Thankfully, Merrick waited until Jacob had left to turn to Rex.“What were you thinking?Why did you send him to bed?”
“Because I think that all of us can use a little more sleep since we got here late this morning, and even more important, some time to regroup.Now, we can talk without him being here with us and hearing what we have to say.”
“I don’t care if he hears me call him an asshole,” Merrick grumbled.
“That’s not what I was thinking of.”Rex reached for the list and dragged it closer.“Arlen, Merrick, since you used to live here, you should go over this.We need to find the killer before the dragons decide to accuse one of us and take matters into their own hands.”Because if they did, it wouldn’t be pretty.
* * * *
HARMON WAS TIRED, BUThe understood why Merrick hadn’t been happy when Rex had sent Jacob to bed.He also wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.It might mean he had to go back home to the coven, but he didn’t like being in enemy territory.
Because that was where they were.They might be sleeping in a comfortable bed, but the clan didn’t want them there any more than they wanted to be there.They were there for one thing—talk to people, agree on who should be the next leader, and hope the dragons would go along with the suggestion.Instead, they had a dead body on their hands, and none of them were detectives.Watching a crime TV show half a dozen times didn’t count.
Rex looked over the list and grimaced.“There are way too many names on this.”
“Do you think Jacob did it on purpose?”Harmon asked as he leaned closer to look.
Rex wasn’t wrong.There had to be at least twenty names, and since they’d have to talk to all of these people, it meant it would take them ages.Harmon wasn’t looking forward to it.He didn’t think anyone around the table was.
“I think that since Brian was one of Martin’s supporters, it makes sense that people hated him.I’m not sure where we should start, though.”
Harmon got to his feet.“By going back to bed.”He looked at Merrick, who was clearly about to argue.“We haven’t slept much, and the dragons are sleeping, anyway.There’s nothing we can do for now.You’re welcome to take this list and go over it, though.You and Arlen can do more than the rest of us can since we don’t know these people.”
“We could knock on their doors and wake them up,” Merrick argued.
“If that’s what you want to do, be my guest, but I doubt you’ll get many answers out of them if they’re angry and scared because you woke them up.I think the best thing we can do is get more rest and gather here again at four when Jacob’s supposed to get up.”
“Maybe we can also send the list back to the pack,” Rex said, still staring at the piece of paper.“Someone could look into the names and help give us an idea of what we’re dealing with.”
“That’s a good idea,” Harmon confirmed.Between the wolves and the vampires who lived with them, there was bound to be someone awake and willing to do it.
Rex took a picture of the list before pushing it toward Arlen, who took it and folded it.
“I’m going to call Alpin,” Merrick grumbled as he got to his feet and turned to leave.He didn’t say goodbye, but Harmon hadn’t expected him to.Merrick was annoyed and had zero patience.It was a miracle that he’d agreed to let this go and wait.
“I’ll call Kieran to let him know what happened and ask him to see if someone can look into this,” Rex said, looking around the table.
Everyone nodded, including Harmon.They had a plan, which was a relief, but it still didn’t feel like enough.Unfortunately, there was nothing else they could do right now since everyone but them was asleep or on their way to be.
They walked back to their rooms as a group.Merrick was ahead of them, texting someone—probably Alpin—and he didn’t say goodbye when he walked into his room and slammed the door shut.Arlen shook his head, a smile playing on his lips before he pulled Mallory into their bedroom.
That left Rex and Harmon.They glanced at each other, and Harmon smiled.This might not have been the perfect evening, but he’d woken up in the same bed as Rex, and that meant something.
“This isn’t how I thought this night would go,” Rex grumbled as he closed the door behind them.
“I’m sure Brian felt the same way.”
Rex shook his head.“I don’t know how you can find humor in this situation.”He was smiling, though, so Harmon didn’t take it badly.
“I’m not wrong, though.”
“You definitely aren’t.Are you going to call Brad?”
Harmon grimaced.“Do I have to?”
“I have to call Kieran anyway.We can try to keep the conversations as short as possible.”
That was fine with Harmon.He wanted nothing more than to get back into bed with Rex and revisit what they’d done earlier.They still hadn’t talked about what it meant, but Harmon was convinced there was something there.He doubted that they’d have the opportunity to explore it anytime soon.They couldn’t afford to be distracted, and Rex was a spectacular distraction.
