Title: Rhyme of Love
Series: Jack and Gil 3
Author: Emily Carrington
Publisher: Changeling Press
Release Date: August 18, 2023
Heat Level: 4 – Lots of Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 189 pages
Genre: Romance, Thriller/Suspense, Dark Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Action Adventure, Gay, Shapeshifters, Multicultural & Interracial, Elves Dragons & Magical Creatures
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Synopsis
Gil struggles to hide his loss of status from Jack, but when he finally confesses, Jack turns around and blurts out his own secret. Who can Gil trust now?
Jack knows he screwed up but he believes in honesty above everything else. Well, almost. Running the risk of losing Gil, Jack must learn to lie convincingly or he’ll lose SearchLight, his life, and Gil, as well.
As Jack settled into the seat at the head of the table in one of the conference rooms on the second floor, he reminded himself Gil couldn’t be here for this. This was an internal SearchLight matter, and even if he trusted Gil implicitly, he had no right to ask his advisors to do the same.
Still, he wished his lover was here.
Being with Gil made him feel better. And he didn’t want to confront his advisors, all seven of them. The only one he knew at all was Nootaikok, and that knowledge was gleaned from their brief times together. He knew the narwhal shifter was brave, cautious, and new to his position. He’d been appointed, like Jack, by fiat from Agent Weinberg, and he’d been the head of Tracker Central for about a year.
The others weren’t known quantities at all, except that he had the impression Brent Overholster, chief advisor and Jack’s second-in-command, was one arrogant son of a bitch. And everyone else, the heads of the Department of Dragons, Fae Central, Elementals Enclave, Miscellaneous Magical Creatures Department, and Werewolf Watch, had been foisted on him like so much dumped and forgotten baggage.
And that was not the proper way to start this meeting, with thoughts of discontent. If he was going to win these people over, he’d do better to remember the old adage, that you got more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Although, he’d never liked that one, which compared those in his life to disease-spreading pests.
He smiled at everyone, meeting their gazes one at a time. “Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice. I need to tell you –”
“Are you even healed enough to be up and around?” Overholster interrupted.
Jack’s smile stayed on and even grew a little as he remembered a song lyric about flaking makeup and a smile remaining even as the world fell apart. “I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”
“You were shot and then you went charging into danger without protection or just cause.”
Jack considered dressing Overholster down right then and there but that would accomplish little except to make Jack feel petty. “I’m healed, and I went in with Nootaikok and three senior trackers. It was absolutely necessary that I ensure the delegates from the various magical communities were safe.”
“Did you have to make sure personally?” Overholster asked plaintively.
Enough. Jack said quietly, “Would everyone else step out for a moment? Brent, please stay.”
As the others filed out, Overholster visibly bristled. But at least he let the door close before he spoke again.
“Would you have dressed down Lady Weinberg when she was the head of SearchLight?” Jack asked, working to make his voice mildly curious.
Overholster flushed. “I’ve called her on…” He trailed off, fidgeting under Jack’s unwavering gaze.
“Brent,” Jack said as gently as he could manage, “I’m not human anymore. I can smell a lie.”
“That takes years of training!” the man squawked.
Jack drew patience around himself like a cloak. “I don’t need training to tell when someone’s scent changes.” He gave the man a moment to digest that and then he said, “I’m asking you, as your superior, to stop treating me like a flunky.” He didn’t mention that the man’s attitude wouldn’t fly among quote-unquote flunkies either because SearchLight wasn’t founded on rudeness but mutual respect.
“No offense meant, sir, but this position is new to you. As it is new to Nootaikok and Seamus.”
He wasn’t going to win the man over today, Jack realized. He stood, placing both hands on the table and leaning over the rude upstart just a little. He saw Overholster stiffen and couldn’t decide if he was pleased or not. “You’d do well to remember one thing, my friend. You remain in your position by my sufferance.” Then he straightened and walked to the door. Probably, he thought, if the others had lingered around the door, they might have caught some of this exchange. Ah, well. Nothing to be done about it now. He opened the door, saw the others clustered all the way across the hallway, and chided himself for being less than generous. “Please, come in.”
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Emily Carrington is a multipublished author of male/male and transgender women’s speculative fiction. Seeking a world made of equality, she created SearchLight to live out her dreams. But even SearchLight has its problems, and Emily is looking forward to working all of these out with a host of characters from dragons and genies to psychic vampires. And in the contemporary world she’s named “Sticks & Stones,” Emily has vowed to create small towns where prejudice is challenged by a passionate quest for equality. Find her on Facebook at Shapeshifter Central or on her website.
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