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“And you think they’re the ones who blew up the community hall?” Claudia bit her lip.
“The explosion was caused by a sorcerer with ingredients from Otherworld, as far as we can tell. ” Chase cleared his throat. “Which means it’s going to be hard to trace. What we need from you—and I know this is asking a lot—is that you comb through every memory you have. We need any clues…anything that might be of help. Any strangers who your loved ones mentioned, anything that seemed off—I don’t care if it seems minute, it might be an important clue. ”
Claudia frowned. “It’s so hard to think…”
I could feel the weariness flowing from her. She—and the others—were all close to breaking down. And when Weres broke down, it was never pretty. I motioned Chase to follow me. Meanwhile, Nerissa passed out coffee and cookies, speaking in soothing low tones while we slipped out of the room.
I leaned against the wall.
“Chase, we can’t push them. Trust me, unless you want a couple wolves, a coyote, and a dog in there—probably at each others’ throats since emotions are so heightened—then I advise you to let them think it over for the night. We’re not going to learn anything right now. ”
He crossed his arms. “I’d like to fight you on this one, but I know you’re right. All right, we’ll give them the night, though I really want to get on top of this. But the fire marshal probably won’t be done until tomorrow anyway, and since we know it was a magical signature, we’re not going to be finding much in the way of typical evidence. Even if we do, I doubt if it will be useful. ”
I nodded. “Give them the night and by tomorrow, they’ll be able to focus more. Right now the shock is playing havoc with their emotions. ”
“I know, I know. ” He shook his head, scuffing his foot on the floor. “I just don’t want to deal with the aftermath if the investigation takes us a while. The pressure’s going to be coming from all sides in the Supe Community to find out who did this. And what if we’re wrong and we find out some wacko hate group executed this whole rotten plan? We’re going to be looking at another whole can of worms. ”
I bit my lip. Tensions had been growing between a vocal minority of society and the Supe Community. “You really think a hate group would go to these lengths?”
Chase flashed me a sad smile. “They’d go a lot further. Look at my history—at the history of mortals. Look what we’ve done to each other in the name of religion, in the name of moral superiority, in the pursuit of money. I fully believe some crackpot group like Freedom’s Angels or the Church of the Earthborn Brethren would toss a bomb into the mix. ”
“You’ve changed a lot since we first met you. ” I studied him. “You’ve gone from being…well…an arrogant and totally by-the-book detective with a stick up his ass to someone who digs in deep. Who isn’t afraid to get his hands muddy. ”
“I’ve changed. ” He lowered his gaze away from mine. “I’ve changed a lot. Especially since Karvanak got hold of me. I’ve never told anybody what happened. Chances are, I never will. But it made me realize what we’re facing—how you and your sisters are right. Sometimes you have to skirt the rules. ” He paused, then added, “Everything shifted again when you gave me the Nectar of Life. Sometimes I feel like there’s so much going on inside me that I’m caught in a whirlpool. Or like I’m in the center of a tornado, spinning out of control, and I have no clue where I’m going to land. ”
He gave me a long look and I could see the flurry of emotions battling within him. I reached out, put my hand on his shoulder, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“I’m sorry. We really haven’t had much of a chance to sit and talk about your transformation, but we need to. Chase, Camille and Menolly and I really want to discuss the changes you’re going through. Sharah can help you learn to cope with the changes you’re undergoing, but…”
“Yeah, I know. You don’t have to say it. Now that she and I are dating, she might not be unbiased enough to pick up on potential problems. Trust me, I’ve been mulling this over for a long time and the incident with the Elder Fae—the spider freak—sealed the deal. I know things are happening to me that I can’t figure out. Hell, I can barely explain them. That’s why I asked Camille to make me an appointment with the Triple Threat. I took their tests and am waiting for them to contact me with some answers. ”
“She mentioned you’d come to her. ” Some odd magical connection had sprung up between Chase and Camille. She’d noticed the bond developing and mentioned it to the rest of us. Whether it was just the magical energy or something deeper, we weren’t sure.
“So you really think you might be able to help me? Once I know more?”
“We’ll do everything we can to try. ” I paused, not knowing whether to say something that had been lurking in my thoughts. Chase and I hadn’t really spoken about our breakup, either. It was almost as though—once it happened—we’d pretended like it was over and done with, a blip on the map. And though I was happy now, and we’d made the right decision, I wanted to be able to talk about our time together, without recriminations, without regrets.
“Chase…”
He gave me a look that said he knew where I was going and wasn’t ready to go there himself. “Yes?”
I paused again, then shook my head. “Nothing. Let’s get back inside. ”
We headed back in, and I slid into my chair again while Chase made a show of straightening his papers. He folded his hands on the table and leaned forward.
“We know this is a rough time for all of you, so we’ll be in touch. Please, think about what we asked. Delilah and I will be dropping over to your homes tomorrow to see if you’ve remembered anything that might help us. Meanwhile, if you’d like, we’ll have an officer escort you home. ”
Marion and Claudia stayed, but Geraldo and Shane were up and out the door before Chase could say another word.
Claudia stared at her hands, spread out on the table. “Before I go…I just remembered Exo said that he had a meeting with a new client who was interested in booking the hotel for a convention, but that he’d declined. He said something felt off about the man. ”
“When did this happen?” I leaned forward as Chase jotted down the information.
“A week…five days ago? Sometime the past week. I know because when Exo told me he turned away a convention, we got in an argument. I said it was foolish to turn down that kind of money. He told me they weren’t good people. I…I…”
She swallowed, hard, and stared at us like a deer caught in headlights far too bright and blinding. “I told him he didn’t love his family, that he was always putting his ethics ahead of our welfare. Exo tried to talk things out, but I pushed him away and made him sleep on the sofa. Yesterday he brought me roses before he went to work and told me he loved me. I wasn’t over being mad yet—I didn’t say it back! And now…and now I’ll never have the chance. He died thinking I stopped loving him. ”
As Claudia crumbled before our eyes, Nerissa was beside her, arms around the woman’s shoulders, whispering something in her ear.
I glanced at Chase. This was too intimate—we were witnessing a private breakdown, a moment of grief and regret to which no one should be privy. As Nerissa cradled the fragile woman, we quietly walked out of the room with Marion, who was shouldering her own trauma.
“At least Trixie and I parted on good terms. The last time I saw her, we were discussing plans for her upcoming trip to Europe. She’ll never make it now. ” Marion shrugged in that resigned sort of way that tells you someone’s given up hope. “When I heard about the explosion on the radio…I knew. She was going to help plan out the spring dance and had gone down to the hall to meet some of the organizers. ”
The spring dance—Viva la Primavera—was scheduled to take place on the weekend right after the equinox, but those plans had been blown sky high. I draped my arm around Marion’s shoulders.
“How about you? You need
a ride home?” I stopped her, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Coyote shifters were gaunt; they were lean and always had a hungry look in their eyes, even when well fed. But now, Marion just looked tired.
She shook her head. “My husband’s on the way. I’ll go through Trixie’s stuff tonight, to see if I can find anything that might indicate the Koyanni or Van and Jaycee are around. Somehow, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep very well. Tomorrow, I’ll call you if you don’t reach me first. ”
And with that, she pushed her way through the cubicles. As we watched her hurry out of headquarters, toward the main doors, I had an uneasy feeling that she might vanish into the night—a victim of whatever phantom we were facing.
Exhausted, I followed Chase into the visitor’s room, where Shade was waiting. I’d given the keys to my Jeep to Camille so they could drive home in comfort, rather than everybody squeezing into her car. Now I dropped into a chair, wondering how the hell we were going to get back home, but then I saw Bruce’s driver standing by the door. He gave us a little bow.
“Thank you, Tony,” I said. “You didn’t have to wait for us. You must be exhausted, too. ”
“Mistress Nerissa asked that I do so. She said she’ll catch a ride with Mistress Menolly. ” He was oh-so-formal and looked so young, but I had a feeling he wasn’t as young as he appeared.
I flashed him a weary smile. “Oh, Tony, skip the titles. It’s just Delilah, Nerissa, and Menolly. We’ll be out in a minute. ”
“Yes, Mistress. ” He tapped his hat and exited the building. I turned to Chase.
“So, can you meet me here tomorrow morning? I’d really like you to come along when I question them. ” He tapped my head with the file folder, smiling faintly. “Please?”
“I can’t go with you tomorrow. It’s Iris’s wedding. I need to help with preparations. ” I knew talking to the families was important, but sometimes you just had to say no. “And you’d better show up at the wedding. Iris has done a lot for you. ”
He closed his eyes and let out a long, loud sigh. “I’ll be there, no problem. It’s in the evening, anyway. But can’t you come in for a few hours in the morning? I need your help, Delilah. I wouldn’t ask, but…”
“But you can trust me. ” It was my turn to sigh, and as I did so, I blew my bangs off my forehead. He knew I’d say yes; I could tell by his hopeful stance.
Shade wrapped his arms around my waist. “You could come in for the morning. Iris won’t mind. ”
“All right. I’ll be here around ten but I have to leave by one. Maybe Iris will be too excited to notice. ” Were we ever going to be able to cut loose again without some trauma spoiling our fun? Were we ever going to catch another break?
Chase hugged me, then shook hands with Shade, and we headed out to Bruce’s limo. It boggled the mind that only a couple hours before we’d been on stage, singing and drinking, and now we were facing another ride on the demon-go-round. I slid into the car and stretched out, and without a word, we headed off into the darkness.
Chapter 4
The alarm blared through my dreams, and I blinked, glaring at the light that was filtering through the curtains. My head was plagued with a case of thunderbolts from hell, and I realized this was the side effect of the damishanya. The pounding was worse than any hangover I could imagine.
There was something else…something about today that I needed to remember…
“Get a move on, woman!” Shade’s voice penetrated my foggy mind as he yanked the covers off me, exposing my all-too-naked body to the chilly air. “In the shower with you. You can’t go help Chase, or attend Iris’s wedding, smelling like a wet cat. ”
Iris’s wedding! That’s right, tonight she was getting married and we had to set up all the decorations and get everything ready. I tried to force my eyes open as Shade grabbed my arm, yanked me none too gently to my feet, and gently trundled me over to the bathroom, where I heard the water running.
Grimacing, I squinted, trying to see through my eyelids, which were stuck together by gunk. I hadn’t taken off my makeup the night before. A glance in the mirror told me I looked like a fright.
The shock of the warm water on my skin hit me like a thunderbolt. I hated getting wet but couldn’t stand the thought of being dirty for long. Sometimes I wished I could just give myself a bath in cat form and turn back nice and spiffy clean, never needing a shower. I even refused bubble baths—the thought of soaking in a tub gave me the willies. No, showers were definitely the lesser of two evils. Sputtering, I ducked my head under and lathered up, quickly washing away any lingering grime, sweat, and mascara. As soon as I felt clean, I hopped out of the shower and pressed a soft towel to my face, wiping the water out of my eyes.
“Feel better?”
I peered over the top of the towel. Shade was leaning against the door, looking all too sexy and tidy. At six two, he was an inch taller than me, and his long, honey-colored hair shimmered with amber highlights and danced down his back in a tangle of curls, caught back in a neat ponytail till it hit his waist. His skin was a warm bronzish-brown, and he looked like an Asian-black mix, but it wasn’t human ethnicity that gave him the exotic look. He was part shadow dragon, part Stradolan—shadow walker. I wasn’t clear exactly what that side of his heritage meant, but I was slowly learning about him as the days and weeks passed.