Nelson gave me a look. Then he turned back to the women. “I have a feeling Albert will cooperate more with you. At the very least, he’ll be more wary of your power and your…connections.”
Evie shrugged. “We’ll talk to him. Whether he’ll cooperate is another story, but we should be able to figure out if he knows anything. Any luck figuring out how they got Ilayda away from the scene?”
“We’ve had our people searching cameras in the neighborhood, but without any witnesses to tell us the make and model of the car, we don’t know what we’re looking for.”
Kyla leaned against the bar. “I bet they put Ilayda in the trunk. That’s what I would’ve done.”
Mere nodded. “Switch cars a few times and avoid the cameras.”
“We’ll talk to Albert tomorrow,” Evie told Nelson.
I opened my mouth to tell them I’d go with them—I loathed Albert—but I closed it again as Nelson nodded and wandered away, his expression carefully neutral as he watched the werewolves fix Mere’s wall.
I had another appointment tomorrow with a certain loan shark.
And he was going to regret ever knowing Meredith’s name.
11
MEREDITH
Evie’s eyes widened as she looked over my shoulder, and I turned. Hystea gave the werewolves a wide berth and strolled toward us, wearing loose white pants and a tank top.
The harpy’s eagle-like features were feral in their beauty. Her sharp nose jutted out of her face, while her cheekbones were two blades. She had a wide mouth, sharp fangs, and walked with a swagger.
“I heard you’ve been looking for me.”
“Yeah.” I glanced around the bar and gestured for the others to follow me into the stock room. Vassago decided to join us, so it was a tight fit. The room wasn’t designed for five people to chat—especially when two of those people had wings.
Hystea didn’t seem pleased by the small space, but she let it go. As the unofficial leader of the harpies, she was used to dealing with other paranormals.
Harpies were dark fae, but no one would dare call them “lesser” to their faces. While years of being hunted had almost driven them to extinction, they were now slowly rebuilding their numbers.
Evie handed her the crime scene photos. Hystea studied them with cold eyes. “You believe one of my sisters was responsible for this?”
Harpies considered everyone of their race to be their sisters. When they went into heat, they’d have sex with a male—human, fae, demon, it didn’t matter—and if the baby was female, she would be kept and raised with her mother. If it was male, it would be delivered to the father.
“Can we take a look at your claws?” I asked.
Hystea gave me an unfriendly look, but one hand was suddenly in front of my face, her claws extended. I jolted.
Next to me, Vas went very still. I glanced at him, taking in the savage warning on his face as he stared at the harpy.
She smiled back at him, her claws still extended inches from my face.
Kyla heaved a sigh. “If you’re going to fight, at least do it outside. Mere’s bar has already been smashed up once.”
Vas gave the harpy a slow smile. I elbowed him in the ribs.
“See how the body was ripped apart?” I asked Hystea, mostly to distract everyone. Next to me, Evie was watching Vas and Hystea with a considering expression. Likely, she was figuring out who she’d bet on if they really did fight.
“Yes,” Hystea said.
“At first, I thought it could be a werewolf, but werewolf claws aren’t close to being curved enough. When a werewolf attacks someone, they split them open. But this was more of an…evisceration.” I winced at the memory. “Kyla, can you show her what we mean?”
Kyla shrugged and held her hand out next to Hystea’s. Her claws suddenly appeared, faster than the harpy’s had, and it was Hystea’s turn to give Kyla that same considering look.
Paranormals. Everyone was constantly evaluating one another’s power and wondering who would come out on top.
