Page 40 of Relics of the Wolf

“My aura of werewolfness is stronger when I’mpissed,” I finally got out.

“Ah. I looked something up for you. Do you want to see it?” Duncan tapped his phone and held up a map.

“I want…”

What did I want? Duncan hadn’t done anything wrong, other than answer the phone when my nemesis had called, and he’d had a reason.

“Me to get naked so you can ravage my firm, taut body?”

I gave him the exasperated look the question deserved, but his sillinessdidcause some of the tension in my shoulders to release. “No.”

“That’s disappointing.”

“Also, firm and taut mean the same thing.”

“If that were true, two different words wouldn’t exist.”

“Do you want me to get Bolin? He’s my word expert.”

“To discuss my firm tautness? No.”

Just as well. He’d taken off in his SUV. To 3D print my wolf artifact, I hoped.

I waved at the phone. “What have you got?”

“I’ve marked all the lavender farms within fifty miles of Seattle.” He held up a map with numerous dots on the northeastern part of the Olympic Peninsula and a few more scattered in northern Snohomish County.

“Are you planning to buy me a bouquet of flowers?” I asked before remembering the lavender scent he’d caught whenever we’d been close to the blond guy. Since I hadn’t picked it up myself, it was easy to forget.

“No, I’m saving for a micro diamond, remember?” Duncan waved toward the bills pinned on his dash. “Lavender is fleeting. Diamonds are forever. The ultimate memento to remember someone by.”

“You think I want to remember you forever?”

“I’d be aghast if any woman wanted to forget me.”

I shook my head and rubbed my face, smiling slightly despite myself. He was goofy, but maybe I needed some goofy in my life.

“You think the lavender scent you caught was from our guy traipsing through actual flowers?” I was skeptical, especially since it was late November. Lavender season had long since passed. “Isn’t it more likely he uses lavender-scented deodorant or something?”

“Did he seem like the kind of man to buy floral deodorant?” It was Duncan’s turn to sound skeptical. “I don’t believe there’sanykind of man who would rub flower smells under his armpits.”

“Oh, they exist, but I agree he didn’t seem like one.”

“If it’s unlikely he’s rubbing his armpits with floral scents, he may be spending time somewhere that they linger in the air.” Duncan waved his phone, the map still on the display.

“He could have a lavender car freshener he picked up at a gas station.”

“I suppose, though I maintain that’s not a manly scent that a professional mugger would be likely to purchase.”

“No? Mugging people is a tough job, and lavender is supposed to be de-stressing.”

Duncan shrugged. “I’ll send you the map and list of places in case anything strikes you as worth checking out. Some of these farms are in your pack’s territory.”

“Okay. But what was that online server Chad mentioned? You teased that out of him, right? It wasn’t something you knew about?”

“I did try to get it out of him, but the name is familiar. The Elder Kinwalkers. I’ll look it up, but I think it’s an underground marketplace where people trade items relevant to alchemists, witches, druids, shamans, etc. A paranormal eBay of sorts.”

I made a note of the name. It sounded like a good place to list a faux werewolf artifact for sale.

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