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He sighed, his jaw working as he wrestled with myself. I waited, stared at the dirt on his bandage. It made me feel worse but didn’t lessen my determination.
“I’ll excavate the pelvis, other telltale bones. I need to send some pics to a lady I know before I can be sure it’s female. She might give us a guess, but at some point, we need to bring in the police.”
I nodded. “It’ll be her. I know it.” Then why did I want him to dig? Closure?
My heart felt old, worn out, and my stomach full of the cold earth.
Yvaine was dead.
Had I really expected different? So much easier to say goodbye at the creek when there had been no body to confirm it.
I pushed back up onto my feet. A sun-bleached burger wrapper blew into my leg and stuck there.Beastly Burgers.I picked it up—something to do instead of weep. Mindlessly read the franchise details—Wichita, it’d come a long way.
I dropped my hand, the paper falling as something soft and wet nudged at my hand. The red wolf was back.
CHAPTER18
Zara
“I’m sorry.”
I nodded at Val’s words but didn’t say anything. Instead I sank my fingers deeper into Neme’s fur. She was warm like a dog. When I drew my hand over her head and partway down her back, she found her coat was a soft, thick texture, like a Husky treated with fabric softener.
Even now, I lost details of the red wolf to fuzziness. Her eyes were dark but with a red center. Those red eyes somehow conveyed friendliness and not a terrifying, throat-ripping menace. A red pattern on a black or smudged-white background covered much of Neme’s coat. The pattern reminded me of the alchemical symbols that featured in some fragments of the Cucitrice’s memory.
Whatever she was, Neme was real, a reminder that everything that had happened...memories, monsters, Yvaine being dead—all real. Touching Neme should have sobered me, but the truth was the warm, solid strength comforted.
“You trust that wolf, Zara?”
The wolf flicked her focus toward Val.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I think so. She’s been a companion of the Cucitrice for a very long time.”
“As in man’s best friend?”
I nodded again. “Her being here fits, you know?”
“Well, she likes you. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s a sign you’ve got all the answers in your head somewhere.” Hands on hips, he looked toward the grave. “Time for us to go. Think the wolf’ll get in the car?”
“I don’t know.” Gently, I patted Neme again. Scaring her off was more my fear than that the wolf would attack.
“I take it you still want to check out the farmhouse?”
“Yeah, it’s not over just because...” It hurt to say it, so I didn’t.
“After the house we contact the cops. Yeah?”
“Sure.”
“Then?”
I shook my head, glanced over at Val. Was he asking if I wanted to keep hunting the SK? Probably. Truthfully, I was lost at the moment. “Give me some space, time.”
“Okay.”
He rose and dusted off his pants, extended his hand to me.
I took it and let him haul me up. If I stopped chasing after the SK, would Val leave? Doubtful. He wanted my help too. If anything, he wanted me to stop chasing the murderer.
