Page 36 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

It was a short walk down to the Waldorf but with every step closer that we took, I felt more nervous. I was pretty sure Matheus was not going to be there.

I was right. The grumpy old owner, Heath, was behind the bar. His grizzled mane of gray hair and beard made him look like Neptune rising out of the ocean.

“He didn’t show up for work today,” Heath said.

“Is that normal?” Mae asked.

“Not in the slightest,” Heath said. “That guy is here every day on time, washed, cleaned, and ready to go. He is nothing if not consistent. The bastard‘s almost always in a good mood, too. He’s really fucking annoying.”

“We have to go by his house,” I said. “Something’s wrong with him. Where did you guys find me?”

“I heard you come in at about midnight,” Jane said.” I thought you’d been having a night with Matheus, so I figured I just make myself at home until you showed up. When you got home, you went straight to bed and shut the door. I didn’t see you until this morning covered in dirt and blood.” She paused. “I’ll drive.”

Jane had rented a convertible mustang. She dropped the top and the three of us jumped in and cruised the back roads to Matheus’s house. I was nervous, but at least the wind in my hair kept my complete terror at bay for a few more minutes.

What if we went there and found him dead? It was a resounding thought that I didn’t dare to share with anybody. There was no way in hell I was going to set the stage.

I needed to see what condition he was in and then I’d know what I had done. If I had come home covered in dirt and blood, I had definitely done something last night.

Matheus’s place was deadly quiet. My nerves were on fire as I knocked on the barn door and it slid open under my touch. I walked into the house. I sniffed the air, but I didn’t see much. The shower door was shattered and there was blood on the floor, where clearly, I had cut myself with the glass. In the living room there were signs of a struggle of some sort and more blood.

“Can you smell anything?” Mae asked.

I sniffed the air, my heart racing. Something was wrong. It smelled of me and Matheus and sex and blood, but there were so many other smells inside the room it was impossible to trace just one. Matheus’s scent was everywhere. There was no telling when he had touched the door or where he had gone. But one thing was for sure. There had been an incident here and he was nowhere to be seen.

“If I’d eaten him, there be more blood, right?” I asked.

“If you had eaten him, your belly would be out to here,” Jane said. “Relax, girl. You didn’t eat your boyfriend.”

“The only problem is, we don’t know where he is,” Mae said. “The last thing we want is to end up like the two harpies we found in the forest.”

My heart clutched in fear. Where was Matheus?

Chapter 25

“His motorcycle’s gone too,” I said, standing out in the gravel area outside his barn.

“Maybe he just went for a ride,” Jane suggested.

“Right after seeing me bound out looking like a werewolf and bleeding and maybe taking a few bites out of him? No doubt he went to get his bike.”

“He might’ve gone to get back up,” Mae said. “I was reading the other day that the satyrs tend to run in gangs and work in group operations.”

“Great, that’s just the thing we have to worry about. An invasion of satyrs into Cougar Creek.” I murmured.

“I don’t know. It sounds like it might be a good time now?” Jane asked. “You can’t argue with the need for back up at the moment.”

“Do you have the photos of the symbols on the chest?” Mae asked. “I think we need to go and look for those. We still have a murder to solve. I think your boyfriend might’ve just gone on an escapade.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said.

“Are you sure about that?” Mae asked.

“Yeah, I’m completely sure. He actually asked me to be his girlfriend.”

“Ooh la aa,” Jane said.

“I told him I’d think about it.”

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