So I turn the question around on Paul. “Same old shit,” I say. “But what have you heard? What’s the news coming through the bar?”
He leans forward. “All kinds of drama, actually,” he says.
“Really?” I’m not surprised. No matter what’s going on, it’s exactly like Paul to make it seem more serious than it is.
He leans across the bar toward me. “You want a job?”
“What do you mean? Something for you? Like fixing your stool?” Maybe I do. It might be good to hole up here with Paul for a while, do some odd jobs, get as much liquor as I like, and then eventually go on my way when I’ve decided which way that’s going to be.
But he shakes his head. “Not for me,” he says. “I’m talking about a bounty.”
“A bounty? Seriously?”
“I know,” he says. “I haven’t seen one in years. It’s pretty uncommon for shifters to want to take down one of their own.”
“Yeah, it is,” I say. “I don’t know if I can have any part of that. What kind of shifter pack would turn on a fellow shifter? I mean, turn them out of the pack, sure, but take out a bounty on them? That’s not natural.”
“None of this is natural.” Paul reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. There’s a sketch on it and a scrawl of writing below. But it’s the image that catches my eye. I can’t believe what I’m looking at. There must be some mistake.
This is a drawing of Emlyn.
I’d know her anywhere. That big hair, that elfin face—whoever did this has even managed to capture the knowing look in her eyes. No one who had seen Emlyn could see this picture and not know it was supposed to be her.
I stare at it for a long time.
Then I look up at Paul. “What’s she wanted for?”
“Read it,” he says, pointing. “She’s part Moon Caster, but she infiltrated a pack. She’s been living among them for years, pretending to be normal. According to the man who brought these papers in—” He holds up a stack that he’s apparently been keeping behind the counter— “she even got herself alpha mated to a member of the pack. It was obviously some kind of scheme to take over the wolf pack by mating with them and spreading Moon Caster blood. It’s part of their scheme for world domination.”
I frown. That doesn’tsoundlike Emlyn. She didn’t want to go back to her pack. She was trying to get to Moon Casters. She was looking for a coven.
Maybe that was because her mission to infiltrate the pack failed.
But if that was the case, why would she need me to lead her to a coven? She would have known where her coven was.
A lot of this isn’t really adding up.
“There’s a reward for her,” Paul says.
“What kind of reward?”
“Free drinks for life.” He points, and sure enough, it does say that on the bottom of the flyer.
“The pack will supply regular game here so that whoever catches her can be assured that their tab is always paid.”
Well, that’s tempting.
And besides, if I’m the one to turn Emlyn in, Butch and the rest of my pack will have to acknowledge that I’m as good a hunter as I’ve always claimed to be. They won’t be able to push me around anymore. The whole shifter community will finally have to acknowledge my prowess.
“Do they want her dead or alive?” I ask. I don’t think I can kill her.
“They specifically asked for her to be returned alive,” Paul said.
Well, that isn’t so bad. “Can I keep this?” I ask, taking hold of the paper.
Paul nods, and I fold it up and put it in my pocket.
We’ll see what happens.