“You don’t want to be telling me how to do my job,” Officer Marlene’s tone was snippy. “I’ve worked in this town long enough to not be afraid of you and your kind. At least not while that one is around.”
I opened my eyes and it took me a second to really comprehend what was about to happen. They were at Luciana’s door. They didn’t know her house from any other. They didn’t know what they were about to walk into.
I jumped up. “No! Don’t go in there.”
The newbie cop—Johnson—pushed me as I started toward them. “You want to stay where you are.”
“Get your hands off my mate.” The words were more growl than anything, and the threat behind them was enough to set even me on edge.
But Johnson was a moron. He didn’t see the fury bubbling under the surface. And he certainly didn’t know Dastien could turn into a wolf in a split second and rip out his throat.
Instead of calming the situation down, Officer Johnson did the worst thing possible and reached for his gun. “You need to sit your ass down while I deal with her.”
Oh no he didn’t.
Cold fury ran through our bond, and I knew Dastien was about to lose his shit.
Marlene stopped on the porch. For a second, I thought she was going to listen to me. “Johnson. You do your job. Keep them under control while I go in.”
Terror gripped me, and suddenly I didn’t care so much about being thrown into the back of a cop car. “You don’t understand.” Officer Johnson grabbed my arm as I tried to move toward the house, but I ignored him. She couldn’t go in there. “The owner of that house was the leader of these people. It could be booby trapped. There could be dangerous things in there. Things you don’t have the capacity to deal with.”
“Young lady, you’ll want to watch how you talk to me.” She pointed her finger at me. “You sit your ass down. Understand that I’m an officer of the law, and if there is something dangerous in there, then I am the one who should deal with it.”
Another growl added to Dastien’s.
This was going south. Fast.
“They have nothing to hide and no part in this,” Dad said as he moved to stand between the growling alphas and the cops. He turned to the one who was still grabbing me. The cop’s fingers dug into my skin. If I were still human, I’d have bruises, but I wasn’t that fragile anymore. “Let the girl go. She’s going to cooperate fully.”
The young cop listened to Dad, finally letting go. I caught Dastien right as he was about to reach for the guy’s throat, and pushed him toward Dad. I kept his gaze as I lowered my voice, talking fast. “They can’t go in there. It’s too dangerous.”
The spot between Dad’s eyebrows wrinkled as he leaned toward me. “Why?” He whispered.
“It could have wards or…” I didn’t even know what to expect. It could be anything, but it wouldn’t be anything good. “Who knows what black magic she left for us to find?”
He pressed his lips in a firm line as he stared at the house in question. “We can’t stop them, kiddo. They’re going to do their investigation, and then they’re going to come question all of us. Then we go home. But right now, they’re in charge.”
“This is beyond stupid.” I needed my messenger bag. It was still on the ground where we’d been sitting. I reached into it, touching the vials inside and dreading whatever chaos was about to be unleashed. Luciana wouldn’t abandon her compound without leaving a nice surprise or two for us to find. “They’re a bunch of fucking idiots. They don’t know what they’re messing with.”
Dad smiled, and little wrinkles formed in the corners of his eyes. “I’m not going to argue that point. I raised a smart girl.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and squeezed me into his side. “Even if she does curse like a sailor.”
I shook my head. The vials in my hands grew slick with sweat as I grasped them. There was a small tingle of magic as they went through the door, and it was growing. It danced across my skin, making all the little hairs on my arms stand on end.
Dastien came to stand next to me. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I paused. “But I don’t know that they’re going to be okay. Magic is brewing in there and—”
The first scream turned my blood to ice. I thought about dashing into the house to help, but the gurgling noise told me I was already too late.
One cop was definitely dead.
For a second, everything went silent.
Then the smell of sulfur filled the air so strong I nearly choked. This was bad. This was so completely bad.
Four gunshots broke the night.
I stepped in front of Dad. “Get to the car. Now.”