Page 42 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

“The pendant dictates she is part of it,” agreed Mae. “She’s one of the six and who knows? Maybe she can do magic. Maybe she’s a hybrid werewolf witch.”

“Maybe someone’s been reading too many pulp fiction books. You can’t “hybrid” your way out of everything.” Trina argued.

Anita’s eyes widened in shock. “Underworld is not pulp fiction. it’s high culture.”

“It’s so retro,” Drake said, not agreeing with his sister for once.

“How can Underworld be retro? It just came out,” I said. “I mean, like 5,10 years ago.”

“Try like twenty years ago,” Anita said.

“2003,” Trina cut in. “You’re both wrong.”

Zombie dog Carl scuttled up and started licking my sneaker. “Ew Carl, stop! You don’t know where that’s been.”

“Just think where Carl has been,” Mae assured me with a chuckle.

“Ew, if I’m stuck here and if we’re going to solve the crime and also try to find out who has put a hit on me, we’re going to need a crime board,” I said “I need a whiteboard on the wall.”

“I’ve got it,” Drake said, waving his hand almost nonchalantly and a whiteboard appeared.

“And pens,” I added. “How easy is it for you to produce images?”

“It’s not a problem,” Anita said. “If our magic fails, we always use the Internet.”

I drew the details of the murder up on the board in the same way the police would do in a crime scene investigation. “Two harpies were killed and we believe it’s to wake the creature that’s inside the cemetery. Do you think it is a Vampire?” I asked.

“I just found reference to it in one of the old almanacs. It just said that there was blood sucking beast that was dead and deservedly buried in the cemetery even though it breathed. That’s what I read.” Trina showed the image from the book to up so the others could see the dark, hairy creature that was hand drawn in the almanac. Anita waved her hand and prints from the book appeared on the white board.

“That would be the logical choice,” Mae said. “However, it doesn’t look like one.”

“There’s only one real way to find out,” Hilda pointed out. “We need to open the crypt.”

“All due respect, but that seems like the craziest idea I’ve ever heard,” I said. “There is an enemy out there killing people. Another one wants to kill me, and you think opening a grave is going to solve these problems?”

“Or face a raging ravenous beast and get eaten,” Drake said. “I wonder who they would bite first time. Opening the grave while the beast is incapacitated seems an obvious choice.”

I couldn’t argue with his logic. We had to enter the crypt.

Chapter 30

It was an all-hands-on deck meeting of the coven with Jane, Branson and Matheus in attendance. “Does anyone even know how to open a crypt?” I asked. “I mean, it’s not like you just walk up and knock on the door and turn the handle, is it?”

Jane shrugged. “I suppose we would need a crowbar or something like it, no?”

“I think we can get it,” Branson said, looking over at Matheus and giving him a nod. Matheus gave a single ascent of his head.

“Sure,” he said. “We’ll handle it.”

I hadn’t actually spent much time around Branson, so when he’d showed up at the house, I’d been surprised to see him. I could see the minute that he showed up that everything between him and Mae was rosy. He’d grabbed her in a bear hug and given her a resounding kiss.

My heart kind of went out for them. I mean, I knew Matheus liked me, but how long was that going to last? It’s wasn’t like we were going to get married and have babies or anything like that. At least Mae had found a man. I still wasn’t sure if Matheus and I were that compatible in our goals, although, oh my, we were compatible in bed. My knees still got weak thinking about it.

“So how do you know if there’s a price on her head, specifically,” Branson asked.

“There’s always been a price on a wolf shifter's head in this area. There is in a few other counties as well, but I haven’t investigated them. I just noticed because I’ve always had a thing for wolves.”

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