Big Bad Wolf

by Jayne Hawke

  I took a seat near the counter at the front where they displayed a broad variety of biscuits, cakes, and shortbreads. I was surprised to see lavender shortbread that late in the season. It was a little more expensive than I usually felt ok paying, but lavender was one of my weaknesses.

  The waitress looked to be in her forties with a brilliant smile that shone in her sea-blue eyes.

  "And what can I get ye?"

  "A pot of tea and lavender shortbread, please. Have you heard about the shifter attacks in the city?"

  I did my best to look and sound concerned, but I wasn't sure if I'd pulled it off.

  "Aye, it's a bit of a mess. Still, no one was hurt last night; we can't complain too much. I'm sure the drunk brought it on himself."

  I gave a small nod and let it be. She wasn't going to tell me anything. Looking around me, I tried to decide on a better tactic and people to question about this. There had to be someone with some clue about what was going on. The shifters weren't going to tell us a damn thing, and the drunk had been whisked away somewhere. Of course, the chance that the drunk would have remembered anything important was unlikely.

  There had to be witnesses somewhere. The waitress brought over my tea and shortbread. I took a small bite and enjoyed the way the shortbread melted on my tongue, leaving the fragrant taste of lavender in its wake. Pulling out my laptop, I took the opportunity to look through social media and news sites for clues about where to go with my questioning.

  The main social media site didn't have much mention of the attack the night before, which was odd. Everyone seemed to have moved on from the first attack, too. Now everyone was buzzing about someone trying to steal a hippocampus from one of the prominent breeding stables in Whitby. I was unsurprised to hear that the attempted thief was drowned and eaten by the very horse-fish hybrid she had tried to steal. There were hippocampoi races all around the Isles, and I'd heard they had them in Poseidon’s lands too, but that didn’t make them friendly. People only really watched because of the risks involved - the chances of the riders being devoured were pretty high.

  Moving on to the other social media sites didn't help me find any new information. There was no word of a traumatised victim or any hints as to what had triggered the attacks. Knocking back the last of my tea, I paid and left the waitress a tip before I headed back out into the main neighbourhood.

  Morningside was supposed to be the gossip mill of the city due to everyone being so close and discussing everything. As much as they had been smiley and friendly, no one was opening up for me yet. I didn't want to start flashing my Knight pendant, as that could lead to people shutting down even further. My accent was clearly that of a Cornish girl, which had the potential to cause further problems. There had been friction between the northern and southern territories over the years.

  I continued walking around the streets without any real direction or concern. I wanted to appear a harmless tourist while I gathered whatever magic I could. A few threads of life magic from the trees, a touch of earth magic from the exposed soil; every little bit helped. Then I saw an old lady with tightly coiled pale-blue curls and bright brown eyes. She was sitting in a rocking chair at the end of a small market stall knitting while she took in every detail. If anyone could give me some information, I bet that it would be her.

  The point of her ears told me that she had at least a splash of fae blood in her, which suggested she was even older than she looked. The fae lived many centuries - some whispered that Ryn was millennia old.

  "You want to know about the shifter attacks," the woman greeted me.

  I smiled.

  "I do."

  She nodded.

  "There's not much to tell. That boy last night was stopped before he could get to doing much. His pack stepped in and whisked him away. That laddie Adrian will live. There were only a couple of scratches on him. Now, that first attack, that was something else. They say that wolf was vicious, a Fenrir wolf. We haven't seen one of their kind around here in over a century. No one knows where he came from, though. Some are wondering when the rest of the pack will arrive."

  "He was a Loki wolf," I said.

  The woman's eyes sparked as she took in the new information.

  "You're sure, are you?"

  "I am."

  "There aren't many witches around here," she said, looking me up and down.

  "I'm just passing through."

  Edinburgh was very much a fae city; witches weren't all that welcome. I'd heard there was a small coven on the outskirts who lived good quiet lives running the magic supply shops. They sold nothing dangerous, only innocent little vitality potions, maybe a drop of luck here or there. People didn't mind as long as they didn't pose a threat.

  "You make sure you do that."

  I gave a nod of understanding.

  "You be careful with the Steel Heart pack. They're well respected, but there are always some who don't want wolves in our streets."

  "Oh?"

  "Don't play dumb, girl. You know there'll be some spoiling for a fight, especially if another wolf goes wild."

  That was the last thing we needed, people turning on the shifters.

  FOURTEEN

  When I got back to the apartment, I found Ash down to his boxers covered in bruises and blood.

  "Have fun in Black Run?"

  I walked over and took the damp cloth from him before I started gently cleaning the long claw mark down his back.

  "Oh yea, best fun I've had in forever. I had a pair of red caps try and gut me. Did you know that sidhe halfbreeds have the potential to turn into these really fucked up hyena hybrids? Oh, and let's not forget the hag mongrels that can summon filthy water out of thin air and use it to try and drown you. Thankfully, she was only partblood so she didn't have enough water actually drown me, but it did make my attempts to fend off the hyena things a touch more difficult."

  "Poor baby," I teased as I reached down for the healing paste.

  "Did you get some information, at least?"

  "No. Some little old lady said there's an anti-shifter sentiment, though, so we'll have to handle that if another attack happens."

  Ash sighed.

  "You know, just one time I want everything to be quick and simple. Would a note from the evil guy telling us his plan really kill them?"

  I laughed at the absurd image and Ash grinned at me.

  "You've had a healing potion?"

  "Yea. I'll be right as rain in a few hours."

  Thankfully, his tattoos stopped the injuries from being too bad, so the potion would work quickly.

  "We need to dig into the local packs, see what we can find out on that front. Maybe there's some old grudge somewhere," I said.

  I settled myself onto the old couch and pulled up the Knight database.

  "I'll cover the Steel Heart pack and whatever else is in Sighthill with them; you cover the rest," I said.

  There was something soothing about researching things like this. I tried not to fall down rabbit holes, but sometimes things caught my eye and I just needed to know where they led.

  The Knight database had a pretty thorough guide and history to most of the packs, covens, and groups throughout the world. We were supposed to pass new information back to the coven scholars so that the database was kept up to date, but I sometimes forgot. There had been times when knights had gotten into trouble thanks to out-of-date information, but we were all flawed.

  "There's nothing tied to any of the gods in this territory. Every shifter pack is a cursed bloodline. There are rumours that some of Lugh's offspring are around here, though," Ash said.

  "No surprises on the gods thing with Ryn being here. Do we have any records on the Tuatha De Danann offspring? Lugh's the warrior and artist, right?"

  "Yea, he's the one tied to justice, the rightful king, and the arts."

  "Could be worse. At least we don't have the Morrigan's offspring to contend with. The last thing we need is a demi-god with her war and death magic running throug
h their veins. We're good, but demi-gods are a bit beyond us."

  "Speak for yourself. I feel pretty confident that a bullet between the eyes will take them out. Anyway, no one's decided whether the Tuatha are gods or just really old powerful fae."

  "Might as well be the same thing," I said.

  Ash frowned and said nothing. He knew I was right. The high-ranking fae were bastards to kill, practically immortal. Their magic wasn't to be underestimated, either. It was weird that the fae partbreeds rarely had much magic to speak of, though. There were always a few. The death dealers such as the cait sidhe were more prone to passing their magic down. Rumour had it that the sidhe and such held onto their magic and didn't allow their mongrel offspring any more than the most essential of threads. Of course, now that the law had been passed that the fae had to look after their mongrel offspring, there were far fewer produced.

  "There's a new pack on the far side of the city. Shadow Hunt pack, they were only cursed sixty or so years ago," Ash said.

  It was difficult for new packs to find their place in the world. Their lives had been ripped away from them as they become something very different to the nature they were born with. Shifters were very territorial and not always forgiving of the new blood and their infractions. They couldn't afford to be - as the old woman had warned, people wouldn't forgive many attacks.

  "Any news on them? Any ties to the two rogue wolves?"

  "Maybe. I still don't know anything about that Loki wolf, but it looks like one of these Shadow Hunt wolves applied for a job at a Steel Heart gallery and was rejected."

  "Why would they take that risk? To work with the Steel Hearts means walking through their territory."

  "Alliance. They're a small fragile pack, the fae will drive them out if they can't get a good foothold soon."

  That made sense. If they lost the territory they had, they'd have no choice but to wander, which brought great risk with it as they'd end up stumbling through other territories, shifter or fae. Then there were the unscrupulous witches who'd try and make them pets - or parts. A territory gave them some security and thus safety.

  "Any sign of them allying with witches or fae out of desperation?"

  If they'd formed a witch or fae alliance, there was a chance they'd have to pay for it with blood.

  "Not yet, I'm still digging."

  I turned my attention to the Steel Heart pack. They looked to be a very old and established pack with a long history in art. Many of their pack were talented artists in their own right, and they appeared to have grown a healthy online business to work with their physical art galleries. Lugh was linked to artists, and they had been fae cursed. It wouldn't be too ridiculous to think perhaps they were tied into Lugh somehow, which complicated things.

  The Tuatha were incredibly powerful. Their connection to their offspring was unknown. The Morrigan was thought to abandon hers not long after birth, but Lugh was a more caring soul. That meant there was a chance of his stepping in to protect the pack if he had chosen them for some reason. I rubbed my temples. There were too many possibilities, and the last thing we needed was to get into a fight with a Tuatha.

  "I need some chocolate," I muttered.

  Ash pulled a small bar of rich chocolate with hazelnuts in it out of the bag he'd tossed down next to the couch.

  "You're a saviour," I said with a grin.

  "I know."

  FIFTEEN

  "We have another one!" I hissed.

  We were out in a nice burger place, nothing too fancy but the food had been incredible. Thick rich burgers with goat’s cheese and the sweet red onion chutney. It had been providing a much-needed respite from research.

  Ash wiped his hands on the napkin and pulled out his wallet.

  "Where we headed?"

  "Haymarket."

  Ash dropped the money on the table with a good tip for the waiter. I finished up my coffee with a gulp and followed Ash out of the burger place at a quick clip. I gave him the address while he started driving out of the parking lot.

  "Which pack?" he asked as he pulled out onto the main road.

  "Shadow Hunt."

  "Shit."

  "Yea. That means this is spread amongst the packs, whatever it is."

  "Dead guy?"

  "Not sure yet."

  "Any ideas what's going on?"

  "My money's on some fae with a thing against shifters. If this guy dies, we'll have a lot of pissed people turning against the shifters."

  "What if it's some power play? This could all be a distraction. Wouldn't be the first time someone's riled people up to cover up something far darker."

  I curled my lip. He wasn't wrong.

  "We deal with the shifters first and go from there."

  Ash cut down a narrow road and hit the gas. We were breaking the speed limits, but lives were at stake.

  "Shit. Crows just confirmed a death."

  We had a flock of crow shifters who informed the Knights of goings on throughout the city. They gave us information before anyone else. It was better than waiting on the newspapers and such.

  "Shifter still there?"

  "Looks like he's been killed."

  "Dammit. Ok, both shifters were male? Any other connections?" Ash asked.

  I skimmed the scant details that I had. Ben was a young artist, mid-twenties, no previous signs of aggression. We had nothing on the Loki wolf. This most recent one looked to be an older shifter with a record for starting fights.

  "They're all guys. That's all I have."

  Ash swung the car around a tight corner, cutting someone off before he hit the gas again.

  "Anyone at the site?"

  "The crows are guarding it, but they're not the combat model. A clean-up crew will be in to get rid of them soon."

  "We're twenty seconds away."

  I undid my seatbelt, ready to run to the site and get what we could. There was a fifty-fifty chance of the clean-up crew listening to us and giving us some time to investigate. The second Ash slowed the car and I spotted the crows, I jumped out with my satchel in hand. I ran across the pavement and paused at the group of lean dark-haired people, who all looked at me with eerily intelligent amber eyes.

  "Thanks, everyone."

  They nodded and maintained a loose circle around the body. There was blood everywhere. It clung to the short grass in garnet droplets. No streetlights were nearby, meaning I needed to pull on some of the sunshine I'd captured earlier to give myself light, or night sight. Deciding that night sight would be more efficient, I tugged on a pair of threads and knotted them behind my eyes. It wasn't quite as good as looking at everything during broad daylight, but it was pretty close.

  "Any witnesses?" I asked the crows.

  "They fled," a younger woman said in her rasping voice.

  There hadn't been any witnesses to any of them so far, which in and of itself was a little suspicious.

  "How did the shifter die?"

  "Big male killed him," a different woman said.

  "The alpha?"

  "No. Not a wolf. A bear."

  I slowly walked around the body, trying to feel for any residual magic. There was a small thread which was fading fast, a sharp thread with small sparks buried within it. The man had fae blood in him. That was new.

  "What do we have?" Ash asked.

  "He's part fae, body looks like the wolf tore him apart. The crows say a bear killed the wolf."

  "Can you get us a name or image for the bear?" Ash asked the crows.

  "Payment?" the original woman asked.

  "The Knights will make sure you're paid."

  The crows looked at each other before a dark smoke swirled around them and a flock of crows took off into the night. The clean-up crew was rushing over to us.

  "It looks like the wolf was frenzied. The attacks are brutal and inefficient. The throat was injured but not torn out, no injuries on the legs," I said.

  Wolves liked to attack the legs to hobble their prey and make the rest of the kill easi
er.

  "Yea, I'm not seeing logic here, it was a very messy kill. No signs or fur or anything under the guy's nails. I'm not sure he had time to fight back."

  "No witches allowed!" a tall man with a buzz cut shouted as he ran over to us.

  I rolled my eyes and held up my Knight pendant.

  "We're knights investigating the shifter attack."

  The man narrowed his eyes at us.

  "You've seen all you're going to see. Now we're clearing the scene."

  Ash squared up to the guy, and I did a quick sweep of the area checking for any more magic or clues. Nothing. I refused to believe that these shifters were just going rogue out of the blue. Something was screwing with them.

  "Back down, boy," the clean-up guy growled.

  Ash's hand shot to his hip holster.

  "We're good," I said to Ash.

  We did not need to get into a shootout with the clean-up guys.

  "No magic, no clues that I can see. We need to speak to the packs, see if there's a connection between the wolves," I whispered.

  Ash nodded.

  "Do we have an address for these Shadow Hunt wolves? Any clues on the bear?"

  "The crows will need a day or two for the bear, and Shadow Hunt wolves aren't far from here."

  Haymarket was on the edge of the city with the wild forests edging in around it. It lacked the money and beauty that Sighthill had, but I could see the attraction for the shifters. There was far less hustle and bustle out there, but the transport links remained good. They could be in the centre of the city quickly while maintaining their ability to run through the forest and moorland outside of that.

  I braced myself for another stonewalling. This time, the wolf had killed someone, so we had every right to push, and we would do so.

  The pack lived in a house that had once been two houses joined by a central wall. The area out front was packed full of cars, mostly dark in colour and middle of the road expense-wise. What I'd managed to find out about them earlier said they had some money but were looking to expand and form a more solid foundation.