Page 25 of Quest of the Wolf

“You never know,” I muttered to myself. “Besides, after tormenting me and especially Duncan, Radomir and Abramsdeserveto have some stuff vandalized.”

I returned to the truck and pulled the magnet out from under the seat. Hurling it through windows doubtless wasn’t what Duncan had envisioned when he’d left it for me, but he wouldn’t frown upon such actions.

“Not when it’s tosavehim.”

Still standing by the truck, Jasmine lifted her phone. “Raccoons are omnivores anddoeat mushrooms.”

“When I see Radomir, I’ll be sure to let him know about the security hole in his facility.”

“Hopefully, his whole mushroom farm got eaten by nocturnal visitors. That’ll thwart his plans. Whatarehis plans, anyway? Did he say why he’s gathering artifacts related to werewolves?”

“He didn’t share his plans before siccing his brute squad on us.”

“Why are bad guys always so rude?”

“It’s encoded in their DNA.” I held up the magnet, which elicited a puzzled expression from Jasmine. “I’ll be right back.”

Back at the garage, I hefted Duncan’s gift, intending to throw it through the window, but I paused.

“Just in case…”

I walked to the door and pressed it to the wood where a horizontal bar on the other side might be. Duncan’s magnets werepowerful enough to be potent through boards. I was certain. I’d seen him pull an entire rusty bicycle frame off the bottom of a lake.

And, yes, I did feel resistance through the door. When I moved the magnet up slowly, a slight scrape sounded, something on the other side brushing against the wood. When I lowered it, the object thunked back into place. Not sure how to dislodge what I couldn’t see, I moved the magnet to the side. The object shifted with it. I pulled the magnet away from the door, and a clatter sounded as something inside hit the ground.

This time, when I tried the door, it swung inward.

“Hah.”

“Are you breaking and entering, Luna?” Jasmine leaned around the corner of the other building to look at me.

“I haven’t broken anything. I may enter something.” I pointed my flashlight at the interior of the garage. “Do you still want a recommendation for your résumé, or do you now consider me a morally questionable person to associate with?”

“Nah, I was just wondering if I should get my Doritos to have snacks while I watch the show.”

“This shouldn’t take long.”

My flashlight beam swept over stacks of coolers and insulated foam shipping boxes. The green lights I’d seen belonged to refrigerators lined up against one wall. I opened the door of one and found baskets of freshly harvested mushrooms, including the same speckled variety the raccoon had been enjoying. Others glowed green, blue, or yellow.

“I’m guessing these aren’t on their way to WinCo for the produce aisle,” I murmured.

I peeked in a few more refrigerators. More mushrooms. That was it. Nothing in the garage gave hints about where werewolves were kept prisoner.

“Just a place for growing potion ingredients,” I said. “Like we thought.”

Duncan might not have ever been in the area.

Disappointed, I headed back to the door but paused to eye the insulated boxes. Some of them had shipping labels already. When I poked through them, I recognized most of the addresses from the list Jasmine had sent me, other facilities that Tumwater Tonic Corporation—Radomir—owned. But one wasn’t familiar. An address just outside the small town of Maple Falls.

My eyes snagged on the name because that was where Austin was staying for his vacation. That again made me feel uneasy, even though it all had to be a coincidence.

I took a photo of the address to check on later. It wasn’t far from where we were, so we could drive up there, though it probably wasn’t one of Radomir’s facilities. It hadn’t been on the list from Jasmine’s father. Maybe it belonged to some alchemist who ordered glowing ’shrooms from this farm. Maybe Rue would recognize it as a colleague’s address.

As I rejoined Jasmine, a howl wafted out of the night.

“Is that Duncan?” Jasmine asked.

My first inclination was to say no, but distance and trees muffled sound. I stepped away from the building, cocking my head and hoping the howl would repeat.

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