Hell's Menagerie (7 page)

His eyes rolled. “It's not a nudist club. It's a public bath house, like the Romans used to have. Didn't you study history in school?”

“Yeah, and the Romans had all kinds of nasty sex orgies in the baths.” I sighed dramatically, shaking my head. “It all starts with a massage . . .”

A spectacular groan came out of Hank's mouth, which expanded his chest and made his white shirt stretch nicely across the broad expanse. Hell, seeing him lounging around naked in some bath would probably be worth the trip downtown. Hank had one of the best bodies I'd ever seen. But then he was a siren—his species had a knack for attraction and seduction.

“I swear, Charlie,” he grumbled, turning in the seat to face me with an evil glint in his blue eyes, “if we weren't friends, I'd take off this damned modifier, make you strip naked, and skip all the way down to the station house.”

That sobered me up because I knew he had the ability. And because I knew Hank had his limits. “Okay, point taken. So, why The Bath House?”

“Females,” he answered without pause. “I'm single. I have a life, unlike
someone
in this car.”

“Yeah, well, you can be single without going to extremes. Women throw themselves at you all the time. You don't need to hang out at a nud—er, bath house.”

“I do if I'm looking for one of my kind. You think it's easy, getting hit on all the time and not being the tiniest bit interested? The only female sirens in Atlanta are ones who have mates, or work in the private sector, or occasionally hang out at the baths because it reminds them of home.”

“Poor you.” I put the car in gear. “Try being a single mother, who carries three lethal firearms and can take down a runner at fifty yards. Trust me; it doesn't make a date feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

I pulled into traffic and then made a U-turn at the light to head back to the station. “I have to make babysitting arrangements for tonight.” Hank blinked, confused, so I enlightened him with a smile before turning my attention back to the road. “We're going to the Bath House. Looks like you finally got yourself a hot date.”

His lips dipped down, leaving a dimple in his left cheek. “Joy,” he said, as disgruntled as a teenager being told to clean their room. “Please, please, please, Charlie, don't do anything stupid.”

Hank wouldn't care about causing a scene. That's why we made a good team. When it was necessary, neither one of us backed down, no matter what, no matter where. I switched lanes and passed a taxi, a thought suddenly occurring. “What? You like someone there or something?”

He rubbed his hands down his face and muttered, “Oh, Jesus H. Christ.”

Hah!
A broad grin stretched across my face. “You do!” My laughter filled the car. “You have a crush on someone at the Bath House,” I sang. “Hey, doesn't that mean you're shy if you have a crush? Hank's shy! Oh, my God . . .” I laughed for at least a good half mile. He cursed under his breath and slid down into the seat. Last time I had a date, with an officer from the ninth precinct, Hank had had a major field day. “Payback is a bitch, my friend.”

I parked the car in the fire lane off Ellis Street in front of ITF Building One, or as we referred to it: Station One. “It's three right now. I'm gonna head over to the hospital and check on Amanda, make arrangements, and then I'll meet you downtown at eight.”

Hank opened the door. “I'll talk to the guys at the lab again about this eye connection. And I'll pick you up at ten.” He lifted his hand to stop my argument. “Things don't even start to heat up until then. You'd know that if you weren't celibate.” He got out of the car and then leaned back through the window. “Oh, and try to take a beauty nap, and don't look so damned professional if you can help it. Let your hair down, maybe use some of that deep red lipstick you wore on your date with Officer Wandering Eye.”

My eyes narrowed, and I opened my mouth, but he flashed me a broad grin, a wink, and then he was gone.

I supposed I deserved that.

K
ELLY
G
AY
is the author of the Pocket Books urban fantasy series featuring Charlie Madigan, which includes
The Better Part of Darkness, The Darkest Edge of Dawn, The Hour of Dust and Ashes,
and
Shadows Before the Sun
. She is a two-time RITA Award finalist, a 2010 finalist for Best First Book from the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, and a recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council fellowship grant in literature. She also writes as Kelly Keaton.

Pocket Star Books

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Kelly Gay

Originally published in the Gallery Books anthology titled
Carniepunk.

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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition December 2014

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ISBN 978-1-4767-9358-0