Page 3 of Triumph of the Wolf (Magnetic Magic #6)

“I know, I know. You want to manage your parents’ complexes in more exotic areas. Even though Jasmine lives happily here.” I waved toward the east.

Her parents’ home was in Redmond, not Shoreline, but it wasn’t too bad of a commute for a dating couple.

Bolin opened his mouth, then closed it. At a loss for words? That was rare for the former spelling-bee champion.

“If we get, uhm, serious…” His cheeks flushed red even though, as far as I knew, they hadn’t done more than hold hands yet. Maybe kiss. “Maybe she would like to travel with me. My parents could even hire her, and she could assist me, er, my family with our real estate endeavors.”

“Werewolves aren’t the assistant types. We’re strong and independent and very hard to shoehorn into traditional employment positions.

” I didn’t mention Jasmine’s brief flirtation with the idea of a career as a bikini barista.

“Especially for our boyfriends’ families.

” I didn’t have to ask Jasmine to know that was true.

Bolin sighed. “I suppose I’ve sensed that about her.

She’s a free spirit and very independent.

And so beautiful.” He sighed again, oozing the longing of a Wordsworth poem.

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if this place didn’t sell right away.

I could keep working here while we explore our compatibility. ”

“That sounds like a good plan.” I sensed Duncan approaching from the woods and nodded across the lawn toward him.

There was no sign of Lykos. Had the boy let Duncan find him?

“Especially the part where I don’t have to find a new home for a few months,” I added.

“You wouldn’t continue to live here? I’m sure a new owner wouldn’t kick out the existing tenants. Though… I suppose your rent wouldn’t be waived if you weren’t working here.” Bolin hesitated, looking like he wanted to ask if I could afford to live here if it wasn’t a part of a compensation package.

“Probably not. The rent isn’t that high, but it would be hard not to… keep working on the place. After all this time, I’m used to being the one on call.”

“You do do… everything here.”

“Yup.”

“The new owners might find it odd if one of the tenants started replacing the toilets of the other tenants.”

“I would assume so, yes.”

As Duncan joined us, apparently having heard a portion of the conversation, he asked, “Have you ever considered buying this place yourself, Luna? That would solve a lot of your problems.”

I laughed. “You might not have guessed this from the Goodwill clothes I wear, but I don’t have a family fortune that would allow me to fork over tens of millions of dollars for a real estate investment.”

“Your clothing is lovely—” Duncan smiled as he glanced toward my shirt—or maybe my boobs, “—but I did assume you would need backers.”

“Nobody’s going to back a middle-aged woman with no college education, no rich connections, and no existing real estate portfolio who gets furry and howls at the full moon.”

Bolin knew about my heritage, but he still raised his eyebrows at the imagery.

“You wouldn’t necessarily need to mention that last,” Duncan said, “though it would earn my buy-in as a backer.”

“Uh-huh. Would you be putting one or two wheelless, rusty shopping carts into the pot?”

“Oh, five or six, I should think. This is a quality property with an excellent manager. Why don’t we discuss it tonight on our date?”

“Shopping carts do get me in the mood.”

“ I find them quite appealing.”

“Because you’re odd.”

“A trait you’ve admitted you adore.”

“I don’t think that’s the exact word I used.”

Bolin must have decided we needed our privacy—and that I wasn’t on the verge of submitting an offer for the property—because he slipped away, drinking from the right-hand cup as he continued his walk to the leasing office.

“I was able to get close to Lykos,” Duncan said, growing more serious now that we were alone. “I offered to take him magnet fishing.”

“He didn’t immediately jump at the invitation?”

“Apparently, he’s here on business.”

I waited for Duncan to expound. He looked thoughtfully, or maybe pensively, toward the woods. My earlier concern that Abrams had sent the boy for nefarious reasons came to mind. Maybe I didn’t want more details.

“Does Lykos speak to you?” I asked.

“He’s on the laconic side, but yes.”

“Has he admitted he finds you charming and affable and that he wants to spend time with you?”

“Actually, he said he’s here to kill me.”

“I guess the affability isn’t genetic.”

Duncan’s smile was bleak, but he couldn’t be worried about Lykos succeeding at killing him.

Both as a man and as a wolf, Duncan was twice the kid’s size.

At least. I presumed that would hold true if they turned into the bipedfuris too, though I seemed to remember hearing that even the werewolves with that ability didn’t gain it until puberty.

“Abrams sent him,” Duncan said.

“To kill you?”

“To study me, learn my weaknesses, find a way to exploit them, and then kill me.”

“Are you… concerned that he could do that?”

In a fair fight, Duncan could fend off Lykos, but was it possible the kid was smart enough to do what Abrams suggested?

I growled. If the old bastard wanted Duncan out of the picture, he ought to be man enough to take on the task himself.

“Not too concerned. While Lykos admitted these things to me, he was eating your salami and watching me pull a fender out of a pond.” Duncan tapped a pocket in his jacket, the outline of what had to be a rope wrapped around a large cylindrical magnet visible. “He looked intrigued.”

“Fenders are pretty fascinating.”

“ I think so. I believe this one was off a 1970s Volkswagen beetle. Such a fun little car. That fender must have been down there for decades.” Duncan touched his chest and took a moment to gaze into the distance as he cherished the find.

Less moved to cherishment, I asked, “So, you don’t think Lykos is a real threat?”

Duncan lowered his hand. “I’m not that worried about him, but I do believe he’ll divulge anything he learns about us to Abrams, who, it sounds like, is feeling vengeful.”

As I’d feared.

“We’re going to have to deal with him at some point,” I said.

“I know. I?—”

My phone rang, and Duncan paused.

Worried that Chad might be calling again, I grimaced and almost didn’t take it out of my pocket.

But my youngest son’s name popped up on the screen, and I tapped the answer button without hesitation.

Austin hadn’t called since he’d sent that letter, admitting he hadn’t known what to do or say since seeing me turn into a werewolf.

Respecting his need for time, I also hadn’t called him, but I’d written a letter back and said I would be here to answer questions whenever he was ready.

“Hi, Austin.” I strove for a casual tone, though I desperately wanted him to say he was ready to talk. After so many years of withholding that secret from my sons, I longed to come clean and also explain why I’d made the choices that I had.

Duncan backed away to give me privacy for the call.

“Hey, Mom. I’ve only got a minute before I need to take my turn as duty officer, but, uhm, I wanted to warn you about something.”

“What’s up?”

“I, uhm, think I told you that I talked to my brother about… that night.”

“You mentioned it in your letter, yes.”

“I guess Cameron talked to Dad.”

I grimaced.

“From what Cam said, Dad was going to be in the area for work, so they’re both heading up there.”

“In the area ?” I stared at the phone, thinking of Chad’s call. He hadn’t been calling from Seattle , had he? “Like here ?”

“Seattle. I’m not sure where they’re going to stay. Cam left his camper in Texas, I think.”

I hadn’t even known he was in the South. The last I’d seen on Cameron’s socials, he’d been cruising through the Everglades, searching for the meaning of life. And, I hoped, gainful work he could do from the road since he showed no inclination toward settling down.

“What are they going to do here?”

“Some kind of work that Dad got offered. I didn’t get many details. I just thought… you might want to know.”

“Yes. Thanks.” I looked toward the woods, as if Chad might be out there spying on me right now. No, his methodology relied on hidden cameras in my bedroom, not skulking behind trees. The creep.

“Sure. I gotta go. Talk to you later.”

Austin hung up before I could tell him I loved him. I sighed, feeling bleak. And more worried about Chad—and what he wanted—now that I knew he was in the area.

Off in the grass, Duncan stood with his hands in his pockets, waiting. He raised his eyebrows toward me.

I didn’t know what to say, but if Chad showed up here, I wouldn’t hide Duncan—or that we were attempting to have a relationship… when the world allowed it.

The phone rang again, and I winced, certain that was Chad calling now. But Lorenzo’s name appeared on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Luna,” he said, his voice grave. “Your mother would like you to visit.”

“Is she… okay?”

She wasn’t, not with her cancer advancing, but I didn’t know how better to phrase it.

“It hasn’t been a good week for her.”

I swallowed around a lump, wishing some of the magical artifacts we’d tried on her had healed her malady. The Taint, as the wise wolf called it. But it seemed magic was better at healing wounds than curing diseases.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll head up there soon.”

It wasn’t as if I wanted to be home if Chad showed up anyway.

Since he’d lived here with me for most of the years of our marriage, however itinerant he’d been during his career as a traveling software sales rep, he well knew how to find the place.

He didn’t know much about my lupine family though.

I’d never visited them in the years we’d been married—in the years I’d been taking the sublimation potion. He shouldn’t find me up there.

“Maybe I can hide out at Mom’s cabin for the week,” I muttered after hanging up, thinking of the potential buyers and real estate photographer that would also be around over the next couple of days.

“Need a ride somewhere?” Duncan offered, joining me again.

I started to say no, but if Mom was noticeably worse…

I could use some moral support. Besides, did I want Duncan to be here if Chad showed up?

That might start trouble. Even if Duncan had once agreed to find the case for Chad, they’d parted ways, and I’d overheard one rant-filled phone call where Chad had threatened Duncan.

“Yes. I adore sitting on the equipment stacked all around your passenger seat, with my knees to my chin.”

“I have other things you can sit on.” Smirking, Duncan pulled out his keys.

“Is it strange that I’d rather spend time with you than my ex-husband?”

“No, that’s normal. I’m a delight.”

“That word may not mean what you think it means.”

“We can consult your etymologist later.” Duncan waved to indicate Bolin in the leasing office, then led me toward the Roadtrek.

I followed more eagerly than I otherwise might have, given our grim destination. But leaving didn’t keep me from worrying that I would have to deal with Chad sooner or later.