Page 22 of Triumph of the Wolf
“Last time, Lykos suggested that as a possible means of fulfilling his mission for Abrams.”
“He probably shouldn’t have informed you about it ahead of time if that’s what he’s planning.”
“Exactly what I told him. He waved and said he was already thinking up other better plans, so it didn’t matter if I knew about that one.” Duncan accepted the bag of chocolate-covered almonds, then picked up the Mickey Mouse tin. He’d dumped the nuts and bolts into the other canister and wiped out the Disney one. “I’m going to offer him this, as well. Children enjoy cartoon characters, right?”
“Absolutely. Maybe he can store his assassination tools in there.”
“Everyone appreciates good tool storage.” Duncan opened the door. “I’ll check on him briefly, then come lend moral support to you with your problem.”
“Don’t forget about the maiming.”
“I’m always available for that if needed.” He saluted me with the tin, hopped out, and trotted toward the woods.
“Watch where you step,” I called after him, though I was already looking around for Chad.
This late at night, there hadn’t been much traffic on the drive back, but forty-five minutes had still passed since I’d spoken with Bolin. After taking a long breath that wasn’t as bracing asI wished, I slid out of the van and headed toward the leasing office.
“There you are,” came a familiar voice, if gruffer and crankier sounding than when last we’d spoken. Chad must not have come because he’d been pining for me all this time and wanted to reconnect. That was a relief.
“Here I am.”
Shoulder muscles tense, I tried to loosen my arms as he stepped out from between Bolin’s G-Wagon and a tenant’s car that I recognized. Chad glanced at the protective bubble around the Mercedes SUV before looking at me. Whatever rental car he’d driven up here didn’t stand out to me in the lot.
With short brown hair that he hadn’t allowed to go gray, a mustache above full lips and a clean-shaven jaw, and an aquiline nose, Chad hadn’t changed much since the last time I’d seen him. He might have put on a few pounds, but he remained strikingly handsome, with blue-gray eyes that I’d once likened to storm clouds. Back in the day, I’d thought that exotic and appealing.
“What brings you to Seattle?” I asked after a long, silent moment, eyeing his loafers, khakis, and brown leather jacket.
He was checking me out as much as I was him, his gaze lingering on my curves. Once, I would have found that flattering, but, now, I was tempted to punch him and tell him to look at my face.
He squinted slightly. Trying to determine if I was noticeably different now that I wasn’t taking the sublimation potion? To someone with magical blood, I was, but I didn’t know if a mundane human would be able tosense my aura, as we werewolves called it.
“Besides wanting to get into my apartment when I’m not there?” I added, raising frank eyebrows so he would know I knewhe’d been skulking about. “If you’re still looking for that case, don’t bother. I gave it to a druid family.”
Yes, it was a lie, but after all the lies he’d told me over the course of our marriage, I didn’t feel bad about prevarication.
“You what?” His eyebrows flew up as he met my gaze.
“After doing some research, I learned that druids long ago made it, so I figured it belonged to their kind.”
“And there are so many druids in the Seattle area,” he snapped, looking around, as if he might catch me in a lie and spot the case in the crotch of a tree.
No, it was in my heat duct…
“Of course there are druids here. It’s got a similar climate to their old-world origins, and it’s full of trees and nature. Druidslovenature.” I kept from glancing at the bubble around Bolin’s SUV to protect it from bird droppings. I didn’t want to do anything that would lead Chad to learn that Bolin was a druid and might know something about the location of the case.
“It has a wolf on it,” Chad said. “It has to do withwerewolves.”
“Actually, the artifact inside the case was designed to protectagainstwerewolves. Didn’t you ever have the inscription translated?”
“Yes, of course.” Chad hesitated. “It said it has to do with poisons, venoms, and werewolf bites.”
“Nothas to do withbutprotectspeople from them.”
He worked his jaw back and forth, a gesture I’d almost forgotten that he did when he was stewing over something. It made him look like a cow chewing cud. I wondered if whoever had done the translating for him had come up with a different interpretation than Bolin’s father. I was more inclined to trust my druid allies’ translation, especially since I’d now seen the artifact in action.
“You wouldn’t have given something so valuable away,” Chad said.
“It’s not that valuable. You only paid a few bucks for it from a street vendor.”
