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I meant it more because he could be a condescending asshole, but sure: manly and fierce. I finished my breakfast with a gulp of hot coffee and swung by Mrs Dawes again to apologise for the ham snafu. She waved me away cheerfully and said she’d add unicorn-suitable food to our shopping list. She seemed pleased to have a unicorn on the grounds; maybe she’d been yearning for a pet.
I wondered whether anyone else would have got away with snagging the ham without complaint, but I suspected there were other rules in place for the alpha. Which was handy because I was about to break some.
Chapter 30
Iskulkedintothedormitory corridor and knocked loudly on Elena’s door, but there was no response. I dug in my pocket for Greg’s wolfy-master key and slid it into the lock. It turned easily and my heart started to pound. If Elena was having a gentle snooze, she was about to get a rude awakening.
I opened the door cautiously but there wasn’t so much as a peep from inside. The room was dark and the curtains were still drawn. I slipped inside soundlessly. Elena’s bed was empty. I shut the door behind me and opened her curtains.
I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. How Jess did this snooping thing as part of her job, I’d never know because I was about to keel over from panicking about being discovered. I managed to get my heart to slow by promising it Ben & Jerry’s ice cream later.
With daylight pouring into the room, I grimaced. Archie had said Elena was messy but he’d been downplaying it – Elena was a slob. Dirty clothes were cast around the floor, and every surface was covered with stuff. I’m a tidy minimalist and this mess actually made my head hurt. I was itching to start tidying but I was here as a snoop, not a cleaner.
I stepped into her en suite, which had been hit by the same hurricane of mess. There were shampoo bottles and makeup and hairbrushes filled with clumps of hair; there was soap and flannels and towels andclutteron every surface. Nothing was tidy, let alone clean.
I gingerly opened the bathroom cabinet and found an array of things you’d expect: toothbrushes, toothpaste and face masks. Next to the facemasks was a prescription bottle. I pulled out my phone and googled the name. It was an anti-depressant and she had enough of it to make an elephant happy. I guess a wolfy metabolism makes it hard to get regular medicine. I put it back where I’d found it.
The room was in such disarray that I didn’t have the first idea where to start looking for clues. I stepped over the discarded clothes and went to the drawers, but there was nothing in them except clothes. The wardrobe had boxes and boxes stacked up in it. I sat down on a patch of clear floor and went through them. Shoes. A drool-worthy amount of shoes.
I stood up and went to close the wardrobe door and there it was: a clue. A really fucking huge one that I’d been oblivious to for the last half an hour. When I told Greg this story, I would cut that bit out.
On the inside of the wardrobe were pinned news articles, some written by Elena but most by others. They had started about two years earlier and were clearly by someone in Common. They cited an underground fighting ring. One article was about the sad death of Jackson Malloy and next to it was a picture of him. I didn’t need a genealogist to tell me that Jackson was Elena’s brother. According to the articles, he’d been killed in one of these underground fighting rings.
Big fat bingo. I took a picture of the wardrobe door and backed away. I did a cursory search of Elena’s bed but didn’t find a big silver knife marked ‘incriminating evidence’. Still, it wasn’t looking good for her. Reading between the lines, her brother had been killed at a black tourney and I’d bet my bottom dollar Mark had been involved. If that was the case, why had Elena been at the tourney last night? Had the Connection arrived and foiled her nefarious plans for revenge?
I let out a low whistle.Well, Bob’s your uncle.
I do not have an uncle named Bob,Esme said, making me snicker.
It just means ‘there you go’.
Where do we go?
The guy in this article was Elena’s brother. He got killed at a black tourney. I think Elena killed Mark to avenge her brother’s death.
And Archie?
He broke her heart.
His attacker sliced Archie’s stomach open,Esme pointed out. She was right, the attack had been brutal.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.I cut Esme off before she could butcher that one.Women with broken hearts do crazy shit,I explained.
I checked the time and swore loudly: 10.40am. I’d been engrossed in Elena’s room for far longer than I’d intended and I was late for Amber DeLea. I grimaced. Great. She wasn’t the type to forgive tardiness.
I checked over the room.
The wardrobe door was shut,Esme pointed out.A good hunter leaves no tracks.
Thanks.I shut it and closed the curtains again before I tiptoed out of the pigsty. I locked the door behind me and headed off to meet Amber in my private living room.
The February light was pouring in but the room was still decidedly frosty. Now I understood why Lord Samuel always had a blazing fire. My grate was cold and empty, and I wished for some dancing flames to fill it.
Amber DeLea was sitting on one of my sofas, with Archie and Greg on another. Her green eyes were as chilly as the room.
‘Sorry,’ I said breezily. ‘I was sleuthing.’
Her expression didn’t change. ‘My bills include travel and waiting time.’
