Hell's Menagerie by Kelly Gay Read Free Book Online

hair the color of sunshine on gold and then frowned. “You don’t smell that?”
    I leaned closer and sniffed. “Uh, no.”
    â€œFigures,” he muttered. “You people are so out of touch.”
    Oh, did I mention? Hank wasn’t human.
    All part of the policy. Integrate. Work together. Build relationships. Hank and I have been partners for three years now, both assigned to the ITF—Integration Task Force—which has pretty much taken over the policing and monitoring of all immigrant beings . . . whether from here or somewhere else.
    No one had been happy about being assigned to work with an off-world partner. In fact, there wasn’t a law enforcement officer out there who’d been comfortable with the new assignments. But we soon saw the necessity. With the influx of any alien , illegal or otherwise, crime rose. Better to have the insider knowledge to deal with it.
    Hank was a siren. Particularly useful in police work. Criminals, suspects, witnesses—they all wanted to tell the truth just to please him. All he had to do was take off his voice modifier. Developed by Mott Technologies and made of thick iridescent metal with two balls at the ends, similar to a Celtic torc, the voice-mod adjusted Hank’s supernaturally alluring voice into something we mere mortals could handle without embarrassing ourselves. And it wasn’t just women. Men, kids, babies, animals, you name it. Any living creature was drawn to Hank like he was the village piper. I liked to call him the village idiot, but, hey, that’s just me.
    Hank’s expression became serious, his frown deepening. He reached out and put two fingers on the side of Amanda’s neck and then closed his eyes. I waited, knowing not to interrupt. Hank was right, for the most part. Humans were more out of touch in the psychic sense, though ITF had begun hiring any psychically inclined officer they could get their hands on. Off-worlders, however, were blessed with an overabundance of senses.
    â€œYou gotta be kidding me.” He removed his fingers and gave me a frank look. “She’s not dead.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œShe’s not dead.”
    Immediately I felt for her pulse. Nothing. “I swear to God, Hank, I’ll put a bullet in your belly and send you back to Elysia if you’re messing with me.” And I’d done it once before, so he knew to take me seriously.
    â€œJeez, Charlie, give me some credit, will you? I wouldn’t kid you about this.”
    Emma loved Amanda like any devoted little sister would. She also adored Hank. And I knew that if this affected her, then Hank wouldn’t mess with me on something so personal.
    I stared at my partner over Amanda’s body for a hard second, then shot to my feet and radioed the paramedics with the news as Hank began walking slowly down the row of stalls, searching each one for clues as to what might’ve caused Amanda to drop into a death-like sleep on the cold, dirty floor during third period Algebra.
    I crouched next to Amanda, wanting so badly to tuck the loose strands of white-blonde hair behind her ear. But I didn’t dare. God, please don’t let this be what I think it is.
    As we waited for the paramedics, I used the time to scan her body, searching over the Black Watch plaid skirt, the knee-high white socks, the chunky black Mary Janes, and the white blouse. It was the same uniform Emma had worn to school, the same one she wore every day. Nothing seemed out of place, except for Amanda herself. She looked peaceful, happy even.
    The medical examiner entered the bathroom with her hard, shiny black case and equally shiny black bob, which curved under a small oval face, determined red lips, and dark Asian eyes. She’d gotten another new pair of glasses and they framed her eyes perfectly, as did the other twenty-odd pairs she owned. Liz bought designer eyeglasses like some women bought expensive shoes. “Hey,