“The cat!” I growled, irritated that no one thought of the animal. “The Kumiho's drugged cat. Where is it? It's not here. Is someone caring for the animal or did they just leave it to fend for itself?”
“Oh.” Medea chuckled. “It's here. My girl has her in a carrier. If she hadn't taken it, someone else would have. They wouldn't have left it behind.”
“Oh. Okay.” I breathed out a sigh of relief. “I'll call you if we find anything here.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” She hung up.
I looked up to find Star still staring at me. “What?”
“Nothing.” He looked away. “It's just sweet.”
“I'm not about to leave some poor animal to wander the streets, recovering from being drugged, looking for its missing owner.”
“No, of course not. But it's sweet that you thought of it.”
“Yes, our wife is kind and strong and brave and all sorts of admirable things, Astaroth,” Raza said. “I thought you knew that already. What with your special bond.”
“What's happening right now?” Hunter Ji-woon whispered.
“You don't want to know,” Apitron drawled.
“Got it. I can't even compliment her.” Star held his hands up in surrender and went to lean against a post.
“Okay, just stop, all of you,” I said.
“Yeah. Stop and go somewhere else,” Killian said. “I need some space to work. Silence would help too.”
“As you wish.” Star waved his men after him.
The hunters left with them and then, reluctantly, my other husbands and their guards. Ainsley refused to go. He took a post by the backdoor. I didn't go either. Sometimes, my clairvoyance would spark off of Killian's psychometry. Psychic talent was unreliable and erratic. So I helped Killian search the garden, getting down on the ground to even brush my fingers through the grass.
After several minutes, Killian exclaimed, “Holy shit. I think I've found something.”
“You have?” I hurried over to him. “Is that a button?”
But Kill was already gone; his stare focused on something I couldn't see. He still had the button lifted before him—a statue, frozen in place. All except for his eyes. They skittered about following his vision. Then he came back to himself, gasping.
“Motherfucker!” Killian whispered as he bent over, pressing his hands to his knees, the button falling back to the grass.
I knew better than to press him for details immediately. Instead, I rubbed his back, easing the hood of his leather jacket off his head where it had flopped. At last, he straightened. But he didn't look at me. Breath puffing in the cold air, he went to sit on the wooden porch steps and bent forward to hang his head.
“Should I fetch the others?” Ainsley asked.
“Give him a moment,” I said and sat down beside Kill.
Killian inhaled deeply, then let out a ragged breath. “He's a monster. I think it's why the Kumiho chose him.”
“Do I want to know what kind of monster?” I asked.
Kill grimaced. “The human kind.”
“That would be the worst,” I whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Children?”
“No, thank the Gods.”
