by Vella Day
“We’ll discuss this at a later date. We need to call the police.”
She spun around. Greer was used to having her family of Guardians take care of things. “Are you thinking he left some prints or something?”
“Maybe. Regardless, someone stole something, and we should report it.”
When he pulled out his phone, she placed a hand on his arm. “Let me call my cousin Anderson.”
“I thought he was a homicide detective.”
“He is, but I’m family. I bet he’ll oversee the theft.”
“Go for it,” Blake said.
She called Anderson on his personal cell. “Greer. Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice almost shaking.
“I’m okay, but someone broke into my house.” She explained what was taken. “I think we interrupted him.”
“We?”
“Blake and I.”
Her cousin cleared his throat. “I’ll be right over.”
“Thank you!”
She faced Blake. “He’ll be here as soon as he can.”
“Good. Back to the topic of why you followed me downstairs when I asked you to stay put.”
She didn’t need to be dealing with this right now. “I can take care of myself.”
“That may be true, but what if he came back and totally ransacked your house while you were flying with me?”
“Things can be replaced. Besides, if he had come, don’t you think it was better that I wasn’t home?”
“You might be right, but tell me this. If I had managed to stop this guy’s car and he had an accomplice, what would you have done?”
“I would have fought him right along side you.” Greer lifted her chin.
“In hand-to-hand combat?” he asked.
Yes, she could do quite well in that department, but now wasn’t the time to explain how. “I would shift into my dragon form. Look, I also went after you because I wanted to make sure you were safe.” She moved closer and ran a hand down his chest.
His eyes widened. “You wanted to take care of me? I assure you I can do that myself.”
This was getting them nowhere. “I’m glad to hear it. Now, how about that wine?”
He chuckled. “You are one stubborn lady. Yes, I’d like a glass.”
Good. Blake’s anger seemed to have dissipated. She’d poured them each a glass. Half way through her drink, a knock sounded on her door. From the familiar dragon signature, it was her cousin. Greer opened up to find Anderson and two other policemen at the door.
“Thanks for coming so fast.”
Anderson nodded at Blake and then shot her a questioning look. Clearly, he was confused why Blake was there. She decided it would be best to tell the truth. Greer motioned Anderson off to the side. “I know it seems odd, but Blake and I are mates.”
He let out a breath. “I see. I appreciate you telling me.”
“And I appreciate you not judging.”
He smiled. “Never where you are concerned. Do you want to tell me what happened here?”
Between the two of them, she and Blake told all three officers what they knew.
Anderson turned to Blake. “You said you followed the thief as far as the Woodland entrance to the forest?”
“Yes.”
“How could you tell which car was his?” Anderson asked.
“I saw the getaway vehicle. It was a dark blue Camron, but I was only able to see the first two letters on the license plate number, and they were, LM.”
Anderson took notes. “That’s good information, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the car was stolen.”
“If he ditches it, we’re back to square one.”
“I’m afraid so, which is why we’ll dust for prints inside the house and on the front door handle,” Anderson said.
“The salt lamp he stole was on the table over there,” Greer said.
“We’ll be thorough. We don’t know if he searched before he took the lamp or just grabbed the first thing he spotted. Have a seat,” Anderson said. “This may take a while.”
Good thing Greer had a well-stocked wine cabinet. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter Nine
“Why is there a closed sign on the door?” Greer asked Tory as she stepped inside the shop the next morning.
“Dad called a meeting.”
Her pulse soared. “Is it about the theft at my house last night?”
“What? Your place was broken into?” Tory asked, grabbing Greer’s arm. “Were you injured?”
“No. I never saw him.” Greer held up her hands. “We scared him off before he took much.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. We?”
So much had happened in the last couple of days that Greer wasn’t sure where to begin.
She inhaled deeply. “As you know, Blake and I went out to dinner, and let’s say it became obvious to both of us very quickly that we are mates.”
Tory grinned and then clapped. “I am so happy for you.”
“Me too. Long story short, we went back to my house and ended up in my bedroom. But, before we progressed very far, Blake received a call saying something had happened at the bank.”
“Don’t tell me he had to leave?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t to talk to Crystal or anything. Turns out that some animal had chewed on wires that led to the alarm, but he still had to spend hours trying to figure out if they’d been hacked or if anything had been stolen. To make it up to me, he suggested we go on a picnic yesterday.”
“Ooh, that sounds romantic.”
“It was. What’s more, his cousin owns The Helpful Healing store near the park that sells crystals, herbs, potions, you name it.”
“I know the place.”
“I’ve never been in it before, but I picked up some nice face creams. I will definitely return when I have more time to look around. Normally, she’s closed on Sundays, but she opened up just for us.”
Tory sagged. “That is so sweet.”
“I know, right? Anyway, Blake ended up buying me this sardonyx salt lamp.”
“I’ve always wanted one of those.”
“So have I. Anyway, we went to the park to watch the sunset and to have a picnic. Everything was perfect. Afterward, we went back to my place. We were upstairs doing you know what when we heard a noise downstairs.”
Tory clasped a hand over her mouth. “Don’t tell me that Blake rushed downstairs to look what caused the noise?”
Greer chuckled. “Yes. By the time I dressed and made it down there, the intruder had run off. I hadn’t even realized he’d stolen my lamp until Blake told me.”
“Oh, no. That was a present from Blake.”
“I know.”
“Did the thief take anything else?”
“No. Blake might have scared him off before he could grab anything else.”
“Hmm. I wonder if this guy saw you buy it or something? How else would he have known you had it? Unless, he didn’t know what he’d find when he broke in. In that case, it was random.”
Her comment made her think of something. “That reminds me, Blake’s car alarm went off while we were at the park, but when he went to check on it, no one had broken into it. A passerby might have seen the item in the back seat. No wait. It was in a bag, so I don’t know how he would have seen what it was.”
Griffin tapped on the hallway jewelry store door and then pushed it open. “Meeting is about to start,” her brother said.
“We’re coming,” Greer and Tory said in unison.
She turned back to Tory. “Do you know what this meeting is about?”
“Dad just said that Anderson would be there.”
“I doubt it’s about what happened at my house. If he’s here, it must be serious. The last thing we need is another dark entity roaming about killing people.”
“I didn’t ask for specifics, but Angelique would have warned us if there had been another breach. Come on,” Tory said.
When they stepped into the large meeting room, the place
was packed. The only ones who seemed to be missing were her brother Camden, her cousin Ramsey, and her father.
Uncle Jamison tapped the desk. “Everyone please take a seat.”
The mumbling quieted even though a few were still at the coffee station filling up their mugs. Eventually everyone sat down, and the room stilled.
“I asked Anderson here because it concerns not only two members of our community but a breach in our portal security.”
A lump formed in her stomach. Portal security was serious. Greer rarely was assigned portal duty, but those Guardians who manned it regularly were vigilant to keep out anyone who didn’t belong in Tarradon. Apparently that someone had failed.
Anderson pushed back his chair and stood. “I’ll get right to the point. Most of you—or rather all of you—know Betty Tisdale. Four days ago she was murdered.”
Greer’s heart fluttered. Why hadn’t she learned of this before? If nothing else, her cousin should have mentioned it last night. Most likely he didn’t want to add to her burden with more news of violence. The recent dark entity attack, coupled with the break-in had unsettled her.
Betty Tisdale was a human who had mated with a werewolf. She was in her mid-seventies and had been a waitress at the Hillside Café where she and Blake had their first date—the date where Crystal had barged in on them. All of the Guardians went to the Hillside Café and knew her very well. Betty was loved by all of them, which made her death even harder. “How did she die?” Greer asked.
“Wolf attack.”
Her stomach sickened. She couldn’t imagine being mauled to death. “Do you know who is responsible? Please don’t say her husband. He is such a nice man.”
“I don’t know who is responsible. At first, I thought it might have been Henry, but only because he’s a wolf shifter. It certainly wasn’t because I thought he was capable of doing such a thing. Though after what that Mange character did, nothing would surprise me anymore. I spoke with a few of the neighbors, two of whom told me Henry had gone to Earth—to Silver Lake, Tennessee specifically—to visit his sick brother but had returned the morning Betty died.”
It was always tricky when anyone went from Tarradon to Earth. If someone saw a person appearing out of thin air, it would raise a lot of questions. It was why the portals were usually located in out of the way places.
“Someone must have picked him up since it would have been a long hike to town—too long I suspect for Henry.” She’d heard all the stories about the portals from Chelsea and Finn. “Maybe the person who transported him could tell us Henry’s frame of mind when he was there.”
“I don’t know who met him at the portal, but it’s not important, and I’ll tell you why in a moment,” Anderson said. “According to his next-door neighbor, when Henry returned from Earth, he seemed a bit off, but she assumed it had to do with his family issue.”
“If you want, I can contact Ophelia, who can ask their detective for information about Henry’s visit,” Uncle Jamison offered.
Anderson held up a hand. “I already spoke with Detective Kalan Murdoch.”
Finn’s eyes lit up. “You spoke with Kalan? How is he?”
Anderson smiled. “He’s great. In fact, he asked about you and Chelsea.”
“You went to Earth?” Declan asked. “That’s a rather extreme move just to follow up on a clue.”
“I did. I went because I was getting nowhere with the investigation here, and I was determined to find Betty’s killer. Even though a few claimed Henry had returned, he was nowhere to be found. Besides, I always enjoy a trip back there this time of year.” A small smile lifted his lips. “The fall colors are amazing.”
Maybe she and Blake could go next year. She bet he’d enjoy that. Greer’s mind wandered for a bit. Shit. She needed to focus!
“What did you find out?” Declan asked. He’d recently been to Earth to get help for Angelique.
“I spoke with Henry’s brother, who confirmed that he had left the morning of Betty’s murder. When Detective Murdoch and I went to investigate the portal site where Henry was logged into, we found him. He was dead.”
Chatter erupted. Greer couldn’t believe both were gone. “Then why did his neighbors say they spoke with him?” she asked.
“That’s why I’m here. I need answers.”
“How did he die?” she asked.
“Another wolf attack.”
Uncle Jamison tapped the table to quiet everyone. “I checked the portal logs of those who entered. It claimed that Henry Tisdale entered our portal as scheduled.”
“I was the one on duty that afternoon,” Birk said. “It was Henry all right. I’ll swear to it.”
That made no sense.
“Fuck.” Everyone turned to Finn. “Sorry. I think I might know what could have happened. Did Kalan happen to mention if it was a red moon the day Henry died?”
Anderson’s face paled. “He mumbled something about it, but I didn’t ask him what it meant. Why?”
Finn blew out a breath. “We have these rabid werewolves in Silver Lake called Changelings who’ve been around for as long as I can remember. They possess a lot of magical abilities and have caused an endless amount of issues for everyone in town. If they are in their wolf form, they are easy to spot. Their eyes glow red.” He shivered. “To me, they look like they’ve been possessed by the devil.”
“That’s a horrible thought,” Greer said. “I hope they weren’t possessed by some dark entity from way back when.”
The room buzzed with speculation until her uncle tapped the table once more. “Let’s focus. Go on, Finn.”
He sat up straighter. “While we eventually managed to take down a few of their council members who were basically thieves, they are still around today. Now however, they are disorganized and probably more dangerous because they are desperate.”
“Why would they want to harm someone from Tarradon?” Declan asked. “I didn’t think many on Earth even knew of our realm.”
Finn shook his head. “Few are aware of its existence. I’m going out on a limb here, but Henry could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The lifeblood, so to speak, of the Changelings is sardonyx. It’s what gives them their magic. A Changeling might have somehow learned that we mine the stuff here. To us, it’s not all that useful. To those on Earth, it is.”
“You said sardonyx?” Greer asked.
“Yes, why?” Finn and the rest of group shifted their focus to her.
“That’s what was stolen from my place last night.”
More rumbling exploded. “You were robbed?” Griffin asked. Her older brother was highly protective. It was one reason why she hadn’t called him last night. He’d have insisted she move to the safe house.
“Yes, but I was in bed at the time. I heard a noise.” She saw no reason to mention that Blake was with her, even though Anderson knew. “By the time I threw something on and went downstairs, no one was there. A sardonyx salt lamp that I’d just gotten that afternoon was missing. I called Anderson, and he came right over.”
Anderson nodded. “We dusted for prints, but so far, we’ve come up empty handed. The guy was careful.”
Tory briefly raised her hand. “It’s probably nothing, but on Friday, a man came into the jewelry store asking about anything containing sardonyx.”
“I remember him,” Greer said. “I didn’t pay much attention because I was speaking with Blake at the time. I can ask him if he noticed anything about the man.”
“Thanks.” Anderson turned back to Tory. “What did this man look like?”
“He was maybe five feet eleven, fairly fit, and looked about fifty years old, but with shifters, one never knows.”
Anderson scribbled down some notes and then looked up. “If there is a connection between the theft and the murders, I’m not sure what it is. My question is how the hell did he get by you, Birk? You know Henry.”
“It was Henry all right. I even chatted with him for a bit.” His eyes dimmed. “Now that I think about
it though, all of his answers were kind of vague, almost as if he didn’t know what to say. I just figured he was distracted because of his ill brother. But if Henry was dead at the time, who was that person?”
Finn lifted a hand for a moment. Her uncle nodded. “Birk believed he was talking to Henry Tisdale, because on Earth, during the red moon, if a Changeling touches someone he will take on that person’s appearance.”
Everyone talked at once.
“You mean like Mange?” Anderson asked, as soon as everyone quieted.
“Not exactly, but close. Mange inhabits a person. The Changelings merely look like the other person who usually has no idea there is a doppelganger out there. Furthermore, the Changeling can only hold onto the image of the person for two to three days—at least that is the case on Earth.”
“I still don’t see why he’d have to kill Henry, assuming the killer was a Changeling,” Anderson said.
Finn shrugged. “If they were both at the portal at the same time, Henry would know this man was impersonating him. It’s possible Henry confronted him, and then the man killed him.”
If that were true, that would be a real tragedy. “If these magical werewolves need sardonyx, then it’s possible the man who stole the lamp from me could have been the same man who came into the store. Considering he is a werewolf, it’s possible he was the one who killed both Betty and Henry,” Greer said. “It’s just a theory though.”
“It’s an excellent concept, but if someone from Earth is here to steal sardonyx, the guy is a ghost,” Anderson said. “If for some reason he shows up at the store again, call us immediately.”
Birk kept tapping the table. “I messed up. I’m sorry.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Uncle Jamison said.
“I still feel responsible. I’m going downstairs now and ask Chris to pull the video feed for the store last Friday. Maybe we can get an image of the guy. If we do, I’ll send everyone a copy.”
“Everything is circumstantial at this point, so we can’t apprehend him. He might be an innocent bystander,” Anderson said.