Page 78 of Strike It Witch

“His daughter called me, hysterical. The scene when I arrived was something out of a horror movie. Things that should’ve been on the inside were on the outside. His spine had cracked in so many places, it looked like a jigsaw puzzle from Hell. There was so much blood—it even dripped from the ceiling… The way he screamed will stay with me forever.” I shivered. “We called Alpha Pallás. Begged him to come.”

“He didn’t come to the aid of his wolf?” Ronan’s eyes were like a sustained camera flash. Blinding, brilliant gold.

“He came.Twofucking hours later.” I pressed my palms to the table to steady my hands, hoping it would extend to my voice, which was now shaking with rage. “He strolled in like a spoiled king being forced to acknowledge his lowly subjects. Took one look at my client’s suffering father then nodded to his second alpha, who shrugged and told the fourth alpha to ‘see to it.’ Then they walked out.”

“Fourth alpha. Was that Jade Walker?”

I nodded. “She’d just been appointed to the security team. To her credit, Jade tried hard to help, but it was too late. By the time your father and his security team deigned to make an appearance, the beta wolf was already more dead than alive. Jade collapsed from exhaustion, and my client begged me to end his suffering.” I clenched my hands into fists. “So I killed him.”

“In the pack, we call that mercy.”

“Your pack had no mercy for that wolf. Not back then and not now.”

Ronan went dead silent. The radio switched songs twice, but I barely registered the music.

“That’s why you took those blackmail photos of the alpha. So you’d have a way to ensure he never did that to another of his wolves again.That’swhy you need the leverage.”

He was partly correct about the leverage, but incorrect about the blackmail pics. I hadn’t taken them. His own wolves had. My client had given them to me when she left the pack. Told me that while she didn’t blame me for what happened to her father, she felt I owed him. That I could repay them both by keeping Alpha Floyd in line.

“One day I’ll bring him down. And when I do, he’ll know it was because he was such a callous bastard to my client.” I released my fists, took a long deep breath.

Ronan reached for my relaxed hands, gently twining his fingers with mine. “Why don’t you use the wolves’ names? You only refer to them as your client and her father.”

“Client information is confidential. I don’t break confidentiality—not even after death.” And not when the client herself was still alive and could be hunted down and killed for what she’d done.

He went silent again, staying that way for the duration of another song. This time I was aware of the music. “Black Water” by The Doobie Brothers. Too optimistic of a song for the moment.

“I’m glad he kicked his old security team out of the pack last year. Even if Jade helped, she was as bad as the others in myriad ways,” Ronan growled. His eyes had gone back to normal, and there was a sorrow in their hazel depths that matched the sadness in me.

“Yeah,” I said. “Not sure Mason Hartman is much better.”

“That’s because he’s not.”

“Ronan, you could?—”

“And you could stay here and take care of your park,” he said.

It stung, but it was fair. We could both do a lot of things we weren’t doing. Neither of us had the right to call the other out.

I sighed, pulled my hands out of his, and slid out from behind my table. “Tell Alpha Floyd I’m doing the handoff withthe bookseller at midnight Sunday night in the parking lot. If he brings any wolves with him besides you, we're going to have a problem. Otherwise, he has my express permission to enter that part of my property, and that part only.”

“Thanks, Betty.” He stood, too. “For everything.”

“You’re welcome.”

He nodded grimly and reached for the door.

“Oh, and Ronan?” A smile tugged one side of my mouth. “Tell him I said to bring a crucifix.”

Chapter

Twenty

The mage showed up at nine a.m. on Sunday morning.

On the phone, he’d informed me that he was an earth mage and had traveled the southwest for the last five years. I’d tried to keep the excitement from my voice when I invited him to tour the property. I wasn’t sure I’d stifled all my joy, but I was certain I’d done a better job of it than Ida was doing right now.

“Calm down.” I applied a second coat of red lipstick in the mirror and tossed the tube in my cosmetic bag. I wore my usual uniform: black top, black slim-fit jeans, and black heels. I toyed with the idea of wearing Ida’s flower in my hair but decided against it.

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