I put a finger to his lips and nodded. “Don’t say it out loud. I don’t know who is listening and I don’t know what they might want.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He growled against my fingers. “Something like this would have been useful to know.”
I didn’t want to get into the conversation right now. “Because the less people who know about it, the better.”
“Come on, Abby, I thought we could trust each other.”
I gave him a look that told him he was being ridiculous before I walked into the kitchen to examine the damage. The fire had scorched the walls and floor, and the ceiling had blackened a bit already with smoke. Embedded in the wall was what I had been looking for. A small chunk of metal sticking out but melted into the concrete.
Someone shot a fucking arrow at us. “This would have pierced me if you hadn’t taken me down to the ground. How did you know it was coming? Where did it come from?”
“We hadn’t shut the door, and I knew it was coming because I could smell someone outside, and I heard them shoot the arrow.”
Werewolves, amazing creatures. “I would be dead on the ground in a burning house had you not saved me.”
He nodded and I started to pry what was left of the arrowhead out of the wall. “Do you have a knife?”
He handed me one and watched as I pried it out taking some of the concrete with it. “What are you going to do with that?”
“Our friend just messed up. Weapons are traceable, not only by magic but by forensics.” I just had our first lead. Assuming that it was related to the case and not just another attempt on my life.
“Abby?”
“Yeah?” I shook my head, trying to clear the paranoia from it. “What’s up?”
“You thought of something; I saw a look of concern cross your face.”
“Just a bit of paranoia. I won’t bother you with it. I’ll get this to the lab and hope they can tell me something about it.”
He walked out of the house without saying another word. I slipped the arrowhead into my bag and followed him out. He stood a few feet away from the house, his head tilted up as he sniffed the air. I kept quiet and let him do his wolf thing. He’d be able to tell me if the person was still there and if he knew them or not.
He looked at me and nodded his head. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I know that scent.”
“Who is it?”
“Maddy.”
I raised my brows. “Come again?”
“I swear that it’s Maddy’s scent. There’s something a little bit different to it, but it’s her.”
I looked out in the woods. “Simon, Maddy’s body is in a freezer at the morgue.” Of course, Nick’s had been there too. “She’s not going to just magically be put back together and then shoot arrows at us.”
“I know, and I’m confused too.” He took his shirt off, showing off the six pack that it hid. I tried not to gawk at the sheer muscle. “I’m going to shift and see if I can follow the scent.” He undid the button on his jeans, and I turned around. We had only dated for a short while, and though I’d seen him naked once, after he shifted, I still had some modesty left.
I didn’t turn back around until his wet nose touched my hand. I looked down at the wolf, caught in the beauty of his fur that almost seemed multi-colored, darker towards the roots and lighter towards the tips. His yellow eyes looked up at me, and I resisted the urge to pet his ears. He looked like a regular wolf, except bigger. He pushed passed my hand and into the woods, at a pace that I could follow. I had my knife and my magic; there wasn’t much in the woods I was scared of right now.
Simon trotted through the woods, easily navigating through the fallen branches and rocks that covered the ground. I, on the other hand, still had to climb over some of the obstacles as I followed him. Even with as tall as I was, some of the branches were actually fallen trees and couldn’t be stepped right over.
He stopped and growled at something on the ground. I drew my knife and waited as he nudged something with his nose, but it didn’t move. My first thought was a dead werewolf, but they turned back into human form once killed. But there was something with fur on the ground. Simon sat down and threw his head back in a howl. I wasn’t a werewolf, nor was I versed in their howling, but it pierced my soul, and I knew it was a sound of grief.
I sheathed my knife and went forward to find what Simon had been smelling was a wolf pelt. A large one. A werewolf one. Vomit climbed my throat at the thought of someone skinning werewolves. I swallowed and kept it down, but only barely. What the hell was going on here? I pulled gloves out of my bag and picked it up. The underside still had dried blood on it, the cuts were smooth like it was someone who knew how to do it, but how did one skin a full wolf?
Simon howled again, and I heard a few others in the distance. I hadn’t been aware that other wolves were on the grounds with us right now. I didn’t want to be the only one in human form with me holding the pelt. Some of them might not be in their right mind, and I looked like the bad guy. I carefully folded the pelt the best I could and started marching back towards the house. After a few minutes, I heard the pitter-patter of Simon’s feet behind me.
I came through the tree line and walked toward the cabin. Three men and two women stood there, luckily not naked. They all looked at me expectantly before their eyes landed on the fur I held in my arms. They all took a step in unison before Simon stepped in front of me and snarled at them. He started to shift, and I closed my eyes again, not wanting to see him naked.
“Abigail had nothing to do with this. I brought her here to help investigate the slaughter of our people. We found Maddy’s pelt out in the woods.”
I heard the rustle of him getting dressed and opened my eyes when I was sure he at least had pants on. “I have a couple questions to ask in regards to how you could possibly skin a werewolf.” They all looked down except for Simon. “I know it’s probably not common knowledge, but I’d at least like a few basic questions answered.”
“We can go talk inside.” Simon motioned to the house, and I shook my head. “I have a better idea, why don’t you and I talk on the way back to the city? It’s getting late and I need to ask Clarissa to take me to get the Hummer.” The other wolves didn’t seem comfortable with talking to me about the possibilities, so that left Simon. If he wanted me to solve this case, he’d give me the information that I needed.
He glanced over at the other people and then nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s best, but why don’t I just drive you to Levi’s? It’ll give us more time to talk about the case.”
I wondered why he suddenly wanted to spend time with me again. There was only so much talking about the case that we could do. Hell, we had spent half the ride up here in silence. I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to make a three-hour trip together. “Are you sure?”
“It’s not a big deal.” He promised and I nodded.
“Let’s go then.” I started back towards the path with him on my heels.
“You can’t take the pelt.” He put a hand on my shoulder, and I looked back at him.
“It’s part of the case. It could have key evidence.”
He hesitated. “It was found on pack grounds.”
“You’re worried that PIB will come investigate the grounds.” I assumed and prepared to defend my argument.
“I am, and the more non-lycans we have around here, the higher the tension.”
My first response was to lash out, but that wasn’t going to help the case any. “I will keep us off the grounds if I can. And if not, I’ll be the one to come up. I don’t have a partner anymore, so it would be just me.”
“What about forensics?”
I shrugged. “I’ll keep them away if I can. If not, I’m sorry. But if you want to find out who skinned and killed Maddy, then I need to take the pelt with me.”
He met my gaze before sighing. “Okay. I’m holding you to your word on this though. No forensic and no partner.”
“
We don’t have to worry about that last one.” I kept my voice light.
“Are you so sure?”
It was such an odd question that I stopped. “It’s not like he can come back from the dead.”
“No, he can’t, but PIB might assign you another one.”
“I doubt it. Boss Man knows I like to work alone.” Of course, he had assigned Nick to me for a while. I didn’t say anything else as I continued down the pathway to the parking lot. Simon followed me without pushing the subject. We both climbed into the cab of the truck in silence.
“If you’re drugged to the point of unconsciousness as a wolf, do you revert back to human form?” I put the pelt on my lap and dug through my bag to see if I had any evidence bags inside. Luckily I found one, at the bottom, still sealed for sterilization. I opened it and put the pelt inside, sealing it up with the sticky flap.
“Yes, we can’t maintain our wolf form without being conscious. We can sleep in wolf form, but if we’re in too deep of a sleep, we revert back. Unless something is forcing us to stay in that form.”
“And what kind of thing could force you to do that?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to the question because it was probably close to torture to keep a wolf in that form.
Simon licked his lips as if he was hesitant to give me an answer. “Remember that leash that Mina had on her husband?”
“I do, we were all pretty shocked when she walked in with him on a leash. An alpha wolf on a witch’s leash.”
“Things like that. Magically enchanted, silver, there’s a number of combinations. It’s not a great experience from what I understand.” His hands twisted around the wheel. “Why do you ask?”
I looked down at the pelt. “Because, in order to get her wolf fur, Maddy had to be in wolf form and alive. So they had to have skinned her before dumping the bodies at the club. I’m trying to piece things together. It shouldn’t have been possible to skin the wolf.”
“So maybe we’re working with a team of people, not just one.”
And that alone was a terrifying thought.
CHAPTER FIVE
The ride went as I had predicted. Most of it being silent. I had gotten some of the answers I needed in regards to what kept a wolf in wolf form and what could cause them to change back, but that’s really all Simon and I had to talk about. He pulled his truck up to the mansion, and I hopped out and gave him a little wave.
“Thanks for the ride.” I went to close the door, but he spoke before I could.
“Do you want me to stay?”
“No, I’m just going to grab the keys and head back to the city. You can go home.” I smiled and slammed the door shut. I was at my second home. There was no need for him to stay. He drove off and I walked up to the door and placed my hand on the scanner. A lot of vampires feared technology, but not Levi; he embraced it with open arms. The only person I knew who had a better security system than him was Oliver. I walked in and waited to hear any voices. There were no signs of Levi being back from vacation, and the house was eerily silent. Shutting the door behind me, I locked it and the click echoed in the entry hall. I walked towards the garage and paused when I noticed one of the guest room doors open.
For a moment, I simply thought that’s where Mario had been staying, but something pulled me in that direction. I pushed the door further open and saw a sheet draped over something in the corner. My heart pounded in my chest as I gently moved the sheet off what turned out to be a big cork board. The pictures and images made me freeze. Shots of the bodies from the haunted house, pictures from other similar scenes, a picture of me, Levi, Nick, and a few people I didn’t know. Pinned to the corner was a piece of paper with a hand drawn and Ira’s picture had a piece of string attaching it. So did Levi’s and my pictures.
What the hell was Mario working on here?
I pulled my phone out and took a picture of the board and zoomed into several pinned photos. My hand shook as I got to images of my parents. The first one of them they were smiling and alive, and the next were the autopsy photos. I took a deep breath and put the sheet back over the board. Did Levi know that Mario had this? He must have, nothing went on in this house without Levi knowing. I walked out of the guest room and pulled the door shut. My hand hesitated to leave the knob. I should have taken the board; it could be considered evidence in the last case. It could have given us a lead on where Ira was. Except, his picture had been marked unknown, hadn’t it?
I looked at the pictures on my phone and noted the small red letters on the polaroid: LOCATION UNKNOWN. So not even Mario and Levi knew where Ira was.
I shoved my phone into my pocket and marched off to the garage where the keys to the Hummer hung by the door. The garage only housed a couple cars. The Hummer was parked on the side of the house. I went back to the front door and paused again at the guest room; the door was cracked again. I had shut it all the way. Hadn’t I? I peeked in and saw no one there. A shiver marched down my back, and I nearly ran out of the mansion.
I pressed the lock button on the digital keypad to lock the front door. I knew the mansion wasn’t haunted, so there had to be a better explanation for the door being cracked again. Had Mario suddenly come to check on it? Or Levi? I pulled out my phone and called Levi.
The phone rang straight to voicemail. “Hey, I was just hoping to check in.” I hung up without saying bye. The message sounded lame and out of character, but maybe he’d understand that I needed a call make sure he was safe. Anything. That Ira hadn’t put a stake through Levi’s heart. I went to the side of the house and climbed into the Hummer. I started the engine and gave it a moment to warm up.
There was something much bigger going on here. Mario wasn’t just here for the blood-starved vampires; there was no reason to connect my parents’ death to that seeing as the Cult killed them, not vampires. I’d take time to look through the pictures when I got home and didn’t have to worry about anyone looking over my shoulder or walking in on me. First, though, I needed to get the pelt to the lab.
When the south PIB building blew up, it’d taken one of our labs with it. Luckily for us, there was a lab in the basement of the new building. It had taken them some time to get it set up, but they managed, and now we were back to being functional. I walked in and their receptionist greeted me.
“I need to turn this into the lab and get it analyzed.” I handed it to him over the desk. “It’s in relation to the case at Wolf’s Bane.”
“Heard there were multiple bodies there. Gruesome. That true?” He raised a brow as he started to write on a clipboard. “The night team should be able to get to it tonight. Looks like they are pretty slow.”
I nodded “It was pretty gruesome.” I had learned a long time ago not to give out too much information even to the PIB employees. That’s how the press got ahold of a lot of information, and that was never a good thing for us. “Have them e-mail me any results. If possible, I need to know if the skin was removed while alive.”
He looked at it. “I’ll make note of that.” They had their ways, like Jason did with the corpses. I walked out, debating if I needed to tell Madeline and her father what I had found, just to warn them, but they didn’t seem to be involved in the case more than Madeline’s identity being stolen. In the end, I decided the discovery of the pelt needed to stay quiet until the timing was right on it. I headed back to the parking lot.
“Abby!” A female voice had me turning around in the lot. Agent Grace stood there in street clothes, a bright blue shirt with a pair of running shorts on, her face flushed from running. “What are you doing up here at this time of night?”
I smiled. “Just dropping off some evidence to the lab. I didn’t know you lived close enough to run around here.”
“Yeah, just a few miles away. I got a new apartment last month. I asked the judge why they let Tomes out on bail, but they didn’t have an answer they could provide me.”
It was typical that if a warlock or witch was caught using magic to kill, bail wasn’t an o
ption. “Did you hear he’s back in jail because he skipped town?”
“Obviously not very far.”
“Nope, just to my neighborhood.” I crossed my arms, and her eyes widened.
“Holy shit, are you okay?”
I nodded. “No harm at all.”
“What did he want? Did he say?”
I wasn’t going to share with her, I didn’t really trust her anymore, and I didn’t want her poking around in Levi’s business. “Same thing he wanted before. He thought I had a connection to the vampire king. I put him in a circle and called a team to pick him up. No big deal. He didn’t threaten me beyond that.”
She nodded. “I’m pretty sure he’s just off his rocker when it comes to the connections he thinks you have. Heard you had a big case with the local wolf pack. Let me know if you need a hand; they might respect a shifter more than a witch.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be offended or not. “I have connections there, so they’ve been fine to work with so far.” I wasn’t sure if she knew Simon and I had been dating or not, but I wasn’t going to elaborate.
“Oh that’s right, you and the alpha know each other.” She smiled. “Good excuse to hang out with a handsome guy.”
I shook my head. “If only that was the case. Really, it’s strictly business. A woman he dated was one of the victims; I don’t think now would be the right time to try and move into his love life.” I joked. “I need to head home. I’ll catch you later. Good luck with your cases.”
“They put me back on the Tomes case exclusively. So I guess I should be thanking you for bringing him back in.” She shrugged. “I’m going to finish my run.”
“It’s a good night for one.” I got into the Hummer and watched her run off. Like any good runner, she started off at a slow and steady jog to save her energy. Once she was out of sight, I started the engine and headed towards my uncle’s house. What I wanted to talk to him about wasn’t something I could do over the phone. I had a feeling he knew what was up at Levi’s house with Mario’s investigation board.
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