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I smiled. “Aside from the fact you’re my cousin—”
“Which doesn’t mean squat, because Belle isn’t related to either of us.”
“We grew up with you. It’s almost the same thing.”
“Hardly. And growing up together should count for rather than against me. She knows exactly what she’s getting—”
He stopped as a balled-up piece of paper hit the back of his head and bounced away. He glanced down and then around and blew Belle a kiss. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, her expression one of tolerant amusement.
I smiled but refrained from saying anything. Not that it really mattered, given Belle was well aware of my thoughts—and gave me a narrow-eyed warning glare to prove it.
I took a sip of my tea. “So, the Manananggal—Monty and I came up with a couple of ideas on how we might catch this thing.”
“I’m guessing the first suggestion is to stake out wedding venues for the next couple of days,” Aiden said.
“Good guess,” Monty said.
Aiden gave him a deadpan look. “I do do this whole investigating thing for a living.”
Monty chuckled and thanked Penny as she appeared with his breakfast. “How many weddings are we talking about?”
“Only three—one tonight, two tomorrow.”
“I think she’s more likely to attack toni
ght,” I said. “That quake would have taken a lot of energy—she’d have to replenish her reserves sooner rather than later.”
“Unless she did so last night,” Monty said. “She may prefer her victims newly married, but that doesn’t mean she can’t feed on anyone else. And the reservation does have a lot of remote properties.”
“There’s been no reports of missing or murdered persons as yet,” Aiden said.
“If she went remote, would there be?” Monty asked.
“There’s nowhere truly remote in a werewolf reservation,” Aiden said. “The scent of blood and death can carry quite a way.”
“Well, if she didn’t feed last night, she’ll have to tonight.” I reached across the table and stole a bit of bacon from Monty’s plate. He chased my fingers with his fork, his expression one of mock outrage. “How are we going to trap her if we can’t use magic?”
Aiden frowned. “Why can’t you use magic?”
“We suspect that’s how she knew we were tracking her—she felt Liz’s spell entwining around her blood.”
“Which leaves attending the weddings to keep an eye on things as our only real option—especially given the Manananggal has to be tracking her victims via some sort of spell—”
“Why?” Aiden cut in. “The first victim was attacked when he was alone at the reception.”
“Which could have been just an unfortunate matter of timing on his part,” Monty said. “He’d been going to check something in the car, remember. Maybe our ghoul was in the process of casting her tracker spell when he made his appearance.”
Aiden frowned. “Why would she be placing spells on vehicles when she can separate and fly?”
“I’m guessing because she has to keep her lower body safe when she’s separated—as evidenced by that damn clearing where Liz found the blood.”
“If that’s the case,” Aiden said. “Then we simply have to watch the cars and grab her before she places the spell.”
“It might be better to let her place the spell,” I said. “Monty and I can then exchange places with the intended victims and bring this bitch down where there’s less possibility of innocent bystanders getting hurt.”
“Good idea except for one thing—she’s magic capable,” Monty said. “It’s possible she’ll sense our presence.”
“How close would she have to get to do that?” Aiden asked.
