Bailey
The universe hated me. A light dusting of snow ensured the roads would be hell by the time we escaped New York. I barely eased Quinn’s convertible to a halt before Perkette slid into the vehicle, wrinkling her nose. Since she knew I wouldn’t even think about putting the vehicle into gear until she buckled up, she grabbed her seatbelt and clipped it into place.
“This officially sucks,” she announced.
“Good thing we’re headed to Vegas, then. Does Vegas ever get cold?” I hoped not. I already shivered, and I had the heat in the convertible blasting.
“Hell if I know. Think you can handle some snow as a unicorn?”
“Will it kill me? No. Will I kill you for making me? Very probably. Someone better be dying before I deal with snow as a unicorn.”
“Point taken. We’ll use our second plan, then.”
I’d lost count of Perkette’s plans. “Is that the one where we pay a cabbie a horrific amount of money to take us to a rental place?”
“Yes, it is. It’s also the one where I get to drive because at this pace, we’ll reach my house sometime next year. Sam isn’t going to get upset with you even if you crash your convertible.”
No matter how often Quinn—and everyone else—fed me the same line, I didn’t believe it. One day, the bubble of my happiness would burst, and it would be my fault. “He really loves this car.”
“He loves you more. You’ll get used to it one of these days. A little time away will do you both some good. Don’t worry about the car. Just get us to my house, Bailey. I said it once, I’m saying it again. Don’t give our men a chance to ruin our plans.”
If she wanted anything faster than ten below the speed limit when it was snowing, she was wrong and I wasn’t going to listen to her bitch about it. Arrive alive was my motto when it came to driving, and she’d just have to cope with it.
Quinn
What could go wrong did go wrong, and for a rare change, Bailey had nothing to do with it. My cousin did. Murdering the asshole would land me in trouble with my family, but would anyone really blame me? He needed to return to Jersey where he belonged and stay out of my jurisdiction.
More importantly, he needed to stay the hell away from my wife.
“You can’t petrify him,” Perkins reminded me. “You’d have to transform in public to do that.”
Why had I spilled my dirty shapeshifting secret to Perkins? Ah, right. I had done it so I wouldn’t scare the life out of him if I needed to shift while on duty. One day, it would happen. When it did, it would create the kind of mess that might get me fired. Humans didn’t like when the other species got too high up in the pecking order, and in reality, I was only human on paper.
I growled and wished I could shift just so I could lash my tail and hiss properly. “He’s deep in the park. I can get away with it.”
“No, Sam. I know you’re still cranky he picked a fight with Bailey, but you’re on official police business. Honestly, I usually wouldn’t care, but I don’t feel like getting caught in the crossfire of two gorgons duking it out today. Just think about it this way: we get three weeks of paid time off at Christmas.”
I fully intended on enjoying Christmas with Bailey. “He wanted to pick her as his bride.”
“I know. He ultimately picked a fight. Let it go. Anyway, you’re so tightly bound to her thanks to your heritage you don’t even need your magical ball and chain. No one else has a chance with her. Focus on that.”
Logically, I knew he was right. Unfortunately, my demonic side felt a need to claim territory daily, my angelic side endured almost as many anxiety attacks as Bailey did on a bad day, and my gorgon side wanted to make a big family for me to coddle.
Add in the rest of my questionable genetics, and it was no wonder Bailey woke up a tired mess in the morning. I’d never get enough of her.
I needed to work on that.
“Quinn, you’re growling a little too much there.”
I grunted, stopped growling, and curbed my desire to hiss at my partner out of spite. “I’m worried. Bailey was acting weird this morning. I was hoping to skip home over lunch to check on her. Instead, I’m headed into Central Park to scold my cousin for scaring the humans.”
“Be grateful he hasn’t petrified anyone yet. We could be done here in twenty minutes.”
“But not in time for us to skip home and check on our ladies,” I complained.
“You’re being almost as absurd as Bailey. She’s working. Let the woman work in peace. I know you’re worried, but she can take care of herself most of the time.”
“It’s the rest of the time I’m worried about,” I replied.
“While your concern is justified, she’s been careful to stay out of trouble lately. She’s even doing better on the self-esteem front, too. Think about it this way: she’s made it clear you’re her one and only. Don’t worry so much. Frankly, I’m thinking I might get you both some counseling for Christmas. You’re both suffering from extreme insecurities.”
“I trust Bailey. It’s everyone else driving Bailey batty I’m worried about.” I shrugged and kept trudging across the park to where the calls claimed my cousin was making a menace of himself. “It’s been quiet. Too quiet. When it gets too quiet, something bad happens to Bailey.”
“Can we just get through this so we can get back to the station? I’m freezing my ass off. It’s snowing.”
“And why are you in a mood today, Perkins?”
“My wife will be less than pleased to learn I’m being reassigned. She hates when I get a new partner. I become an insufferable asshole for weeks.”
“I’m pairing you with Nilman, unless you have a problem with that idea.”
“I can live with that arrangement. Where will you put Cotsman?”
“I’m moving him into the domestic violence division. He wants to diversify, and with a kid on the way, he’s motivated.” As delaying wouldn’t help matters for me, I picked up the pace, and Perkins matched my stride. “Thoughts?”
“Are we going to be backing you in the field?”
“Bailey likes you both, and it’ll help ease her into her new position, so yes.”
“This is going to be a disaster,” he predicted.
While I agreed, I did believe Bailey would thrive working with me in the field. She had a lot of learning ahead of her, but she deserved to be more than a cleaner for the CDC. She’d still have to tackle the nasty jobs, but she’d enjoy a better base pay per incident and the hazard bonuses contractors didn’t usually receive.
She wouldn’t get any more excessive payouts like the one that had rocketed her straight into being a millionaire, but she’d be a lot happier.
I just needed to convince her that she could handle the job, somehow get her registered to take the critical police academy courses, and teach her how to be a cop in less than two months.
I needed to ask my grandfather for a miracle, as I worried one would be needed to prepare her on such short notice.
As reported, my cousin loitered in the heart of Central Park. “Darrel.”
“I’ve got some intel for you. There’s a New Jersey hive after your bride.”
The world froze around me as the implication of his announcement sank in. I tensed, and I fought against the various facets of my genetics joining forces for the same cause: to protect what was ours.
Shifting would give me better weapons to accomplish that, but I resisted the desire to change shapes. “Who and why?”
I flexed my hands and clacked my teeth together.
“The Dover main hive needs a surrogate. A former police recruit, some idiot named John Winfield, tipped the male off about her immunities. They didn’t research her much before putting in an offer, and they certainly didn’t do any research on you. They have no idea they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. From what I can tell, they believe she’s an easy grab. I’m not sure why they believe they can coerce her into being their hive’s surrogate, however. Perhaps the male was raised by humans?”
It happened. Gorgon whelps sold for a fortune on the black market, and once they reached adulthood, some escaped and formed hives without understanding the intricacies of being a gorgon.
I remembered John Winfield, and the mention of the former cadet’s name added to my irritation. “John Winfield was removed from the force following the 120 Wall Street incident due to behavior inappropriate for a police officer.” I considered the rest of my cousin’s statement. “Our marriage isn’t exactly common knowledge. I didn’t make a formal announcement, and Bailey isn’t secure enough to be the one doing the announcing. She’s still deciding if she wants a formal wedding.”
Perkins scratched his head and sighed, shaking his head. “Your marriage may not be general knowledge for the public, but everyone in law enforcement is aware,” Perkins corrected.
My day was looking a lot grimmer—and a great deal more annoying—than it had even ten minutes ago. “When did Dover’s hive decide to stoop to kidnapping Bailey?”
My cousin shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, but it’s pretty obvious that former recruit is out for revenge. Selling your bride out to a hive is foolish at best, but the hive’s desperate and she’s immune.”
I tried to imagine what Bailey might do to an entire hive given ten minutes and a hit of transformatives. No, I needed to stop the hive before Bailey found out about the situation. She would wipe out all but the young and wallow in guilt over it for years, and she’d terrify a few years off my life in the process. “That poor hive. Are there any young?”
“Two whelps, a boy and a girl. Same hatching,” my cousin replied. “Why?”
“Bailey’s itching for a fight. If she finds out that hive wants to take her, it’ll be a bloodbath—theirs. Once she’s done killing the adults, she’ll want to adopt the whelps.”
“They do have the boy. If you start a hive, he’ll make for a good trade.”
“Darrel, we’re talking about Bailey here. She will murder anyone who tries to trade for a whelp in her care. I might be able to sell her on fostering, but I expect I’ll be saddled with both until adulthood. They can socialize in your hive if that’s the case.” The offer would please my entire family, and my cousin was in a position his hive could support another breeding male.
His serpents stirred, watching me with interest. “My hive is large enough to support a young breeding male,” he confirmed. “We could just wipe the hive out and take the whelps. They can be part of my hive’s bride present for your wedding.”
Sometimes, I hated gorgons. Other times, I loved everything about our twisted society.
Perkins snickered. “That’s one way to handle this. Can you get proof that former cadet contacted this Dover hive?”
“I have sufficient evidence, Officer Perkins.” My cousin smiled, and showed off his fangs. “For gorgon law.”
I could make a few guesses, especially after evaluating witness reports of the cadet’s treatment of my wife and his general attitude. “The idiot emailed the hive, didn’t he?”
“Indeed. To make it worse, for him that is, the Dover hive’s patriarch asked around about Bailey Gardener. I requested a copy of the offer. He sent it to me. He plans to offer five hundred thousand. I told him she was worth much more than that. I got the feeling that was all he had to offer. I also got the feeling he would pursue her without an accepted bride offer.”
Kidnapping and coercion went against everything I’d been taught by my father and grandfather. It even went against what my cousin had been taught, although he’d suffered through a complete lapse of judgment following an alcoholic bender and exposure to an incubus.
The exposure to an incubus part of the equation had grudgingly won him my forgiveness.
He had gotten his ass handed to him by my wife, and I understood what demonic powers could do to someone. In part, it was why I always hesitated to reveal any of my demonic nature.
Unfortunately for me, Bailey could be very convincing, and once she coaxed me into shapeshifting, she had a way of making my common sense dribble out of my ears.
We made quite the pair.
I sighed and shook my head. Considering how poorly Bailey had taken my cousin’s multi-million dollar offer, she’d enter orbit over only being offered five hundred thousand. “Amanda’s been teaching her self-defense. While I will do everything in my power to prevent another hive from even looking at her, I pity this patriarch should he manage to get near her.”
Perkins snickered again, which grew into boisterous laughter. “She’ll get so mad she might spontaneously combust. After she’s done laying waste to the entire hive, I wish you luck convincing her she has value.”
Bowing my head, I closed my eyes and sighed again. And again. I sighed a few extra times for good measure. “It’d be best if she doesn’t find out about this. She’s going to have enough trouble accepting she’s going to be a Chief Quinn soon.”
My cousin cackled. “She’s going to turn the entire city upside down. Which jurisdiction is to be blessed with her?”
The sarcasm I expected from my cousin didn’t come, and when I lifted my head, he watched me with open interest. “They’re partnering her with me.”
My cousin nodded, his expression satisfied. “Well, I’d like to see anyone get to you with her around. She’s vicious. She sometimes flails, but she flails viciously. And I’ll give her credit. She punches hard when mad.”
I’d always treasure the memory of my wife beating my drunk cousin. “You deserved it.”
“I did. I regret I didn’t find her first.”
I only regretted marrying Audrey before meeting Bailey. “Thank you for not finding her first.”
“Who am I kidding? You two were made for each other. I know of no other capable of handling her fire without being burned.” My cousin shrugged. “She’d burn the entire world to ash for your sake. That’s what I want, for a woman to look at me like your bride looks at you. I doubt she’s easy to love, but what you have will last. I don’t typically believe in fate, but perhaps with you two, it was simply meant to be. How do you want me to handle the Dover hive?”
“Talk to your old man, and when you do, tell him my old man keeps telling Bailey she’s too vicious to participate in the fostering matches. Should the Dover hive suffer from any unfortunate accidents pursuing my bride, she has first right to claim the whelps. I intend to back her on it, and I will fight for her if she’s barred.”
“While shifted?” My cousin’s snakes hissed their opinion of that. “You’ll scare off the competition.”
“I’m all right with that. Bailey isn’t. She’s stuck on earning the fosters properly. I’m much lazier than she is.”
I was also more ruthless, and if she wanted to foster children, I would end every fight as quickly as possible before accepting my beating as the victor.
“Whatever works. I’ll try to defuse the Dover situation. What do you want me to do about that washed-out cadet? He’s going to become a problem.”
“Get what information you can on him. When I’m finished with him, he’ll regret the day he thought he could touch my wife,” I swore.
Bailey
As I couldn’t drive worth a shit and Perkette wanted to reach Vegas sometime this year, I navigated. Navigation I could do. I didn’t even need a map to guide her across the city to the mainland. After that, I informed my new, fancy phone I wanted to go to the Venetian in Las Vegas, and it dutifully relayed directions at the appropriate intervals.
I loved my new phone, and the next time my husband tried to coax me into accepting something a little shinier than the cheapest model available on the market, I’d listen to him. “Did you know Quinn believes he can’t teach me how to use his laptop to save his life? The same goes for all tech. I’ve convinced him I’m completely and totally hopeless with all technology. In reality, I can use his phone like a boss. He just doesn’t know that. According to him, it’s a miracle I know how to text him. Am I a bad wife for liking when he does all the computer things for me because he likes it?” I held up my new phone. “He’ll like this phone. He’ll be delighted I picked it. It’s the most expensive model of the brand he likes.”
“You’re not stupid, Bailey. Why are you playing dumb with your husband?”
“It confuses him,” I admitted. “And he has this really cute expression when he gets flustered. Then he tries to help so much, so I feel bad when I can do something on my own, but he’s so eager to help.”
“You know how to use his laptop, don’t you? And his phone. And all of the technological doodads in your house.”
I loved that a scientist referred to technology as doodads. “Maybe a little.”
“This is going to be so good. Describe your actual skill with his computer, please.”
“I hate not knowing how to do something, so I looked it up online. Next thing I knew, I was upgrading his antivirus and basic protections because his are shit, but he doesn’t know his are shit because I run mine in the background. And because I added extra programs, I may have taken his laptop to a store for a memory upgrade so he wouldn’t notice. He hasn’t. He’s a very confused man sometimes. Well, I might sometimes tell him about weird porn to see what he’ll do. He gets so embarrassed, Perkette. And the best part? He has no idea if I’ve actually watched any of it.”
“Have you?”
“Hell no. Why would I? I’m married to an incubus. Well, that’s not quite true. I tried watching one once because I was curious. The girl looked bored, and the guy looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than a studio filming porn. It wasn’t sexy. At all. And they couldn’t act worth a shit. I just browse for weird porn ideas in stealth mode and make a mental note of the interesting headlines to tease him.”
“That must drive him crazy.”
“I don’t do it on purpose—usually. He just worries he isn’t being husbandly enough, and then I try to tell him he’s so much better than those weirdos who think watching each other pee is sexy.”
“Don’t you mean pee on each other?”
I snickered. “Quinn isn’t sure, and it drives him insane. He’s part angel, Perkette. Even the thought of checking porn for any reason freaks him out. All he’d have to do is ask what I’m doing. I’d tell him. While laughing. I can’t help it. He makes the best expressions, and it’s so hard to keep from laughing.”
“And add in his obsession with making you laugh, and it’s a recipe for disaster. One of these days, you’re going to choke to death trying not to laugh, and he’s going to have a heart attack from twisted porn. It’s a good thing porn is legal or he’d already be halfway in his grave.”
“It doesn’t hurt—or help—that I sometimes spike dinner with pixie dust without telling him.”
“You are half the reason you don’t get enough sleep.”
I grinned. “At least I’m honest about it.”
“You know what? I can’t blame you. If Arthur packed incubus genes, I’d be running on a lack of sleep and need an intervention, too. Trust me on this one, Bailey. Even vanilla human men like their sex plentiful.”
“I’d say I know that, but then I’d be lying.”
“I feel like I need to take you to some strip clubs when we’re in Vegas. Your innocence isn’t refreshing. It’s downright terrifying.”
“It’s Quinn’s fault,” I announced. “It’s all his fault. He walks in the room, and I forget other men exist. I’ve been told this is a good thing.”
“For someone who is part angel like your chief? Yeah, it’s a good thing.”
“What do you think he’ll do when he finds out?”
“I don’t know, Bailey,” Perkette admitted. “Let’s go find out. Have your phone take us to Atlantic City. We’ll begin our reign of terror there.”