Page 46 of Relics of the Wolf

I was debating on an appropriately snarky response when the phone rang.

“Sylvan Serenity Housing.” Again, I kept myself from including my name, as I usually would. Just in case.

“Is this the owner of the wolf artifact?” a man with a raspy voice asked.

The hair on the back of my neck rose.

“This is Janette, yes,” I said, using the name I’d put in the ad.

“I’m an interested buyer, but I need to see it in person.”

“Of course.”

With his keen ears, Duncan probably heard both sides of the conversation. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his hip against the desk.

“Are the batteries included?” the caller asked.

I blinked. What?

“Uh, I don’t think there are batteries. Oh, are you asking because of the glow? I’m not quite sure what that is but probably some phosphorescent paint.” I imagined Bolin being aggrieved at the suggestion that his druid enchantment was something so pedestrian.

“I see.” Did the speaker sound more interested? “I see,” he repeated. Yes, he sounded eager, almost triumphant. “Where may I view it?”

Duncan shook his head. Warning me not to invite the guy here? No, I couldn’t even if I’d wanted to fight on my home turf. If this was the man who employed the blond thug, the blond thug who’d already been here, he would know it was a set-up.

“The convenience store on Bothell Way by the teriyaki restaurant,” I said.

That was close to where Duncan and I had gone for our first date, a date of fine dining and battling my cousin’s wolf and mongrel-dog minions. If we had to fight again, we were both familiar with the area. I assumed that he would come with me.

“I get off work at eight,” I added into the silence.

“Let me see what I can arrange.”

“If you like what you see, it’s a hundred dollars.”

“That item isn’t worth more than fifty.”

“It’s worth a hundred alone for the glow,” I countered, figuring I should haggle. It would be suspicious if I was willing to give away such a fine find.

“The phosphorescent paint,” the man said dryly.

“It’snicepaint. And I’m willing to drive over there to show it to you.”

“I could come to you,” the man said. His raspy voice already made him sound creepy, but that added to it.

“The store is good. And my boyfriend will be with me, just FYI. He’s a karate blackbelt and a body builder.”

Duncan raised his eyebrows.

The caller chuckled, not sounding concerned.

“Eight o’clock tonight.” He hung up.

“Do you think that worked?” I worried it had been too easy. That guy had to have been monitoring those sites if he’d pounced so quickly.

“I’m not certain.” Duncan looked at the time on his phone. “I am concerned that I only have three hours to learn the skills of a karate blackbelt.”

“What makes you thinkyou’refilling the role of my boyfriend?”

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