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Brooks. I didn’t actually just ask you to shower with me.”
    “Too bad,” he said.
    It was her turn to raise her eyebrows. “You trying to flirt with me, Brooks? Maybe you like my sweat smell more that you let on, huh?” She darted into the bathroom and turned on the water.
    “Trust me, you smell horrible,” called Avery.
    She stuck her head out of the door. “Stand over here. Let me know what’s going on.”
    Avery trundled over. “I can come back.”
    “Am I making you feel uncomfortable?” She moved behind the door and began peeling off her clothes. The door was open a crack. She could see the back of Avery’s head. He was facing away from her.
    “No,” he said. “Maybe a little bit like one of your slumber party girlfriends, though.”
    She put a hand under the shower stream to test the temperature. “So, I’m emasculating you?”
    A chuckle from Avery. “I really did miss you, Gray.”
    She slipped behind the shower curtain, felt the water pelt her skin. “Me too. Now what’s this new case?”
    “Supermarket,” said Avery. “It’s in upstate New York. They tried to shoot the wolf, but it just shook off the bullets like nothing. Called us right away. We’ll have to give them the final body tally.”
    “Upstate? We’re going to be driving for hours.”
    “Yeah,” said Avery. “I call iPod control on the way there.”
    She laughed. “You know, you should start being more mature.”
    “Whatever, Gray. You’re just annoyed because you didn’t call it first.”
    She grabbed some shampoo and began soaping up her hair. “Man, a supermarket? Last night it’s a bar, tonight it’s the grocery store. What’s up with all these big public places? Bet there’s gonna be a high body count.”
    “You know it,” said Avery. “More bad press for the SF.”
    Generally speaking, rogues usually weren’t out and about when their first change hit them. There were symptoms before hand, a general feeling of unease and discomfort. Usually people thought they were coming down with a cold and stayed home. Of course, there were always those who ignored it and went about their business, which could have horrific results. For the rogue, Dana wasn’t sure which was worse. On the one hand, staying at home meant a rogue didn’t usually rip ten or twenty people to shreds. On the other hand, not being in public meant the people they did attack were usually their families and neighbors. A lower body count versus massacring a loved one. They both sucked.
    She stuck her head out of the shower curtain. “Hey. Brooks. Thanks for staying with me while I shower.”
    “No sweat,” he said.
    “It’s hard to be alone sometimes,” she said. Especially when she was naked.
    “Gray...”
    “Don’t say anything,” she said. “Seriously.” She didn’t want his sympathy. Before, they’d never had a friendship like that. They’d always been buddies, and they’d never taken anything too seriously.
    He was quiet, and there was no noise except the water rushing over her skin, hitting the linoleum.
    “I could kill him, you know.” Avery’s voice sounded different. There wasn’t any of his general joking anymore. “I could go down there at night. I have an access badge. I could squeeze the life out of him.”
    She thrust her face under the water. It wasn’t as if Cole didn’t deserve it. But would he go away, leave her alone, if he were dead? Dana had a feeling he’d hang on.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Six months ago, Dana awoke to pain. Screaming points of it. Her neck. Her arms. Her torso. She couldn’t feel her hands, and as she stirred into wakefulness, she realized it was because they were chained above her head. She was somewhere dimly lit. Concrete slab walls, a poured-concrete floor with a drain in the middle of it. She stood upright, her arms and legs both shackled. Her clothing was drenched in blood, the collar of her shirt dried stiff with it.
    She screamed.
    A light came on.
    Dana