"Okay, so we're clear on why we're seeking out Broth?" Beth glanced at me through the rearview mirror, then over to Carol in the backseat.
I was immediately confused. Wasn’t it obvious? We were seeking him out to see if he was the one attacking people. And from the sounds of the man, he very well might be exactly who we’ve been looking for.
"Broth could be our guy." I pulled a strand of wind-tossed hair from my mouth.
"No." Beth tapped the steering wheel. "He's not the real problem here. Broth has been a werewolf for a long time. He didn’t go crazy and kill someone. Well, probably not. He doesn’t have any motivation to be attacking these people, as far as we know. He could, however, have been incentivized by someone…"
I felt a light switch on in my head. Of course! But I wasn’t the one to say it.
"Jamur Hede," Carol muttered contemptuously from the back. "That man would sell his soul if it meant he could claim something that wasn’t his, the freaking scam artist."
"But he’s not the type to get his hands dirty. He is, however, the type to pay to get someone else’s hands dirty,” I said.
"He’s a real coward,” Deva said, shaking her head. "It’s all about the money for him.”
Beth nodded. "That's the thing. It's not just about the land. It's personal for him. According to one of my sources, he's been after these lands for years, and every time, something stops him. This time, he's desperate. If he doesn’t get the town to acknowledge his claim over the lands, they’ll become protected lands, and he’ll never get his hands on them. He’s desperate."
"Desperate enough to pay someone to attack committee members?" I knew the answer but needed to hear it out loud.
"Exactly." She signaled and turned onto a road that would lead us to Steel Knife. "It's not that Broth went crazy. Jamur Hede might have paid him off to do the dirty work, to stop the lands from being protected. We've seen it before."
"Money talks." Carol pulled a face.
"Unfortunately," Beth sighed. "But we're going to set things right. As right as they can be set."
Deva leaned forward and asked, "Do we know anything about the lands that are in question?”
Without looking beside her, Beth reached around and pulled out a map, handing it to Deva. Deva opened it up and whistled low. I turned in my seat to see a big plot of land outlined in red.
Beth released an audible breath. "It’s a lot of land. Even the land the unicorns seem to be living in. I imagine there are a number of magical creatures hidden in those woods. Creatures that wouldn’t do well if someone was suddenly tearing down all the trees to put up buildings and parking lots.”
I settled into my seat. This was bigger than us, but we were all in. Protecting the lands was worth every ache, every risk. And we weren't going to let Jamur Hede stand in our way.
We continued driving for a while, watching the sleepy little town slip away and trees gathering on both sides of the car. Carol and Deva were chatting happily in the back. Deva showed off a fabulous sapphire necklace that Marquis had recently gifted her. I smiled, glad things were going well between them. Marquis was a good guy, and Deva deserved one of the good ones.
"Almost there!” Beth said.
I knew if we kept going, we’d reach the almost-highway that led to a real highway not long after that. But before the highway was the motorcycle club. A place that attracted both motorcyclists driving through and motorcyclists from our town.
The car slowed, turning into a gravelly lot. The Steel Knife loomed ahead, its neon sign flickering like a beacon of trouble.The building itself was brick and low to the ground, with no windows, and the air of a place where bodies might pile up. We all fell silent for a moment, taking in the sight.
Beth parked the car, and the engine went quiet. We sat there, gathering ourselves for what was next. The Steel Knife wasn't just any dive, it was the kind of place that chewed up the weak and spit them out without a second thought.
"What’s the plan here?” I asked. "Just find him and hope he plays nice? Admits it all and lets us walk away?”
Deva leaned forward. "Or we go in hard, throwing spells in every direction… take them all out and demand answers.”
We all laughed, but it was Beth who answered. "No. We see if he’ll be reasonable, and if he won’t, we do what we have to do to get the information we need.”
It seemed like a good plan. "Let’s just hope the biker werewolf is nicer than we imagine.”
No one agreed with me, which I took to be a bad sign. They knew more about this man’s reputation than I did. I took a deep breath and slowly released it, trying to remain calm.
"Ready?" Beth asked, her hand resting on the key.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Carol answered.
"Let's do this."
