Page 20 of Raven's Instinct
“This is Ferdinand,” Kendra said. “That’s probably not his name.”
“I don’t mean any harm,” Alan assured them. “We can talk about this likehumans.”
The bull made no move to shift, only huffed and stomped in place.
“Hecan’tshift,” Kendra said. “He’s stuck like this.”
Alan looked at him again. The light was not good, but the bull did look sort of roughed up and dirty for a shifter. One of his back legs was bandaged below the knee. This was probably Kendra’s earlier medical emergency.
“Stuck?” Alan’s brain geared up again as the immediate danger passed. “We had a case like this. Is he branded?”
The bull shuffled in place, and at first Alan thought he was turning to kick, but it was only to show the appropriate flank.
Alan couldn’t make out the brand at all. It was black burn scars on black hide on a black night, and Alan thought when he ran his fingers over it that the image itself was not very clear; it would have been hard to make out on white hide in daylight.
“You’re reallynota nanny,” Kendra observed.
Ferdinand snorted in agreement.
Alan saw no point in continuing the charade with these two. “I work for a federal agency specializing in supernormal incidents and shifters.”
“Supernormal?”
“Supernaturalhas a certain amount of notoriety and a television show with a rabid fandom. We didn’t want any confusion.”
“Oh good,” Kendra muttered. “No one wants anyconfusion.”
The bull huffed.
“Why are you moonlighting atTiny Paws?” Kendra asked, then she side-eyed the bull like she hadn’t meant to bring that up in front of him. “Does Cherry know that you’re a fraud?”
“Cherry knows why I’m there. But I assure you that I’ve got all the necessary certification, there’s nothing fake about that.”
Kendra snorted. “That doesn’t really answer my question.”
“We’re investigating a gene company, Stork Inc, that has been involved with a number of shifter disappearances.”
“Jackson,” Kendra guessed. “Theo’s kid. I knew he’d been kidnapped. He warned the parents at the day care to be extra careful for a while, and probably that was your spokesperson that showed up to a meeting. But that was last winter. The local shifter community has been on alert and nothing has happened.”
“No offense, but we didn’t think a neighborhood watch group and a phone tree was going to be as effective as a professional.”
“That’s not the part I find offensive,” Kendra snapped. “What I want to know is whynow, and why you thought the rest of us shouldn’t know? Those are our kids at Tiny Paws, and if there’s more risk to them all of a sudden, you need to tell us. We get to make choices about their safety, not you.”
“Those choices were made above my pay grade,” Alan said. “I honestly wanted to tell you.”
“That must be very comforting,” Kendra said sarcastically. “Wait here. Amy’s about to wake up and yell her head off. I’m going to get her down to bed and then we’ll talk about what you can actually do for us.”
True to her prediction, there was a thin wail of protest from the cab when Kendra was about halfway back to her van. She collected Amy out of the car seat and took her into the back of the van while Alan lingered behind with the bull.
“So. Ferdinand isn’t really your name?”
The bull sighed.
14
KENDRA
Kendra was glad for the distraction of Amy. She wanted to get her emotions in order. She’d known that there was something off about Alan being at the day care from the moment they met, something beyond her attraction to him, something that wasn’t just gender expectations. He was too...competent. She’d worried that she was projecting tired stereotypes, but it somehow didn’t surprise her to find out that he was undercover for a secret agency to protect the day care. It didn’t even bother her that he had followed her to the gravel pit.
