Free Bad Cat Baby Blues (Shifter Squad Six 3) by Anya Nowlan Page B

Food!”
    Ah, the simplicity of being a kid. Ari grinned, shaking her head as she rummaged through the fridge for something palatable for Roman and herself. The sun was out and high above the city, sending warm rays to flood her small home. It was a mild summer in Detroit and Ari was thankful that the weather was treating her well on her first year there.
    It was one of the few places where she could afford a home off of the meager savings she’d managed to acquire working for The Firm. Now, as a part-time personal trainer, her income wasn’t much to talk about. Thankfully enough, homes in Detroit weren’t that expensive either, especially small one-family ones like hers.
    She had a small, nondescript box of a home, only one story, and with a fence around it that looked like it was meant to keep people out, not in. But it was clean and had plenty of room for her and Roman, and that was really all that she needed.
    Ari had pulled out some leftover mashed sweet potatoes and steak from last night’s dinner and pureed vegetable sauce for Roman when she heard the doorbell. Slamming the refrigerator door shut, she perked up, scowling.
    “Food!” Roman announced again, reaching his little fingers toward Ari.
    “Just a moment, Ro,” Ari said, her voice a low purr as she put the food down on the counter and made her way to the corridor.
    She grabbed a baseball bat from a hook near the front door and swung it easily in her hands. Her heartbeat picked up a bit as she stepped to the door and pushed her eye to the peephole, bat at the ready. She knew maybe three people in Detroit well enough that they would know to come to her house, and none of them arrived unannounced. So when she saw the tall, strict, and dryly smirking form of Spade behind the door, she almost wished that there was a masked burglar waiting for her, gun at the ready.
    “I know you’re in there, Ariadne. Open up,” Spade said, his voice almost bored.
    The fuck is he doing here!
    Reluctantly, she unlocked the locks on the door and pulled it open a little, not enough to step in through. Making sure the bat was in full view, she glowered at the man on the other side, who was giving her an easy smile that she knew belonged to the devil.
    “I don’t work for you anymore, Spade,” Ari hissed, moving to shut the door again.
    “That only matters to you,” he said.
    His reflexes were lightning fast and Spade pushed the door open, swift and ruthless, with a force that was hard to counter when she moved to slam it in his face. The man seemed to expend no effort in doing whatever he pleased, and when he strode past Ari into her house, she wanted badly to split his skull open right then and there. But knowing him, he had a contingency for that as well.
    Cut one head off and he’ll grown two new ones, she thought grimly.  
    Ari made sure to secure the locks behind him, giving the door a quick tug to make sure. Not that it mattered much, seeing as she had just invited the worst person that could possibly walk in there right into her home.
    Invite is a strong word, Ari mused, rolling her eyes at herself as she stalked in after Spade.
    “What do you want, Spade? Did I forget a report and you’ve come to collect my shame for it?” Ari snipped, finding Spade in the living room.
    She breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn’t gone straight for the kitchen, though the noises and giggles that Ro was making there had to be evident to his sharp ears. For a second, she dared to hope that maybe he hadn’t noticed, but Spade turned to face her, his head tilted upward a bit, sniffing the air like a wolf would breathe in the crisp forest night before tearing the throat out of his victim. The resemblance was uncanny.
    “Don’t you want me to meet Roman, Ariadne? I do so enjoy seeing the offspring of Squad Six, the collection of shameless whores that they are. But I thought you were better than that, Ari. Couldn’t do any better than Dutch, huh?”
    Spade paused, tucking his