APEX

Ch. 4: Detective Devereux Kim

"I don't have a funny bone left in my body. Yes, if you're referring to me taking a position at Apex, consider it a fact."

More muffled noises indicated that he was shifting the phone around as he climbed out of bed. "This plan is absurd. You know that, right?"

"It wasn't my idea. Dev, can we schedule the meeting or not?"

"I have a call with my counterpart in Tokyo at six regarding security for Lunaris."

"You can't miss that call, I get it. It would be a shame if the reigning champions pulled out." Lunaris was an international shifter tournament played annually, and as luck would have it, this year's event, just a few cycles away, was to be hosted by Sury, a city that had developed a major case of werewolf jitters. People were on edge, and an influx of hundreds of shifters from all over the world had the potential to escalate anti-werewolf violence. The Japanese team was right to worry about their contenders' safety.

"They're understandably jumpy," Dev said. "I don't have to tell you what would happen if they sat out these games."

"Total snowball effect."

"That's right. So, if you want a meeting, I'll work it in, but it would have to be way before that. I'll need at least an hour to get back here with traffic on the midway that time of day."

"That won't be a problem. We'll come to you."

Dev laughed. "There's not a chance in hell you'll convince any Rawlings to cross the bridge onto Neutral Isle. They wouldn't even if their lives depended on it."

As he said that, I was crossing a bridge myself—this one located downstream from where Neutral Isle sat, a large, diamond-shaped wedge separating Sury's northern halves. This far south, the suspension bridge rose above one of the river's narrower points, yet the cultures of the city on either side made it seem like the river divided two countries rather than two parts of the same town.

A sinking sensation hit me as we drove onto land again. Apex Territory. All glitz and glamor. Spa retreats and Himalayan salt meditation rooms and high-end restaurants serving individual pieces of asparagus for fifty bucks a plate. God, I hated it over here. "I can be very persuasive. Set a time and we'll be there."

"Calla... it's bad enough you have to go every day to Apex ground, in Apex's flagship building, surrounded by Apex werewolves. But accompanying them here? Why would you do that to yourself?"

"We have important issues to discuss with you, and it's in the best interest of my new employer to have his sons humble themselves a little. That means making them go to you for a change. Why is this such an issue? I've spent tons of time in Neutral."

"Yeah...with me. If you'll recall, you weren't out in public and you certainly weren't with the golden children of a pack that just attacked an innocent from a rival community."

"As I recall, a certain detective made sure I felt very welcome in his territory."

"Don't start."

"Start what?"

The phone went silent long enough that I thought my call had dropped. Finally, Dev spoke again, his sleepy voice replaced with agitated sadness. "I can't do this, Calla. We had to end things. That's how it had to be. But I don't need to be reminded of what I lost every time we speak."

I deserved that. I'd crossed a line with Devereux Kim that shouldn't have been crossed and I continued to do so for the better part of three years. I fooled myself for a while that it was the forbidden fruit thing that made us so enticing to each other, but before too many months had passed, it was clear there was something more between us. The Crown Luna and the human Detective Liaison would have made quite the tabloid couple, should the public have ever found out. The fallout from our forbidden relationship would have been swift and severe, with Dev losing both his job as liaison and his position on the force, and me becoming a blight on my pack. This was a scenario Dev was willing to risk and I was not.