My stomach twisted, then sank. The tests had become such a regular part of my life of late that I barely even thought or asked about them. But if he was mentioning it, it could only mean the genetic markers had moved. I licked suddenly dry lips and said, "And?"
"And it appears your DNA is shifting toward vampire."
I frowned. "That really isn't unexpected."
Especially given Rhoan was already more vampire in his genetic makeup. It was always a possibility that eventually I'd head down that path, even without the DNA-altering drugs that Talon had given me.
"To some extent, it's not," Jack agreed. "But they're not the changes we were, to some extent, expecting."
Why was I not surprised? I rubbed a hand wearily across my eyes and said, "So what's happening?"
"We're not exactly sure." For a minute, he sounded almost as weary as I did. But then, me becoming more vampire-like seriously cocked up his plans for a day division. "We've compared your results to Rhoan's. His have been stable for years - and yours are not comparing favorably."
"Meaning whatever is happening, it's not making me like Rhoan?" Which in some ways was a good thing, because Rhoan had to drink blood during the full moon, and that was something I was desperate to avoid. I hated the taste of blood, even when it came after the thrill of chasing and catching rabbits.
If Jack was right, it seemed I was going to avoid the whole blood-taking thing - but at what cost?
What exactly was that damn drug turning me into?
"Given our success rate at predicting where these changes will go, I think it'll be safer if we upped the monitoring."
And wasn't that what I wanted to hear. The tests might not bother me as much as they used to, but there were some months where I could sympathize with pin cushions. "Are we talking weekly?"
"At least."
Crap. "It's not going to alter anything, Jack. It's not going to help."
"It's better that we track the changes rather than find out the hard way, Riley."
I guess so.
"Okay," he added, "we have the address. We'll send it through to your onboard."
Which I was nowhere near. And suddenly part of me didn't want to go anywhere near it. I drew in a shaky breath and blew it out slowly. It didn't help calm the nerves or the aching desire to just flee. "I'll head there now, then go for lunch."
"Keep the com-link on, Riley."
He hung up. I shoved the phone into my pocket, then pushed to my feet. The smell of blood stung the air, metallic and cloying. I briefly wondered if that smell would ever call to me. Just because my DNA seemed to be veering away from that aspect of vampirism didn't mean it couldn't veer back.
I turned resolutely on my heel and walked away. I couldn't change what was happening to me, and I wasn't about to spend time dwelling on it. I had enough troubles on my plate; I didn't need anything extra. I t didn't take me long to fly back to my car, but three shape-shifts into seagull form in as many hours had totally shredded my top. I grabbed a T-shirt out of the trunk and dragged that on before jumping into the car and driving over to the address Jack had sent me.
It turned out to be a less-than-impressive-looking concrete apartment building in the back streets of St. Kilda. I found a parking spot several buildings down, then climbed out of my car and strolled back slowly. The apartment that was linked to the phone was situated on the fourth floor, which in this case was the top floor. I studied the windows but couldn't pick which one was our target. They all had the same limp-hanging curtains, the only difference being the color. Some were blue, some were pink. All were sun-faded and somewhat grimy looking.
The building didn't appear to have any sort of security system installed up front - which, given the somewhat rundown appearance of the place, wasn't really surprising. The door was painted a gay red, but the paint was peeling and the wood pockmarked with holes. The air coming out of the place was a rich mix of sweaty humanity, cheap perfume, and sex.
Which suggested it was probably a brothel. And while brothels had been legal for more than a few years, I wasn't sure they were supposed to be situated in this section of St. Kilda. As a general rule, they had to be away from main living areas, but it wasn't unknown for councilors to be bribed to look the other way.
I glanced through the doorway as I walked by and saw a rather large and muscular-looking guard sitting in the hallway. Which maybe explained why there was no outside security, but it still seemed like overkill. This area was well policed, and, as far as I knew, there hadn't been any trouble here for months.
But maybe he wasn't just here to guard the ladies. Maybe he was also a sentinel for the room upstairs. The one that held a rare land line.
I kept walking until I'd gotten around the corner, then once again shifted shape, hoping like hell the T-shirt held up better than the blouse. I was running out of spare clothes.
I flew up to the rooftop and landed on the filthy tiles. I didn't immediately change back to human form, but instead strutted around like any regular gull as I checked it for security features.
And I discovered a ton of them.
Cameras, heat sensors, and sound monitors - everything that hadn't been in evidence downstairs, and all of which seemed a little over the top for what looked like a low-end brothel.
I strolled on, looking for some way to get in. There was a door, but it didn't have a handle on this side. Which meant it was more than likely padlocked on the inside. And while I could no doubt break in, someone was bound to hear or see me with all the security. Right now, it seemed a damn good idea to avoid detection - at least until I knew just what, exactly, all this was protecting.
Which meant finding another way in.
I leapt skyward again, flying for a bit before swooping down the side of the building. A third-floor window was open, so I circled around and landed on the sill. From inside came the sound of a bed squeaking and the grunts of a man. The smell of sex and sweat was so heavily ingrained that even in this form I could smell it.
I ignored it, hopped from the sill to the floor, then looked around for security. There didn't appear to be anything here - no cameras, and no monitoring devices of any kind that I could see, except for a discreetly placed button wired to the end of the bed. To be used if customers got nasty, no doubt.
The couple were in the lone bed. The man was obese and sweating heavily, the woman slender and dark skinned. She was chewing gum in time to the man's movements.
I shook my head. I could never really understand the human necessity to pay for sex - mainly because I couldn't understand what joy there was in only one partner having a good time.
But then, I was a werewolf, and sex was something to rejoice and celebrate. Maybe you needed to be human to understand the concept of paying for sex.
Unfortunately, the door was closed. I padded across the threadbare carpet to check it out anyway, but in seagull form, I was never going to open it. I swore internally, then moved under the only other bit of furniture in the room - a somewhat bedraggled-looking chaise longue.
Thankfully, the sex didn't last all that long. The man came, the woman looked at her watch, then hit him lightly on the back. "Time's up."
Her voice was gravelly and uneven. I wondered if it was natural or caused by too many cigarettes. The man grunted and climbed off her, his body wobbling in all the wrong places. He threw the condom in the trash, then dressed and walked out of the room - and slammed the door shut behind him.
The woman reached for a packet of cigarettes on the scrappy-looking dressing table beside the bed, popped one out, then lit up. She sucked in a deep breath and blew out several rings, then turned her head and looked straight in my direction.
"Who the fuck are you, then?"
Chapter 5
I hesitated for a heartbeat, then strolled out. She might have spotted me, but she hadn't yet started screaming for help. That was something, I guess.
I didn't change shape immediately, though. There was always an off chance she just liked talking to seagulls, so I pecked at something disgusting on the carpet and tried to act birdlike.
"I like the attempt," she said, casually drawing on the cigarette again, "but I'm sensitive to weres and shifters, and I felt you out on the sill. Shift shape and talk to me, or I'll scream for help. And I'm figuring you don't want that if you're sneaking in through windows."
Given little other choice, I shifted shape, then sat on the chaise longue. My T-shirt hadn't fared much better than the other shirt, forcing me to tie the ends together to stop my breasts from falling out.
"What are you?" she asked, her gaze sweeping me critically. "You can obviously take on bird form, but you feel like a wolf."
"That's because I am."
She raised an eyebrow. "Lucky. So, why are you here?"
"That depends on how fast you want to run downstairs and report my presence to the guard."
"Ah. Well." She sat up and swung her legs around. She was naked, but as uncaring as a wolf. Which was unusual for someone who smelled human, but I guess in her line of business, you'd lose your modesty early. "I earn fifty bucks for twenty minutes in this dump. Pay me that, and my lips are sealed."
I heard nothing but truth in her words and her mind. So I reached into my pocket, retrieved my wallet, and pulled out fifty bucks. But I flipped the note away as she reached for it. "I want honest answers. And I can tell truth from lies."
"Deal. Though I may not know what you want."
"Fair enough." I let her have the cash. "What can you tell me about apartment 404?"
She raised a well-plucked eyebrow. "Only that it's off limits for us ladies."
"But that hasn't stopped you from being curious, has it?"
She smiled. "No." She paused to take a drag on her cigarette. "There's two men who head up there regularly. One is a werewolf, the other is a shifter of some kind. A bird, I think, from his scent."
"Can you give me descriptions?"
She shrugged. "They're men. Leaner and fitter than the bozos I service, but still men. The wolf has brown hair and brown eyes, the other is a blondie with green eyes."
"And how do they walk?"
She smiled. "Like men you wouldn't want to tangle with. Are you a cop?"
"Guardian."
"Meaning things just might get interesting around here."
"That depends on what, exactly, is in that room."
"Well, I can tell you they walk upstairs with nothing and come back down with notes. And a phone rings up there a lot."
"You've never heard voices up there, or seen anyone else enter the room?"
"Nope. And the rest of the rooms are storage, from what I've heard."
"What about security?"
"Camera on the stairs going up. Probably an electronic lock, too, because I've heard the beeps. Other than that, I can't say."
I was betting the camera was an infrared. Given all the technology on the roof, it would be pretty pointless putting anything else in.
"Who watches the camera? The guard in the hall?"
"I doubt it. Frankie is asleep more often than not."
I raised an eyebrow, amusement playing around my lips. "So he's a visual deterrent more than a physical one?"
"Basically. Although I wouldn't want to get him annoyed - he's got muscles on his muscles."
Which didn't mean a thing if you didn't know how to use them. "There's no other security anywhere?"
"Not that I've seen, but that doesn't mean there isn't."
"What about backup systems?"
"Other than Frankie, I don't think there are any." She shrugged. "The power grid is pretty stable here, so I don't suppose they think it's necessary."
And that at least gave us a way in. "What about the owner?"
"T.J.? He only comes here once a week to pay wages. Vonnie handles the day-to-day stuff."
"She got a last name?"
"None of us have last names," she drawled. "Not unless you pay more."
Not a chance when we could search through the business registrars. "Do you know if the windows upstairs are locked?"
She shook her head. "But half the catches in this dump don't work, so I wouldn't be surprised if the same applies upstairs." She contemplated me for a minute, then added, "The windows are too heavy for your bird form, and the sill would be a hell of a balancing act for your human one."
"That's never stopped me before."
"Heard that about you lot." She glanced at her watch. "I'm expected downstairs in ten minutes for my next customer. Unless you've got any more questions, I need to get cleaned up."
I rose. "What time do those men usually come to check the upstairs room?"
"They're due this afternoon. They usually get here about two." She smiled. "For another fifty bucks, I'll leave the window and the door open in case you need it."
"You're a shark in disguise," I said, nevertheless getting my wallet back out.
"A girl has to live," she drawled.
I guess she did. And while the conditions here weren't top notch, at least there was security, and she wasn't on the street. That had to be a good thing.
"I'll try not to disturb you when I come back in."
She snorted. "Did I look as if I'd mind being disturbed?"
I grinned. "Thanks for your help."
"Cass," she said. "My name is Cass."
"Thanks, Cass."