The Shadowhelm Wolves (The Moonlight Chronicles Book 1)

Chapter Sixteen: The Silver Lining

You sat beside and put your hand in my hand

And so you picked me up and you put me in a straight line

You looked at me and said that it would be fine

If we take the time to find the silver lining

We can make these crying waters into wine

And we'll be alright

And we'll be alright

~Silver Lining, Lee DeWyze

Back at the morgue, everyone was a little on edge, even as the threat of someone finding out what they were doing was dwindling. If the claw did belong to whoever was getting rid of people, residents of Shadowhelm or not, none of the people currently occupying the room wanted to be next.

Rex was looking over some mythology while Angelique examined the body. "According to what I'm reading here - and the fact that we have several pieces of evidence in human form - there is a way to become a werewolf without dying. But the injuries sustained by each of our victims are too great to be considered survivable."

Brynn looked up from the file folders she had stacked in front of her. "Are there any ways to cure the afflicted? Those who survive, I mean."

Rex shook his head. "Not that I can see, no," he admitted. "Unless everyone is willing to wear silver necklaces, I think we're shit out of luck on preventing the monthly change."

Angelique nodded. "If I remember correctly, Wulfric said that he had a silver allergy, right?"

Rex nodded. "Yeah, he said they had no silverware, no silver-plated pens, nothing. So one would have to logically assume that they wouldn't own any silver necklaces, either."

Brynn grinned widely. "This is why I'm glad you're my partner and not that Harding asshole. I can't stand that guy."

Rex smiled at Brynn. "Honestly, I'm not sure how he still has a job," he quipped, chuckling.

Brynn just shrugged. "I don't know either. It baffles me actually." She chuckled and got back to the matter at hand. They had a lot to do in as short a time as possible without rushing anything or being completely dishonest with what they'd done so far.

While they were all deep in thought, Rex's phone rang. He was hesitant to answer as it was roulette as to who was calling. In other words, it could be his sister, his brother, or - God forbid - his mother fearest. That was far from a misnomer, truth be told. Martha Jean Snow put the fear of God in all three of her kids, or so she thought. Rex had resisted her at every twist and turn and remained the only one that she couldn't control.

Angelique looked at the pair, yet focused her attention on Rex. "Are you not going to get that?" she queried the doctor.

Rex shrugged. "Could be anyone. It could be my brother, my sister... my mother..." He hesitated while referencing the woman who gave birth to him. "I'm sure that, in time, I will share what happened between her and I to sour our relationship, but for now, I really would rather not- Brynn, what are you doing?"

Brynn had slipped her hand into his pocket and taken out his phone, looking at the missed call. "I'm checking out who called you, just in case it was a call that needed answering right away." She showed him the screen. "It was the Chief. Coin toss to see who has to answer?" she asked while smirking.

Rex sighed. "Alright. Angelique would you mind?" he asked the other pathologist.

"Call it," she said as she took a coin out of her pocket and flipped it.

"Heads," Brynn said.

"Tails," Rex declared.

As the coin landed and Angelique caught it in the palm of her hand, slapping it onto the back of her other hand, tension was high. Not that Brynn or Rex minded relaying everything they'd found out so far to their boss, but this was something that no one would have ever believed, not even Chief Lopez.

"Well? What is it, Angelique?" Rex asked a bit impatiently.

Angelique removed her top hand and looked at the pair. "Heads; sorry, Rex," she said, chuckling a bit.

"Shit," the doctor muttered, taking his phone from Brynn. "Fine, I'll call him back. But just to be clear, I'm putting the phone on speaker. Sorry, but you're not getting away from him that easy, Frost," he said with a wink.

Brynn shook her head and watched Rex as he tapped on Chief Lopez's name in the missed calls list and waited for the dial tone, making sure to tap on the speaker button as well.

A moment after the line began ringing, Chief Lopez picked up the phone and answered. "Austin Police Department, Chief Lopez speaking," came the voice on the other line.

Rex smiled as Brynn gave him a smirk, as if to say 'I can't believe you roped me into this after you lost a coin toss'. He then replied to the chief.

"Hey, Chief, it's Rex Snow. I just wanted to update you on the case so far. It turns out that we've gone feet-first into some heavily mythology-based, from everything we're seeing." Rex imagined Chief Lopez's eyes bugging out of his skull as he listened.

When the man responded, he sounded much more serious than before. "Mythology-based how, exactly? Tell me what you've found." There was a pause and then the burly man said "Excuse me for one minute," before a muffled conversation was heard - something about leaving him alone while he's on the phone, after which the door was shut.

When the chief returned to the call, he sighed. "Sorry about that, you two. I had to get rid of a pest for the moment."

Brynn shook her head. "Let me guess; it was the Lieutenant. He seems to be a trouble-maker. I always say that I'm surprised he's still employed at our station."

Rex allowed himself to smirk a bit. "Or any station, for that matter," he quipped.

They could both hear Chief Lopez chuckling on the other end of the call. "I know he bugs you both, but just put up with him for another little while. And if he calls you asking about anything to do with your case, just let me know and I will deal with him personally."

"Yes sir," Rex and Brynn replied in unison. They both knew that their boss meant well when it came to caring for his staff, from his highest ranking officer, to the beat cops, to those who worked with the deceased, such as Rex. He did have a breaking point, though, and right now, it didn't seem quite like he had hit it. Not yet, at the very least.

Angelique kept looking over the bodies that were still to be examined, finding glaring similarities until she couldn't anymore.

"Brynn, Rex! I found something that you may like to see!" she called over to the pair from the other side of the room.

Rex went over to Angelique, still holding the phone and dragging Brynn with him. "What is it, Angelique?" he asked, before reeling back in horror. "Jesus Christ, how the hell did we miss that!?"