’s the plan?”

The buzzer sounded, up on the wall, and they both turned to look at the computer monitor set up over on the desk. The security feed at the back door revealed Nikita and Sasha, standing side-by-side. Nik was looking over his shoulder, scanning the loading bay. Sasha stared into the camera, and waved, smiling, face round, wide, and distorted by the convex lens.

“If our culprit’s a vampire, I think they’re the ones who are gonna have to take care of it.”

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