Page 9

Chapter Nine

W e held hands while he drove a very nice blue sports car that would help us fit in with all the other young, handsome, wealthy socialites who would be there. He’d asked if he could hold my hand, and I’d said yes, and not added that he needed the practice before we got out in public.

“What will you say when people ask you about dating me?” he asked.

I shot him a look. We were stopped at a red light a few blocks from the Henredon estate. “What will you say?”

He smiled slightly and looked superior. “No one will ask me, because I customarily bring women to events as part of my image as a social butterfly. You never date, so it will make people curious.”

“Ah. You’re trying to prep me for my real interviews here, being interviewed. How long do you think it’ll last?”

His lips pressed together for a moment in thought or discomfort, I wasn’t sure. “I assume you’re not talking about the brunch, as you’d know far better than me. Our relationship will last until you’ve found someone else to protect you, I imagine.”

“That could take a long time.” Forever, most likely.

“There is no rush, Miss Era. Having one steady girlfriend will be good for my image, make me look more reliable. And you are universally liked. Everyone will think I have surprisingly good sense to choose you. And elves date for years, decades, sometimes centuries before they settle into marriage.”

“It will take that long for you to learn how to hold a hand properly, not to mention kissing.”

He squinted at me. “You’re shocking, Miss Era.”

“I’m a werewolf, Mr. Senator. If there wasn’t danger of infecting you, I’d take it upon myself to train you up in all manner of scandalous ways.”

His lips twitched in a smile. “How very selfless of you to consider the greater good.”

“Naturally. I believe that I mentioned that my beast wants to make you her pet. That might get messy. If you didn’t have a dragon, a gargoyle, and a sorcerer’s guild backing you up, I might be worried.”

“You did very well last night. Miss Era, I believe with proper training, you could defeat even the Alta himself.”

I turned to stare at him, intrigued and horrified at the same time. “You realize that if I defeated the Alta, I would become the Alta, right?”

He shrugged. “You would be an excellent leader.”

“I would rather die. Literally. I can’t imagine anything worse than trying to deal with all the other alphas, like the crazy lady from Golden. It’s a pity that she’s representing women so badly.”

“There was a female Alta before. Her reign began very bloody, but became one of the most peaceful periods for the longest time.”

“You’ve done a lot of research.”

“Mm.”

I smiled at him. “I’ll tell people that I couldn’t resist your scintillating conversation.”

“Very well.”

“Also that you’re too pretty to possibly resist.”

“They’ll know that you’re joking.”

“And then I’ll move onto the fact that you knocked me up.”

His face remained impassive. “And that you’re being farcical.”

“Why? My parents only married after he got her pregnant.”

He inhaled sharply and looked truly shocked for a moment. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not. Bram was a great surprise. Elves never think that they’re going to get anyone pregnant, because elves have such a hard time conceiving, but gnomes don’t.”

“Werewolves do.”

“Then I suppose it’s unlikely for us, but the fact that I’m a werewolf isn’t exactly common knowledge, is it? My mother entrapped him. Gnomes can will themselves pregnant. He didn’t think it was appropriate to take away the life she could have with a nice gnome, but once she was having his baby, what could he do?”

“He didn’t think it was inappropriate to make use of her body in such a way, but he had a problem marrying her?” Disapproval colored every word. He was such an elf.

I patted his knee. “I see that you’ve never been seduced by a gnome. Someday, Senator Silverton, you’re going to be hit so hard by love and desire, you won’t have any control over yourself.”

“That sounds positively optimal,” he said drily.

I nudged him. “Everyone wants to lose themselves in love, at least once.”

“No, they really don’t.”

I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder. “Well, it will happen anyway. And when it does, I hope that you enjoy it.”

“Mm.”

“Mm,” I said agreeably, holding his hand in both of mine.

He’d already let me into his personal space, so me being so close to him shouldn’t bother him.

“If you don’t like me snuggling up to you, just say so,” I said.

“I will.”

I laughed, because of course he would.

Once we got to the party, it was time for the interviews to start. As soon as we entered the large main hall where all the floral arrangements were displayed, flower art, which would be purchased for exorbitant sums of money, and some of it would go to charity, we were cut off by Forsythia.

Oh. She’d been dating him. Would this be awkward? I hand my hand looped in Silverton’s arm, but we weren’t holding hands. This was our first public outing together, so we wouldn’t have too much PDA.

“I read your article this morning,” she said to me, brows lowered over accusing eyes.

I stared at her. That’s what she was going to be upset about? “Did you? I’m gratified. It’s not my typical fare, but our regular investigational reporter had a family emergency.”

“Why would you suggest that Singsong City is on the brink of pack war? Do you want to threaten the city’s tourism industry?” She did own a few hotels, come to think of it.

This must be why Loren never came to these things. I noticed that Silverton’s arm had stiffened under my hand. Did he not read the article or did seeing Forsythia make him uncomfortable? I smiled sweetly. “I suppose I didn’t think about the economy when I was looking at the photos of that poor werewolf.”

She sniffed. “If he hadn’t been killed in Sing, it wouldn’t be a problem. They should keep their issues in Song, where they belong.”

“A murder is only a problem in Sing?” Silverton asked with a slight smile and warm interest coloring his voice.

Forsythia was Elven, so she wasn’t going to fall into the trap of his pretended warmth. “Of course not, Senator, but there are always problems in Song that should stay there.”

“So even when someone’s murdered in Sing, it’s a Song problem?” he asked, this time letting the bite in his words show.

Her smile was positively soothing. “Werewolves don’t live in the upper city. They’re uncomfortable there and enjoy the undercity much more. If there are a few murders among their rival packs, that’s their business. It shouldn’t involve anyone else.”

Someone cleared their throat behind us. I smelled werewolf the second before we turned around to find Max dressed in a black suit with a floral tie. He looked surprisingly comfortable in a suit. Come to think of it, he did own a lot of things in Sing and Song, he just didn’t usually show up at society events. Almost like he didn’t feel like he belonged there.

“Max, it’s so nice to see you,” I said warmly.

He looked at me with anger burning in his eyes. “I’d like a word with you.”

“By all means.”

“Privately.”

“I’m actually here to work. I don’t have time…”

“You want to interview me about this pack war we’re having. Now.” The weight of his command as my alpha hit me hard, making my whole body tense. In a second, my beast was going to burst out of me and challenge Max. That would be one way to declare myself a werewolf.

“If you’ll excuse me,” I said to the senator.

He gave me a slight bow and then turned back to Forsythia, letting me slip off with Max. The second we were alone in a hall, he turned on me.

“What were you thinking? First, revealing Ridley’s pack, second, suggesting pack war, third, coming here when you should be at home resting. You’re limping. You’re not taking care of yourself and your protector isn’t either.”

I hissed at him. “And what did you do to protect me? Dragging me to the Alta? You think that was a strong alpha move? You did nothing to protect me from Ridley or your higher ups. Don’t you dare criticize Senator Silverton. Right now, I really hate werewolves. You think I should have loyalty to a group of slavering monsters who think nothing of selling a woman to whoever can be the most violent? I wrote that article because I think that Loren’s missing because she saw something, maybe who killed Ridley, maybe something else, and I want to create a lot of noise so I can look into it without getting attention.”

He blinked at me and the anger faded. “Loren? Another female’s gone missing? You think Ridley…”

“No. I think someone might be using Ridley’s reputation as a cover for their own criminal behavior.” I shivered as the pieces arranged themselves in my mind. “Loren is the person who should have written that article. I’m taking her place, which will make me a target if I mention what I really think. I get that it’s bad for tourism and werewolf reputations, but if I’m going to get to the bottom of this, and I am, I need my target off his guard.”

“You don’t think I’m the perpetrator or you wouldn’t be telling me this.”

“No, Max. There is no way you could ever be anything other than noble.”

He blinked at me. “You’re good. Make me feel guilty for my failings, diffuse my anger with an unexpected announcement, and then end it with flattery. You suit a politician.”

I winced. “Yes, well, I’m sure he’ll be delighted to hear that you approve. I’ve got to get back to the party. Can you send me everything you know about the missing women, both in Golden and elsewhere?”

“There are a tragically high number of missing women, but I’ll do what I can. I am sorry about last night. Are you truly okay with the senator?” His warm eyes were concerned.

“Mm,” I said with a smile and looped my arm in his. “Now, Max, which of these living artworks are you going to pay an exorbitant amount for since you showed up to corner me?”

He growled as we walked back to the main halls. He looked at the first one we came to and nodded at it. “That one.”

I studied the floral art that depicted a toucan made out of black and white roses surrounded by green moss. “Oh, yes. That will look magnificent in the pack hall. Maybe you can gift it to the Alta. That’ll teach him to mess with your weekend.”

“There you are,” Senator Silverton said, coming up with his warm politician smile. He held a hand out to shake Max’s and somehow got my arm to switch people in the exchange. He would be an excellent pickpocket. Mossy could give him lessons. Or he could give her lessons.

“And so are you. Now everything is in its proper order,” I said, smiling up at him.

The rest of the banquet was spent in the senator’s care. He manipulated every conversation to make certain that I got everything I needed, and no one got the chance to talk about my most recent controversial article.

We left directly after Silverton purchased a living scene of the woods in the moonlight, foliage specimens buried in the soil behind the frame so it would actually last longer than the month Max’s toucan would. They’d deliver it to the house shortly.

“Tell me about Loren,” he said once we were in the car, driving out the gates of the place.

I looked up from my laptop and peered at him through my glasses. I was going to write up some notes on the party while they were still fresh. “You overheard me talking to Max? You followed me?”

He didn’t look at me, just kept his focus on the road. “I’m your protector. Tell me about it.”

I did, starting at the beginning, and ending with the dumpster being in the wrong place.

“That’s strange, isn’t it? Why would someone move a dumpster? It must have been intentional with how precisely it was shifted.”

“We’ll check it now.” He made a U-turn at the next intersection and headed towards downtown instead of continuing to the outskirts of the city where his own house was located.

I liked how decisive he was, how he didn’t put off doing something he could do right that second. “What really bothers me is the kitten. If she was taken against her will, why wasn’t the cat? Was it left there by the person who took her? And the Lynx bit is weird, too.”

“Mm.”

I looked at him, because there was something off about his tone. “Have you heard of it?”

“I’ll look into it.”

“You’ll look into it? You’re not an investigative reporter.”

“But I am your protector. Be a good little female and stay safe.” He winked at me before I could get really worked up at the blatant disregard for my feminine strength, then I remembered that he’d seen my beast up close and personal.

I blew through my mouth and shook my head at him. “You almost got snacked.”

“Your beast wants to make me a pet. Not even beasts eat their pets.”

I pushed his arm while I fought the heat that wanted to rise in my cheeks. “I don’t think you took my warning with the seriousness I gave it.”

“If I’m your pet, would that make you my owner? In that case, you should probably buy me a pretty collar with a tag. You could be the master to my mister.”

I huffed and felt my cheeks heat up. “You’re definitely not taking this seriously.”

“But pretty elves should wear pretty collars. None of those glaring neon things.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “Now I know what to get you for your birthday. It’ll be the most glaringly neon thing you’ve ever seen. Your eyes will burn out immediately.”

He flashed me an extremely attractive smile that made my heart twist uncomfortably. “I look forward to it. It’ll be worth the successive centuries of blindness, I’m sure, just to please my master, or would it be mistress?”

Why did that make me squirm so much? Was he being suggestive? He was, but why? He was an elf. They were so slow to approach any kind of intimacy. He was teasing me. He really didn’t take my wolf seriously.

I turned towards my window and opened my laptop. I had notes to take if he was going to be ridiculous.

In the alley, the garbage can was in its original position. Someone had moved it back, precisely two inches from where it had been.

I crouched there next to the side of the garbage can and stared at it. “Maybe it’s messing with us. Like, ‘let’s move this and then move it back just so they don’t notice that the sky is on fire.”

Silverton walked towards the wall, studying it before he brought up a hand and blew magic sparkles onto it. They hit the wall in a spray pattern that glowed like black-light, showing a line of dirt with various substances except for the area the garbage can had been covering, which was immaculate.

“Looks like there was some evidence, but they cleaned it since. Pity this alley isn’t under surveillance,” Silverton said, looking up at the wall that stretched up. There were a few small windows, but none were particularly visible from this garbage can.

“Do you think Ridley did get some of its blood?” I asked, frowning at the freakishly clean spot on the alley wall.

“There was definitely some kind of evidence,” he said, glancing at me.

I smiled back. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day. If Ridley’s got its blood under his nails, they’ll find it in evidence.”

Actually, Ridley’s nails were clean. Immaculate. Freakishly tidy, like the wall had been. Mick, the guy at the morgue, shrugged as he pushed Ridley’s mutilated body back in its refrigerator. “Sorry, Delphi. Why isn’t Loren on this beat? She really gave up a story like this for family? That’s weird.” His voice had no intonation. He looked like a corpse with hollow eyes and cheeks, but he definitely wasn’t dead. Probably.

“Were his nails like this when he came in?” I asked, while Silverton looked unapproachable. Usually he bothered to look charming, but he didn’t have time for that while he was considering this new evidence.

Mick shrugged. “Sure.”

“Really? You’re sure?” Silverton pressed, tone hard.

Mick shrugged. “Yeah. One of the docs mentioned how weird it was for him to be a piece of mangled meat, but have one clean hand. Impressive, really. Most killers don’t pay attention to the details. The details are what always get you.”

“Mm,” Silverton said, taking my arm. “Thank you for your time. Delphi, we should get home. You’re tired and still need to write up your article for the evening paper.” He nodded at Mick and ushered me out rather briskly.

“What are you thinking?” I asked, very aware by his eyes that his thoughts were turned inwardly.

He gave me a brief smile. “How much more interesting my life has gotten since you moved into my pool house. We’d better pick up some kitten food on the way home.”

And that’s all I was going to get out of him. Elves. So annoying.