Page 21 of Last But Not Leashed

“What about the vampire?”

Ethel rolled her eyes. “He’s currently crying he broke someone’s car. He’s fine. The car isn’t. The car’s owner is miffed she has a vampiric attachment. Turns out he’s a car enthusiast and, according to him, the greatest crime he’s committed in his unlife is damaging her car. It’s a mess.”

“But is it your mess?”

“Not yet. My boss is handling the vampire. The tiger’s my problem, but I’m off the hook for tonight. He’s already been questioned, and if I’m needed before tomorrow afternoon, my boss offered to handle it.”

“And what about that damned pixie?”

Setting a plastic bag on the floor and shoving it out of the way, Ethel sat beside me, reaching over to pat my back. “He was a cave nymph practitioner. He had a known criminal record but was out on good behavior. Rumor has it he’s been working as an illegal bounty hunter, and the current theory is he dusted the tiger and vampire to make Dale an easier mark.”

“That didn’t work out well for him.”

“I don’t think he anticipated Dale could jump fifteen feet. I’m pretty impressed. We found evidence you’d smacked the nymph into a tree trunk. The dust marks are fifteen feet from the ground.”

I groaned and considered taking shelter in the bathtub. “If he hadn’t ruined my shift, I wouldn’t have hit him.”

“Somewhat coherent now?”

“Jerome refuses to kill me. Tell him he should kill me. It’d be a mercy.”

“I know. I heard you through the door. I’m sorry. You’ll feel better soon. I brought some high-grade neutralizer with me. Maybe it’ll help. Anyway, I thought you’d like to know you’re cleared on the nymph. The tiger already testified to an angel that you were provoked and the little bastard had dusted a public place. It seems you flew off the handle when the nymph mentioned your female.”

Busted. Ethel sounded too happy for my comfort, but after a few moments of thought, I decided it was a good thing. “He said something about me being valuable, I think. It’s a bit of a blur,” I admitted.

“So your new friend said. Anything I can do to help?”

“If you want to hold his hair if he throws up again, that’d be great.”

I didn’t have enough hair to worry about, and I shot a glare at my alpha, who grinned at me. “You’re an ass.”

“I am, but it’s why you like me. How much Pepto did you get? And what new friend? Dale’s not allowed to have any new friends right now.”

Ethel pulled the bag to her and emptied it onto the tiles. “Don’t get so territorial without hearing the whole story first. The tiger lycanthrope is Dale’s new friend. He’s unmated, and he had his first shift a year ago. He recently moved into the area. Apparently, he’s not the loner type, and he’s interested in joining a pack. A lot of other lycanthropes are scared shitless of him because he becomes a tiger who weighs four hundred pounds. He likes that Dale isn’t instantly terrified of him. Expect him to ask about joining the pack. He requested contact information.”

“And you’re certain he isn’t an accomplice? Does he have a name?”

“Alto, but if you have any mercy in your body, you’ll call him Al. He’s no threat to Dale. I asked, and an angel confirmed he had nothing to do with the situation. He was just at the mall to have some dinner, and the vampire asked if he’d donate. That’s when he got dusted.”

“Wait, the vampire was asking if this guy would donate?” Jerome gaped at Ethel. “At the mall?”

“Al supplements his income donating to vampires, and he meets contacts at the food court. It’s legal. He’s comped by the vampires, and he has a certificate from the CDC as a valid donor, so he doesn’t have to claim his earnings on his taxes. Works well for everyone. He won’t be cleared to donate for a week just to be on the safe side, but since he’s an official donor, the CDC will cover his vampires until he’s clean of black dust.”

Ethel dug out five bottles of Pepto and lined them up beside me, and I groaned at the thought of being subjected to more of the vile medication. “You’re not dying, Dale.”

“According to him, he is.” Jerome laughed, grabbed one of the Pepto bottles, and poked me with it. “If you don’t want this shoved down your throat, stop throwing up.”

After digging into one of her pockets, Ethel placed a tiny vial filled with shimmering pink powder beside the line of Pepto waiting to torment me. “This is the best neutralizer I could get on short notice. If you think he can keep it down, give him the whole thing.”

“You could just put me out of my misery.”

“No can do. I’m planning on keeping you around for a long time, so I can’t kill you. Sorry. You’ll feel better within a few hours. If you can keep it down, I’ll get some water so you can take the neutralizer. Maybe it’ll spare you from another round of the Pepto.”

“No promises, but I’ll try if it means I can avoid more of Jerome torturing me.”

She laughed, hopped to her feet, and left long enough to fetch a glass of water and a spoon. She stirred in the powder until I had yet another pink beverage to drink, and I had no doubt Jerome would force it on me if I didn’t drink willingly. I took consolation in the fact it tasted a hell of a lot better than Pepto did. I took several deep breaths to steady my nerves and order my rebellious stomach to settle, then I guzzled the neutralizer so it could work its magic and finish purging my body of the nymph’s dust.

My tongue went numb, and realization I’d been tricked sank in. Few sedatives worked alongside neutralizer, but the CDC’s favorite could flatten a human for days and was used with their glass coffins.