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“I could still pay him a visit.”
Felix laughed. “It’s not worth it.”
“When did this happen?”
“Five years ago. I was eighteen, had just graduated from Cal Poly. He’d been the TA for one of my classes while he was finishing his MBA. My parents encouraged me to date him despite the fact he was six years older because he was a sea otter shifter, and they knew his family.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. “And what are they going to say when they find out your fated mate is a?—”
“A sea panda?” The way he stole my line from earlier made me smile for the first time since he started telling me his story.
“Right.”
I felt Felix shift and glanced over to see he was looking out the window. “They won’t care.”
“Really? They wanted you to date a criminal because he was a sea otter.”
“To be fair, they didn’t know he was a criminal, and I’m one hundred percent sure they won’t care because they’re dead.”
Shit. “Felix, I’m sorry.”
He waved me away. “It’s fine. Things between us weren’t good after the trial anyway. They died in a plane crash two years ago. My dad was an amateur pilot. There was something wrong with the plane, and they didn’t find out until it was too late.”
I pulled into the parking lot behind Felix’s apartment building and cut the engine, then reached across the seat and put my hand on his thigh, ignoring the pulse of heat that sparked from my fingertips and up my arm. “That’s still terrible.”
Felix shrugged. “It is what it is. Nothing I can do to bring them back.”
“I sometimes forget not all shifters think like we do.” I gave his leg another squeeze.
“What do you mean?”
“We think that when people die, their spirits stay behind and guide us when we need it.”
Felix looked up at me, interest in what I was saying in his eyes but shockingly very little sadness. “Sea otters believe our spirits return to the ocean.” He looked away, up at the red brick building, and things got quiet.
A few minutes later, he unfastened his seat belt. “Let’s go get my stuff.”
“Uh, maybe you should wait here.”
“I thought you couldn’t let me out of your sight?”
He was right. And McMahon would have my ass if anything happened to him. If his apartment wasn’t on the way out to my place, I would have dropped him off there or taken him to Quin’s art gallery, where my brother could keep an eye on him. But it was too late now. “Fine, but stay behind me.” He nodded, and I grabbed his hand when he reached for the door handle. “I’ve got it.”
Felix raised a brow but said nothing as I opened his door and walked beside him to the building, where I held out my hand for his keys.
He dropped them into my palm, a Darth Vader Funko Pop key chain swinging. “Second floor. Apartment 2C.”
Something felt off, but I slid the key into the lock and turned, then crossed the threshold and climbed the stairs, stopping in front of 2C. When I went to put the key into the lock, the door swung open, the doorframe cracked.
“Fuck.” I pushed Felix back. “Wait here.” Kicking the door open, I slid my Taser from my pocket. I didn’t carry a real gun, so the Taser would have to do. I held it in front of me as I looked around the room.
I had no idea how Felix usually kept his house, but what I was looking at was nothing short of carnage. The couch had been slashed, white fluff floating over the room and springs sticking up through the center of the overturned frame. Books with ripped-out pages littered the floor, and broken glass reflected the light coming in from the naked window, the curtains torn from the rod that hung broken from one bracket.
“What the… Oh my God!” Felix stood in the doorway, his hand over his mouth and his eyes wide. He started to come into the room, but I caught him before he made it more than a step.
“We need to call McMahon.”
Felix fought my hold. “I need to see the rest.”
