We left the bistro and had made it halfway down the street when Phoebe inched closer to me. “That messed-up situation aside, did you sense the energies coming off of those two?”
Two?“Not Leslie. But that asshole was definitely a shifter.”
“Leslie’s a shifter of some type too,” she said. “Weak blood, though—much weaker than that douche. When Leslie gave me my change, her skin brushed mine, and I recognized it.”
I hummed, trying to calm myself and collect my thoughts. “And in the photo she pointed out, there was a shifter couple too—probably strong blood, considering the glowing amber eyes.”
We walked another half a block in silence, both considering what this meant. Finally, Phoebe spoke up.
“So it seems like whatever we’re here to do, we’ll be up against shifters.”
“Hopefully they’re not all assholes like Taylor.” I wrinkled my nose and shook my head. “I’ve never really dealt with them, but I know that their behavior depends on their animal aspect. The more aggressive the animal, the more aggressive the shifter, even in human aspect. So finding that out is paramount.”
Phoebe nodded and bit her lip. “I agree that we need to find out what subspecies live here.” Her gaze darted right and then left before she leaned close to me. “What do you think about the shifters having something to do with the so-called animal attacks happening in the area?”
I hadn’t even considered connecting the two. Most shifters never attacked humans. They were more likely to fight or attack competing packs or prides than humans.
“What? You don’t think so?” Phoebe asked, taking my silence as skepticism.
“No. It’s not that. Actually, I think you might be right on the money. I wonder if the attacks are related to the object we’re supposed to find?” I shook my head. “I wish Spellcasters had given us a little more info.”
Phoebe snorted out a laugh. “They always want to make things a challenge.”
There was no doubt about that.
After a couple hours of walking around the tiny town and seeing mansion after mansion, we discovered the area where people of more modest means lived. The neighborhood was a ways away from the main strip, and rundown. Although I understood why the town would want to put its best face forward, it still struck me as very odd that finding a single normal home outside that neighborhood seemed impossible. It reminded me of a slum, which was strange. Shifters usually took better care of their own kind.
After Phoebe and I received a few shifty looks walking through the ghetto, we made our way back into the town center and checked into the hotel. There were plenty of rooms, and the desk clerk, yet another young, weak-blooded shifter, mentioned that the hot springs were in the far back of the hotel, and that we should take advantage of them.
“We have a large group of guests arriving tomorrow, but tonight, there are only a few, so they should be nice and private,” the teenager said as he handed us our room key.
Phoebe and I figured that hot springs were as good a place as any to talk, so we went to our rooms and changed. Ten minutes later, clad in shorts and tank tops—because neither of us had thought to bring swimsuits on a mission—we slipped into the mineral pools.
Phoebe sank deep into the pool. “So far, I’ve only met shifters, and they all seem weak, especially the young ones.”
“Do you think it’s that their species’ blood has weakened over time?” I asked. “Like they mated with humans or something?”
“It’s a possibility,” Phoebe said. “But since we arrived, have you seen a single person you would say is straight up human?”
I thought back. Every single person I’d passed had radiated magical energies. “No, you’re right. I didn’t sense a single human.”
Phoebe opened her mouth to say something, but the door to the spa flew open, and two raucous couples glided in.
“Hi, there.” Phoebe waved good-naturedly. “Enjoying your vacation?”
The woman in the group’s forefront stopped laughing and turned to face us.
I sucked in a breath, immediately aware that we had misjudged them as tourists. The woman in the front was the shifter from the picture in the bistro. Her amber eyes glowed even brighter in real life.
“We’re not tourists, darling. I’m Rita Hayes, and this is my husband Bob,” the woman said. “We live in town. Henry and Judith here,” she gestured to the other couple, “are the proprietors of this hotel, and I own half of main street.” Her nose tilted up in the air.
I pressed my lips together, trying to hold in my mirth. I’d led a charmed life, and money no longer impressed me, but there were always people whom it impressed a hell of a lot. More often than not, those people were new money and loved to flaunt it.
“This is Odette, and I’m Phoebe.” My partner gestured to each of us in turn. “We’ve visited a lot of places on the main street today. As a matter of fact, we seemed to have covered most of the town already.” She lifted herself out of the pool to rest her arms on the stone side. “Since you’re locals, maybe you can suggest a few hidden gems we might not have noticed that we can try tomorrow? Or a safe trail? Or even . . . a place to commune with the magical elements around here?”
At the mention of magic, the couples exchanged glances. Henry’s nose twitched, telling that he had the best sense of smell out of the four.
“Witches?” he asked tentatively.
