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“At least three.”
She glanced uneasily at her boss. “I didn’t realize the situation was so dire.”
“Your job is at the nightclub,” Kane reminded her. “You’re not responsible for what happens outside these four walls.”
“Neither is she,” Josie pointed out.
Kane pulled out a chair and motioned for me to sit. Gallant as ever. The immature part of me wanted to sit elsewhere, but I wanted his help, so I played nice.
We sat around a table wearing matching grim expressions.
Kane slotted his fingers together and rested them on the table. “The team is assembled. Tell us what you know.”
His tone ruffled my feathers. Then again, the fact that he was breathing ruffled my feathers right now. “I’m the one gathering intelligence.”
Josephine grunted. “Intelligence. More like incompetence.”
“Says the vampire who was nowhere to be found during the recent nightclub brawl,” I snapped. “When you’re in charge of a life-threatening situation that impacts an entire town, then feel free to talk to me about incompetence.”
The vampire glowered at me from beneath a set of thick, dark eyebrows that matched her luxurious hair. “And why is that?”
“Why is what?”
“Why is it that a relative newcomer to town has assumed control of this life-threatening situation?”
“You mean what’s in it for me?”
Josephine angled her head toward Kane. “He pays me to act as his director of security. Who’s paying you to act as defender of the realm?”
Kane patted her hand. “I appreciate the comparison, Josephine, but we both know you’d work for nothing if the situation required it.”
Josie snatched her hand out from under his. “Okay, but she doesn’t know that.”
I smirked. I would’ve guessed as much anyway. Josephine appeared blindly devoted to the prince of hell, although Ididn’t sense any romantic feelings between them. It was more of a big brother and bratty younger sister vibe.
“I work for nothing,” Dantalion interrupted. “But now that I know you pay Josephine, I might need to remedy that.”
“Your money’s no good in hell,” Kane said.
“Yes, but I’m here right now.”
“Can you settle your labor dispute later?” I interrupted. I was here for more pressing reasons. “There are dangerous creatures roaming the streets of Fairhaven. This impacts all of us, no matter how long we’ve lived here.”
Josephine leaned back against her chair and assessed me. “How do we know your theory is right? Maybe it’s a rash of bad luck for people. Crime waves aren’t unheard of, especially close to the holidays.”
“A lion, a wolf, and a wild boar…” I began.
“Walk into a bar?” Dantalion interjected, chuckling to himself. “Well, the wild boar did.”
Oh, boy. I was beginning to regret my decision to come here, for multiple reasons.
“Where’s the closest zoo?” Josephine asked. “Has anybody checked with them about missing animals? It’s possible they kept it out of the news on purpose.”
“These aren’t zoo animals,” I said firmly. They didn’t behave like regular animals in any sense of the word, and most zoo animals didn’t have supernatural abilities. The number was low, of course, but never zero. “Phaedra Bridger thinks the she-wolf is the spirit of the Roman goddess of envy.”
“Why envy?” Kane asked.
“She has an evil eye.”
