Free Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden

apply?” This came from the captain, who was no longer leaning back against the wall. He’d shot to attention as Emily spoke, and now he stood at the edge of the table, arms crossed over his chest.
    “Well, if we’re right and he is a shifter, then here are a few generalities for you.” She didn’t glance toward Colin as she spoke. “The guy’s about five times stronger than a human male. He’s highly sexual, got an extremely high IQ, and he’s damn good at manipulation.”
    Colin stiffened at that. “Manipulation?” He didn’t particularly like that term.

    Her head turned slowly, and she met his gaze. “Shifters are born looking human, but they carry beasts their whole lives. They have to hide their animal natures, have to pretend to be just like everyone else, and usually, by the time shifters reach adulthood, they’re damn good at pretending.”
    You have to pretend, or else the humans will kill you. Hunt you and kill you.
    Emily glanced back at McNeal. “He’s used to lying, used to hiding, used to blending in with the crowd.”
    “If this guy is so damn good at blending in,” McNeal muttered, “then how the hell are we going to find him?”
    Good question, and one that Colin didn’t have a ready answer for. Sure, he was chasing down leads. He was planning to go see just what Jake Donnelley knew about the case, but flushing out a shifter? That wasn’t going to be easy. Not by a long shot.
    “We have to go into his world,” Emily said softly. “Preston was involved with at least one demon that I know of. He could know other SBs. Maybe we can get one of them to talk to us.”
    Well, hell, the doc had just voiced his own plan.
    McNeal shot him a quick, searching glance.
    Colin nodded. “That’s my general plan.” Emily had just beaten him to the punch.
    The captain grunted. “You can’t take Brooks with you to question them. The guy doesn’t understand the circumstances of this crime.”
    Yeah, he knew Brooks was out. The guy was a decent partner. Smart, tough, and dependable. Hell, the guy’s main flaw seemed to be that he was always chasing a new lady.
    Brooks was a good-enough guy, but he had no clue about the existence of the Other in the world. No idea that the creatures from the horror flicks he loved so much were actually real.
    His partner lived in the human reality, the black-and-white world where bad guys pulled guns or knives on you—not the world where shape-shifters could rip you apart or demons could incinerate you.
    “Take Dr. Drake with you.”
    Colin jerked at the order, sure he’d misunderstood. “Ah, run that by me again, Captain.”
    McNeal’s lips thinned. “You heard me, Gyth. You need someone to go with you when you interview the Other . You need her.
    Hell, without her, you won’t even be able to tell the difference between the humans and the—”
    “It’s not safe for her,” Colin snarled, cutting across the captain’s words. Take Emily with him to interview demons, shifters? Hell, no.
    “You keep her safe.”
    “I—” He floundered. Well, sure if Emily was with him, he’d do everything in his power to protect her. But he didn’t want to put her at risk. Anything could happen on the street, and if someone were to hurt the doc on his watch…
    His nails began to stretch into claws.
    What the fuck?
    Colin balled his hands into fists and jerked away from McNeal and Emily. He hoped they hadn’t seen the change. Hoped they hadn’t noticed the razor-sharp claws that sprung from his fingertips.

    Jesus. That had never happened before. He’d never had the change come on him so damn fast when there wasn’t a physical threat nearby.
    What in the hell is happening to me?
    “Colin?” Emily’s voice. The soft drawl was laced with concern.
    Great.
    “She doesn’t go.” He didn’t look back at her. At the captain. His normal control wasn’t back yet, and he was having to fight the lure of the beast.
    McNeal grunted. “Don’t be an asshole, Detective.