Page 8 of Triumph of the Wolf (Magnetic Magic #6)

“More so than the tasty dinner and the view of the city?”

“All that was fine, but I’m delighted that you wanted to take a walk afterward and knew of this wondrous locale.” Duncan pulled up his magnet, having already found numerous sets of keys.

I wouldn’t call them wondrous , but it didn’t take much to tickle him. Especially if it had rust on it.

“I figured with this being a tourist hot spot,” I said, “all sorts of things would have fallen over the edge.”

“Oh, and vastly interesting things too.” As Duncan pulled a sludge-covered row of staples off his magnet, my phone rang.

Maybe I should have silenced it for our date, but I’d called Cameron earlier, hoping I could speak to him without Chad around.

It had gone to voicemail, making me wonder if he was really here in Seattle, or if my ex-husband had said that only to manipulate me.

Chad had to know I didn’t want to see him .

“It’s Jasmine.” I debated whether to answer while we were on our date, but Duncan was peering in fascination at two rusty tin boxes that had come up, fused together by grime.

Part of Mickey Mouse was visible on top of one, and the other looked like a Nabisco saltines tin even older than I was.

They probably were both older than I was.

But was tin magnetic? Maybe something inside was.

Deciding Duncan wouldn’t notice if I took the call or not, I answered before it went to voicemail. “Hi, Jasmine. What’s up?”

“The price of hot-springs-filled resort land,” she said in a triumphant tone.

“Uhm, fill me in?”

“Dad’s been busily researching again. Remember that developer he found? Who bought the parcel down the road from your mom’s property?”

“Yes.”

“And the new rural-business zoning?”

“Yes.”

“Dad found out the owner has put out a release that he’s starting up a resort on the property.

He’s looking for backers. In addition to all the usual spa kinds of services—mud wraps, massages, fine dining—it’s going to have tours of mining areas and the opportunity for guests to pan for gold, and there’s going to be a natural hot springs with private pools, a bathing-suit optional area, a salt cave, and all kinds of therapeutic and hedonistic services. ”

“Mud wraps and massages in rural Monroe?” I scratched my jaw. It was far from a hoity-toity area.

“Technically, the property is in an unincorporated part of Snohomish County.”

“Well, that changes everything. The hordes will descend upon it to be pampered in such an exotic locale.”

“Here’s the thing, Luna. As far as the pack knows, and I’ve asked a bunch of elders, the mine shafts and hot springs are on your mom’s property.”

“There are hot springs back there?”

“There are three or four mud holes by the stream where steamy water burbles up through the silt.”

“Rich people do line up to enjoy mud holes.”

Jasmine laughed. “I think you can excavate a bit if you want to put in a pool or whatever. Developers can do a lot. And people like knowing that natural hot springs are there with all of their healing benefits.”

“I had no idea that mud holes had healing benefits.”

“A warm one is nice. Minerals that rejuvenate the skin, you know. Anyway, my point is that this is probably the guy.”

“The guy trying to get Mom to sell?”

Was that what he was doing? I wasn’t sure what those real estate agents had been up to back there.

“We think he wants all the properties in that area, and he wants to get them cheaply.”

“Why the properties up that road? It’s not even paved. Who’s going to drive through potholes to get to a resort? Besides, there have to be hot springs everywhere.”

Duncan got the lid open on the Mickey Mouse tin. The treasures inside were old nuts, bolts, and washers from someone’s spare-parts collection. He eyed a couple of laundry tokens with speculation. Maybe such things were collectable.

“I’m sure he would pay to have it paved as part of the development, and there aren’t hot springs everywhere.

They’re not that common. And a lot of the stuff around there is on federal or state land, so you can’t develop it.

It’s pretty rare to find parcels as big as the ones the family holds, especially relatively close to town. ”

“Well, warn Mom and Lorenzo, I guess. And the elders. They can keep an eye out for developers with nefarious intent.” I couldn’t imagine what I could do.

“I already did. I figured you’d want to know too.”

“I do. Thanks for keeping me in the loop.”

I hung up and regarded Duncan.

He didn’t look disappointed by what he’d found. If anything, he gave me a relaxed and pleased smile before asking, “Are the hot springs romantic?”

“You mean the mud holes?” I had a distinct image in mind after Jasmine’s description, and romantic wasn’t the descriptor that went with it. “Probably not more so than a pier with Mickey Mouse tchotchkes nestled underwater among the barnacles and algae.”

“This spot is perfect.” Duncan wrapped an arm around me and nodded toward the rusty and grimy treasures lining the railing, the finds he’d already pulled off the bottom.

Some of the people getting on and off the Ferris wheel had looked curiously at the collection—and at him—but nobody had asked what he was doing. Most of the visitors were probably tourists.

Another call came in. Bolin, this time. He wasn’t at the apartment complex this late in the evening, was he?

“What’s up, Bolin?” I answered.

“Your, uhm, ex-husband is here.”

Damn it, was Chad skulking around? Planning to search my apartment for the artifact?

“At Sylvan Serenity? Why are you there this late?” Maybe I should have asked what Chad was doing, but I already had a good idea. I might need to head back and confront him, but my mind rebelled at the idea.

“Jasmine and I met here and took my car to a laser show,” Bolin said. “Riding in hers is harrowing.”

“Did she like your plush leather heated seats?”

“She accidentally turned on the seats’ cooling feature and complained that her tail was cold.” Bolin hesitated. “She doesn’t have a tail, does she? You know, as a human. I haven’t noticed that you… not that I’ve looked in that area. I mean, I have. A respectable and polite amount only. But…”

“She’s mentioned having phantom tail twitches, but no, we don’t have any weird werewolf parts when we’re human. Just slightly sharper canine teeth.”

“Weird,” Duncan said with a sniff.

“Okay, good. I used a little magic to deter your ex-husband’s initial attempt to gain access. Then Rue placed a potion wafting blue smoke in front of the door of your apartment, and it’s so far deterred him from attempting to enter or get too close.”

I would have to thank Rue for that. I wondered how she’d known who Chad was—or at least recognized him as someone up to no good. Maybe he’d had his nose pressed to my window when she’d chanced past.

“Do you want me to tell him that you…”

“Moved out and live in Hawaii now? Yes.”

“I was trying to deter him from forcing his way into your apartment, so I said you would be back soon. He said he’d wait, and he’s leaning against a tree outside the leasing office with his arms crossed over his chest.”

“Oh.” I sighed. “I guess I’m on my way home then.”

Oh, how I did not want to see him.

“I’m afraid I need to end our date early,” I told Duncan, disappointed that we hadn’t yet kissed.

“It’s all right.” He reeled in his magnet and gathered his finds, not looking disappointed in the least with how the night was going. “These tins are magnificent. They have to be from the mid-twentieth century. Antiques .”

“Their magnificence is what’s foremost on my mind right now too.”

Duncan chuckled. “I’m sure it’s not. Let me take you home. When we get there, do you want me to come over and growl at your ex?”

“Yes, and maim him horribly, please.” I shook my head. “Why is he even here ?”

“I guess this is your opportunity to find out.”

I bared my fangs.