MADDY
It took all of my willpower not to launch myself at Evan when he walked in the door. Too bad it wasn’t just the two of us at the inn. Even though he acts badass about denying his ice wolf spirit, he is still a shifter. His strength, speed, reflexes, and stamina are paranormal. He would totally catch me if I tackled him and ran. Plus, what would follow would be great.
Unfortunately, we were not alone.
Evan had promised to interview the other wolf trap victims this morning. Never one to sit around waiting to be rescued, I was starting my own investigation and planned to interview Max and Gabe. I’d known Gabe my whole life, but Max’s arrival made me wonder what he knew. To be honest, they were the only other paranormals in Sleepy Briar anymore which is a shame in my opinion. Everyone else either scattered themselves out in the valley or left.
I rubbed at the ache in my leg. I still walked with a slight limp from the trap. Riyah’s healing vamp blood had saved my life, but a fox with a limp is no good. I hoped my foot would continue to improve, but in the meantime, I was determined to find out who laid that trap for me and why—and deliver some bloody justice.
“Need anything else?” Gabe asked.
He wassoquiet, I wished he wore a bell. Once his odor permeated a place, keeping track of his movements was impossible.
“Hey, thanks for your help. Looks like this part is all done.” I smiled at him. He couldn’t help it if he ate flesh. It’s who he was, the way a fox shifter is who I was. If Evan hadn’t spent all his energy suppressing his wolf, he’d have been more at peace.
Ghouls are scavengers, but vamps are predators. Theoretically neither is a threat to me, because I’m a shifter. Vampires don’t like our blood. And Gabe is my friend, so I’m pretty certain he won’t eat me when I die. Gabe had tried going vegetarian, but that had just made him feel awful. Also, he’d smelled worse. He reminds me of a rodent, probably because his eyes are unfortunately too close together. Too bad my fox spirit loves chasing rodents.
I climbed down from the ladder and turned right into Maximus’s wall of a chest. What the fuck had he been doing standing so close to me? Smelling my hair?
“Oww!” I rubbed my sore nose. “What’re you doing?”
Max’s eyes narrowed. “Something is different about you.”
Gotta love how vamps don’t apologize. Ever.
“I don’t usually wear my hair down.” I tucked my curls back behind my ears, calming my nerves. If only vamps didn’t have to stare all the time. So unnerving. Still, I had wanted to talk to him. Visiting Evan in his office would have to wait. I should get a tattoo:Sleuthing first, sex second.
“The place is hardly recognizable from last time you saw it, right?” My observation was true: the inn was looking much improved. And all the detectives in my mystery novels start with small talk when interviewing suspects.
The Havoc brothers were transforming a hundred-year-old falling-down shell into a hewn-timber inn. Much of the exterior lumber had been reclaimed from old barns scattered around Maine. It was less distance to haul the wood, and it gave the place a nice aesthetic. Hopefully all the nature-loving tourists would appreciate it too.
“What do you think?” Max asked, pointing to an electrical-outlet box on the wall.
Evan was tall, dark, and sexy, but Max gave off a stalker vibe. Part of it was the vamp in him, but the rest was just him. Even though the two men were roughly the same size, everything about Evan radiated “secure.” That wasn’t the case with Max.
I peered into the space, shining my flashlight into the box. “Looks like there’ll be enough room here for four outlets. We can run the cable through here. Then we can have a grounded one over there.”
As I swung back around, he sniffed my hair again.
“Hey, Maximus, remember I’m not on your menu.” I stepped aside.
He angled his blond head down at me. “Something about you has changed.”
Geesh. Again?“Ididget some new boots.”
“It has nothing to do with your feet.”
“Great boots,” Gabe chimed in. “Where’d you get those? I need some new ones.”
Most of the time Gabe wears socks and sandals since his feet are so big. Nothing is easy for that guy.
“Gabe, have you seen anything weird about Sleepy Briar lately?” I asked.
He cocked his head to one side. “In Sleepy Briar, you have to define ‘weird.’”
Good point.
“Dark magic. Like the kind that sets glamoured wolf traps.”