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He smiled, looking pleased by the adventure he’d had. It had been, I supposed, a much more lucrative treasure hunt than many he went on.

“You were able to grasp that you needed SCUBA gear as the bipedfuris?”

“Yes, the bipedfuris is bright.” His smile turned a touch smug. Proud of his furry form, was he?

“Did youusethat gear as the bipedfuris?” I gaped at the thought of a big werewolf swimming around with goggles, a mouthpiece, and a tank on its back.

“Alas, no. I had to change into my usual self. The water wasfreezingwithout fur to keep me warm.”

“It is winter.”

“Quite.”

“And you found the medallion out there? All this time, it’s been at the bottom of a recreational lake surrounded by vacation homes?”

“Well, if your archivist was right about the timeline, this was probably all wilderness back then.” He shrugged.

“It’s amazing that you were able to resist the control device and detour here.”

“It wasn’t much of a detour, and finding this is what Radomir wanted me to do.” Duncan ticked the medallion. “Also, he was staying in that cabin at one point, so I’ve been in the area before.”

“That cabin?” I pointed my thumb back toward the road. “The one Oakley won a stay in?”

“If I’d known the address, I could have told you that was a ruse from the beginning. Radomir rented it for the winter. I don’t know how he—or more likely Abrams—got the information, but heknewthe medallion was somewhere up in this area. I’m sure he didn’t know it was that close.”

“You said before you didn’t know where he was staying.” I texted Austin right then and told him to make sure to pack up and leave extra early. I doubted Radomir would return that night and risk running into Duncan again, but if I’d knownhehad been staying there at one point…

“Oh, I didn’t when you asked. He’s been bouncing around from place to place. He’d cleared out of that cabin and was in a hotel the last time he’d summoned me.” Duncan shrugged. “Like I said, he was worried you and your pack would retaliate if you found him.”

“Oh, I would have.” I remembered chomping down on the control device in my wolf form. Even though it had been satisfying, I wish I’d also gotten to chomp down on Radomir. At least the device was gone. So far, Duncan didn’t seem to be suffering any ill effects, but, when I’d turned back into my human self, I’d worried I’d made a mistake. All along, I’d only wanted tostealit.

Duncan put the van in gear and took us back out to the main road. “I’m afraid I didn’t sense your sword when I was near Radomir’s armored SUV.”

“Did you expect to? It wasn’t his thugs who robbed me.”

“No, but I’d wondered if there might be a connection between Radomir and the vandals who’ve been terrorizing you and your apartment complex. It may be, however, that these covens of evil are harassing you independently of each other.”

“It would be a shame if onlyonesuch organization was making my life difficult.”

Duncan nodded, his expression pensive as he gazed through the windshield. He might have won a victory by finding the medallion, but he must still lament that the sword had been stolen.

Even though he hadn’t spoken a word of blame, I couldn’t helpbut feel chagrined that I had allowed that to happen. As valuable as the magical blade was, I should have hidden it when I wasn’t practicing with it. It wouldn’t have fit in the heat duct under the bed alongside the case, but I could have stashed itsomewhere.

“All this means,” Duncan said, “is that we’ll have to deal with them independently.”

“You’ll stick around to help?”

“Certainly,my lady. Especially now.” He ticked the medallion again. “I acknowledge that this rightfully belongs to your pack and isn’t mine to wear, but since it helped me fight off the magic of the control device, I hope your family will allow me to borrow it until we can deal with your problems. Radomir has many more magical artifacts at his disposal, and it would be useful to have.”

“My family doesn’t even know you have it. You can borrow it for…” I almost saidas long as you want, but my mother hoped to see it returned to the pack before she died. “For a while, I’m sure. You found it, after all. My pack wouldn’t have any clue it was still around if not for you.”

“Ididfind it, and I quite enjoyed the challenge of doing so, but your family is known to keep tabs on you—and me, being rather enjoyably in your proximity so often. I shouldn’t wish for them to spot me with it around my neck and assume I intend to keep it. Even if the most belligerent werewolves are gone, the others might join forces to forcibly remove it from my person.”

“We could pelt them with salamis if they try.”

“I don’t know if they’ll be as food motivated as an eight-year-old boy,” he said.

“You saw him take it, huh?”