Read The Better to Hold You for Free Online

can you be so sure, Lilli?” I wasn’t challenging her; I was merely curious. Lilliana’s gift for reading people was like mine for reading X-rays.
    Lilliana furrowed her brow. “It’s hard to explain. I just can tell—Pia’s a person to her, not a pet. I was going to ask you: if I help you hold Brownie for the bone marrow test, could you help me scan Pia for a microchip?”
    “You must be a mind reader.”
    Lilliana gave me a startled glance. “I wish.” The elevator stopped on our floor, and just before the doors slid open, Lilliana said, “The question is, if she isn’t chipped, how do we keep Malachy from taking her home and experimenting on her?”
    Until that moment, it hadn’t occurred to me that Malachy might try to continue his research independently, but of course, knowing the man, it made perfect sense. I kept silent as we got off the elevator and another group of interns got on, not wanting to be overheard discussing our staff group leader, the mad scientist.
    Once we were walking down the brightly lit hallway, I said, “I guess I could take Pia home for a few days and ask my husband to look after her while I’m at work.”
    “Would he do that?”
    “I’m sure he would,” I said. “Or, at least, I think he would. He does get a little funny when he’s trying to write—doesn’t like distractions.” Worried that this cast Hunter in a negative light, I added, “But I think he’d be okay taking care of a dog for a few days.” Lilliana was silent for a moment, the only sound the staccato beat of her heels on the hard floor. “On the other hand,” I said, trying to make a joke out of the whole thing, “if Malachy infects Pia with the lycanthropy virus and she turns human, she could sue him for malpractice.”
    We rounded a corner and Lilliana nodded to an intern from another group who was walking in the opposite direction. Unlike me, she seemed to know everyone at the Institute. “Pia doesn’t have the killer instinct. Turn that dog into a woman and she’ll come down with a case of puppy love and follow him around.”
    “Wait,” I said with mock-seriousness, “maybe we should really examine the possibility that Mal’s engineering beast people. Take a close look at Ofer. Check out the monobrow. And what about Sam? You can’t tell me he has a full complement of human DNA.” I hesitated, then put my hand on my friend’s arm. “Hey, Lilli. I’m sorry if I sounded like I was insulting you before. When I asked why Malachy had chosen you, I mean.”
    We stopped in front of the door to Ward B and Lilliana met my eyes. “I wasn’t insulted. What did you think about all that talk about Unwolves, though?”
    “I think he’s gone beautiful mind on us. Let’s face it, sometimes making unexpected connections means you’re a genius, and sometimes it means you need an-tipsychotics. And if you start thinking people can turn into wolves, I know which group you’re in.” I inserted the card key I wore around my neck into the appropriate slot and opened the door to Ward B. “Isn’t that right, Pia?”
    The wolf hybrid flattened her ears and tried to cram herself into the rear of her cage. Most people expect wolves to be massive, fierce animals with challenging, intelligent eyes and an air of coiled menace. I don’t know whether Pia was typical, but she was the spookiest, shyest, most submissive-looking canine I’d ever seen in my life. It had taken all of us working together to get her into a big floor cage alongside Brownie the chocolate Lab and Duncan, the Bouvier who’d managed to get a fork stuck in his cheek while lunging for a bite of his owner’s steak.
    The Bouvier was no longer in the cage, but Brownie was still there, wagging his tail with indiscriminate Labrador affection. Pia remained supine with her long, narrow head between her paws, wary yellow eyes darting left and right to follow our movements.
    I’d seen Yorkies with more pluck. Malachy said it was because in nature,