Normally, I loved a Hallow’s Eve party. This year, my mind was too distracted to get excited about anything other than fulfilling the next batch of potions. Tyson had been appreciative of the bank statement Nick had found and promised to track it down and let me know what he found out. I kept loose tabs on Narissa, but so far hadn’t turned up anything interesting. She spent most of her time at Siren’s Song, tapping away at her laptop keyboard, and in the afternoon, Nick would come over from his office and they’d head off together. I hadn’t followed them on a date, instead trusting that Nick would fill me in if anything strange occurred. Mostly because I figured that if Nick busted me tailing them again, that would be the end of our friendship, and as frustrated as I was with him, I still didn’t want it to come to that.
“Are Nick and Narissa coming?” I asked, flipping through my book, scouring for any clue that might jog my memory of what the handwritten notes in the smudged margins might mean.
“I’ve invited both of them,” Evangeline replied. “No RSVP yet, but I can’t imagine they wouldn’t be there.”
I nodded. “Swell.”
“Unless they want to be alone,” Evangeline said, a lilt of innuendo in her voice. “Things seem to be heating up between them.”
My shoulders tensed. “Cassie can’t make it,” I said. “The chief has some thing with his nieces and nephews. He takes then trick or treating, I guess.”
“Aww. That’s so sweet! Uncle Chief.”
“Uh huh.” I bobbed my head and tabbed through a few more pages. “Ugh. I swear, I need to hire a transcriptionist for when I’m working. Either that, or a handwriting coach. Is that even a thing?”
“What you need is an apprentice,” Evangeline said gently. “Why do you think the best potion masters in the world have a whole pack of them? They can’t possible do all that work themselves.”
She was right, but it didn’t really help me in the moment. With my current workload, there wasn’t time to slow down and train someone. Additionally, I worked odd hours and didn’t even have a proper workshop.
Problems, problems, problems. And not a one of them with an immediate solution.
“Yeah, well I would be in much better shape if Posy hadn’t chucked out half my supply last week,” I grumbled, returning to the stove to tend the two kettles I had bubbling.
Evangaline shot me a chiding look. “She said she was sorry, Holly.”
“I know. I’m just frustrated right now.”
“Do you think the SPA would let you work out of headquarters? I mean, they have tons of space. I’m sure there’s a workshop you could use temporarily.”
I shook my head. “It’s a conflict of interest. I make potions to sell. Anything I make while on SPA property can’t be sold.”
“I see.”
“I’ll figure something out. If I can get past this weekend, I’ll be able to take a short breather and reassess things.”
Evangeline laughed and reached out to scratch Boots’ hind end. “Holly, I don’t think you know the meaning of the word breather. Ever since I’ve known you, you’re a hundred miles an hour in at least three different directions.”
“That’s not—” I stopped when Boots lifted his head and gave me a yeah right look. “Fine, but it’s rarely by choice.”
“Let me ask you this,” she started. “If you could do whatever you wanted, what would it be? Right now, you basically have three jobs: coffee shop, potion business, and the SPA stuff. What would you do if you had to pick just one?”
“That’s easy,” I said, gesturing at the potions around me. “This is the dream. Well, in my head, it looks a little different. I envision a gorgeous, renovated warehouse space, with a rooftop garden and separate room for packaging and shipping. Maybe even a little boutique shop in the Seattle Haven, where I could sell rare botanicals and my custom blended potions.”
“Okay. So, what’s stopping you?” Evangeline asked.
I sputtered a laugh. “That would cost a fortune!”
“It will come,” Evangeline said, an unshakable certainty to her voice. “Think about how far you’ve already come. I mean, it’s been less than a year since you got your potion license back, and you’ve already got a huge client base built up, more than enough to keep you busy around the clock. On top of that, the beauty brews we’ve been selling at the Emerald are doing so well I can barely keep them in stock.”
“I know. You’re right. It’s probably just growing pains.”
Evangeline nodded. “It will sort itself out, Holly. But, maybe it’s time to consider cutting your hours at Siren’s Song altogether. I know it’s only a few shifts a week, but it seems those hours would be better spent working on potions rather than lattes.”
I exhaled. “I’ve been thinking about that lately, too. When I first cut back, I still needed the paycheck, but now it’s more of a social thing. I like spending time with Cassie and the other part-timers. I enjoy the customers too. At least, most of them.”
Evangeline snorted. She likely knew who fell into the other category as she had a few persnickety regulars at the day spa too. The type who were impossible to please. It grated that it was better to apologize and smile to those types, even when nothing you did was actually in the wrong.
“But Cassie’s so busy with wedding stuff now that they moved it up to December instead of waiting for next summer. I don’t really see her unless it’s like the other night, when she was here with the dresses.”
“I’m sure that will settle down after the wedding,” Evangeline said. “Then you two can get back to how it used to be. At least, until they have a baby.”
“Yeah.” I laughed. “Stars, why is everyone in such a hurry? It’s starting to make me feel like I’m in last place in a race I didn’t know I was running.”
Evangeline giggled. “Oh, honey, we’re all in the race, whether we want to be or not. Even if you say you’re putting yourself on the sideline, you’ll still end up watching the others run by and wonder if you’re supposed to be trying to catch up.”
I frowned at her. “What about you? You never seem ruffled by all this stuff. What’s the secret?”
“No secret,” she insisted. “But when I feel myself sliding into the trap, I make a list of all the things I love about my life. I’m free to come and go as I please, I have great—well, at least two—great roommates. I run my own business. I go on dates whenever I want to. By the time I get done making the list, I realize there isn’t much I would want to give up or change.”
“A list? Hmm. I do like making lists. Worth a shot, I guess.”
“Speaking of,” she said, standing from the table. She paused to smooth the front of her aquamarine dress. “I need to go and make some RSVP calls for the party. I’m counting you and Adam as enthusiastic yeses.”
I smiled. “Of course.”
“Good.” Evangeline waltzed from the kitchen, humming a song I didn’t recognize under her breath as she went. Likely something she’d made up in her head.
Boots rolled over and looked at her vacated chair with a scowl. I could almost hear him wondering who was supposed to scratch his hind end.
“What do you think, Bootsie? Am I being ridiculous?” I asked, going back to stirring my sleeping potion brew. “Sure, I just turned thirty not too long ago, and I’m not married, but I have Adam, a new career, great friends—”
He narrowed his eyes.
“And you!” I hurried to add. “Come on, that goes without saying.”
His tail swish implied it did not.
“I don’t even know why I’m obsessing over all this right now,” I continued. “As if I don’t have enough on my plate.”
A kettle bubbled as if in agreement and I gave it a polite nod. “Exactly.”
Boots stood, turned, and laid back down, his backside facing me.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m boring. I get it.”
The phone rang and I frowned at Tyson’s name on the screen. “What now?” I muttered before answering the call. “Thi
s is Holly.”
“Holly, it’s Tyson. Listen, I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but there’s been an attack. Can you meet me?”
I raked one hand through my hair and quickly considered the disaster of a kitchen. Posy would murder me, but, seeing as she didn’t have a corporeal form, I’d be safe till I could find a way to make it up to her.
“I can meet you. Where?”
“A bar called the Surly Octopus.”
“The werewolf bar?”
“Yes.”
“Is Nick okay?”
Tyson paused just long enough to send a chill down my spine. “Agent Blair! Is Nick okay?”
“He will be.”
I hung up the phone.
Chapter 19
I’d never been to The Surly Octopus before, but when I looked it up, I realized I’d been to the clothing boutique across the street and was familiar enough that I risked using the Larkspur necklace to help me get there in a hurry. I went to my bedroom, shoved my feet into a pair of boots, grabbed my coat, and then pulled the necklace from under my long-sleeve shirt. I closed my eyes, visualized the boutique’s dressing room—and really hoped no one was occupying the one in question—and whispered the spell under my breath. When I opened my eyes, I breathed a sigh of relief. It worked. I stood opposite a set of three-way mirrors, all reflecting my image back at me. I tucked the necklace back under my collar, put my coat on, and then hurried out of the stall.
The gals at the front counter exchanged a strange look as I scurried through the store, but neither moved to stop me, and I made it out to the parking lot without any trouble. The Surly Octopus was across the street, and I waited impatiently for traffic to clear before booking it across the multi-lane road. It was rush hour and the small town was spliced by the highway that commuters took from the smaller, rural towns into the larger beach cities where there were more employment opportunities.
I spotted Tyson’s SUV in the parking lot and sucked in a nervous breath when I saw an ambulance parked outside the front doors.
Please don’t let it be for Nick, I pleaded, racing toward it.
The doors of the bar swung open and a pair of paramedics exited, a man on a stretcher between them. I recognized him from the night at the Bracken’s lodge, but didn’t know his name. Whoever he was, he wasn’t moving, even as the paramedics tried to get his attention. They loaded him into the back of the ambulance and I hurried forward when the path was clear.
I shoved the door open and nearly crashed into Tyson.
He jolted and took a step back. “Holly?” He frowned down at his watch in disbelief. “Whoa. You made good time!”
“What happened?” I asked, not bothering to explain how I’d gotten there so quickly. “Where is Nick?”
I glanced around and curled my nose. It wasn’t the kind of place I’d ever expect Nick to frequent. The floor was sticky from spilled beer and littered with discarded peanut shells. It was dark and dank, even with every lightbulb lit, and the water in the giant fish tank by the front door was green. Judging by the smell, the dead fish were still in there, lost in the murky waters.
“He’s getting patched up,” Tyson said, gesturing at the bar. Nick was sagging in a chair while a woman in a paramedic uniform tended to a gash on his head.
“Nick!” I scrambled across the room and knelt at his other side, opposite the medic.
“Holly? What are you doing here?” he asked through a wince as the woman applied an ointment to his wound. It looked deep and ragged.
“What happened?” I asked, unable to take my eyes from the cut. “Who did this to you?”
Nick cut a look to the medic.
She gave a quick smile. “Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m one of you.”
“You’re a wolf?” I asked.
“That’s right,” she replied, going back to tending Nick’s wound. “The SPA keeps a few of us on rotation in cities where there is a local pack. It’s a safety thing. We can alert them if we get a call where something supernatural is involved.”
Nick grimaced again and I reached for his hand. “Nick, tell me what happened?”
Tyson came to stand over the medic’s shoulder. “I came down here to talk to Pierce about the bank deposit. His neighbor told me this is where I’d find him, but when I approached him, he made it clear he didn’t want to talk.”
Nick’s eyes closed.
I looked at Tyson. “Pierce attacked you?”
“He tried,” Tyson said, smiling wistfully at Nick. “But this one here decided he needed to play hero. He got between us, and things spiraled from there.”
I glared at Nick. I wanted to punch him. If he wasn’t already hurt, I probably would have. “What were you thinking? You didn’t think Agent Blair could handle himself?”
“It was dumb,” Nick agreed, his eyes still closed. “You don’t have to rub it in.”
“Where is Pierce now?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. Tyson appeared to be the only SPA agent present. The bar was empty except for the medic, Nick, and a man standing behind the bar, trying to appear inconspicuous as he wiped down the glassware.
“He broke a bottle and slashed our white knight here,” Tyson explained, patting Nick on the shoulder. “Then took out another wolf on his way to the door, and he got away. I’ve called backup and they’re looking for him. I stayed here to call the medic and tend to the other wolf that was attacked.”
“Christopher,” Nick supplied through gritted teeth as the medic swabbed the wound.
“Is he going to be okay?” I asked Tyson. “I saw him on the stretcher on the way in here. He didn’t look like he was moving.”
“He lost a lot of blood, but wolves are tough. He should be all right.”
“He’ll be released tomorrow,” the medic said, rocking back on her heels to inspect her work. “He’ll be the talk of the department. No one will believe someone could recover so quickly. I’ve seen it a dozen times.”
“And Nick?” I asked.
“He’s good to go. He should feel much better in the morning, but here’s a couple painkillers for in the meantime,” she said, fishing a packet from her kit. She handed them to Nick and his eyes fluttered open.
“Thanks,” he said, taking them from her.
“Why would Pierce attack you?” I asked Tyson.
“I tracked the wire transfer you found in his bank records, and as soon as I asked him what it was for, he jumped up and started swinging.”
“Always the sign of an innocent person,” I muttered.
Tyson snorted. “Yeah.”
“Where did the money come from?” I asked.
“A shell corporation,” he replied. “I’m still waiting on some information to determine who owns it. I’ll say this—whoever opened the accounts did a good job of covering their tracks.”
“How long will it take to track them down?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” Tyson admitted. “For now, we have agents chasing after Pierce, and once we have him in custody, we can question him further.”
I exhaled slowly. “All right. And in the meantime?”
Tyson looked at Nick. “Have you heard anything from inside the pack?”
Nick nodded. “As I’m sure you can imagine, it’s been tumultuous since the confrontation with Frederick Bracken. Some of the wolves want Bruno out. Pierce hasn’t said anything to me. He’s still angry that I called him out in front of the pack.”
“Does he still support Bruno as the alpha?” I asked.
Nick shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been busy lately and haven’t been with the pack.”
I didn’t have to ask who he’d been busy with.
“The only reason I was here tonight was because Bruno called and said it was mandatory. Pack business.”
“Where is he?” Tyson asked. “Was he one of the wolves who ran?”
“No,” Nick said. “He hadn’t gotten here yet. I came early to get a drink.”
Tyson’s phone rang and he snapped it fr
om the belt clip at his hip. “Blair,” he said.
He waited as the other person spoke, the lines at his brow deepening. “I’ll be right there.”
He snapped the flip phone closed and put it back at his waist. “They lost track of Pierce. We’re sending agents to stake out his apartment and place of employment until we can find him.”
Nick pushed to his feet, wincing a little. “Do I need to make some kind of official statement, or can I go?”
Tyson glanced at me and then to Nick. “You’re free to go. Where can I find you if I have more questions?”
“I’ll be at home,” Nick said, annoyance touching his tone.
“Want me to drive you?” I asked.
Nick turned to me, squinting. “You don’t know how to drive.”
“Well, you can tell me what to do.”
For a moment he smiled. “I’ll be fine. I think trying to teach you to drive might make my headache worse, not better. Thanks, though.”
I nodded and watched him slowly make his way to the door. When he was gone, I turned to Tyson. “Now do you believe me when I tell you he’s not involved?”
“It’s an open investigation, Holly. I’m not crossing anyone off yet. But at this point, yes, I’d say Pierce is at the top of the list.” He checked his watch. “Speaking of, I need to get going. Do you want to come with me?”
I shook my head. “I need to get back. The kitchen looks like a war zone, and my landlady is probably out looking for someone to resurrect her from the dead just so she can personally kick my butt.”
We said goodbye, and I used the Larkspur necklace to transport myself back to the manor. I reappeared in my bedroom and went back to the foyer to discard my coat. Narissa’s coat was hanging on the one beside it and I peered up the staircase. It was probably the bare minimum, as far as spying went, but checking for her coat was a small habit I’d picked up in the past week. If I saw it hanging by the door, I figured she was in the house and didn’t worry about what she might be up to.
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