Page 15 of Kin of the Wolf (Magnetic Magic #3)

15

It was dawn by the time I pulled into the parking lot at Sylvan Serenity. Gigantic yawns kept making my eyes water, but I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stumble into bed or pull multiple shots of liquid caffeine from my espresso maker. Since it was Monday and a regular workday, the tenants would need me. Too bad I’d gotten home so late—so early.

After the fight, I’d waited two hours in my truck, expecting Duncan to return, but he never did. That had left me worried for him—and glad I’d been the one to drive up to Mom’s house. I hoped he could find his own way home.

Home? I snorted as I got out of the truck. This was my home, not his. What he considered the parking lot where he’d parked his van, I didn’t know. The equivalent of a hotel, I supposed.

His words about having been lonely growing up came to mind. Maybe more than growing up. With all his traveling, he probably had acquaintances all over the world, but had he ever had a home?

As I headed along the walkway toward my apartment, I smiled in some bemusement at the complex. Strange that it was more of a home to me than anyplace else, but after twenty years and raising my boys here, it probably wasn’t surprising.

I stutter-stepped when I remembered the Sylvans’ visit. And the possibility that they might sell the property.

I needed to find a way to resolve things with my cousins and ensure no more crime or trouble of any kind touched the complex. I didn’t want the Sylvans to have any more reasons to sell. Hopefully, it wasn’t already too late.

A wolf lying on her belly at my front door and daintily eating a rabbit made me stutter-step again. She also drove the thoughts of losing my home out of my mind for the moment.

The wolf looked at me, her aura and bright green eyes familiar. She was black with two white paws and a white-tipped tail, which she wagged at me as she rose to all fours.

“I’m definitely not installing doorbell cams,” I muttered.

The wolf tilted her head curiously. This clearly wasn’t one of Augustus’s surly allies. As I walked closer, I recognized her.

“Oh, hi, Jasmine.” I had only seen her as a wolf once before, when I’d recently hunted with the pack, and there had been a lot of wolves around that night.

She swished her tail again and gulped down the rest of the rabbit, leaving a few blood spatters and tufts of fur on the cement.

“That’s okay. I need to pressure wash the walkways this winter anyway.” I looked around, hoping nobody was outside, watching me chat up a wolf.

Her meal complete, Jasmine padded into a rhododendron, one of the few shrubs on the property that didn’t lose its leaves in the winter. This one was large enough to completely hide a wolf, though when the leaves started rustling, I raised my eyebrows.

“I hope you’re not doing something I’ll feel compelled to bag up later.” I waved toward the dog-waste station I’d had Duncan refill the day before, though I suspected Jasmine was changing.

A moment later, her human head stuck up from the center of the rhododendron, her black hair mussed around her face. She stuck her tongue out at me as she hunched to keep her bare shoulders low. She looked like she was fastening a bra, one with a few twigs sticking out of it.

“I’ve been waiting for you forever . I got bored and went to hunt, but there’s nothing good around here.” Jasmine wrinkled her nose in the direction of the tufts of fur.

“Surprisingly few herds of deer nosh on our lawn. I don’t think they’re fans of freeway noise and densely packed suburban areas.”

With all the new apartments going up, Shoreline might well qualify as urban by now.

“Deer are all over the place by our house in Redmond.” Jasmine shifted and grunted as she remained in the rhododendron, tugging up a pair of jeans.

“There’s still some acreage out there and places where the homes are farther apart. And you’re not that far from larger wooded areas and farmlands.”

“The deer like the grass and bushes that people plant around their houses. They’re half tame, so we don’t usually hunt them. Dad says it isn’t fair, that they’re dumbed down, just like humans who never had to build their own computers or install operating systems with floppy disks.” She rolled her eyes at the analogy.

“How is your software-developer father?” I wondered if he’d done any more research into the relics or Radomir’s corporation that had factories and farms all around Puget Sound, apparently raking in the dough since perfumes and potions were a high-margin business. I didn’t yet know how profitable stealing wolf artifacts was.

“He’s fine. But that’s not what I came to talk to you about. I—” Jasmine looked toward the walkway a second before Bolin stepped around the corner of the building, his short hair tousled, two coffee drinks in his hands, and bags under his eyes.

Only half-dressed, Jasmine slunk low in the rhododendron, though it wasn’t tall enough to completely hide her, not when she was in human form. She did, however, manage to find camouflage for most of her body.

“Hi, Bolin.” I almost added that he was here early, especially given his loathing for morning hours, but with a glance at my phone telling me it was eight a.m, I was again reminded of the approach of the winter solstice. Dawn was not at an impressively early hour.

“Hi.”

The rhododendron shivered, and he started to look toward it.

“Is one of those for me?” I asked to distract him, not because I expected him to share. Besides, my own espresso maker lay scant feet away inside my apartment.

Bolin curled the cups protectively to his chest. “No.” He looked me over, his gaze lingering on my hair, and loosened his grip on one. “Did you spend the night in the woods again?”

“Yeah. The allure of lumpy cave floors and beds of ferns can’t be resisted.” I thought wistfully about the allure of Duncan’s strong arms around me, gently cuddling me, as he’d put it. It had been nice. If only my mom hadn’t shown up…

“Is there something wrong with your bed here?” Bolin nodded toward my apartment door.

“There aren’t enough fir needles and fern fronds embedded in the mattress for comfort.”

A giggle came from the rhododendron.

Bolin blinked in surprise and looked at it. “I thought that was Duncan in there.”

“No. He does not, as far as I’ve ever seen, feel compelled to hide his nudity behind leaves, clothes, or any other sight-blocking items.” I thought of my blanket and wondered if it was still in his van.

“Oh, I’ve noticed.” Bolin hesitated, then offered me the coffee cup with a plain lid. He never gave up the drink with whipped cream drizzled with chocolate or caramel sauce. Did I see both adorning it today?

I lifted a hand. “You keep it. I’ve got my own. Thanks.”

“Okay.” Bolin pulled the cup back to his chest, but he was gazing curiously toward the shaking leaves. Maybe the femininity of that giggle—and the talk of nudity—had piqued his interest. It could also have been intrigue at the bare arm that stuck out briefly as Jasmine maneuvered her hoodie over her head.

Perhaps out of a sense of propriety, Bolin pulled his gaze back to me. “I’ve had to reassess some of my beliefs since coming to work here.”

“Me too.”

He scratched his jaw with one of the lids, not seeming to know if I was kidding or not, and happened to glance down. “Is that… rabbit fur?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“And… blood?”

“Possibly.”

His gaze drifted to the rhododendron again.

“Maybe you could decorate your SUV with those tufts of fur,” I suggested. “That bubble has to be a pain to set up every day. The remains of a predator’s meal might make a better deterrent than plastic owls.”

Bolin’s lip curled. “I doubt it. The birds here are dumb and probably not afraid of predators.”

I refrained from pointing out that the birds might, in fact, be smart enough to recognize the lack of predatory capability in a plastic raptor.

“Anyway,” Bolin said, “I came to tell you that the Donovans in C-4 moved out yesterday and turned their key in to the dropbox instead of showing up in person for their checkout today. Once I went by the apartment, I could see why. I can’t believe people live like that. They left garbage all over the floors, beer cans on every surface, cat poop in the bathroom, urine-stained mattresses leaning against the wall, a couch with the cushions removed, and moldy and unidentifiable food in the refrigerator. And they stole the switch plates. All of them. Luna, switch plates aren’t worth anything, are they? I’ve heard of copper wiring in walls having some modest financial value, but…”

“No. Switch plates don’t cost much to replace at least.” In my twenty-odd years as a property manager, I’d seen it all, so the description didn’t faze me.

“Why would you take them?”

I spread my arms. “Why would you let your cat poop on the floor?”

“I don’t know, but the whole place stinks. I almost passed out when I went in.”

“Ah. For future reference, there’s an M-50 military-grade gas mask in the leasing office.”

He scrutinized me. “I… kind of think you’re not joking.”

“Nope. Are you enjoying your internship?” I grinned at him.

“I…” He trailed off, his gaze drawn to the rhododendron again.

Jasmine, clothed now except for socks and sneakers that she carried in her hand, had left the leaf cover and was walking toward us. She must not have wanted to try to put them on while standing on the damp earth. A lot of dew smothered the grass this morning.

“It’s, uhm, interesting.” Bolin’s wide-eyed gaze locked on her.

“Yup. This is my niece, Jasmine. Jasmine, this is Bolin. He works here.”

Bolin gave me an aggrieved look, at which point I realized his wide eyes might have less to do with surprise than interest.

“Temporarily,” I added. “He’s getting real-world work experience before heading off as a well-paid, world-traveling accountant who’ll have a share in his family’s lucrative apartment business.”

Bolin straightened with pride at this more flattering description, though maybe I should have talked up his personal traits instead of mentioning his parents’ money. Not that most werewolves cared about such things.

“Huh.” Jasmine waved absently at Bolin, then fished a leaf out of her hair and sat down on the dry walkway to put on her socks and shoes. “Aunt Luna, I came because I need to talk to you about something.”

“Do you have enlightening news on the artifacts?”

“No.”

“I was afraid of that.” I fished out my keys to unlock my door.

“I assume you don’t want me to return the Donovans’ damage deposit?” Bolin glanced at me while gazing wistfully at Jasmine, who was brushing dirt off her bare soles before tugging on her socks.

“No. The turn will cost us a lot more than they put down. I’m sure they’ll call and pretend to be mystified about why they aren’t getting it back though.” I wasn’t that sure about that. Since they’d dropped off the key and slunk away in the night, they probably knew they were disgusting slobs.

“I figured. I can deal with them if they try to get aggressive.” Bolin stood straight, though it was hard for someone to look tough with mussed hair, bags under the eyes, and coffee cups clutched like security blankets.

“Good,” I said.

Busy tying her shoes, Jasmine didn’t look at him. I had a feeling she was unaware that he thought she was cute and wasn’t intentionally giving him the cold shoulder.

“Do you have a cleaning service you use that you want me to call?” Bolin asked. “Or do you handle everything yourself?”

“You’ve seen me scouring the toxic clingy residue out of a unit that was occupied by a smoker. Do you really need to ask?”

“I wasn’t sure if cat poop would prompt you to outsource this one. ”

“Nope. I might wear the mask though.” I winked at him as I opened my door.

“There’s also mold on the nasty shower curtain and ceiling in the bathroom,” he warned. “I’ll wager the Donovans never once turned on the fan.”

“Probably not. Did they take the switch plate for that too?”

“No, they left the fan controls alone. They did take the one for the light.”

“People are interesting.”

“That’s one word for it.”

“I’ll let you know when I’ve got everything cleaned,” I said, “and then you can help me apply some of the special mold-inhibitor paint you made.”

It was a potion, not paint, but he hid his druidic talents since his mother had forbidden him from studying the ancient arts, so I knew he would prefer I not mention them in front of a witness. Even if Jasmine would be unfazed by the existence of druids.

“Okay,” he said.

By now, Jasmine had finished dressing and stood. She caught my gaze and tilted her head meaningfully toward the open door.

“Anything else, Bolin?” I asked.

“Not that I can’t handle.”

“Great. Thanks.” I thumped him on the shoulder.

As my niece started through the door, he said, “It was nice meeting you, Jasmine.”

She looked distracted, probably by the news she intended to give me, but managed a smile and a wave for him. “Sure. You too, uhm, Bolin, right?”

“Yes.” Never had someone beamed such pleasure because a woman remembered his name. “Here.” He thrust a coffee cup toward her, the one with whipped cream on top. Goodness. “I just got it a few minutes ago and haven’t taken a drink. ”

“Oh.” Jasmine brightened with interest and reached for it before pausing to look at me.

Asking if there would be strings attached? I wasn’t sure, but I nodded, sure Bolin wouldn’t be too much of a pest. He seemed to accept no from women without more than disappointment.

“Cool, thanks.” Jasmine accepted the cup, waved again, and turned on the lights as she stepped inside.

Between the late sunrise and gray sky, not much natural daylight permeated my apartment this time of year.

“Sorry I was gone all night,” I said after closing the door. “I was up at Mom’s.”

“I thought you might have gone up there. But I wasn’t sure. You could have gone somewhere with your hot guy too.”

“Technically, I did.” I cast a worried look toward a north-facing window, thoughts of Duncan’s disappearance returning to mind.

“Oh! Did you get horizontal?” Jasmine sipped from the coffee, made a contented sound, and cradled it to her chest.

“Not for long. Not with Mom in the area.”

Jasmine wrinkled her nose. “That would be a deterrent. Aunt Umbra is even sterner than my mom. She probably doesn’t like Duncan because he’s a lone wolf and didn’t bring an offering when he showed up in the area.”

“She’s okay with him now.” I did not mention Mom’s words on mating with him and birthing babies. “I also had a showdown with Augustus when I was there.”

“That’s what I came to warn you about. He’s gunning for you.”

“He tricked me into dueling him one-on-one last night, but he got treacherous and didn’t play fair. If you can imagine.” I briefly summarized the fight for her, leaving out the part where Duncan had turned into a bipedfuris. She would hear about it eventually, but I felt compelled to keep his secrets. Or at least not be the one to blab them.

“Shoot, I’d hoped to warn you about that before you ran into Augustus again. He called a family meeting last night, but it was out at his lake house in Sammamish, not in the traditional spot, the hunting grounds by your mom’s cabin.”

“His lake house?” I asked, though I’d heard about the home already. “You say that like he’s got multiple houses. He’s not scamming enough money out of people for that, is he?”

Sammamish, home to hordes of highly paid IT people that overflowed from Redmond and Bellevue, was an expensive suburb in which to live. Even if Augustus had the money for it, however ill-gotten, it was hard for me to imagine my thugly cousin fitting in there. Jasmine’s dad, maybe. I’d yet to meet him, but he sounded like a hardcore geek.

Jasmine shrugged. “I heard there’s a home in Arizona too.”

“ Arizona ? It’s hot there for someone furry.”

“For anyone without scales, I’d think. The snakes reputedly sunbathe when the temperatures rise over a hundred.”

“I’d say Augustus isn’t a snake, but that’s not really true.”

Jasmine snorted. “I think the home is in Sedona. There’s some elevation there, so it’s not as hot and snake-laden. It’s pretty though, in a scorched-earth, red-rocks kind of way.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” My salary had never been such that vacations to exotic places had been affordable. “Did you go to the meeting? Or did someone blab about what Augustus said?”

“I did go.” Jasmine’s eyes gleamed as she sipped the coffee. “To be a mole.”

“Better than a snake, I suppose.”

“A mole as in a spy that is cleverly inserted into the enemy camp. To get hot intel for you.”

I hesitated, not sure if I should encourage such activity or worry that Augustus would find out Jasmine was relaying presumably secret information to me.

“I’m honored that you would want to do that, but… it’s a little da ngerous for you, isn’t it? Augustus doesn’t seem to be above hurting family members.” Hell, he’d been trying to kill me.

“He doesn’t know I’m not loyal and happy to follow along with his schemes to overthrow Lorenzo and get rid of anyone who opposes him.” Jasmine pointed the coffee cup at me.

“I didn’t oppose him until he started trying to kill me. He brought that on himself.” True, but now that I knew he was extorting business owners all over town, I felt compelled to stop him for more reasons than self-defense.

“He brings it all on himself. He’s a dumbass.”

“You say he thinks you’re loyal to him?”

“Well, I once said it was lame that crusty old wolves were ruling the pack. I guess he took that to mean I wanted to be an undyingly loyal member of his new order.”

“Lorenzo and my mom aren’t crusty.”

“They’re old and totally ignorant about the way the human world works.”

“Because they don’t think werewolves should have much to do with the human world,” I guessed. I’d never heard Lorenzo’s opinions on the matter, but I well remembered my mother’s, and she didn’t seem to have changed much over the years.

“Yeah, but that’s not practical. Humans are everywhere .”

“I have noticed that.”

“Anyway, just because I don’t agree with their old-school way of thinking and ruling doesn’t mean I want to support a dumbass or overthrow the leadership. I figure that’ll happen eventually—someone’s going to challenge Lorenzo for the pack because that’s just how it works.” Jasmine shrugged, appearing no more disturbed by the way of the wolf than my mother. “But I personally hope it won’t be Augustus. He’s a jerk. I wish you would rule. You lived among humans for so long that you must get them, and you still remember what it’s like to be a wolf and what the pack needs.”

“Females don’t lead packs. They’re the mates of the males who do. I don’t have to tell you that werewolves are pretty traditional when it comes to family relations.”

Jasmine snorted. “That’s just because males are usually stronger. You can kick a lot of the guys’ asses though.” She looked wistfully at me, as if she could will a desire to lead the pack into me. “But you do need to watch out. Augustus was trying to rally everyone who came to that meeting to help him get you. Some of the family protested and said he needed to fight you fairly if he wanted you out of the pack—or dead.”

“Advice he did not take to heart.” I touched my maligned shoulder.

“No kidding. At the end of the meeting, he pulled aside several of his siblings, the ones that didn’t say anything about fair fighting, and I caught a few words before they moved away. They said they’re going to get rid of you, one way or another, as soon as they catch you without your protector. They’re majorly salty about Duncan’s arrival and resent you for conjuring him up.”

“I had nothing to do with his arrival.” If that vision could be believed, magic or destiny or something far beyond me had drawn Duncan, just as it had brought the wolf case up here to pack territory. “Though I’m delighted he’s vexing Augustus.”

“Me too. But they might go after him so it’ll be easier to get to you.”

That wouldn’t come as a surprise to Duncan, but I made a mental note to warn him. He had enough trouble worrying about his creator; he didn’t need Augustus gunning for him. But if Jasmine was right, Duncan’s actions on my behalf almost ensured they would.

“Do you have the address for Augustus’s house?” I asked.

He kept showing up at my home. Maybe it was time for me to visit him at his. I might be able to catch him off-guard there. Though, unless I wanted to outright kill him, I would have to come up with a plan to get him to confess to his nefarious doings. My attempts the night before had failed.

“I do,” Jasmine said, “but some of his siblings hang out there too, so it’s not a good spot where you can catch him with his pants down, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I’m not sure yet what I’m thinking, but I promise it won’t involve his pants.” Unless I could get the alchemist Rue to make some delightfully horrible potion that I could fling if I did chance upon him with them down. She had mentioned an ability to afflict someone with genital warts. That probably wouldn’t stop Augustus’s life of crime, but I couldn’t help but think it would improve him on some level. “I’ll come up with something.”

“Okay.” Looking hopeful, Jasmine took her phone out and texted me an address.

Too bad my ally was MIA. I would have to come up with a plan on my own.