“I know that look. You need to stop blaming yourself. You can’t protect everyone, and it isn’t your job to do so.”
“Tell my wolf that. He’s incredibly upset that one of ours was murdered. He doesn’t care if Winston wasn’t the most likable vampire around… he was a citizen of Ravenstone, and that meant he should’ve been protected.”
“I’m aware that it’s frustrating for your wolf, so what can we do to help?”
“I don’t know. Declan and I talked to Jim and Janis. They both have a motive, and Jim was definitely hiding something.”
“Well, hopefully at the meeting tonight we’ll learn something that will help.” He stood up. “But for now, I need to go back to the bookstore. Someone has to sell those pesky humans their ridiculous monster romances. Like any self-respecting Orc would lower themselves to marry a human.”
I rolled my eyes. Az and his bias against humans. He wasn’t wrong, though—Orcs were actually pretty discriminating when it came to their mates.
I stayed at the pub until Molly, a young wolf shifter who worked part-time in the evenings, showed up for work, and then I headed next door for the misfits’ meeting.
Hazel, Tulip, and of course Eugene were already there. And it seemed Declan had found time to bake snacks for the meeting,because the trays of goodies sitting on the table smelled like cinnamon, sugar, and magic.
They all looked up when I walked in, but as always, Hazel was the one to speak first. “Evening, Gideon. Sandy is on his way, as is Mellgren.”
“Does Mellgren know this isn’t a normal meeting?” I asked.
“He does. Winston was never nice to Mellgren, always teasing him about his dietary choices, but that doesn’t change the fact that a vampire was staked through the heart. Naturally, he’s concerned.”
“Naturally.”
Over the next few minutes, the rest of the group filtered in, with Elwood and Declan being the last. Declan was carrying a large plate filled with cookies and brownies. A little flour dusted his light brown hair, and a bit of chocolate was smeared on his cheek.
“Sorry, we were practicing some magic and lost track of time.” Declan’s smile could have lit up the room, so I assumed the practice went well. He glanced around the room, eyes landing on Mellgren. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“This is Mellgren,” Sandy said around a mouthful of one of Declan’s cookies.
Hazel unfurled one of her long legs and tapped Sandy on the shoulder. “Manners, dear.”
He swallowed and dipped his head. “Sorry, but the cookies are just so good.”
“Mellgren. It’s truly nice to meet you. I’m Declan. Please help yourself to a treat if you’d like.”
Mellgren didn’t require human food to survive, but the vampire had a real weakness for chocolate. And sure enough, he reached for one of the brownies.
Declan picked up a small plate and placed a cookie and a brownie on it before walking over to the fridge and putting iton the floor. “There you go, Eugene. Let me know if you need more.”
Eugene shivered in appreciation, and a dark, formless hand of sorts reached out from under the fridge and pulled the plate underneath.
Declan took his seat next to me and pulled out a notebook. “Okay, guys, we have a murder to solve.”
Everyone looked from me to Elwood like they expected one of us to step in and take charge, but I saw no need. Declan was doing a fine job. Elwood didn’t say anything either, so it seemed he agreed.
“Sandy, what did you find out?” Declan waited patiently while the sprite finished another of his cookies so he could answer without being admonished by Hazel.
“I had a shift at Ravenstone Realty this morning, so I did some digging.”
“I didn’t know you were a realtor.”
“Oh, I’m not.” Sandy shook his head. “I help out here and there at quite a few businesses around town. Today, their usual receptionist needed to take her daughter to a dentist appointment, so I filled in. Anyway… there were a couple of bids for the building other than Winston’s, but the only one who really had a problem with it was Mason—and rightly so. He had the highest bid until Winston upped his at the last minute and beat him out for it.”
“That tracks with what Janis told us.” Declan looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded.
“What about you, Hazel?” he asked.
Hazel glanced at Tulip, but the mermaid just sighed. “It’s okay. I know Hazel. Faithfulness wasn’t one of Winston’s better qualities.”
