Page 102 of Witch Undecided
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lauter was shutting down the bar, ushering everyone out. We’d searched the premises and found no trace of Astrid, Selena, or the other wolves. Eight female shifters gone.
“So they went to the restroom?” Leif asked Trenton again.
“Yeah, and they were ages, so Danny went to check on them. No one came back.”
Sloane joined us. “The hotel says they haven’t come back.”
“They wouldn’t just leave,” Trenton said.
A cold gust of air blew in from the entrance and Jessie stood framed in the doorway. “Guys. We found… something.”
Her eyes were huge, dark pits in her pale face.
My gut twisted.
We followed her out of the bar and down the street. Poppy stood at the mouth of an alley up ahead, bubble-gum hair billowing in the breeze. Her hands were fisted at her sides, gaze fixed straight ahead on whatever was hidden from us. Leif sniffed the air and then broke into a jog with Trenton close behind. The rest of us followed. We came to a halt at the foot of the alley where the coppery scent of blood hit me.
Shit, this must be what Leif had…Oh fuck. What was that?
A shadowy lump lay in the middle of the alley. I took a step forward and Leif grabbed my arm.
“Stay back.”
He and Trent walked into the alley, cautiously approached the form, and crouched to examine it.
“Fuck. No, man. No.” Trent’s words drifted out to us.
Poppy looked at me and shook her head, her eyes brimming.
The moon chose that moment to peek out from behind the clouds, lighting up the scene. The lump morphed into a man, torn and bloody, bottom half of his body twisted at an odd angle.
I couldn’t see his face. Leif was in the way. I couldn’t see, but I knew, and when Leif shifted position my suspicions were confirmed and my breath whooshed out of my lungs.
Danny stared at me from dead eyes.
Dead Danny. Torn to shreds.
Several creatures could do this kind of damage, but only one we knew of had anything to gain by it.
The varga had our women.
“They tore him up,”Poppy sobbed. “He’s dead. Danny…Oh, God, sweet Danny.” She covered her face with her hands as wretched sobs wracked her frame.
We’d returned to Outliers where Lauter poured a round of whiskeys and left the bottle on the table. The place was shrouded in darkness, the main lights and neon sign turned off.
Jessie sat beside Poppy, an arm around her friend’s shoulders, face a mask of suppressed rage. “What’s the play, Leif?”
Leif stood with his chin tucked in, his eyes dark with rage. “There are no rifts open. Tor and Rune both checked in. The patrols have scoped everywhere and no rifts.”
“They came into town,” Sloane said. “There could be a rift in town.”
Trenton shook his head. “They’ve never opened a rift in town. They can’t. Their world meets ours in specific areas, and we have those covered.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Positive, but I had some wolves do a sweep of the surrounding area anyway. Nothing.”
