I sat on the dirt floor of the barn, getting grit in my unmentionables, while I caught my breath. Another downside to reverting back to humanity was waiting out the residual sensitivity from the change. The wolf didn’t need clothes to start exploring. The human did. Among wargs, I could walk around naked until the nerves under my skin stopped smarting. Public nudity was as taboo for most fae as it was for humans. Out of respect for Mrs. O’Malley, I sat there until the thought of dressing didn’t make me queasy.
Once the sweat had dried on my skin, I mustered up the gumption to pull on my clothes and tie up my shoes. The walk to the cabin went slower than my trek to the barn. Most wargs shift a few times a week to run with their pack and burn off the wildness coursing through our veins. The last few months, that had tripled. I shifted nightly, sometimes more than that, and the wear and tear was exhausting my human self.
The first graduate class of Stoners would be ready for action in another week or so. I could hold it together until then. All I needed was for the alphas to come home and bind them. Then they would be part of the pack bond and able to communicate with the rest of us in the field.
Mrs. O’Malley was waiting at Nathalie’s car by the time I hauled myself across the yard. Hope brightened her eyes, and she worried her hands the way I did when applying lotion. “Tell me you found something.”
“No one has been on your property.” I reached the car and leaned against the driver-side door. “All the scents belong to your family.”
“That’s a small blessing.” Her gaze touched on the house, no doubt thinking of the children within its walls.
“The Cantina was muddled. It’s a popular restaurant, and there were too many scents competing in a small area. Nothing stood out as strange. There was no blood—” except what I found in the kitchen, a discovery I wasn’t ready to share, “—and no other indication of foul play.”
“Where does that leave us?” she asked on a quiet breath.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “One of my alphas works for the Earthen Conclave. I’ll call her tonight and see if there’s anything they can do.”
“The conclave won’t have time for us. Not here, not with the world falling down around our ears.”
More than likely she was right. “I’m not giving up on finding him.”
“You’re a kind one to try.” She bowed her head. “I should get inside, and you should go home.”
“Oh. One more thing before I leave.” I had almost forgotten. “Did you guys suffer any storm damage recently?”
“Yes.” Fresh tears leaked down her cheeks. “The trash compactor is a charred heap. It worked fine that last night. I used it myself.” She wiped her face. “One of those pop-up storms must have swept through later. We’ve had so many this past month.”
“Yeah.” The baby-fine hairs on my nape prickled. The wolf didn’t like the sound of that either. “So I’m hearing.” After fishing the key from my pocket, I froze with it plugged into the lock. “What about your husband’s vehicle?”
“It must have slipped my mind.” A frown marred her forehead. “It was parked in back of the store yesterday. Did you see it?”
“No.” I played back my memory of the darkened lot. There had been one car, and it sat in this yard beside my loaner. “I didn’t.” I opened my door. “I’ll drive past the Cantina on my way home and double-check.” A creeping suspicion wormed over my skin. “Maybe we just didn’t notice.”
The wrinkling of her brow worried me, and her lapse in memory appeared to concern her too. Wolves don’t think much about cars or other modes of transportation. Unless my human mind was riding high in the wolf, I doubt the notion of searching the vehicle would have registered. At least not without the visual clue that would have given me an aha moment and reminded me the transportation angle ought to be explored too.
That didn’t happen, and I got the feeling when I got to that lot it would be empty.
“I’ll be in touch as soon as I have something to report.” I waved and got behind the wheel. I waited until she was safely inside before cranking the engine and returning to the Cantina.
As predicted, the lot stood vacant. I got out and walked around only to find myself standing back at my car with the key in my hand. “Weird.” I tried again with the same result. “Double weird.”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t so much as sniffed a bush on my way to the back door. How could a wolf unable to forgo chasing a bunny resist the temptation to flush the bushes for cats feeding on scraps in the dumpsters? Simple. She wouldn’t. And yet I had trotted in and then out again. My scent trail, as detected by my human nose, was linear.
Curiosity piqued, I sniffed around those areas but came up empty. Unable to shift again so soon, I made a mental note to come back and sweep the area on four legs since two wasn’t getting me answers.
Pondering the implications of this latest development, I got in the car and pointed it toward home. Not that I expected a miracle, but it would be nice if Cam could reach through the phone and magically solve this case for me. Though I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Chapter 6
“There’s a message waiting for you at the office.” Nathalie greeted me from beneath a pair of scraggly pines as I crunched my way across the parking lot at the RV park. “Did my car make it back in one piece?”
“Not a scratch on her,” I assured the wolf craning her neck to look around me. “I even put five bucks in the tank for your trouble.”
“Sweet.” Her tongue lolled. “You’re my favorite beta. You know that?”
I snorted. “I’m the only beta.”
A pair of golden eyes blinked at us from deeper in the woods.
“Hey, Aisha.” Yet another use for my fledgling diplomacy skills. “How’s it hanging?”
“Sorry, but I don’t have a dick.” Her reflective gaze narrowed. “I’d think someone like you could tell the difference.”
Nathalie whirled toward the darkness, teeth snapping, and a shrill yelp erupted from Aisha’s vicinity.
“She’s our beta.” Nathalie switched to an open line. No one conference calls like wargs. “Disrespect her, and she’ll snap your neck like a twig.”
“The alphas—”
“—left her in charge, because they trust her.” A snarl wrinkled Nathalie’s muzzle. “Dell fought us, all of us, and she won. You missed out on getting your shaggy ass handed to you, but I’m sure the beta’s up for an encore.”
Aisha bared her teeth. “I was an alpha—”
“Yeah, was an alpha. You earned your rank flat on your back. Bessemer was the real power behind the Chandler pack. You were just arm candy.” Nathalie snorted. “P.S., if you throw Dell’s past in her face, then I’m going to rip yours off. Got me?”
The former alpha flopped onto the ground and exposed her belly and throat to me.
“Sometimes I don’t know why I bother,” Nathalie said.
I wondered the same thing, but each of us was broken in our own way. If she was showing mercy to Aisha, she had good reason for sponsoring the woman’s recovery. Their arrangement was alpha-approved, so no matter how mouthy or annoying Aisha got, no matter what names she called me or her attempts at shaming me, until she got violent or threatened the safety of a pack member, I couldn’t lay a finger on her, not even if she asked me pretty please with sugar on top for the smackdown she had coming.
I crossed to Aisha and knelt, cupping my hand around her throat until her eyes widened with panic she was smart enough to swallow. Fighting me was a bad idea, and she had survived too long to have those very often.
“You’re eating our food, sleeping in our park and generally not being made some other pack’s bitch because Cam gave you a second chance. Going lone wolf is tough.” I got in her face. “I’ve been packless. Baxter Crosby, my father’s alpha, kicked me to the curb after Momma died, said having me around was bad for the pack’s morale.” In reality, he had been itching to evict us from the Crosby pack for years, ever since my da
d passed and he got stuck with caring for the two of us. “It took six months for Bessemer to accept me into the Chandler pack, and I had family vouching for me.” Even now my wolf shied away from the memories of her dominant personality being forced to submit. “Trust me, princess. You wouldn’t last a day out there on your own. Not once the males caught scent of you.”
Muscles in her throat worked under my hand. I trapped the whine before it broke free of her lips.
“You will never be alpha here. You will never be beta, because I know what you think of Cam and of Graeson, and I’ll kill you before you get the chance to so much as sniff at them wrong.” I clenched my hand. “Do. You. Understand?”
A small jerk of her head was all the range of motion left to her, and I took it in the spirit it was offered.
I liked to think I wasn’t a hard-ass. I liked to think I was a good beta. But the bottom line was I could only afford to be as kind to any one pack member as they allowed. Push the wolf, and you get the fangs.
“I’ll be at the office if anyone needs me.” I stood and dusted my hands. “Thanks again for the loan. I’ll drop the key by your place.”
“No problem.” Nathalie wagged her tail once. “I appreciate it.”
Scuffling broke out behind me, Nathalie chastising Aisha. Again. To preserve my sanity, I crunched my way to the iron-banded front door. The shadow of the frame struck me as wrong, and when I reached for the knob, the brush of my fingers nudged the door open.
My first thought was maybe it hadn’t caught when I shut it earlier, after the meeting. My second thought was, before the O’Malleys proved trespassing on Lorimar property was a cakewalk, I wouldn’t have hesitated at the door. I would have barreled through, certain of our security measures. But the O’Malleys had ripped the veil from my eyes, and just because our first two fae visitors had been friendly didn’t mean the third time was the charm.
I eased into the dim entryway, drawn toward the slash of illumination spilling from underneath a closed door. I gravitated toward it, about to grip the knob, when the door swung inward and the blazing lights inside blinded me after having been in the dark.
“Hey.” Enzo’s outline solidified into a shape more easily recognized. “You’re here late.”
Blinking the image superimposed over my retinas away, I clutched the doorframe and resisted the urge to snap at him. “I heard Cam left me a message.” I trailed my fingers along the wall in an attempt to reach Cord’s office. “I needed to call her anyway.”
“Whoa. Careful there. Let me help.” A firm hand closed over my elbow, and Enzo guided me in the general direction I had been heading. “Sorry about that. I heard voices and was on my way to investigate. I didn’t expect to run into anyone in the building.”
“No problem.” I tugged a key ring from my pocket and fumbled the right one into the lock, admitting myself into Cord’s office. “I’ve got it now, but thanks for the assist.”
“You sure?”
I plopped down in Cord’s oversized chair and spun in a circle—just because—before jabbing the message button on the answering machine. While the robotic voice gave its spiel, I flicked my fingers toward him. “I don’t want to be rude, but I’m not sure what Cam wanted. I should probably hear this in private.”
“Oh.” A note of hurt beat in his voice. “Sure. Tell her I said hi.”
“I will.”
I had another moment of droning technology to deal with before Cam’s voice came on the line. “Hey, guys, I hope everyone is doing well. I need to speak with Dell. Have her call me at her earliest convenience, please.”
The muscles knotted in my spine uncoiled like I had tossed back a bottle of muscle relaxers, and that was before my nose reminded me I had hidden cupcakes to munch. Such was the power of great alphas over their subjects. Almost lightheaded, I slumped in the chair and dialed her cell number from memory.
The voice that answered was all business. “Ellis.”
“Hey, Cam.” I shut my eyes. “It’s me, Dell.”
“You sound tired. The sentries didn’t wake you, did they?”
I was tired. “Long night, that’s all.”
Her tone said she didn’t believe me for a second. “If we need to come back—”
“No.” Eyes popping open, I sat upright. “I’ve got this.”
A sigh gusted over the line. “That’s why I’m calling. The Gathering has been extended for another week. Can you last that long, or should we decline?”
“Another week?” I thumped my head against the back of Cord’s fancy chair. “No problem.”
“Dell…”
“Oh, I almost forgot. Enzo says hi.”
The change in topic threw her a second too long, and when she answered, she didn’t sound thrilled. “How’s that going?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure. He just got here.”
“He’s not bothering you, is he?” Her protective instincts brought a growl to her voice. “Thierry liked the idea of using someone already familiar with wargs since the magic must be responsive to the pack, but there are other witches.”
“We talked,” I assured her. “I shot him down, but he crash-landed without injury.”
“He’s only there as long as you’re comfortable with it, got it?”
“Yes, boss.” A genuine smile split my cheeks. “I miss you guys.”
“We miss you too.” Her voice softened. “All of you.”
“Hey, now. I thought I was your favorite,” I teased. “I thought what we had was real.”
Cam’s laughter used to be as rare as hen’s teeth, and I prided myself on each chuckle I earned.
Hating to turn the conversation serious again, I had to ask, “How are things at the Gathering?”
“As chaotic as you’d expect. None of the fae magistrates can agree on a course of action. They’re depending on King Rook’s influence to keep the fae confined to Faerie. Basically attempting to wash their hands of the problem by considering this a territorial dispute where he is in the wrong and therefore is responsible for maintaining the peace.” She scoffed. “The Seelie are siding with the Seelie, and the Unseelie with the Unseelie. The native supernatural delegations are backing each other against the fae. The one topic they all agree on is that our pack is an abomination thanks to Cord and me mating.”
“That sounds bad.” I flinched at the harsh words. “What’s being done in the meantime?”
“Until the representatives are all in agreement, Lorimar stands alone.” Weariness crept into her voice. “Right now the only ally we’ve got with enough power to enact change is Thierry, and she’s…”
“Damn scary?” I supplied.
She snorted out a laugh. “Yes. That.”
“I do have some bad news.” I flipped open the lid on the pastry box with my fingertips. “Tim O’Malley is missing.”
“Is it a local issue?” Her voice took on a professional edge. “Or is a deserter to blame?”
“A deserter?” I echoed.
“That’s what the conclave’s calling the fae ditching Faerie for greener pastures.”
“In that case, I don’t know. There’s a problem.” I explained to her about my experience with the parking lot and Mrs. O’s general confusion. “All I can figure is something’s there someone doesn’t want us to see. Maybe they’re hiding it under one of those glamour things.”
Once I saw an entire mental health institution hidden beneath an illusion that made it appear to be a cow pasture, complete with patties. If fae could do that, warping a parking lot ought to be child’s play.
“Hmm.” A door opened and shut in the background. “It’s possible. Most locational glamours come with a subtle push that nudges people away without them being aware the magic is herding them. It’s like hosing an area with cooking spray. Your gaze slides right off whatever the person casting the glamour wants to hide. Some of the more complex ones use that as a window to sort of nibble at your memory of being there until you don’t recollect the incident at all.
Power like that cuts clean. You’re left with no gaps in memory, a general awareness of where you’ve been, but the edges are muddled enough you can’t recall details.”
I snagged a cupcake and peeled the wrapper down one side. “So how do you see through it? Or break it?”
“Some fae, like me, aren’t fooled by illusion. So option one is getting a similar fae to be your eyes for you.” Footsteps clicked, echoing over the line. “The second option is asking Enzo for help. If he feels that it falls under what he’s been contracted to do, he may help without putting it on your tab. Otherwise…”
I bit into my snack, barely tasting the spongy cake or whipped icing. “He charges me out the wazoo. Gotcha.”
Witches never worked for free, and they didn’t always charge cash for their services. The bigger the magic, the larger the cost and the dearer its price.
Enzo did me a favor once, shared information to help Cam on a case, saying it was a freebie. One thing life had taught me was nothing was free. Tendrils of debt slithered between him and me, tickling my ankles, waiting to snatch me and drag me off to debtor’s prison. Or maybe I was paranoid, and he had done it out of the goodness of his heart. Paranoid or not, I doubted I had heard the last on the topic.
“The area is also experiencing some peculiar weather patterns. The worst of it seems isolated over the town.” I mentioned it as an idea percolated. “Could the rift be to blame?”
She wasted no time saying, “We don’t know what effect an open portal will have on our atmosphere long term.”
“True.” Though the storms’ taste for Main Street versus the closer forested areas made a case against the rift itself being at fault. Right now, we just didn’t have enough data to make an informed decision. “I’ll keep an ear to the ground and update you if the situation escalates.”
“How’s Aisha?” The earnest question was followed up by a hesitant one. “Is she behaving?”
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