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“Do you think this is where Melony is?” I asked, offering it back to Denny.
He waved it away. “Might be.”
“Then, don’t you want it?” If that was where Melony had disappeared to, it should be our next destination as far as I was concerned.
“Don’t need it.” Denny gripped the wheel tightly for a moment, then turned the keys in the ignition. The truck roared to life.
“But surely it’s a clue,” I insisted. “If Melony’s there—”
“Oh, I bet she is.” Denny threw the truck into reverse and backed it out of its parking spot. “My home pack is from Vegas. I know that address well.”
“You think your home pack is… harboring her?”
“Fuck, no,” Denny scoffed. “That place isn’t the pack’s. A woman lives there. Owl shifter. Thinks she’s a witch as well.” He paused. “Maybe she is.”
“What would Melony want with an owl shifter?”
“The same thing everyone who goes to Mama Striga’s wants,” Denny grunted, “She’s looking to break a blood curse.”
Chapter15
Xander
“I’m not asking will she break one, I’m asking if she can?”
Denny was being frustratingly evasive about details on this Mama Striga character. Felicity and I had peppered him with questions on the drive to the airport until he growled and told us to drop it.
I’d only just barely made it through check-in before I started in on him again.
“Maybe she has,” Denny grunted. “She’s got enough followers; she must have donesomethingimpressive. But if you’re asking my opinion… no, I don’t think she can do jack shit.”
Felicity was in the bathroom, pumping pre-flight. Denny and I had claimed a couple of chairs in front of security. Around us, tourists lugged suitcases while haggard parents juggled their boarding passes and children.
Rylan was in my lap, trying valiantly to stick his fingers in my mouth.
“Why don’t you just tell me what you do know about her?” I suggested. “You’ll get fewer questions out of me that way, and I’ll get more answers.
Denny crossed his arms over his chest. “There’s not much to say. The woman’s a snake oil salesman. Hustler through and through. She preys on desperate people with more money than they have sense, which is saying something, because pretty often, they don’t have all that much money, either. Not that it matters to her. She’ll bleed ’em dry anyway, and when they come crying that her remedy didn’t work, she says it’s on account of them not believing hard enough.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not. Oldest trick in the book, ain’t it? If her magic”—Denny inserted a couple of finger quotes—“succeeds, it’s because of her great wisdom and immense arcane power. If it fails, it’s your own damn fault.” He scoffed. “The fact that Melony Houghton is courting Mama Striga tells me all I need to know. She’s going feral, just like her grandfather did, and she’s desperate to stop it.”
Denny seemed to share Doris’s guess about feral wolves and blood curses. I guessed I should’ve counted myself lucky that Ma’s curse was meant to end with her, and that it didn’t involve losing her humanity to her inner wolf for good.
“Do you think she has Ryder with her?” I asked, not wanting to probe much deeper into the Mama Striga business. For some reason, talking about her seemed to piss Denny off.
“I can’t say,” Denny admitted. “Sarah seemed certain that there’s only one baby, which means Melony was only planning on faking being a mother of one. Sarah certainly never saw the twins together. Doesn’t bode well.” His brow furrowed. “But if she doesn’t have him with her, she might have information on who does. It’s worth checking out. I’ve still got friends in my old pack. If I ask, they’ll check things out.” He straightened a little when Felicity emerged from the bathroom with the diaper bag. “You got everything you need?”
She lifted the diaper bag in answer. There wasn’t anything else since we’d only packed the diaper bag.
“Good. I’ve got your flight pulled up here.” Denny passed me his phone. “Put your information in and I’ll book you in. Your plane to Boston boards in a couple of hours, so you’re here with plenty of time.”
“We shouldn’t be going home,” I said a little bitterly. “We should be going to Vegas.”
Denny rolled his eyes. “Miller, even I’m not going to Vegas right now.”
“You’re not?” Felicity asked.
