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“The conspiracy theorist?”
I smiled. “She’s not just a conspiracy theorist.” She was an aeromancer and led the OMB’s technology squad. “She’s also into cryptids.”
Connor’s gaze went flat.
“She’s very good with research,” I added. “And Theo and Yuen are there, too. Maybe someone has an idea.”
Connor sighed. “Send away.”
I did, sending the photos to Petra and Theo and giving them both an update about Loren, Cash’s reaction, and the search, and I asked Petra to check out the pictures and let us know if she found anything interesting. Then I put the screen away again, looked up.
At his face, obviously.
He glanced at the sky. “Let’s get back to the cascades, see what everyone else found.” He grinned at me. “Assuming we can make it back by dawn.”
“If that’s a dig at my speed, you have four legs, and I only have two.”
“At least you acknowledge that’s a weakness, vamp.”
“You wanna test me?”
“At the moment, I can think of many more things I’d rather do to you, Elisa.”
My heart quickened at the knowing look in his eyes. The wolfishness. “I think at the moment we’d better concentrate on the search.” But I put a hand against his bare chest, felt his heart pulse beneath my fingers. Want and need rose up so quickly, they nearly swamped me.
Connor smiled, and there was nothing pleasant in it. Just the harsh acknowledgment of the need. “Maybe I better shift again.”
“I think I can control myself,” I said, but it took another five seconds before I put my hand down again.
“There you go,” he said with a smile, then took that hand and stepped back onto the path. “You know, when we get back to the cascades, you’ll need to help me out—I’m not entirely sure where my clothes are, and mine won’t be the only ones out there.”
“I can point you in their general direction.”
“Good enough,” he said.
We walked side by side, vampire and naked shifter, back to the waterfall.
***
We returned to find the waterfalls nearly empty, only a few piles of clothing scattered here and there. The shifters who’d finished their searches had apparently dressed again and left.
“I guess Cash wasn’t in a hurry to discuss the evidence,” I said when Connor had dressed again. “Maybe he went with Everett to the funeral home?”
Connor surveyed the area, his expression going grim. “He should at least be out here managing the investigation. Waiting for everyone to report in. If a member of my clan was murdered, I’d be out there searching right along with them.”
“Cash isn’t you,” I said. “Maybe he didn’t like Loren. That would explain the indifference.”
“Yeah,” Connor said. “It would. But we’ve got a dinner date at Georgia’s. If we don’t tell him what we found until tomorrow, that’s his loss.”
“Because we’re going to keep looking,” I guessed. “And we’re more reliable.”
His smile was warm. “I like that I never have to explain things to you twice.”
***
Rain, soft and misty, had begun to fall when Connor pulled the bike in front of the cabin. I was glad I’d taken a photo of the tracks; there’d probably be nothing left of them by tomorrow.
I walked around the building, scanning for any trace of that same broken magic. And found nothing.
