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“Whom I really hope isn’t Candy,” I said, and pushed away from the door. “And no, I won’t be. If Lucian doesn’t call, then I’m heading over to Franklin’s.” Which was an upmarket wolf club specializing in clients who preferred—and could afford to pay for—discretion.
Ilianna gaped. “Why are you waiting for him to call? Call him, for heaven’s sake!”
I grinned. “I would, except he had to go interstate for business reasons, and wasn’t sure whether he’d be back tonight or tomorrow.”
I turned away, then paused. “While I remember, my father set up wards at Mom’s place that were capable of preventing both the Aedh and reapers from either detecting his presence or being able to enter. Is there any chance you could retrieve them and figure out how he did it? The magic in them dissipated after a set time, but something like that would be handy here.”
“They would have to contain some pretty heavy-duty magic to achieve something like that.”
“But do you think you could work out the spell?”
“If there aren’t any remnants of it left, probably not. But I can’t say for sure until I’ve looked at the wards themselves.”
I tossed her Mom’s house keys. “Your prints are still registered in the system. It might be worth checking out.”
“If it means making our apartment an Aedh-free zone, then I’ll make it a priority.”
“Thanks, Ilianna.”
I headed for my bedroom. Then, after picking up the locker key, I walked back down the stairs and drove into the city.
Of course, Melbourne was a bitch of a place to find any decent parking in—and had been since they’d introduced the car-free zone. Most of the underground parking lots were filled with rush-hour travelers, forcing the rest of us to park outside the city limits and either walk back or catch public transport. And that was as unreliable as ever. One of these days a politician was actually going to keep an election promise and fix the system, and the whole damn city would keel over in shock.
I jogged back into the city. Southern Cross Station, with its undulating roofline that always reminded me of mounds of snow, came into view. Lots of people were exiting, meaning several trains must have just pulled in. I picked my way through the crowd, heading for the locker area situated in the middle of the station.
Like before, there were a handful of people hanging about, either collecting or depositing goods, but no one seemed overly interested in what I was doing. But then, if someone was watching, it was in their best interests to be discreet.
I shoved the key into locker 97 and opened the door. Inside sat a solitary envelope.
I plucked it free, closed the locker, and shoved the key in my pocket. And at that precise instant I became aware that the atmosphere in the room had suddenly sharpened.
I glanced up quickly and saw a familiar face.
It was the cat shifter who’d been part of the attack on me in the parking garage when this madness had first started. And once again, he hadn’t come alone.
Chapter Four
“WELL, WELL, WELL,” HE ALL BUT PURRED. “Imagine meeting you again.”
“Yeah, just imagine.” I shoved the note into the back pocket of my jeans, then flexed
my fingers. He wasn’t alone. I could smell a second man trying to creep around the lockers, obviously hoping to come up behind me. “Where are the rest of your friends? Oh, that’s right. Two are dead, and the other is in the hands of the Directorate. Are you sure you want to do this a second time?”
Several people scurried out of the locker room. Obviously, the guy attempting to creep around the back had spooked them. Such brave souls, leaving a woman to tackle two men alone. Of course, I wasn’t exactly defenseless, but they wouldn’t know that.
His quick smile was all teeth—not vampire teeth, but razor-sharp feline teeth. He might not be a full shifter, and he might not be able to take on full feline form, but he had extraordinary control over the bits he could change. Like his teeth, and the nails that were even now elongating into claws.
But as I watched him closely, waiting for his first move, anger surged—an anger so thick and deep that it stole my breath. It was all I could do not to flow into Aedh form and rip him apart.
I took a deep, quivering breath that did little to tame the fury.
It was scary, that rage. Really, really scary.
He made a motion with his claws. “Hand that letter over right now, and we’ll leave you in peace.”
I clenched my fingers against the urge to leap for his throat, aware that the second man was getting closer.
“Sorry,” I said, barely keeping my voice even, “but I had a nice little chat with the man who ended up in the Directorate’s clutches, and I know for a fact that’s not true.”
