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Chapter Five

AYO

Who would have killed Bessie, Zoe, and Frida? I keep coming back to that same question. Ethan is right that they had very little in common.

“Were they friends?” Jet asks.

Ethan shakes his head. “Not according to their families. Only in a ‘say hello in passing’ sense.”

“Jobs?” Raj suggests.

Kit answers before I can. “Bessie worked in the manor kitchens. Zoe ran a café in the village. Frida had a little charms shop in… Hang on, I have the address somewhere.”

“Riverside. Her shop was in Riverside.” I clear the lump from my throat.

“Frida told me once that placing her shop in the neutral zone meant she could sell the more harmless charms to humans and the stronger ones to supes, since most coven members either had no need of charms or bought directly from her when they did.”

Raj gets up and adds their occupations to the bios on the whiteboard.

Skye frowns, the move pulling at his scar. “So Frida wasn’t left near her shop. Could that be significant?”

Ethan rubs his beard. “Say for argument’s sake that she sold a bad charm to a supe… I see no possible connection to a cook or a café owner.”

“What if it’s not about them personally?” We all turn our attention to Cal. I don’t know how old he is, only that he’s a vampire, but most vamps have seen a lot more of life than the rest of us, which makes them worth listening to. “What if this is an attack on the coven itself?”

I’ve changed my mind. I wish I hadn’t heard that.

Except what he’s saying is a real possibility, and everyone’s eyes are now on me. I take a sip of my tea to give myself a minute to think.

“You’re saying the coven might have an enemy.” My voice comes out impressively steady.

“Do they?” There’s a challenge in Ethan’s gaze.

Even after this morning when he held me until I calmed down, I can tell my wolf boss still doesn’t trust me.

Not that I blame him, but wow, I haven’t felt that safe and protected since I was ten.

It made me more determined than ever to be as helpful as possible to the team.

I blow out a breath. “I wish I knew. Remember, I was only an admin, not one of the task force. I can tell you that Nyoka and Lola have dinner with the fae ambassador every Sunday evening, but since this wasn’t a fae, I’m not sure that helps.”

“Lola?” Skye’s subtle Scottish accent is more pronounced as he says the name.

“Nyoka’s wife and the coven lawyer.” The less said about Lola, the better.

Ethan leans back in his chair and studies me. “All the people I’ve met while I’ve been with you like you, no matter their species. What about the other members of the coven? We were under the impression that Birchester is extremely segregated. Are you the exception or the rule?”

I grimace. “The coven are incredibly anti-shifter. They’re not all that fond of any other species, actually. Some of it is subtle, but the bias is even woven into our children’s stories. We grow up with a lot of anti-shifter teachings in particular.”

They all exchange glances at that little revelation.

Cal tilts his head. “How strange.”

“Have you come across any covens like this before?” Raj asks him.

Cal quirks a single eyebrow. “No.”

“What caused the anti-shifter sentiment originally?” Skye asks me.

“Uh…” I try to find something useful to say. “I honestly don’t know. I think it dates back over a hundred years.”

Kit is the one to ask the obvious question. “Why are you different?”

Ah, this one I can answer. “My mum was a massive believer in equality. She didn’t want me to grow up with the bigotry the others have, so when she became coven leader, she created an exchange programme.

It didn’t really take off, but it’s how I met my best friend, who’s a member of the Connor Pack.

She also took me with her as often as she could to meetings and negotiations and stuff, so I could play with shifter kids who were hanging around.

Since vamps don’t have kids, I gained a couple of honorary aunts and uncles from the visits.

The only exception was the fae. I wasn’t allowed to go to those meetings.

Oh, and I got to play with a dragon shifter child once, although his parents wouldn’t let him be friends with me afterwards. ”

Cal’s lips twitch. “That’s not surprising. Dragons are notorious snobs.”

I’m extremely aware of how carefully Ethan is scrutinising me. It’s not like any of this stuff is a secret, though. It’s just a little tough to talk about because it’s a reminder of my mum and how unique a coven leader she was.

Jet nudges me. “Your mum sounds awesome.”

I manage a slight smile. “She was.”

Ethan clears his throat. “So the coven are anti-shifter as a group. That does lend weight to the theory that these murders are targeting the coven in general, rather than these victims in particular.”

“Who dislikes the coven the most, though?” Raj looks at me. “Is that something you’d even know?”

I scrunch up my nose. “Not really. But I do know the task force aren’t especially liked.”

Kit stops typing. I think they’re taking minutes of the meeting. “Police are often unpopular, no matter the species.”

I resist the urge to fidget with my focus and instead run my finger over the wolf pattern on my mug as the conversation continues around me.

I know most other species in the city don’t like my people, and maybe it is because of the task force, but what if these guys win the BSG contract and become even less well-liked?

They’re already regarded with suspicion because they’re outsiders, and they’re all incredibly nice to me. Even Ethan, who doesn’t trust me, bought me a coffee and hugged me until I felt better. I’ve never been so grateful for wolf shifters being touchy-feely types.

“Ayo?”

I jerk myself out of a daydream about Ethan holding me in his arms to find everyone staring at me. “Yep? Sorry. What’s up?”

“Are any of the victims related to members of the task force?” Raj asks.

Kit seems to know everything about everything, but maybe they didn’t get that far in their background checks yet.

“Uh…” I give myself a mental shake and think through every member of the task force. “Zoe’s boyfriend’s cousin used to be married to the sister of one of the members of the task force.”

“Nothing else?” Ethan asks. I shake my head.

“Then I think we can rule out direct links. These women might have been targeted simply because of their low power level and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing is off the table, but for now, our working theory is that the murderer is an enemy of the coven.”

“Ayo!”

“Here he is!”

My former co-workers envelop me in a group hug as soon as I reach them in the busy bar. “Sorry I’m late, guys.”

They wave that off immediately. Sally, the admin who worked at the desk right next to me, links her arm through mine. “So, how’s the new job? I can’t believe you only had to work half your notice period. I thought I had you for a full month!”

“Yeah, that was the plan, but they asked me to start straight away, and I got permission to finish up sooner than planned, so…” I end with a shrug. I can’t tell them anything about my new job without talking about Bessie, Zoe, and Frida, and I don’t want to bring the mood down.

They all insisted on giving me a leaving do, even after we heard about Frida being killed.

I can already tell the mood is more sombre than it would be otherwise, and there’s been a lot of messaging on the group chat about how everyone is getting home so no one is by themselves at any point, but hopefully we can still have a fun night.

Irving joins us from the bar and hands me a drink. “Vodka and Coke, right?”

“Yeah, thanks. I’ll buy your next one.” I’m surprised he remembered. I haven’t been to a pub or bar with Irving in ages.

He grins down at me. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Unless the new job pays a bazillion times better than the coven, in which case drinks are on you,” Vinnie yells over the noise.

“Everyone pays better than the coven,” Lucy points out, which gets groans of agreement.

While that is true, I shouldn’t really be spending money tonight. I’ve got just over a week to find a new place to live and don’t stand a chance of having a deposit and the first month’s rent to put down in advance. I don’t even get paid by Soldati Security until the end of the month.

Even so, I decided that for one night, money and my living situation would be Future Ayo’s problem.

The conversation moves on to general chatter about the office, gossip about other members of the coven, and speculation on whether Lola will get pregnant soon now that her sister has had a baby.

I manage to relax as the night wears on, and after several hours and several drinks, we move down the street to Love Bites, a club that’s known for being run by a vampire.

Most of my colleagues might not like shifters, but even they prefer to party around supes rather than humans.

We all head for the dance floor as soon as we get inside. Normally I love dancing, and I try to get into it, but now that I don’t have the distraction of conversation, my mind keeps drifting back to the bloodstained back alley and Frida’s lifeless body under the sheet in the mortuary.

I’ve genuinely enjoyed my first week with Soldati Security, but being so close to a murder investigation is intense.

Irving seems to notice I’m not quite myself, because he grabs my hand and tugs me into him, putting his hands on my hips and moving us together.

I laugh and turn so I can dance with my back to him.

Irving knows how much I love to dance, and I don’t get to do it that often.

Now that I’ve got a person to dance with? It’s a really effective distraction.

A couple of hours later, even I need a breather. Sally and Lucy join the queue for the loos, Vinnie is busy snogging a random girl, and the others head for the bar.

“Fancy some fresh air?” Irving leans down to speak into my ear so I can actually hear him.