“Thus the CDC wanting to throw me under the bus because I meet the general appearance, size, and shape of the other victims.”
“And with the clock ticking for when the CDC and FBI expect the next batch of bodies to show up, they are hoping we can identify the killer—or killers—before that happens, but if we can’t, that we can catch them in the aftermath.” Sebastian sighed and waited for me to get a move on. I climbed into the truck and buckled in. “It worked out you had a week planned at the spa. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to handle you hunting this guy without cementing a mating bond. My virus would have gone ballistic.”
Mine wouldn’t have, not in the same way. Mine would have gone on a murderous rampage. In some ways, I wondered if my virus’s inclination to reject males was so strong she wouldn’t accept mating with an unwanted asshole. All-in-all, I was grateful for my virus’s unusual nature. “Mine just likes to murder unsuitable males. There were jobs I had to seriously fight her over because she wanted to permanently dispatch the asshole where the job was for a live capture.”
“Yes, there was a special note in your file about your general negative reaction to men. I’m relieved your virus just wanted me and wasn’t accepting any other options.”
“You still should have let me pay for my share of room service.”
“You paid for the room and the spa treatments. You did realize that my share was already included, right? You bought a package meant for two people, Harri.”
Oops. “I assumed expensive meant better. I didn’t think it meant I spent double the amount to go by myself. I just liked the schedule. I really did assume expensive meant better, though.”
“It was better. We spent a week being pampered by scantily clad men and women. And we got rewarded for relaxing and being docile. I don’t even know what they were expecting from us. We’re cats. If they want to spoil us, we’re accepting this without complaint. It must be wolves giving us lycanthropes a bad name at spas. I had zero desire to inflict any harm on anybody, although I’m severely jealous over your ability to purr. You purred your way through every session, to the point I couldn’t even get upset half-naked men had their hands all over you.”
“You had half-naked women with their hands all over you, too. And those women were hot, Sebastian. Anyone would question their sexuality when faced with those women. They must have been succubi. Otherwise, why else would they be so beautiful? It really wasn’t fair.”
“They were both lycanthropes, wolves to be specific—and I’m pretty sure they were mated to the men attending you. Didn’t you sniff to check?”
“I’m sure I tried, but in my defense, male wolves stink. It’s like they bathe in cologne, except it is musk of male wolf. My nose went dead after two minutes. It fainted from overexposure to male wolf. That would significantly limit rampages of jealousy, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes. Basically, everybody in that room was happily mated, and they’re even happier to be mated after the adventures in the spa. I was very pleased with how frisky you became once I got you back to our room.”
“I’m pretty sure the cheese had something to do with that.” The cheese claimed to be infused with catnip, but I suspected it was actually an aphrodisiac instead. One that transformed me into a lion-hunting freak.
“Is it bad of me to say I might love your family a little? That cheese is something else.”
“And we still have more to enjoy, and because of that special, special box, we can take it anywhere we go.” When I saw my family again, someone was getting hugged. A lot of someones were getting hugged. There would be a cuddle pile of my choosing, and I would hug my entire family into submission. “I’m going to be so sad when the magic on that box wears off.”
“And when it does, I’ll take it to someone to renew the magic. Your box will be fine.”
“It better be. You will experience the full power of a lynx’s disappointment and grief.” I checked my new watch, which I’d put on because I had no plans for bounty hunting—for the moment. “I’m really concerned about how much this watch cost, though.”
“Your family must have been saving up for a long time to get you that basket. I think it’s sweet. Your uncle probably paid for most of it, as he is fairly high up the chain of handlers. I’ll repay him the favor making sure he gets another good hunter to handle, which will more than cover any financial burden he took on for your week in heaven.” Sebastian chuckled and plugged my home address into the navigation system. “Our first stop will be to your home so you can grab clean clothes. After that, I’ll deliver you to your family, so they can confirm you have emerged from the spa adventure healthy and happy. Once your family has been convinced you had a good time, we’ll get my vehicle and start our real hunt. Unless you want to nap on the way, you can do the preliminary research so we can put together a plan. Honestly, I was expecting several weeks of battling with you over this job before you took mercy on me.”
“The fucker is killing women and possibly babies. That’s all I needed to know to cooperate in full, Sumners. I’m viewing this job as a very murderous date, by the way. I want to treat this fucker’s body like a bone we’re fighting over.”
“I’m game, although we do need to collect the appropriate evidence. But you have me on hand for that, so I can handle the procedures for any evidence gathering. I’m hoping it’s more of a matter of shadowing this fucker, figuring out if there are any kids we have to worry about, letting you take your temper out on him so you get your surgery, and then hauling what’s left of the body to the CDC.”
“It must be so hard for the lion to accept he’s not getting this kill.”
“I’ll somehow survive through this, although I will need a long time to recover and a lot of care.”
“Your quality of care will be directly linked to the quality of your roars and ability to make me purr. I am a selfish feline. And once I’m under the knife to peel these scars off and replace them with appropriate skin, I need to purr a lot. To heal.”
“Yes, you are so selfish.” Sebastian chuckled. “You’re something else. For the record, you’re not selfish.”
“I am totally selfish.”
“You’re not a lion. The market on selfish is totally cornered by lions. You, at most, pretend you’re self-centered.”
“I went to a spa for a week, and I took some random man with me. That is totally selfish. I’m the queen of selfishness.”
“And your family did what to make sure you actually went?”
The lion would somehow pay for his crimes. “I mugged them for their pocket change.”
“You usually refuse gifts, so they conned you into accepting a bunch of presents under the guise of it being a welcome package left by the resort for staying with them for a week.”
“That is not just ruthless, you lion. That’s mean. Mean! I don’t have to be conned into accepting gifts.”
“I detect a little lynx is lying to me.”
I hissed at him. “I have no problems accepting gifts.”
“Have your pants caught on fire yet? Outside of the cheese, your family’s gifts have left you a mess. I am proud you managed to put the watch on this morning, however. You, yourself told me your family had to manipulate you into accepting gifts through using the kittens.”