I gulp. I mean, what could she really tell us? I saw him when he attacked me in my apartment. Sure, his form was blurry, and I’m not sure I could point him out exactly in a lineup, but... is this all worth a favor?
“I’ll give you one favor. Did a shifter come in here purchasing a tea bag, scent blockers, and bananas?” Eddie says without hesitation. My eyes go wide at his words. He doesn’t need to carry the burden of this favor; this information is for me. This goes beyond masculine gentlemanliness. I can’t let him do that.
The shopkeeper nods her head yes. She knows Ghost; maybe she could help us find him.
“Wait, Eddie, this’ll be my favor,” I say, then quickly turn towards the shopkeeper, “I’ll take the favor?—”
“I need a bear claw.” The words float into my ear and spin around in my skull. A what? She needs a bear claw? For what?
“Absolutely not. What could you need with a bear claw?” I stutter as I grab Eddie’s sleeve around his wrist to drag him backwards with me. His arm is no longer around me, and his stare is intense and completely on the shopkeeper.
“You can’t say no to a favor. You know that,” the shopkeeper says, raising one eyebrow in defiance. Of course, I knew that, but my claw? Is my claw worth this information?
“What’s his appearance? What was his shifter animal?” Eddie asks, and my jaw is hitting the floor, I’m sure.
“Eddie, no. We can find a different way.”
“What happened to yes or no questions?” she asks with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
“Answer the damn question for the damn favor.”
“Okay, okay,” she says, motioning her hands in acalm downgesture. She eyes him before turning to me and leaning her head on her hand, completely relaxed with a tense bear shifter right next to us. I wonder if she’s stronger than she appears. My bear isn’t happy to have either of our claws up for grabs, regardless of if it only takes a few shifts between forms to grow another claw. It’s the principle. Bear claws are not necessarily special, and I have no idea why a fairy would want one. A witch, sure. They need to make and brew all sorts of medicines and spells, but a fairy?
“He had dark brown hair and equally dark eyes, and tattoos covering nearly every available spot besides his face. He had a pretty light tan and his demeanor was scary as hell. He askedfor a small amount of banana, not enough to kill someone who might be allergic, but enough to trigger a reaction.”
I gulp, nerves racking my body, causing me to sweat profusely. My bear is trying to shift, my claws nearly poking out from my fingertips.
“Willow, if you need a minute, take one,” Eddie says softly in my ear. He runs his hand up the back of my neck to lift my hair into a makeshift puff with his hand as the ponytail.
“Why do you need a bear claw?” I ask.
“Not that it’s any of your business—a favor is a favor, darling—but it’s not for me, it’s for a friend. He’s sick, and the witch needs a bear claw. It’s simple really,” she says with a shrug, but I can see the tensing of her shoulders. She’s either lying or genuinely worried about her friend. Maybe she thought she’d never run into a bear, and he’d die, or maybe she has something more sinister going on.
Still, if it’s true and her friend is dying... his death could be on my hands. I’m—I can’t be responsible for another death. Killing Cassandra was enough for a lifetime. This could reverse my karma for killing her.
“What shifter animal was he?” I ask, leaning onto the counter. As if getting closer meant hearing the shopkeeper’s answers more clearly.
“I’m not sure I can say, legally, maybe.”
“Why?” I whisper out of desperation. If I am giving this woman one of my bear claws, it needs to be worth it.
“I gave you a favor, didn’t I?” Eddie grumbles.
“Let nothing trace back to me. I can’t have an angry wolf shifter coming back here. How do I know that you’ll keep me out of this mess?”
“There won’t be an angry wolf shifter coming here ’cause he’ll be dead. There won’t be anything to trace,” Eddie says, his hand still holding up my hair. It’s weird hearing him say those thingswhile simultaneously being sweet, holding my hair up off my sweaty neck, not because I asked, but because he wanted to.
“Eddie...” I say. I know we agreed to kill Ghost when we got the ice cream on our first day together but... Killing Ghost? Is that our only option?
“No, he’s not getting away with this shit. You don’t attack what’s mine and get away with it.”
His? No, I can’t be his. I’m Milo’s, right? What happened? Eddie doesn’t wait around as I ponder in shock, and he stalks out the shop’s door.
“Where’s my damn bear claw?” she yells after him, and I know he shouldn’t have to pay for the information I needed. This was all for me.
I half shift into my bear, enough for my claws to grow out and my skin to tingle. I yank a claw out, blood splashing out onto the title floor as pain radiates from my finger. My finger burns as if I’m touching a hot kettle, but I can’t let Eddie do it for me. This is my mess to clean up, not his. I see his head shoot up from my peripheral, but I slam my claw down on the counter and rush outside to him.
“Eddie, it’s okay—” I say, though I don’t know where I am going with this. He doesn’t give me the chance to figure it out. Shaking his head.
