Teeth of Beasts (Skinners) Read Online Free PDF Page A

calling?”
    “A few times, I guess,” Cole admitted. “Just didn’t seemworth going through the motions since that’s all either of us would be doing.”
    “She cares about you,” Jason insisted.
    “Sure, in a ‘I hope he’s not dead’ kind of way. For all I know, that’s shifted to something less tolerant.”
    “There’s nobody else in Chicago?”
    “I did intend on seeing this one woman while I was out and about,” Cole said. “Her name’s Abby.”
    “Ah, let’s hear about her.”
    “I’ve only seen pictures of her and talked to her a few times on the phone. We’re supposed to meet on my way back to Chicago, but I don’t know.”
    “Christ, Cole. Is this some kind of Internet dating thing?”
    “No!” Now it was Cole’s turn to glance around nervously. There were plenty of young faces pointed his way, surely chattering back and forth about various reasons why some unshaven, shabbily dressed man with messy hair was talking to one of the biggest executives of the company. “She’s someone I’ve met. That’s all.”
    “Where did you meet her?”
    “She works for the Midwestern Ectological Group.”
    “Ectological? Is that a real word?” Before Cole could fully roll his eyes, Jason snapped his fingers and said, “Wait! You mean those ghost-hunting guys with the cable specials?”
    “That’s them.”
    “They’ve got a new show coming up about all the werewolf stories and monster sightings in the news. I was going to DVR it. Should be…interesting.”
    “Abby’s a field investigator. She’s on a job in Minnesota.”
    “How’d you meet her?” When he didn’t get an answer to that, Jason gnawed on the inside of his cheek and nodded slowly. “Part of your new Chicago life, huh? By the looks of it, that life may not be so good for you.”
    “Why do you say that? I’m in better shape than ever.”
    Jason no longer tried to mask his disapproval. “You smell like you’ve been sleeping in your car.”
    That was because of the newest batch of soap Paige hadcooked up. The stuff was supposed to hide their scent from shapeshifters, but it wasn’t exactly minty fresh.
    “You’ve got scars and bruises all over the place,” Jason continued, pointing to the marks left behind by Cole’s sparring sessions and the many times he’d been forced to trade blows with creatures that had recently become Internet celebrities. “I don’t even know what to make of this,” Jason said as he grabbed Cole’s wrist so he could get a look at his hand.
    The scars from Cole’s weapon crossed his palm. They were thick in some places and stretched thin in others. Thinner layers of scar tissue formed a web pattern on his flesh that reacted like an allergy to shapeshifters and Nymar. It was a good early warning system, but not much of a fashion statement.
    “Did you burn yourself?” Jason asked. “Is this from a disease? Drugs? What happened, Cole? Is it from that accident in Canada?”
    Cole broke his friend’s grip with ease. “I can still type. That’s all you need to know.”
    “Why won’t you just tell me what’s going on?”
    Once his pulse slowed down, Cole asked, “Have you seen the stuff on the Internet about those wild dogs in Kansas City?”
    “You mean those videos with the ‘werewolves’?” Jason asked while framing his last word in air quotes.
    “Yeah. I’m one of the people who kept those things from tearing through Kansas City and probably a few other nearby cities.”
    It was the complete truth, and it went over as well as a stick of phony dynamite at an airport security check.
    “I’ve held onto your job for as long as I could,” Jason said dryly. “We can use your ideas and the designs you’ve done so far, but only as a jump-off point. Digital Dreamers no longer has the funds to pay for outside consultants when we’ve got plenty of fresh talent on-site.”
    “You’ve sure got the funds for a fancy new break room and a bunch of new programmers,” Cole