Page 28 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

Larry frowned. “That would mean there wouldn’t be much of a digital trail for him back then. That makes my job easier and your job harder. Do you have a picture of him?”

Misha shook his head. “No. If I did, I would have tried some reverse imaging on the Internet or run face-recognition.”

“The hardest part of my granddaughters’ job of erasing people isn’t the obvious places you would expect to find traces of someone. It’s not the person themselves, but the networks they’re immersed in. Where did he live?”

“Chicago.”

“Hmm. That makes it harder than a small town. I’ve got some contacts in Chicago that I can reach out to, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.

In the meantime, you might want to look for someone who remembers him, especially if he lived and worked in one of the neighborhoods.

What about his job? Is the company still in business?

Did he need a license or certification?”

“He was a lawyer, so he would have had to pass the bar exam in Illinois. Or paid someone enough money to forge his credentials.”

Larry nodded. “Dig in there some too. You might be able to track him through an organization he would have been affiliated with at that time. Lawyers tend to join various groups. Think about anything that he would have been involved in. I’ll make some calls for you as well.”

They talked for a few minutes before Misha thanked Larry and they headed out to the van and back to Griffin’s house.

“Are you feeling okay?” Misha asked.

“Yep. Why do you keep asking me that?”

“Because you just had a demon attack you and your animal didn’t react. Maybe you’re getting a handle on it.”

Jason didn’t respond. Why didn’t the attack, even though short-lived, not cause him to turn? Most of the time he didn’t even realize his animal tried to take over. He hated his loss of control. Hated that his team had to babysit him. Hated that he could hurt himself or, God forbid, somebody else.

He didn’t feel like he had a handle on things. Far from it.

Sabrina opened the door and set the small cooler on her kitchen table. “This is becoming a habit.”

Alexander looked up from the book he read and set down his glass of wine.

Sabrina sighed. “Please tell me that is not my twenty-year-old Bordeaux I was saving?”

“It’s not your Bordeaux,” he said with a smirk.

She tried to count to ten and barely made it to six before she spoke. “I have the blood sample. I drew it this morning. Lucas is going to want to have it sooner than later.”

Alexander nodded. “He’ll have the blood shortly.”

Which was his obtuse way of not telling her where the clan lived now. She still had to try to get some information out of him. “How is everyone?”

“Fine. Ezekiel is still trying his hand at microbrewing. It’s consistently atrocious.”

Sabrina chuckled. “He didn’t learn his lesson centuries ago when he failed at making mead?”

“Apparently not.”

“And the others?” She tried to keep the eagerness out of her voice.

She must have failed because his eyes softened and she hated the look.

She did not want his pity. True, Lucas had told her to leave.

But she hadn’t fought him. They were all broken after losing Robert.

She’d needed to help someone, anyone instead of facing that she couldn’t save her own people.

She had wondered over the past century if she had stood her ground back then with Lucas, would she still be a part of the clan.

“How are you, Rina? Really?”

Her heart tweaked. “I’m fine. You might not approve, but bringing demons from the realm is the right thing to do, and I have helped many others.”

He tsked at her. “That is how your work is. I asked how you are doing.”

She swallowed back her emotions. “I have purpose, Xan. That is enough.”

He walked over and stood in front of her. “I don’t think our life is about settling for enough, but what do I know?” He reached for the cooler. “I’ll contact you once Lucas has done his impression of a mad scientist.”

“Tell him thank you.”

Alexander nodded as he headed to the door. “And you should be thanking me as well. I saved you from a subpar Bordeaux. It didn’t age well.”

Sabrina sank down in the chair Alexander had abandoned and drew in a deep breath.

Lucas would want more than a thank-you, but she would cross that bridge when it came time.

And she would do what he asked for Jason.

She had been denying the truth for a long time.

Pushing Jason away with somewhat-rational concerns about his safety.

But that didn’t stop her feelings, the ones she’d started to confess to Kyle and Talia during their ill-timed intervention at the bar. Or the slip she had made to Jason on the flight.

She couldn’t remember the last person with whom she’d felt this type of connection.

If she was honest, she hadn’t ever felt it before.

Over a thousand years and she had been on the outside looking in at relationships.

She’d had one almost in her grasp, and instead of closing her hand and holding on tight, she pushed him away.

And now he’d agreed that being friends was the right thing for them.

That maybe dating a smart, beautiful, and kick-ass shifter royal was what he should be doing instead.

Her brain said it made sense.

Her heart wanted to drop-kick Bea’s tiger into next week.