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Chapter Seven
Skylar
Ten minutes into our drive, I was struggling to turn off my abilities. Most shifters couldn’t do what I did. As far as I knew, my gift of sensing magic was a strange result of my mixed blood. Usually, I had great control of myself and could turn it off. For some reason, being around Elias was like keeping that part of me plugged in and powered up to full blast.
I wasn’t a fan.
Especially not when the silent, broody male in the driver’s seat was emitting a pulse of magic darker than anything I’d ever experienced. And I’ve taken down a lot of dark magic users.
Most of the time I encountered anything resembling what I was feeling from Elias it was self-inflicted. Mages using forbidden magic or vampires who dabbled in things they shouldn’t. There was always an artificial flavor to their magic. That didn’t exist with Elias. Whatever his magic was (I hadn’t forgotten that he exploded a vampire) it was all him and it was intense. And not likely in a good way.
He was commanding and cocky and sexy as hell, but I knew he was bad news. Once this thing was locked down and we had Lola’s killer, I needed to make sure I didn’t cross paths with him again.
Elias turned down a side street and headed toward the docks. I winced involuntarily. Why does all the creepy shit have to go down in cliche places like docks anyway?
“You might want to go solo on this,” he said.
I turned and looked at him, surprised that this was what he broke his silence with. “You afraid?” It was a joke, of course. I doubted he was afraid of anything.
“I think you might have better results than an enforcer showing up. You’re Lola’s friend. You have emotional ties to this. Shifters respond to emotions.”
I was sure there was an insult in there somewhere given that I was half-shifter but I let it go. He was right, out of the two of us, I had a better shot at getting the pack to talk.
The High Moon Pack is notorious for a lot of reasons; very few of them good ones.
They’re by far the biggest, most well-known pack in Harbor Crossing and I’m pretty sure their influence covers most of the east coast. I’ve had my share of run ins with members of the pack over the years, but most of the time it was when I’d find someone hunting the same mark I was.
They weren’t guilty, though, and their hunts were personal vendettas rather than legal bounties. Twice, I’d had shifters back down and go home after finding out I was on the case. That was a hell of a compliment. It gave me hope that my reputation was going to work in my favor while trying to find Lola’s family.
The car came to a stop in front of a bar.The Wet Dogwasn’t a place I’d ever been, but it was famous. The private club was the home base for the pack and since it was private, it wasn’t frequently visited by outsiders.
I grew up hearing rumors of what went on in here, but I never thought I’d ever see the inside. Being half wolf, I wasn’t exactly welcome in any pack. Stepping foot in here was asking for trouble for no reason.
Unfortunately for me, I now had a reason and it came with bad news. I hoped they weren’t thekill the messengertype of pack.
“You need an invitation?” Elias asked. “I thought this was what you did for a living.”
I bared my teeth at him. “Don’t push me. I can handle myself just fine but forgive me if I take a moment to gather my thoughts before going into the lion’s den to tell them one of their own was killed.”
“Lion’s den?” He chuckled. “More like dog park.”
“You want to go in there instead?” I asked. “Be my guest.”
“You just said you can handle it,” he said. “What is it? Do you need back up or can you do this?”
I opened the car door. I’d rather take my chances with the wolves than sit there for another minute. My instincts were telling me that Elias was dangerous, but he was also infuriating. “Feel free to go for a walk while I’m away. Maybe a long one.”
“Maybe I will,” he said.
I slammed the door and crossed the parking lot toward the bar. I was surprised Elias wasn’t following me after all the warnings from Cain, but I was grateful for the ability to do this solo. I didn’t work well with others. Besides, this was my business. While Elias could have cleared my name with a single sentence, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t be on this path anyway.
Lola was my only real friend if I’m being honest. We met in a yoga class when I was eighteen. My dad had just died and I was stuck living in a shit hole and taking bounties myself for the first time. And let me tell you, when you’re new to the guild, you get the shit marks with the graduated pay scale, less than base. It’s tough to pay the bills like that. Lola noticed that I started missing classes and covered a new punch card for me without asking.
I felt awful that she had to do that for me, but she taught me that friends help each other. Eventually, we got a place together. That was six years ago.
My throat was tight again and I blew out a shaky breath. I had to get my head clear before I stepped into this place. I needed to be strong, focused. I couldn’t let the grief cloud my judgement or dull my senses. It was possible I was making the biggest mistake of my life by walking through that door. But I owed it to Lola.
Shoulders back, chin high, I walked into the bar like I fucking belonged there.
