Chapter 4

"You're not going to enjoy what I have to say about your language at your performance review," Comber said. "He was spotted in Parkview, about-"

"I know where Parkview is," Lynn cut in. "Let's go, Sparkleson."

"Right behind you, Wriggly."

Heaving a sigh, Lynn returned to his desk long enough to grab everything he would need, watched as Anderson grabbed a book bag he'd left on an empty desk in the far corner of the office, then led the way out of the building. "We're stopping for coffee first." Parkview was a good two hours south of the city; it was a perfect excuse to visit his favorite, but usually out of the way, coffeehouse.

Twenty minutes later he parked at the curb about a block down from the coffee shop. He could practically smell the lattes already. "Hurry it up, Sparkleson." He waited until Anderson joined him on the sidewalk, then set off down the block.

The barista, Timmy, looked up as the bell above the door jangled and broke into a beaming smile when he saw Lynn. "Hiya, tall, dark, and handsome. Long time no-oh. It's you." The smile turned into a death scowl. Lynn turned to see what the problem was, taken aback when he realized it was Anderson. He turned back to Timmy. "What's wrong? I know the suit is a knock-off Calvin Klein-"

"Oh, fuck you," Anderson said, though without much heat. "We can't all afford a few new Hugo Boss every season."

Lynn almost kissed him, but he wasn't certain he liked Anderson yet, even if he had correctly identified his suit, and Timmy was still glaring death. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

Timmy just shook his head and stomped over to the counter. "Want the usual?"

"Yeah, and a chocolate hazelnut croissant." He glanced at Anderson. "You want anything?"

"No," Anderson replied, gaze locked on one of the strawberry and crème cupcakes in the display case. Unicorns.

Rolling his eyes, Lynn said, "Add a white chocolate mocha and a strawberry cupcake to the order. Oh, stop your glaring, you're making money right? Don't worry, I won't let the evil, violent unicorn bite you."

Grumbling under his breath, Timmy took the cash Lynn held out, gave him change, then stomped over to get their food before he went to glare ominously at the espresso machine. Lynn tore off a bite of the croissant, humming in pleasure, licking chocolate from his fingertips. "So what did you do to my barista? Blind his mother with the power of your sparkle?"

Anderson flipped him off. "Ex-boyfriend."

"Ah." Lynn ate another bite of croissant. "I dated a brownie once, too. That was the one who threw coffee on me. Morons in the office still give me hell about her. Anyone who says krakens are clingy has never tried to break up with a brownie."

"Clingy, I like," Anderson said. "Controlling, not so much." He took a vicious bite of his cupcake, getting a bit of frosting on his nose. Scowling, he wiped it off, then sucked the frosting from his thumb. "Still, you won't find better loyalty. Or coffee."

"And that is why I no longer date where I order my coffee," Lynn agreed.

Timmy brought their drinks a couple of minutes later, beaming at Lynn and offering a sunny, "Have a nice day." He cast Anderson a scathing look as he turned away.

Sighing, Anderson led the way back outside. "Thanks for the drink and cupcake. I'll pick up lunch."

"Awesome," Lynn replied. He set his coffee in one of the cup holders then reached into the back of the Charger to grab the file off the back seat. He pulled out the most recent reports and read through them, handing them off to Anderson as he finished each one. "Neighborhood is split almost. Three people have been reported missing, but the cops can't connect them and have no reason to suspect foul play past there's, you know, three of them gone. Paranormals know better, of course, and contacted us. Common factor is that they all went for a run or a walk in the quaint little woods surrounding the area. There's apparently a large pond/small lake out there. I'm surprised he went with the lake. He's usually much more of the 'yay, cave' method of eating people."

He paused to take a swallow of coffee, and Anderson asked, "Yay, cave method? I thought he was predominantly kraken, for all he's half-dragon. Wouldn't water be more his thing?"

Lynn shook his head and flipped to a medical report at the back of the file, then shoved the folder at Anderson. "He's pretty evenly both, but each form also contains bits of the others, so he never looks entirely... whole, I guess, whatever form he picks. More annoying is the fact he doesn't need a ring to shift, making him hard to contain." Lynn lifted his right hand to indicate the heavy ring he wore-a custom piece that had cost him a fortune but was infinitely preferable to the government issued ones that were both ugly and glitchy. His ring was platinum and shaped like a little Cthulu, with bright purple shifter gems for eyes. Because he had taste, something the whole of the United States federal government sorely lacked. It was also worth the money to have a ring that would let him shift howsoever he pleased, instead of having to request a new ring if he ever felt like having breasts again. "When he can find a cave or something similar from which to eat people in dragon style, he prefers it. Dragon is much more versatile than tentacle monster, after all. His favorite snacking ground is rich, secluded McMansion neighborhoods."

"Why hasn't anyone ever been able to catch him? Even with being able to shift at will, he's not unstoppable."

Taking another swallow of coffee, Lynn then replied, "For one, he's a dirty little cheat. For two, ever tried to wrangle a dragon or a kraken? Neither one is easy, and when you combine those two? Forget it."