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“Guess I should have brought you inside before asking you to dress,” I said.

He glanced over his shoulder, but the woman hadn’t reappeared. Unless she was peering out her window.

“This won’t take long.” He took his trousers from me. “Andthen… I’m yours insofar as seeking out crime goes. Or anything you wish really.” After tugging up his trousers, he bowed deeply. “I’m here to lend my support in any capacity.”

“Your fly is down.”

“As I said, I’m here to lend my support inanycapacity.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

I wished we could enjoy a night together—the moon knew I could use a release, and I would also be entertained by pillow talk with him afterward, I suspected.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to visit my mother?” I asked instead of inviting him inside.

“Er, that’s not the kind of support I imagined giving you. Don’t you want to go after the sword thieves? You said you have a potion, right?”

The thought of swallowing another elixir prompted me to make a sour face. If I’d dwelled on the taste longer, I might have gagged.

“I need to talk to my mother, and I was hoping you could try opening that case to see… to see if the artifact inside could help her.”

“I don’t believeIhave the power to open it.”

“I’m fairly sure the taller, furrier version of you does.”

His skeptical expression said he was less sure about that. “It might have been the poisoned sword that prompted the lid to release.”

“I don’t think so. Anyway, this will be a chance to experiment.”

“I’ll go, but you had better also bring a rattlesnake incase the bipedfuris isn’t enough.”

“Sure, we’ll stop at the pet store in Monroe along the way.”

He wiggled his fingers to dismiss my sarcasm. “I’m willing to do anything that might help your mother, but I want to remind you that I am more susceptible to the call of the control device when I’m in that form. After coming all the way back down hereon foot, I would hate to be called away again when you need me.”

“Maybe I can put a leash on you, and then you can lead me to them if they call.” I’d meant it as a joke, but as soon as the words came out, I realized Icouldfind Radomir if I could follow Duncan back when the control device summoned him.

“A leash?” He drew back in horror. “I’m not a pet poodle.”

“No, the bipedfuris might not appreciate being constrained either.” I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “What we really need is a GPS tracking collar.”

“You’re being serious.”

“Actually, yeah. I might be able to follow you if I shifted into my lupine form, but if I had a tracking device, I could stay human and bring the truck. Or even your van. My truck had a little mishap and needs repairs.”

Duncan lifted a hand to his neck, as if imagining the indignity of wearing a collar.

“They’re not that bad,” I offered. “I’ve seen them on hunting dogs. Other than the radio antenna sticking out like a black flag, they hardly look any different from normal collars.” Never mind that the collar I’d seen had been fluorescent orange.

Duncan propped his fists on his hips. “I see what you’re getting at, that you think following me back to Radomir would be a good idea—I don’t agree with that, by the way—but my dignity as a man and a wolf will not allow me to wear acollar. How ignoble.”

“Sacrifices must be made for true love.” I smiled winsomely at him. Maybe this would be the time to promise him an invitation to my bedroom if he complied, but I would prefer our first time having sex not have any strings—or bargains—attached to it. Besides, I didn’t want to manipulate him. This was just… important.

“Can you imagine how I’d feel if I led you to them, and you ended up shot? Fatally?”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.” I almost told him that I wanted to steal the device but hesitated, again worried that he would either feel compelled to warn them or that they would get the gist of his thoughts through it and learn about my plans.

“Does it involve druid concoctions again?”

“It might. We need every advantage we can get.”