Page 60 of The Doctor's Wolf: Part Two
“By the graces, I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last source of blood on this planet.Like I said, we’re here on Forum business, and the Forum would appreciate it ever so much if you could find it in you to regale us with your cooperation.”Maxim showed all his teeth in a wide grin.“Or else, you know?”
“Oh.”The sound out of Adler’s mouth was tiny, but Gordon turned.Adler shrugged, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly before he whispered, only loud enough for vampire ears, “Alpha energy.”
Gordon sighed.Meanwhile, the human had crossed his arms.
“What do you want, then?”
Maxim, in response, placed his hand lightly on the hilt of one of his short blades.“The owner.You’re not him, I assume?”
“No.Never met him.I apprenticed here, and all I know is that I run the shop and get paid like clockwork for it.”
“Interesting.”Maxim tapped the counter with the first finger of his other hand.“That’s an unusual arrangement, I’m sure.Not having to turn a profit.Is there anything else that’s unusual about this establishment?”
Adler’s hand slid away from Gordon’s back.“Sweetheart.Maxim.Look at this.”
Adler walked toward a shelf behind a typewriter display.The entire interior, where it wasn’t typewriters on every available surface, was dark wood and darker paint, and that small shelf blended in perfectly, hiding like a furniture chameleon.Adler picked up a small volume that looked almost like a tiny magazine and waved it for them to see.
“What’s that?”Gordon joined his mate, leaning in closer to read the old-fashioned print on the little booklet.“The Case of the Vanishing Wolf?”
The human shifted behind his counter as Maxim made for the shelf as well.
“We gotta display those.And sell them for a penny, if you can believe that.I give them away for free though if someone is interested.I hear there’re collectors out there.”
“Penny dreadfuls.”Maxim picked up another volume, The Case of the Little Girl Who Cried Wolf.“I haven’t seen these in a very long time.”He flipped through it, his eyes moving inhumanly fast as he used his vampire speed to read, immediately inducing jealously in Gordon.
Then again, no.I wouldn’t want to read Kawaii Demon Hunter at that speed.I want to enjoy it.
“Like those old detective novels.”Adler opened the volume he was holding while Gordon looked over his shoulder.Even the print looked like something you’d see in older books.
“Just so.”Maxim quickly gathered all of them.“Apologies, but I’m afraid I’ll have to take these collector’s items with me.Are there any others?”
The human shrugged.“Fine by me.Wouldn’t want to impede your important business.And no.Whenever there’s a delivery, they have to go on the shelf.”
“Where do the deliveries come from?”Adler asked.
The man shook his head.“Don’t know.There’s never an address on them, like someone brings them here and drops them in the middle of the night.It’s creepy, but I don’t work here in the middle of the night, and I don’t mind.”
“They drop them in the shop?”Adler asked, cocking his head.
“Sure.That’s not a problem.”The man’s arms remained crossed.
“Adler, this is futile.He’s been compelled to not find this weird, possibly even to ignore the actual means of delivery if they differ from what he just told you.
He snorted.“Look, I’ve never been compelled in my life.Before you, I never even met a vampire.”
“You realized at least one of those statements is false, but more likely both are?”Gordon looked at Maxim.“That’s what you’re thinking, right?”
Maxim was still leafing through the penny dreadfuls at high speed.“It’s fact.Nothing that will hurt you more than your prejudice though,” he told the man.“I think we found everything we’re going to find.Everything we’re meant to find here.Adler, Gordon, let’s move on.”
Maxim led the way, and Adler pushed Gordon ahead of himself, keeping him safe in the middle.
Still Gordon didn’t like it, didn’t like that the human who so very clearly didn’t like supernaturals had Adler’s back to stare at.
It’s too nice a back for that guy to think whatever he’s thinking.It’s my back.
Gordon took two steps after the door had fallen shut behind Adler, then turned.
“For the record, detective, you’re very hot, and your back is mine.”
