We high-fived each other. “Thanks, friend.”
No matter how far she had to take it, Moira would always have my back.
Moira wason one corner of my land, Ash on another, and Caelan and I would take the other two. Armed with flashlights and metal detectors, everyone was doing a thorough search for anything Gianna might have dropped.
“I think we should bring in some wolves,” Caelan said. “They’ll be able to sense Gianna’s presence and find anything she may have dropped far faster than Moira or Ash.”
“We don’t know who we can trust,” I argued. “If Nadia has anyone on the inside, and she gets wind of our search, she’ll know we’re on to her.”
“Garrett and Simone, then. You know they’re beyond reproach.”
I thought about it. We could use more than one delicate nose tonight. “We should have done this during the daytime.”
“I disagree,” Caelan said. “Searching now might make things more difficult, but we won’t be so obvious. Moira and Ash are equipped with stealth flashlights and know not to use them until they’re sure they’ve found something. Both have impressive night vision. The quieter we keep this, the better.”
“Alright. Just them. No one else. Got it?”
Caelan smiled. “Got it.” He pulled out his cell and fired off a text.
“Should we start?”
“They can both get in the wards?”
I nodded. “I thought about keeping him out, but Garrett proved himself when he took a bullet for us.”
“He’s softened toward you as well. And Moira, though he has concerns about her impulse control.” At my look, he laughed and held up his hands.
“His words, not mine.”
I couldn’t tell him what Moira had done to Ethan. He wouldn’t tell on us, but it would put him in a difficult position if he was ever questioned about our potential involvement. Bad enough he knew about Thorvin. “Well, he didn’t try too hard to stop any shenanigans, so he wasn’t too hard to like. At least the other night.”
Caelan tugged me close to him and pressed a kiss against my temple. “Garrett isn’t used to females like you. Wolves are different from you two.”
“Simone seems pretty stubborn herself. She can’t be too different from us.”
“My Omega is much sneakier. You have trouble lying when asked a direct question. Simone can snap on a guileless expression in an instant.”
“Well, maybe she should come with us next time.”
“Hell no,” Caelan growled.
I snickered and sat on the ground. “Just wait. We’re already working on her. Soon we’ll drive you all into an early grave.”
Caelan sighed. “I’m going to look around, but I won’t stray too far. Anything in particular I should be looking for?”
I shook my head. “No idea. I can’t fathom what she might have had on her. Maybe a flash drive? Maybe a spell?”
“I’ll search for anything that seems out of place. You don’t get many trespassers, so that narrows things down.”
“Not anymore. The wards keep people out, but I didn’t always have them. I walked through a few times and cleaned things up. Humans are total litterbugs.”
“Ten minutes?” Caelan asked.
“Make it fifteen. I’m going to search as far as I can. It’s been a few months, but I don’t think anything she dropped would become too buried.”
He touched my hair and shifted in a flash of light. A massive dark wolf stood in his place. I reached up and ran my fingers through his soft fur, tugging a little at his ear. Caelan bumped me with his nose and trotted away.
A smile tugged my lips up. Magic rose to the surface the moment I stuck my fingers in the dirt next to the spot they buried Gianna. There was no lingering magic here, nothing to tell the story of how violently she’d died, but I didn’t like sitting here, knowing what had happened to her.
