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Since my truck was in the shop for repairs—repairs that had been required after enemies rammed it, hoping to send it hurtling down a mountainside—Duncan gave me a ride back to Sylvan Serenity.

As we drove in, I braced myself for an unfamiliar Lexus or BMW on the premises, the type of car driven by those with the means to make an offer on an apartment complex with more than two hundred units spread across several acres in a prime Seattle suburb.

But the hulking SUV parked next to Bolin’s Mercedes G-Wagon was familiar, and, if Jasmine’s research had been correct, cost a lot more than a run-of-the-mill luxury car.

And why wouldn’t it? With its military-upgrade package, it was not only armored but had night vision, EMP protection, and electrified door handles.

I hadn’t seen those in action, but I’d felt the impact—the literal impact—of its heavy-duty ram bumper.

“What the hell is that thing doing here?” I demanded from the passenger seat of Duncan’s van, my knees up to my chin since his equipment occupied the foot space.

Even though he’d only worked for Radomir and Abrams against his wishes, compelled by their magical control device, I couldn’t keep from casting him an accusing look.

Duncan shook his head with puzzlement. “I don’t know.”

“If they came to rob me, they’re too late. Some other thugs already handled that.”

“You do still have the wolf case.” Duncan parked in a different lane and turned off the engine. “They were never interested in the sword. They’ve only been collecting artifacts related to werewolves.”

“I know all about their collection.”

“They may have sent some of their potion-enhanced brutes to try to get the case from you,” Duncan said, looking toward the SUV, “but I’m surprised they would do so during the day. They haven’t yet been that open with their attacks.”

I grumbled and jumped out, the urge to kick some asses creeping into me. More than that, the urge to turn wolf crept into me. Heat flushed my skin, and magic pricked all along my nerves.

Hand on the door, I took a deep breath to steady myself and willed the change to back off.

This wasn’t the time or place. A thought that became more true when I spotted Bolin and his parents—the owners of Sylvan Serenity and my employers—walking out of the leasing office.

The last thing I needed was for them to see me change into a wolf in their parking lot.

But when two older men walked out behind them, the magic flared within me again.

Radomir, his wispy hair appearing even thinner and paler in daylight, and the seventy-something Abrams, wearing a rumpled business suit that looked like it had been stored in a Mason jar.

Maybe his medical scrubs and rubber gloves hadn’t been deemed appropriate for this setting.

I shook my head. I hadn’t seen them together since Duncan and I had broken into their lair at the lavender farm and potion factory in Arlington.

Their brazenness in coming here openly galled me.

Didn’t they know they were villains ? Villains were supposed to skulk about in the night, not stroll through an apartment complex in the middle of the day.

Fingers flexing, I stalked toward the sidewalk that bordered the parking lot. What I would say to them, I didn’t know, but if I could get them away from the Sylvans and other witnesses, punching would be involved. Maybe clawing and biting—whether I changed or not.

Bolin noticed me and lifted a tentative hand, mouthing something as he tilted his head backward, toward the two older men. I squinted, not sure what that word had been. He mouthed it again.

“ Buyers .”

I halted and gawked.

Radomir also noticed me, and he smiled, a smug knowing smile.

A door thumped, Duncan getting out of his van.

He looked back and forth from Abrams and Radomir to me, his gaze lingering on me.

He could probably sense how close I was to changing.

He pointed his chin toward something in the street.

A parked police car with two patrol officers in it.

I’d almost forgotten it was there. The police had been keeping an eye on the place because of the increased crime of late.

That meant I couldn’t get away with punching, biting, or anything else deemed illegal, not today.

“Ah, there’s our star property manager.” Rory Sylvan lifted a hand toward me. “She keeps costs low by handling numerous duties herself and has been integral in this complex’s success over the years.”

Normally, the accolade would have delighted me, but it was all I could do to keep from snarling as I walked stiffly toward the group.

Kashvi Sylvan, always the supreme professional businesswoman, didn’t smile and wasn’t as warm, but she did nod in my direction and say, “Ms. Valens had been a boon and doubtless knows the buildings backward and forward. Should you wish to keep her on, I believe she desires to stay.”

Radomir and Abrams regarded me, Abrams squinting as if I were a strange bug to examine under a magnifying glass. Radomir… still looked smug.

“Thank you,” I managed to murmur to the Sylvans.

“We’ll do a background check on her and consider it,” Radomir said grandly.

I barely kept from gagging. As if I would work for them, even if their offer was legitimate.

No. I rocked back. There was no way their offer was legitimate. They ran a huge potion business. None of the addresses that Jasmine’s dad had looked up were multifamily investments. They had farms and warehouses and weird little mushroom grow labs in rustic cabins in the foothills of the Cascades.

“These are the buyers?” I asked Bolin and looked around, half-expecting to have reached the wrong assumption. Maybe they’d come posing as buyers, because it was open-house day or some such, and someone else had put in the offer that Bolin had mentioned.

Bolin shrugged. “Yes.”

“We like what we see and plan to make an offer.” Radomir nodded to the Sylvans.

My roving gaze—my confused gaze—landed on Duncan.

He had stopped near the SUVs and stood with his arms folded over his chest as he watched the group and listened.

His gaze lingered on Abrams, the man who’d raised him in a time long ago and a place far away.

The man who’d made him, taking genetic material from a centuries-dead werewolf who’d been buried under a glacier.

Duncan knew Abrams far better than I did, but I didn’t need to consult with him to know the scientist had zero interest in becoming a landlord.

“We’ll certainly consider it,” Kashvi said. “Is there anything else you’d like to see before you go?”

“Perhaps a couple of the units if you have any vacancies?” Radomir pointed in the direction of my building.

Because he hoped for a tour of my apartment? And a chance to snoop and see if the wolf case was in there?

Unfortunately, it was. Radomir was, as far as I’d been able to tell, a mundane human being, but he wore rings that emanated power, and I suspected one might let him sense magic—and magical artifacts—if he drew near them.

“I emptied out D-21 and will be getting it ready for a new tenant soon.” I pointed toward the farthest building back, one nowhere near mine.

My alchemist associate, Rue, lived a few units from the vacant apartment, and I silently apologized to her for sending these jerks in her direction.

But maybe she would sense their evilness and toss some poisonous potions at them.

Oh, and hadn’t she mentioned a concoction that could cause genital warts?

Would it be wrong of me to text and ask her to prepare a couple of doses of that?

“This way.” Rory waved for the two men to follow him. “Those units are nice. They have a view of the grounds and trees. I did the original renovations on them back in the eighties.”

Though I was positive Radomir and Abrams had no interest in views of the grounds, they followed Rory without objection. Kashvi received a phone call and walked off to answer it privately. I took the opportunity to pounce on Bolin.

“Those aren’t really the buyers, are they?” I whispered since his mother remained in the area.

“Yes, they’re the ones who plan to put in an offer. You recognized them?”

“Faster than you would a word with Greek roots at a spelling bee.”

“I’d object to that, since that’s not even a challenge, but you did seem instantly perturbed when you saw them.”

“ Instantly. ”

Bolin was lucky I hadn’t changed into a wolf in the parking lot. We all were. Though… it might have been worth it to get the Radomir-and-Abrams problem out of my life. But, no. If I ended up in jail for murder, that would be a whole new problem.

“They’re evil overlords,” I added. “You might even have seen Radomir up at that vacation cabin. He was in the tank SUV. That tank SUV.” I thrust my arm toward it.

“I came out of the cabin after the fight out front was over. There weren’t any cars there then. Or tanks. Just a wolf and… a hulking two -legged werewolf.” Bolin looked at me, as if I were the problem here today.

“Yes, a bipedfuris.” I glanced toward Duncan. “That’s not important. That we had to fight Radomir and his thugs because he kidnapped my son is. They’re bad guys . They don’t want to buy an apartment complex. Trust me.”

“You don’t think the nefariously inclined invest in multifamily properties?”

“ No .”

Bolin pointed to the armored tank-SUV. “How else would they afford a Rezvani?”

“Leave it to you to be able to recognize a ridiculously priced car.”

“The name is on the front grill.”

“I’ll bet you knew what it was before it rolled in.”

“Maybe. I am a guy.” Bolin flattened his hand on his chest as if that explained why he knew about expensive vehicles.

“You play classical music on your violin, compete in spelling bees, and have 3D-printed dragons.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Hobbies that don’t negate my maleness .”

I sighed. “Okay, sorry. You’re right. That was low, but I’m frustrated. Not only are they not legitimate buyers, but they’re dangerous.”