“Is that Reed’s boat?” I asked as we neared Reed’s cottage.
Out past the shoreline, maybe fifty yards from the dock, a boat drifted on the open water. Flames crawled across the deck, sending a column of black smoke curling upward. Even from this distance, I could see the figure on the deck. She was tied to something near the bow, struggling, pulling against whatever held her in place.
“It’s Rayna!” I cried.”He must have suppressed her magic somehow because otherwise, she’d be able to douse those flames in a second as a sea witch.” I tore my gaze from the boat and looked at Reed’s cottage. Through the side window, I could see movement inside. A shape passed through the kitchen, and I recognized Reed.”Reed’s still inside his place. Drop me off in his backyard, and you go save Rayna.”
“I don’t like that plan,” Zane said as he descended. “We should go in together.”
“You can’t die, Zane. It makes more sense for you to land on the boat and save Rayna.” I placed my palm on the side of his face. “I got this. I’ll take Reed. And I’ll be careful.”
“We’ll cover Kara, lad,” Link said from my pocket. “Don’t worry.”
“Speak for yourself, Pixie. I make no promises.”
I bit back a smile and stroked Savage’s head. I knew that to be a lie. On more than one occasion Savage had not only fought along beside me, but he’d saved my life.
Zane sighed and nodded, lowering me to the grass in the backyard. “Be careful. All of you.” He gave me a quick kiss on the mouth. “Go get him, Valkyrie.”
Before I could answer, he shot back into the sky, barreling toward the enflamed boat and bound woman. Link shot out of my pocket, and Savage jumped from my arms.
“What’s the plan?” Link asked, unsheathing his dagger at his waist.
Savage lifted his right front paw and razor-sharp claws flashed out.“Yes, who am I filleting today?”
“His name is Reed Masterson.” I strode toward the sliding-glass door at the back of the house. “And we are bringing him down.”
I stepped up onto the wooden deck, Savage and Link on either side of me, and paused at the glass door. I could hear voices inside. At first, I thought maybe it was just Reed arguing with himself…but then I realized it was two distinct voices.
“Change of plans,” I whispered to my partners as I waved my hand in front of the glass and slid it open. “Zane and I have been wrong about everything. Stay alert. I think we have two killers.”
“Did you have to burn my boat?” Reed whined. “I loved that boat.”
“You’re the one who ditched our plan and killed Sasha without my approval!” Eliza Nordic raged. “Do you know how long it took me to manipulate Mari into making me the trustee of her will? All that money would have been mine! By the time they figured out I was syphoning the money to me and not Jayla’saccount, we’d have been long gone. But, no! You had to go and kill Sasha last night without my approval! Now we have to clean up your mess and get out of here before the fire department and police get here. They’ll be bringing in those damn PADA detectives, and I’d already had them convinced I was just a helpless victim. “
“I was tired of the way they treated you, Eliza,” Reed said. “It’s no different than what happened fifteen years ago.”
“Iallowedthem to push me around last night so I could look innocent, you idiot!” She tossed something in the open duffel bag at her feet. “Now, let’s go. I have my boat hidden in the next cove over.”
“You two aren’t going anywhere,” I said, stepping into the kitchen.
“Dammit, Reed!” Eliza cried. “You brought PADA to our doorstep with your stupidity.”
Reed reacted first. He turned and backhanded me before I could even get the Binder off my duty belt. My plan had been to detain him and then fight Eliza.
I staggered backward and crashed into the slider, thankful I didn’t crash through. He’d hit me pretty hard.
“We’ll take him, lass,” Link cried, his dagger raised in the air. “You get her!”
I turned to Eliza and noticed for the first time that she didn’t have her cane handy. She stepped away from the duffel and widened her stance. “Let’s at least make this fair. Hand-to-hand combat. I’ve been training for fifteen years.”
Everything we’d thought was true about Eliza was obviously a lie—her innocence, her disability.
“So which one of you killed Mari?” I asked, slowly circling her.
“Don’t you want to know why?” she asked, motioning for me to make the first move.
“I think I’ve figured that out.” I heard Reed cry out, and I spared him a look. Reed had picked up a knife and was swinging wildly at Link while Savage was swiping at him and shredding Reed’s lower legs. The selkie shifter wasn’t going to last long. “Somewhere along the way, you and Reed started seeing each other. He must have told you what happened, and from there, you two spent probably years hatching a plan.”
Eliza rushed me, and I realized with a sudden shock that she did, in fact, have supernatural vampire speed, and she moved faster than I expected. One second she was standing three feet away. The next, her boot connected with my chest, and the world tilted sideways. The impact knocked the air out of me and sent me flying backward. I hit the floor hard, my shoulder blades taking the worst of it.
