"ray," i interrupted. "don't delude yourself. we'll get away with anything we want. we excel in covering things up we don't want anyone else to see." he didn't have to know that my killing him would lead to more headaches than it was worth. "after hundreds of years of experience, you kind of nail it down."

"if anything happens to me, they will track it back you. your case is all over my desk." his face was turning beet red from all the strain and anger. "if you kill me, a second grader with a finger up ass could figure it out. and you'll end up paying for this with life behind bars."

"i won't be paying for anything, ray." i leaned in closer, my face inches from his, my voice dropping to just above a whisper. "and when we're done with you there will no trace. there will be nothing left to identify. it will be like you disappeared into thin air." i snapped my fingers right next to his ear. had to keep up the show.

he froze. "they'll find my body," he stammered slightly. "i'm a police detective, for chrissake. they won't stop until the case is solved."

a slow smile spread across my lips. "will they?" he was going to make me do it the hard way, naturally. my irises sparked violet. it wasn't a hard thing to do, since i still had more than enough emotion flowing through my veins from this morning. my wolf was at the edge and she was tired of waiting.

he gasped and started thrashing again, struggling against his bonds.

"think about it, ray," i continued as if nothing was amiss. "if we actually exist, what else do you think is out there? you can't believe we're the only ones. joining us will give you a huge advantage. imagine all the crazy shit you'll be able to learn and how many crimes you can solve with our help."

ray was intelligent enough to follow what i was saying.

he stopped moving.

"that's right, ray. vamps, witches, demons, goblins, you name it-all true. fairy tales exist. think of all the things you can learn, all the cases that were never solved because they were other. you'll make chief with our help. but if you don't accept my proposal now, i'll be forced to have my pal spell your body. that means you won't be you. well, that is, until you're in the ground and buried. but before the spell wears off, you're john fucking doe and nobody will ever know what happened to raymond hart. no physical body, no evidence, no case. end of story." i had absolutely no idea if marcy, who happened to be my secretary, a witch, and best pal, could even do something like that-but it sounded good so i was going with it. i ended with a dramatic hand slash toward the floor.

ray didn't so much as blink.

danny reached over and cuffed his shoulder so hard the chair nearly upended. "spells are a backup plan for me, mate. not the route i'd go. see, i'm more of a concrete blocks and heavy weights guy. or maybe a nice wood chipper. i've never had the pleasure of using one before, but they look fairly interesting and easy to operate, and my garden could use a good fertilizing this time of year."

ray's face turned a coronary red. "i don't believe you," he. "everything you're saying can't possibly be true. you're making this up because you want me to join your crazy cult, but i'm not drinking the goddamn kool-aid! do you hear me? i'm not drinking it!"

i closed my eyes, but refrained from pinching the bridge of my nose. i spoke quietly. "ray, you saw danny for yourself. how do you explain away a human shifting into a wolf right before your very eyes? you weren't on any kool-aid then-or were you? i didn't peg you for the using type, but maybe i'm wrong. were you high when you saw danny shift?"

"what?" ray shouted with enough outrage infused in his voice to make a small child cry real tears. "i've never taken a drug in my life!" then he shuddered. it was the first real fear he'd shown thus far. "when he... changed... that... that was just some sort of trick you played on me. he caught me by surprise, fooled me somehow." he stammered some more. this was a typical human reaction to something they couldn't explain away. finally. ray, it seemed, had already filed it into a neat place in his mind, coming up with a justifiable story his brain could handle. he sputtered, "i came in... and there was a strange animal... and it shocked me, so i fainted..."

i glanced at danny and asked, "did you happen to show him anything more last night when you two were alone?"

"nope," danny answered. "i threatened his life repeatedly, but i had no idea you wanted him to accept us. i figured the less he knew before we killed him the better."

ray shot us both a searing look. if he'd his gun, he would've shot us without hesitation. "it doesn't matter what you try to show me. i'm not buying it. you've been goofy for years, hannon, but monsters don't exist and i'm not joining your cult."

i narrowed my eyes, letting them spark deeply. "i know you believe it deep down, ray, you know why? because i can smell it." i took in a deep breath to accentuate my point. "you're just being stubborn and making this excruciatingly hard on all of us." i sighed. "unfortunately i don't have the time for hard. if you can believe it, i actually don't want to kill you. i really don't. you're all kinds of painful, but i believe you deserve to live. the pledge i took to protect when i joined the police force was sincere. but time is running out. my conditions for not killing you are as follows-and they're nonnegotiable." he glared at me, but remained quiet. "one: you will swear a blood oath of fealty to our pack. this binds you to us. if you betray the oath, you die. once you do this, you become an essential to our pack-you bring value by your position on the force and we protect you. it's a fair trade. two: you take a voluntary year hiatus to assimilate to our ways, starting immediately. your excuse will be stress related, and everyone will buy it. after a year in the north woods recuperating in peace, you'll be good as new and no one will be the wiser."

rage vibrated off of ray in short, angry waves. "i don't care what you say. i'm not swearing some kind of ritual oath to anyone. you and your little cult of misfits can-"

i reached over and yanked his gag back up quicker than he could track. it shocked him into silence.

he was such a thorn in my ass.

"looks like he's not willing to compromise, then," danny said. "though, it was a rather sweet deal if you bothered to ask me. i would've agreed to it in a heartbeat."

ray started to struggle and, in a moment of weakness, i considered killing him. it would be so much easier. but unfortunately easy had never been my style. "dammit, ray, why are you such a stubborn idiot!" i shot off my seat and kicked my folding chair. the wall exploded and the chair clattered to the ground in pieces, accompanied by a snowfall of white dust.

"listen, jess." danny stood in front of me. "you can't beat yourself up about this." he placed his hands carefully on my shoulders, glancing at me quickly before averting his eyes. my status was above his and prolonged eye contact in a stressful situation was hard. "i can see the mortality decisions are going to bloody tear you apart, because you're still seeing the world as a human does. but i can assure you this bloke isn't worth your frustration." he gestured idly at ray, who'd shut up and stopped moving after my tirade. "we've much more important things on the agenda tonight, like setting out to find your man." danny was joining me as a selective on this trip, which basically meant he was my muscle-for-hire, along with my twin brother, tyler. "dusk will be here shortly. i know you haven't had much experience killing yet, so i'll be happy to finish this up for you. it can be over and done with in a jiffy."

"yet" was the operative word in that sentence. killing innocent people shouldn't be a snap. just because i was a wolf now was no excuse. i'd spent twenty-six-years as a human. i couldn't kill the bastard that easily.

he was going to have to work for it.

i sighed. "we're not killing him, danny."

"come again?" he cocked his head in question.

"he lives. for now."

i glanced down at ray, and his eyes narrowed, sensing a trick.

this was the point where he was hoping to gloat while i admitted this was just a weird cult after all. but unfortunately for him there was no kool-aid to dispense. this was the real deal. "that's right, ray." i exhaled a long, tired breath. "you're going to live to see another day. you're a complete fool, but i guess you're my fool now."

"um, jessica?" danny asked. "i don't think your father is going to be quite as willing to let him-"

"it's already settled. if i couldn't convince ray to swallow the quiet pill and swear a blood oath, i had to take ownership of him. if he stays here without me, he dies. nobody in pack is willing to babysit him." i could've asked marcy or nick to do it, but it was too risky. if ray somehow escaped and exposed us, they would end up paying for it with their lives. "i'm choosing to decide his fate. he's mine."

danny's face showed his confusion as he tried in vain to process my foolish ways. "yours?"

"he's coming with us," i assured him.

"you must be joking." danny laughed, his face incredulous. "surely we'll be trekking where no human can follow. he's bound to end up killed or worse. not that there's actually anything worse than dead, but it could definitely hurt more."

i shrugged. "then he'll die. but i'm not killing him right here in cold blood."

danny's expression switched to a sardonic grin in an instant. "whatever you say. you're the boss."

i took a sharp breath. "you have to be careful, danny," i scolded. "why do you always tread so close to the hairy edge? someday your mouth is going to spin you into trouble and no amount of sweet talking is going to get you out." referring to me like that so boldly could cause waves where none should be, especially when the real boss was still in the building.