When I noticed sweat stains on his blue button-up, I grabbed a few cold soda bottles from the fridge and set them on the table.
“I keep saying I need to move farther north to get away from this heat,” he said, entering the trailer. “But how far north do I have to move? Alaska?” Graham pulled out a vinyl chair and sat, the metal legs creaking.
Blue took the chair next to his. “I’ve heard that cities with a higher Breed population have more extreme weather than other places. It’s never consistent but always warmer or colder than everywhere else.”
I set the bottle opener on the table. “Would you rather have water?”
He dabbed his forehead with a paper napkin. “Do you have any cold chicken? That would hit the spot.”
My brows arched, and I turned back to the fridge. Who the hell walks into someone’s house and asks for chicken? I had to laugh. Probably my father, and if anyone had cold chicken in the fridge…
I peeled off foil from a plate and set it on the table. Crush was not only a connoisseur of frozen dinners, but he also liked to buy large quantities of meat at the local barbecue pit. “Want some?” I asked Blue. “I can get you a plate.”
She shook her head while popping the lid off her soda bottle.
I sat on her right, across from Graham. We opened up our respective folders and began laying out the papers.
Graham chewed the meat off his chicken leg. “Tell me everything you found. All the details, and don’t leave anything out.”
“We don’t have anything concrete,” Blue began. “But several people mentioned the victims not feeling good.” She glanced at me. “Did you get any more of those?”
I fished out a few papers I’d clipped together. “These guys. Most of the others were away from home or alone, so no one really knows anything other than they died.” I held up one paper. “I’m not sure about this guy. He was a lone wolf—no mate or partner. I had a hard time getting details about his death. Ren put him on the list because he dropped dead in the middle of a bar.”
Blue looked around. “Do you have a pen?”
I rummaged through my dad’s junk drawer in the kitchen and tossed her a ballpoint. She scribbled question marks on a few papers and set them aside.
Graham pulled a few of those toward him and reviewed the info. “You can’t connect every single death. You have to factor in how and where they died. This lady died from a snakebite.”
I looked at the file. “Her boyfriend didn’t mention that.”
“Of course he didn’t. She had a lot of money, and he didn’t. I know the Relic who saw her. She had all the symptoms and a swollen leg, but the boyfriend wouldn’t allow him to treat her.”
“Why did he call a Relic?”
“He didn’t. A concerned neighbor called. I don’t think the boyfriend had anything to do with the accident, but I suspect he didn’t mind nature taking its course.” Graham cleaned off the meat from the bone in one bite and set it on the plate. “Do you have any statements from a Relic who examined them? Any clues left at the scene for these?” he asked, looking at the papers with question marks on them.
Blue shook her head. “Not those.”
He wadded up the papers and tossed them into the kitchen. “Then they have to go.”
I shrugged. “Fair enough. But what about the guy who fell off his motorcycle?”
He held a chicken wing close to his face and inspected it. “If I had a nickel for every Shifter who died in a car accident. Some of them think they’re immortal and can heal from any injury. But they can’t heal if they’re impaled or unconscious or bleed out. Most of them are young, arrogant boys. What’s next on the list?”
I created a separate stack. “These are all your clients.”
“I questioned most of them,” Blue said, tapping her finger against her orange soda. “The twelve-year-old girl collapsed. Do you have any medical history on her? Kids just don’t drop dead.”
“That one had anxiety issues since she was little. Medication didn’t help, so I suspect she had an underlying medical condition. Even something as simple as sleep apnea can wreak havoc on the body, and it’s not easy to catch. Parents don’t want to put their kids through a battery of tests.”
I played with a paper clip. “That’s not true. I once had a rash, and my dad took me to five doctors until they decided it was an allergic reaction to a detergent he was using.”
Graham chuckled. “You’re a Mage, right? Your early experience is with humans. We’re talking about Shifters.”
I glanced at Blue. “Who found her?”
Blue’s shoulders sagged. “Her mother found her in the kitchen with a glass of milk spilled all over the floor. She hadn’t been feeling well. We’ve got a lot of similar stories about chest pain and headaches. If this is a virus, it hits them fast.”
Graham wiped his barbecue-stained fingers on a paper napkin. “A virus by design is contagious. It jumps from one host to the next, either through airborne droplets, saliva, or blood. We would see more cases.”
I gulped my drink and sat back. Graham had a point. “Maybe it just affects people with a certain blood type or something. Nobody studies Breed genetics or DNA, do they?”
He tore meat off the second wing. “That’s a loaded question.”
“I’m not talking about you, but are there secret labs somewhere? You’re a Relic. You’d know about that kind of thing.”
He lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Would I? Do you think we have some national alliance with secret meetings?” Graham erupted with laughter. “It’s a competitive field. We all have inherent knowledge passed down from our ancestors that suits us for specific areas of work. Some specialize in Chitah disorders. Others are skilled therapists and counselors who work through harmony issues within a group or help with mental problems. No two Relics possess the same knowledge, so there’s no way for me to know who specializes in what. For the right money, I would imagine that some go rogue and work in secret labs. I’ve heard stories, but I don’t know if those are just rumors.”
“What’s your skill?” Blue asked.
“I mostly have wolf clients but not all. Most human medicine is ineffective on Breed. It’s weak and, in some cases, doesn’t work at all. I’m basically your average medicine man. Nothing exciting about that.” Graham sipped his drink and grimaced. “I’m a milkshake guy myself.”
“Sorry. No milkshakes in this house,” I informed him. “What about Ensure? I could throw that in the freezer.”
He frowned. “What’s Ensure?”
I chuckled. “A human drink with vitamins and protein. Never mind.”
“Why would you have human drinks in your house?”
“This isn’t my house. It belongs to… a friend.”
Graham blanched and looked over his shoulder at the hallway behind him. “Are we alone?”
“Want me to give you the tour?” I offered. “I don’t want to jeopardize your reputation or career for helping us. I promised you a private location, and this is it.”
He shook his head, looking at the papers with a chicken wing still in his hand. “This is scandalous research. Scandalous! If you can’t find a connection and any of these Shifters find out what you’re researching, they could file formal complaints.”