Page 9 of Crazy as Hell

The food was too tempting to ignore, so Naomi began filling her plate with selections from the various platters on the table. She was far too comfortable around them to pretend to be a cautious stranger.

Fascinated, Celine rested her arms on the table and leaned forward. “And me?”

“You are secretly addicted to watching Chinese mini dramas on YouTube.”

Celine smiled sheepishly. “Okay, I’m convinced.”

“I always thought you were watching cute kitten and puppy videos,” Gunner teased.

Celine sent him a haughty look. “I watch those as well.”

Naomi pointed a piece of bacon at Freya. “I didn’t meet you last time because you died before I got here. I heard they gave you a nice funeral, though.”

Freya swallowed hard. “That’s…nice to hear.”

“I know you don’t believe me yet. I will answer all your questions, but that is going to take some time. Right now, we need to talk about what is going to happen tomorrow night.”

“And what is that?” Arson asked.

“You’ve probably been in contact with a guardian who has been investigating the magical black market. Something about an auction that is going to be held somewhere in the area?”

Arson’s lips tightened as he gave a curt nod. Naomi could tell he didn’t like that she knew about that since it was supposed to be a secret. “They were here last night to discuss their investigation. We’ve already put a team on standby, and we will be raiding the auction once we figure out the location of—”

“If you wait, by the time you get there you will be walking right into a trap. If I remember the details correctly, tomorrow night during the raid is when Freya is killed, along with several others. Someone here has already tipped off the illegal dealers,” Naomi stated bluntly. “That is how they know you are planning to attack the auction.”

Arson didn’t rage or shout. Instead, he slowly lifted his cup of coffee and took a sip. Then, he set the cup down so gently that it barely made a sound. “Is that fucking so?”

“Who, damn it?” Freya demanded. “Who the fuck gets me killed?”

“It’s a mage named Cyrus.”

The female wolf shifter growled and slammed her fist down on the table. “I die because of that stupid motherfucker?”

“Cyrus is on the raid team and was part of the briefing last night. He has worked with us for ten years. He’s always been loyal and has never caused any problems before. Why would he betray us now?” Gunner asked, sounding honestly perplexed.

“It has to be his new mate,” Celine speculated. “I’ve only met her a few times, but something seemed off about that witch.”

“She’s not his mate, nor is she just a witch. He’s been bespelled,” Naomi explained before pausing to take a sip of her coffee. “I doubt any of you have even seen her real face. She’s part of the black market network, and has been using him to get information about the area. Cyrus warned her that trouble was coming, and she informed the group she works with.”

“Fucking Cyrus,” Freya muttered darkly.

“It’s not really his fault if he is bespelled,” Celine pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter,” Freya growled. “I’m still going to make that bastard pay.”

“If it makes you feel any better, he dies in the raid tomorrow night as well.”

Freya’s shoulders slumped. “Actually, no. That doesn’t make me feel better. It makes me feel petty.”

“Now, you’re just being picky,” Naomi accused.

Freya let out a surprised bark of laughter. “You are surprisingly sane considering how weird this situation is.”

Naomi shrugged. “Not really. But after dying a few hundred times, weird is pretty normal to me.”

The others were silent for several heartbeats as they digested that bit of news.

“We should move on them tonight,” Gunner finally said. “Since you already know what is going to happen, we can use that to gain the upper hand and take them down.”