Free Zombies Sold Separately by Cheyenne McCray Page B

conference table which could seat a total of twenty-six. Colin and Penrod made it twenty-five. Rodán would be the twenty-sixth when he chose to sit, which wasn’t often. “Be seated and we will begin.”
    The Dragon took the chair between Tracey and Meryl, the Sprite between Nancy and Lawan. Nancy looked at Penrod and grimaced but Lawan was still glaring at Colin.
    “We have a serious problem.” Rodán said before the two new Trackers had even had a chance to settle into their chairs. “Last night a group of paranorms and a group of norms were attacked, murdered, and mutilated. In a way unlike anything we have seen before.”
    Most of those sitting at the table looked at Rodán with surprise. Only Robert, Tracey, Olivia, and I already knew some of what had happened.
    Rodán gave the team the rundown of the information he had to date, including where the incidents had occurred.
    “What connects these attacks is the brutality of them,” Rodán said. “Done in such a way that no human could have been responsible.
    “In addition,” he continued, “in each case there is at least one missing person.”
    Phyllis, a Were from the Lower East Side, leaned forward in her seat. “Just the two incidents?”
    “Nyx and Olivia have the case in their PI agency and have been following up, including research,” Rodán said. “They have come across similar incidents on a smaller scale. They include a brutal, fatal attack and a missing person.”
    “One thing about those cases,” Olivia said thoughtfully, “is that in each the missing person turned up again.”
    “That’s odd.” Bronwyn looked pensive for a Nymph. Somehow this case must really be bothering her because Nymphs generally have a sensual expression and demeanor when not in battle. In a fight they are fierce, especially Bronwyn.
    “We’re also looking at a homeless persons angle,” I said and explained why. I went on to add, “We interviewed several individuals on the street and they’ve seen some strange things at night that we’re still sorting out.”
    “What do you think we’re looking at?” asked Dave, a native New Yorker Werewolf.
    “Vampires?” Meryl, a Shifter Tracker as well as an artist, leaned forward with concern on her attractive features. “Are they back?”
    “Vampires have been ruled out.” Rodán’s gaze moved to each one of us as he explained how the attacks could not have been Vampires. “As of now what we face is an unknown threat.”
    Lawan was fair-skinned to begin with but seemed much paler, as if she were shaken up over Rodán’s statement. That surprised me because she was always so cool under pressure. “What is our next step?” she asked Rodán, seeming to have forgotten her anger at the Dragon.
    “I’m assigning one of our special teams to concentrate on chasing down whatever it is that we must contend with.” Rodán rarely showed even a glimpse of emotion and he stayed true to that now. “Once we know what we’re dealing with, we will determine how we’re going to take care of and end this threat.
    “We again have Angel, Ice, Joshua, Olivia, and Nyx as members of Special Team One.” Rodán gave a quick nod to me. “Nyx is leader of that team. Her expertise as a private investigator and her ability to move fluidly between the norm and paranorm worlds makes her invaluable in this capacity.”
    Rodán looked at the Dragon and the Sprite. “Colin and Penrod will join the special team.”

 
     
    NINE
     
    When did I become the clearinghouse for new Trackers?
    I watched the others heading off to track their territories or handle other assignments then looked back to my seven-man—or rather seven-paranorm—team, which included our newest players, the Dragon and the Sprite.
    Angel, who was a squirrel Doppler, and Joshua, a Shadow Shifter, had been new Trackers when they’d been assigned to the Werewolf case with Ice, Olivia, and me. They turned out to be two of the best I’d ever worked with.
    I looked from