Dead Spots by Melissa F. Olson Read Free Book Online Page B

offered to drive his car. “What can you contribute to a police investigation?”
    I spent a second wondering whether I’d just been insulted and decided that it didn’t really matter. “He thinks that there are supernatural elements at work here, and I can be sort of his...liaison,I guess. I’m the only person he knows who is connected to the Old World.”
    He went still, thinking this over. When vampires go still, it is scary, since they don’t need to actually breathe or blink. “Very well,” he decided, finally. “I did not get very close to the victims.” Something like embarrassment flickered across his face, and I realized for the first time that Dashiell hadn’t approached the scene because of all the blood. As I’ve said, vampires gain control with age, and Dash’s control is stellar. That much blood, though, would have tested even his strength. No wonder he was touchy about the whole situation. “But I would like to know more about this strange killing as well. And this way you can keep an eye on Officer Cruz. I do not love the idea of having you as a spy,” he continued, with an annoyed little emphasis on the word
you
, “but I suppose it cannot be helped. We will discuss the fate of the policeman further when your collaboration is finished.”
    Fine. Message received. I was an idiot, and Cruz’s life would depend on how he handled himself during his investigation. But if that were the case, why had he let Cruz live in the first place? It wasn’t because he was a cop, because if vampires know how to do anything, it’s make a murder look like an accident. It couldn’t actually be because I’d asked him...could it?
    Nah.
    “Now, to other business,” he said and waved through the window at Beatrice, who was in the kitchen.
    She nodded and left the room for a moment, and when she came through the patio door, Will was with her. I brightened a little. The werewolves, as a rule, like me a lot better than the vampires do, probably because I calm the sense of unrest that comes with being a shape-shifter. It also helps that I pose no immediate threat to them.
    My spirits dropped again a second later, however, when I saw the next person through the door. Wolf packs are usually led by amated pair, the
alphas
, who function like parents, and then there are a whole bunch of intermediate wolves who are like their kids. Ordinarily, the two alphas would go almost everywhere together, but Will hasn’t found a mate yet, so instead, his pack has a
beta
, a platonic second-in-command who accompanies him on “official” visits like this. Unfortunately, in Will’s pack, the beta happens to be Eli, who trailed Will onto the patio. His ice-blue eyes—the color of a husky puppy’s—met mine and flickered with the recognition you only get from people who’ve seen you naked. I tried not to squish down farther in my seat.
    Along with his second-in-command, Will had brought his
sigma
. Even though the pack hierarchy is sort of vague in the middle, everyone does know who the weakest member of the pack is. In a healthy werewolf pack, the sigma is the absolute lowest member of the food chain—why they’re called sigmas and not omegas is beyond me, but they probably have their reasons. Unlike regular wolves or even dogs, though, werewolves value this person. The sigma is the member most in need of the pack’s protection, and he or she becomes like a favorite younger sibling. Kind of like the Tiny Tim of the wolf pack.
    In Will’s pack, the sigma is Caroline Brooks, a petite, competent pixie who also happens to be Will’s personal secretary and office manager at the bar he owns. Bringing Caroline along meant two things: first, it indicated that Will was there on business, requiring her aid, and second, it was a quiet gesture that he was not afraid of Dashiell. Protecting the sigma is vital in werewolf packs, and bringing her along meant that Will didn’t see Dashiell as a threat. Or that Will was powerful enough