Blue and I shared a look. Formal complaints were the least of our worries after a night battling bears and wolves, then rescuing a child.
“Some of the packs bury the bodies on their land,” I said. “What if we dig up a few and run some tests? You might find something in their blood.”
Graham choked on his chicken. “You must have a death wish. They’re not going to let you dig up the dead. Do you have anything on the rest? Anything new that was overlooked? If not, you should drop it.”
I shook my head. “I’m not dropping this. I’ve made a decision, and I think this is worth pursuing.”
Blue folded her arms on the table. “It could ruin us, Raven. Some of these look really fishy to me, but he’s right. If anyone gets wind of why we’re really asking questions, and they think for a second it might have something to do with a virus, that’s going to set off a panic.”
“One you can’t undo,” Graham added. “The higher authority lost a lot of credibility after that recent scandal. Even if the reps made a public statement that the virus gossip was a misunderstanding, no one would believe it. You could inadvertently start a war. That might dissolve the only law organization we’ve got, and nobody wants that. Nobody!”
I spread out the papers. A young woman found dead in her sleep, an older woman dead in a chair, a young boy who drowned, several young men who had all collapsed. And as much as I wanted to rule out the bear on the motorcycle, I couldn’t. I got up and unwadded the papers Graham had discarded on the kitchen floor so my father wouldn’t find them. “What about the Donner pack?” I asked Blue. “The one you saw yesterday afternoon.”
I felt a sharp stab of guilt when I remembered that they were the ones she had a run-in with.
Blue held a look I couldn’t discern. “The victim was a young man—eighteen, I think. They said he collapsed while repairing a broken window. They’re saying it was dehydration or a heatstroke, but I wouldn’t rule out foul play. They were in a rush to get us out of there. Something fishy was going on in that pack. Not many women, but a whole bunch of little girls.”
Graham heaved a sigh. “Some people shouldn’t be allowed to breed.”
I stared at the papers. It was so random. None of them had anything in common except that they were Shifters. Different ages, genders, animal types, and even causes of death. The only thing we could trace to some of them was that they died unexplainably. “Could it be a genetic mutation instead of a virus?”
Graham sucked the sauce off his thumb. “What do you mean?”
“What if some Shifters are born with a mutation that kicks in at random times, like an autoimmune disorder? Except instead of making them sick, it just kills them.”
“I don’t think that would go over well in the Shifter community either. Unless we can prove it, we can’t even suggest it.”
Blue rubbed her temples. “If it’s true, they have a right to know. Someone will have to organize a task force to research it. They’ll have no choice but to dig up the bodies since it’s something that would affect the entire population.”
Graham shrugged. “Sure. Tell everyone that their pack might have a genetic mutation and see how many of them start killing or kicking out relatives who might carry the gene. You need to think about it this way—if we can’t cure it, we can’t suggest it. It’s better if they just accept the deaths as part of nature. We don’t have specialized hospitals for Breed. We don’t have organized research teams who come up with cures for defects. We accept them. Otherwise you’d see more of these interbred children getting attention—the ones born with both gifts canceled out. Maybe in a few hundred years but not now. It’s possible they were born with a genetic flaw. That’s something I can’t rule out as a science man. But if so, there’s nothing we can do but protect the stability of the community.”
I folded my arms on the table and put my head down. The human side of me wanted to do all the things we would do in the human world. But that wasn’t my world anymore. Everything had an impact. The stability of the Breed world was as thin as a sheet of ice over a lake. One wrong decision would cause fractures far and wide. The ramifications for spreading rumors or slander were substantial, and because it would affect our organization, I had to tread carefully.
Yet Remi’s words resonated, and I felt compelled to see this through. Even if we could never publicly disclose our findings, I needed to know where this road was taking us. Maybe nowhere, but maybe we could save a few people along the way from bad situations.
“Do you have any potato salad?” Graham inquired politely.
I needed to end this meeting before he cleaned out Crush’s fridge. I lifted my head. “Can we schedule another meeting with you when we have more information?”
“Absolutely. I want to help in any way I can, but I just don’t see anything suspicious.” He continued reading a few more papers while finishing his chicken. “You spoke to the Freeman pride?”
I tucked my fist against my cheek. “Blue did.”
Graham set down his chicken. “What did they say?”
Blue guzzled her drink and then sighed. “Sambah lost a son. What do you think they said? He’s upset. They found him on the stairs.”
“You spoke to Sambah?” Graham cleaned his hands with a napkin. “That’s a powerful pride, and King was next in line. At least that’s what I heard.”
“You know them?” I stood, dumped the chicken bones into the trash, and put the empty plate in the sink.
“I’m not their Relic,” he explained. “I tried to apply once, but they turned me down. They have a lot of money and power. I hope you didn’t upset him. Did he seem upset? I hope you’re not mentioning my name to any of these people.”
Blue scooted her chair back. “We’ve been careful about what we tell them. We don’t want anyone getting suspicious about our visits.”
Graham heaved a sigh. “Good. The last thing you want to do is make enemies with the Freeman pride. I’ve heard stories about them.”
I leaned against the sink. “What stories?”
“Someone murdered one of their lions. Or was it a lioness? I can’t remember.” Graham loosened his belt a notch, causing me to look away. “It was a bar fight, I think. The Council rarely gets involved in family disputes. Sambah didn’t go to the killer’s pack. He sent his men to hunt down the two people involved in the killing and bring them back. Nobody knows what happened to them.”
“If the killing wasn’t provoked, it’s within his rights,” Blue said, scooting back her chair. “An eye for an eye. The leader can ask for any compensation he desires.”
Graham wiped his forehead. “Did you know that lions eat their enemies?”
Striding to the door, I announced, “You better go. Blue and I have more work to do, and I’m sure we’re keeping you.”
He rose from his seat. “Thanks for the snack. That should tide me over until lunch.”
Blue couldn’t stifle her short laugh.
Graham pushed in his chair. “It’s genetic. I have a slow metabolism and a big appetite.”
I gripped the doorknob. “I’m not judging. I’m exactly the opposite.”