“If you turn yourself in, you and your gargoyle can go to prison together.”
~
Wynn
Marlow snatches up the flashlight on the coffee table, charging toward the door.
I jump up to follow. "Where are you going? We can't charge in blind. We need a plan."
He spins around, wild-eyed. "I promised to protect Iggy. We're partners. I have to get him back."
"Nobody's abandoning Iggy." The thought makes me sick. "But if you rush off in a panic, you’re playing right into the detective’s hand.”
"What else can we do?"
"Sit down," I say.
Marlow shoots me a murderous glare. "If you tell me to calm down, I'm going to strangle you."
I raise an eyebrow and stare him down. “Stop andstay stillso I canconcentrateand see if the detective left a trail behind."
He blinks first and drags himself over to the couch. I try to block out all his agitation and focus.
Harper's scent lingers on the note. I get up, searching for the same smell, alpha and crisp and natural. I circle the cabin and catch traces where he prowled around, investigating our space. But it's not enough. He covered his tracks like the seasoned hunter he is. The note reeks of him because he didn't bother masking it—probably torn from that little notepad he carries everywhere.
But beyond that? Nothing. No trail leading away from the cabin. No hint of which direction he went next. This option is a dead end.
"Well?" Marlow demands.
I shake my head. Nothing.
He's up in a flash. Out of productive tasks to accomplish, he settles for something destructive. Marlow’s boot slams into the coffee table, scattering several knickknacks. Carved figurines go flying. Some of the decorative pots shatter.
This is the first time I've been tempted to join him and break things too.
Marlow runs a hand through his hair. “How the hell did he even know about Iggy?”
“You open passageways to other worlds and summon what lurks in the shadows,” I reason. “Harper isn’t stupid. He suspected you had help breaking out of jail and found a way to reveal your hidden accomplice.”
Now Harper has all the power. Marlow would absolutely surrender himself to get Iggy back. But all that will do is put them both in prison. We have to clear Marlow's name. We must find the real killer.
"We need to end this," I say. "The solution is the same. Find the real killer, clear your name. The only part that's changed is our timetable." We were going to wait until the next fight night, a time when the pack would be busier and the Iron territory would be full of guests. Instead… "We need to sneak into the heart of the territory tonight."
It's not the best option. We have meager cloaking protections from Josh, which are intended to hide us on the periphery of the territory, not the center. He hasn’t finished the stronger protections yet and was also researching ways to sharpen Marlow's awareness so he could track down the person he followed here. But now Harper's forcing our hand. We have to pray Marlow can locate the right person on his own if we get close enough. It worked when Iggy was close enough to an item from the underworld. This has to work too; there are no other options.
Maybe we don't need extra help—not if we're right about where the real killer is lurking. At the Alpha's house.
All we have to do is make it there and find out.
Once we get a plan together, we get to work. Changing into dark clothes, hiding our scents, readying the magic we do have. It feels good to do something, even if it still feels like we might be walking into a trap or not seeing clearly enough.
But we can't do nothing. Neither of us are comfortable betting with Iggy's safety. We have one chance to help both the gargoyle and demon. One chance to find the real killer and end this for good.
~
Wynn
After we prepare, there's nothing left to do but wait until nightfall. Still a bit of time left until we need to get moving.
