Blood & Thunder (THIRDS 2)

Dex closed the office door behind him, tapping his security code into the panel, and setting the room to privacy mode. Might as well get some work done between moping and waiting to hear from Lieutenant Sparks. He initiated his desk’s interface and dropped down into his chair. “This sucks.” His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out, his heart in his throat at the sight of Sloane’s grumpy face appearing on his caller ID screen. “Hey.”

“Hi. About this morning… I needed time to think.”

Wow. Straight and to the point. “Sure.”

“I know you’re probably wondering what the hell’s going on, and you deserve better than some vague answers and pathetic excuses. I shouldn’t have done what I did last night.”

“Oh.” Dex tried not to let the words sting, but they did. A horn honked somewhere in the distance, and Dex realized Sloane was offsite.

“Shit, that came out wrong. I don’t regret it. I don’t regret you. I’m not in the right frame of mind right now, and I shouldn’t have done what I did if I was going to be an asshole this morning.”

“You’re not an asshole. Most of the time.”

There was a chuckle on the other end before the line went quiet.

“You still there?” Dex asked, closing his eyes, inhaling deeply and releasing it slowly. He knew this feeling. This sense of impending doom.

“Yeah.”

“Are you… I mean, is this the phone call?” Over before it began. Was he really that surprised? A part of him was. Things weren’t great between them, not by far, but he’d expected the chance to work things out, to at least try to make something of whatever was between them. Had he been hoping for too much? Maybe Sloane wasn’t a relationship kind of guy. Maybe Dex was trying to make Sloane into something he wasn’t. He didn’t want that.

“I’m not that much of an asshole, Dex. I would never end things over the phone.”

“Good to know,” Dex muttered. Not that it made him feel any better. Something was up with Sloane, and it was more than the usual relationship insecurities.

“No, it’s not the phone call. I was calling to apologize. Again. And to tell you I’m taking a couple of days off. I know it’s going to sound cliché, but it’s not you, it’s me.”

“Is there something worse than cliché? Because if there is, that was it.” Were they really having this conversation? Why couldn’t Sloane come out and tell him what the hell was going on. “You know, if it’s not working for you, say so. I understand. We said we’d take things as they came, and I meant it.”

“No, Dex. I—I’m fucked up right now, so please, when I say it’s not you, believe me. It’s not you. It has nothing to do with you, or us.”

Sloane’s tone had Dex sitting up. Shit, something really was wrong. “What’s going on?”

“I can’t talk about it. Not right now. I feel like a dick for asking, but you and Ash are the only ones I can turn to. Can you not tell anyone I’m off sick? I told your dad I was out chasing leads. I need a couple of days. If Lieutenant Sparks finds out, she’ll start asking questions, and—”

“Done. And if you need me, you know where to find me. Is there anything else I can do to help?”

There was another long pause. “Wait for me?”

Dex’s heart fluttered. “You bet.”

“Thank you.”

Sloane hung up, and Dex returned his phone to his pocket, his mind racing. He was worried about his partner. It wasn’t like him to go off the grid like this. Whatever it was, it was serious, and Dex was sure it had something to do with the case. He hoped Sloane didn’t do anything rash, or attempt anything on his own. Lord knew the guy was pigheaded, worse when it came to asking for help. Dex would give Sloane the time he needed, but after that, he was going to make it clear to Sloane that he was no longer alone, and it was time he realized it.

Chapter 11

WHAT A nightmare.

Dex dropped down onto his couch with a groan. He’d had one hell of a day juggling his workload, along with the dozens of coworkers who came to him asking for Sloane. And to make things worse, before noon the switchboards lit up and emergency calls started flooding in.

All over the city, violence was erupting between Humans and Therians. At first, they believed it was random, until they watched surveillance footage from several businesses. In all the videos, the Therians fighting the Humans wore black masks and were dressed in military camouflage with military grade weapons. News stations hounded the THIRDS, demanding to know if the Therians were agents. It was a PR nightmare. Themis analyzed the footage and identified several of the Humans as being members of one of the Humans 4 Dominance forum. That’s when the theories started.

It soon became shockingly clear this new Therian group was drawing Isaac’s followers out of the woodworks, which was awesome, but they were doing it through violence, which was a nightmare for everyone involved. The last thing the city needed was a trigger-happy group of vigilantes. Unit Alpha was being stretched thin despite passing on some of their cases to other units.

He’d settled down for some vegetating in front of the TV when someone pounded on his door, giving him a start. What the hell? Dex got to his feet, edging cautiously to his front door, his gaze shifting momentarily to the baseball bat propped up in the corner beside it. It was well past midnight and he hadn’t been expecting anyone. He unlocked the door and cautiously opened it, his jaw dropping. Swinging the door open, he stared at his partner.

“Sloane? What the hell happened to you?”