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Evelyn clanked her wine glass against Tovi’s. “I’d much prefer that. For now, I want to enjoy this lovely bottle of wine with my friend whom I’ve truly missed.”

“I missed you, too, Evelyn.”

The two friends smiled at each other, and as Tovi had promised, they didn’t discuss Evelyn’s returned flame again or what she planned to do now that it was back. They laughed and reminisced about old times. Tovi complained about her awful brother, and Evelyn mentioned her time with the McCarthy family.

A sense of good flushed through Evelyn. Talking with someone she trusted in a place she called her own, not looking over her shoulder and not worried about what came next, present in the moment only—she marveled at the simplicity of it all, enjoyed the experience for what it was.

Later, she’d figure out what to do.

Long after Tovi had left for the night, as Evelyn slept, howling screams blew through the town of Callum, like an omen on the salty wind.

Chapter Nineteen

Kade

As rain drizzled steadily the next morning, Kade helped Miss Patricia with bread loaves. They folded dough as the Runaway Radish’s guests trickled downstairs for breakfast. A gust from outside swept through the inn, and Commissioner Doyle strode straight through the Runaway Radish’s open door, his eyes downcast and gait determined. Bad news came with the spilling rain, like Callum knew something wicked had happened and wept. The news he shared rocked Kade, and he wasted no time seeking out Evelyn.

Readied in his traveling leathers, but with flour still fresh on his fingers, rain dripping down his cloak, and his inner wolf wary from the cold, he knocked twice on Evelyn’s door. She swung it open after a beat, the hearth glowing behind her.

Her silvery eyes grew wide with shock. “Cyrus, what—”

He stepped past her and into the apartment, not thinking twice about it. “There’s been another murder.”

Evelyn shut the door behind her, muffling the sound of Callum’s rain. Kade’s werewolf hearing caught her heart beating wildly in her chest.

“Who was it?” she asked, crossing her arms.

The studio was quaint, a small kitchenette to the left, a single bed with ruffled sheets, and a kitchen table with four mismatched chairs. The exposed brick and the crackling fire gave it a cozy ambiance. The scents of coffee and breakfast lingered in the air.

“Fiona Kerry. A merchant’s daughter two towns over. Her mother found her at Lake Glenn, an hour’s ride from here.” He looked out the north window into the adjacent alleyway below, overrun with rainwater.

Another young woman. Another murder. Another death. His gut twisted.

“Goddess,” Evelyn breathed, and if it weren’t for his wolf hearing, he would’ve missed it.

Kade pinched the bridge of his nose. Everything they’d learned from the castle ruins seemed futile now. It wasn’t a single murder; it was two.

Evelyn paced behind him, the floorboards creaking under her weight. “How was she killed?”

“I’m not sure. Charles said they moved the body before he got there.”

“They moved evidence. Fucking flames.”

“I know,” he said, still facing the window. “We should head to the Kerry estate to see the body.”

“We’ll have to be sure she won’t turn,” Evelyn said. “And find signs if it’s more than one vampyr or not.”

“I had the same thought.”

Kade turned as Evelyn gulped down her coffee. Then his wolf howled. His blood ran hot. His breathing became shallow, and he sucked in a painful breath as his lips parted. He’d desired women before. In a crowded tavern where heated gazes met, wanting one thing and one thing only. During celebrations after much dancing around a bonfire, when sweat and anticipation led to tangled limbs and release.

But nothing, no one, had ever elicited this primal, all-consuming, maddening want.

“You’re not wearing any pants,” he finally said.

Black wool socks reached Evelyn’s knees while an oversized tunic barely met her upper thighs, exposing her strong, slender legs. The sight of her like that awakened wicked thoughts. What would it be like to run his hands down her soft skin and hike a single leg around his waist?

Moons.