Page 35 of Claimed By the Guardian

“Report,” Simon said, his voice almost casual as he looked up at the men.

The cop answered, his tone frequently betraying his exhaustion for all that he kept his words light. “Looting is contained but that’s because more people are home puking. We got reports of monsters everywhere, most hallucinations. A few not. And regular shifters—the ones who ought to be helping—are just mean.”

Simon nodded as if it were exactly what he expected, then he gestured at the cop’s uniform. “Since when do gang cops dress up?”

The man snorted. “Since we’re supposed to show that the police are everywhere.” He rolled his eyes. “Which we aren’t. We’re down to less than half now.” Then he turned and abruptly extended a hand to her. “Detective Ryan Kennedy, here to serve and protect,” he said. “And you are…”

Cecilia smiled. It was hard not to respond to his easy charm. “Dr. Cecilia Lu. CDC.” That was all she got out before Hank released a low grumble from her opposite side. Detective Kennedy quickly lifted his hands in a backing-off gesture.

Meanwhile, Simon started talking to the other two. “How are you two? And your families?”

The younger man flashed a quick smile. “We’re all bottled water, nothing else.”

“And beer,” the older one said with a grin. “You said we can drink the beer.”

“Anything that was made outside of Detroit.”

There was more byplay. Simon had gotten all the information he wanted. It was Alyssa who asked for more details about grandchildren and jobs. And then the younger one looked sadly at the hybrid before nodding at Detective Kennedy.

Ryan explained the exchange a moment later by holding up his phone to show to Simon. “We think we know who this is. Pretty sure this is the same kid.”

Cecilia stretched to look. She wanted to see what the person had looked like beforehand. And she was greeted with a smiling picture of a high school boy in his football uniform celebrating a win. The face itself hadn’t changed that much. Just added fur and those rounded ears. If you shrank the muzzle down, then it was the same boy. Especially since the tattered shirt he wore was the same as in the photo.

“He changed during practice.”

“You know the family?” Simon asked.

“Not well,” said the detective. “But enough to tell them?—”

“You’ll come with me then.” Simon straightened and got off the couch.

“Where are you taking the body?” Cecilia asked

“Wherever the family wants,” Simon answered. “You got enough from him?”

The CDC needed data, always. But weighing that against the shifter secret and the family’s grief was hard. “We’d like the study the body if we can. In a lab. With?—”

“They won’t let you,” Detective Kennedy said. He looked at Simon, but his words were for her. “They know about us. The boy’s mother has the gene, though she never changed. She knows to keep it quiet. Just bury the dead and grieve in peace.”

Simon didn’t answer. He just looked at her, his expression flat. It was like he was trying to tell her something, but she had no idea what. So she looked to Hank who was equally silent, but his eyes were filled with sorrow. Yet another dead child. Was this the one she’d killed? She wasn’t even sure because parts of last night were a blur. Plus, she’d been specifically blocking that information from gaining prominence in her brain. She’d studied the body as she would have any tissue. Disease first. Method of death, irrelevant if it didn’t pertain to the disease.

He’d been a violent monster ready to kill. She’d protected herself and others. And frankly, it wasn’t the first time she’d had to put a sick animal down. Her PhD research had been on monkeys and she’d inured herself to killing them years ago. It was simply part of the job.

But now she saw that the hybrid monster was a boy who had played football and had a family who would grieve. Sure, she’d known in her clinical brain that his higher cortex was all but gone. Even if there had been a cure, he would never regain human function. Closest analogy was that he was a rabid animal and had had to be stopped.

But she hadn’t thought about the family. Or that he’d been playing football just a day or so ago.

“Dr. Lu?” Simon pressed. “How important is it for you to study this body?” A simple question asked without emotion.

“Not.” She swallowed. It was a lie. They always needed more data, but she couldn’t be the one to dissect the body. Not now that she’d seen that picture. And she couldn’t trust anyone else to see what she would see now that she wasn’t blind to shifters. “Let them bury him however they want.”

Simon nodded then gestured to the men to gather the body. They worked as efficiently as the wolves while everyone watched.

Everyone, that is, except her. She had to look away. So she turned aside and her gaze collided with Hank’s. He crossed to her then. He didn’t speak, but he put his arm on her and she let him fold her into his comfort.

“You understand now, don’t you?” he said, his voice low. “That these are people—our people—who are being changed in horrible ways.”

She swallowed. “I always understood that.”