Page 57 of Wicked Witch of the Wolf

That sounded like him.

Ronan.

She unlocked a bottom drawer and pulled out a keyring. “This big one is to that old Ford truck and these,” she indicated two silver keys marked with the letter F in permanent marker, “are for the front door of his apartment. I don’t believe he’d mind if you took them.”

I sat back in my chair, trying to catch my breath. The tears had stopped, and rage was setting in.

“In case you were wondering, I went upstairs to see if he was there right after you called. I got worried.” She shut the drawer and relocked it. “His scent is at least a day old. He hasn’t been there all night. Karen was the last person to see him, and that was around midnight. No one has seen or heard from him since.”

The pit that had formed in my gut when I lost communication with Margaux widened until it was a gaping hole filled with roiling lava.

Gladys stood very still. “Are you going to find the boss?”

“Yes,” I managed. And Margaux and Bronwyn.

“Do you think the alpha leader is responsible?” she asked in a small voice.

“Do you want the answer to that?” I fired back. “Because you’ll have to face the truth about the wolf you serve, if so.”

She stared at the floor, her head bobbing up and down. A nod, but also a shrug and a head shake. I wasn’t sure how to interpret it.

“I’ve planned for this day.” She lifted her face, and her eyes glowed with her wolf. “It’s beenyears. We’ve waited for someone like Ronan to come along, someone strong enough… You can damn sure bet I want the truth, and I’m not the only one. Ronan has supporters. Not only the elderly and betas, either. A rebellion has been brewing in this pack for some time.”

“Alpha Floyd asked the coven to kill Ronan,” I said. “When the old coven leader refused, he found a way to get rid of her and appointed someone who would. So, yes. I think Alpha Floyd is responsible. And not only for Ronan, either. Two witches, Margaux Ramirez and Bronwyn Jonas are missing.”

Gladys handed me the keys. “You’re saying the coven is compromised.”

“Yes.” To be fair, I’d been saying it all along. Now, however, I was saying it with irrefutable proof.

“I’m going to put the word out,” she said. “Watch for Alpha’s loyalists. You’re not safe around them.”

“Uh, okay.” I had zero idea what to do with this information.

I already didn’t trust any Pallás wolves except Gladys and Ronan, and I watched my step around Gladys. Not that she’d willingly sell me out, but because of her low placement in the pack, she could be forced to by a wolf more alpha than she was.

“Let’s get every wolf in the community out there looking for Ronan,” I said. “Don’t make a big show about it, but we need all paws on deck.Trustedpaws, that is.”

“I’ll send Charlie Hannigan out to search where Ronan runs. Charlie’s a drunk, but he’s also an alpha, and he was once the best long-distance runner in the pack. The wolf’s no slouch in the snout department, either. If there’s something to sniff out, he’ll find it. Give you a call when I know anything.”

“Thank you.” I came around the desk and hugged her.

Then I ran out of the pub and straight to Ronan’s truck. I jammed the keys in the ignition and gunned the engine. A flash of purple in the cupholder caught my attention. My breath hitched and tears stung the backs of my eyes.

“Ronan.”

It was the lavender flower I’d given him in the garden room yesterday. He’d laid the wilted head on a folded paper napkin. Carefully. Like it meant something to him.

An image of Floyd popped into my head unbidden. Fury erupted in me then slowed, like lava flow oozing from an angry volcano.

If you’ve hurt him, I’m going to kill you.

I fished my phone out of my bag and called Ida. “Tell the boys to get ready. I’m about to start a war.”

When I arrived home,my partners—all three of them—were waiting for me. Ida had talked Maya into taking a nap since she was still recovering from her ordeal with Desmond then had taken theWeret-hekau Maleficiuminto the garden room because she said being in the house with it “creeped her out.”

Alarmingly, Cecil had been poring over the text. Fennel, too, but that was less alarming. I trusted Fennel’s judgment. Cecil was a wild card.

I filled them in on everything.

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