Page 46 of Dance With Death

“Does anything stay confidential from you lot for long?”

“Plus, the shifter isn’t a bear,” says Harding. “All others involved in local attacks were Ursa.”

And the other wolf shifter? What and where is he? Rowan never told the detectives about the second wolf I chased, nor have the men mentioned him, but the supes will find out.

“Dorian Blackwood discussed the necromancy issue with the shifter elders too,” says Harding, “which we’re of course keeping quiet right now. This situation appears to extend beyond the local community.”

Because Harding had no choice but to stay quiet after the chaos at the renovations. He’d induce hysteria in town.

“Murders, necromancy, and now another attempt on a human’s life. Your father’s control of the supernatural society appears to be slipping,” Wagner says. “He needs to get a grip.”

“My fathers are working with the shifter elders to uncover the people behind the necromancy and murders,” I say. “I can assure you that we’ll have this in hand soon.”

“We?”

“My family.”

Harding scoffs so derisively that I have to fight baring my teeth.

I catch the sound of voices to my left that replace the murmur of conversation between the nurses and lean back to look. A guy stands close to the nurses’ station, quietly asking if Holly is on the ward. He’s around our age, darker skinned, with his curly hair cut short along the sides and back.

Another friend of Holly’s from the town or academy? He’s Leif’s size, so may or may not be student aged. I don’t recognize him, and no other Thornwood student knows Holly is here. He isn’t in the local school uniform either, instead wearing a loose black jacket and gray trackpants with black sneakers.

The guy asks to see Holly, but doesn’t become agitated when refused, instead asking about her welfare in soft tones. The female nurse takes pity on the unfortunate guy and offers to take a message to pass along to Holly when she wakes. It seems this nurse is easily charmed by smiling males.

Oddly, for someone so concerned by Holly’s welfare, the guy refuses her offer and takes a look around before heading back to the elevator. He shuffles from foot to foot, pressing the call button several times. Earlier, the guys informed me that impatiently hitting the button makes no difference to how quickly the elevator will arrive, and that if I didn’t stop, I’d break something.

I abused the button due to my impatience to see Holly; this visitor is impatient to leave. If the useless detectives weren’t eyeballing me, I would’ve pulled out my phone to photograph the guy.

So many mental notes for me today.

“Ms. Blackwood?”

I refocus on the scene inside the room. Harding’s beady brown eyes have almost disappeared beneath his brow due to my ignoring him. I would follow the mystery guy, but I’m focused on my necessity to see Holly before the detectives or Dorian get to her first.

“Is there a problem?” I ask.

“Don’t for a moment expect us to believe your boyfriend was wandering the woods alone and just happened to come across Holly and a dead shifter.” Harding clears his throat and stands. “This is not coincidence.”

“And your father continues to endanger human lives,” says Wagner.

I scowl at them both. “Can we visit Holly?”

“If you’re prepared to come to the station and make a formal statement later, yes,” he replies, and looks to Leif. “All of you.”

“I wasn’t there,” protests Leif. “I stayed in my room all night because I wasn’t well.”

“No, but your shifter links may yield clues.”

“Have you informed the shifter elders about the death?” I ask.

“That was our next task. We knew you’d arrive here early this morning and couldn’t miss that opportunity to gather information before we approached the elders.”

“We have no information,” I reply.

“Um. If the elders discover you have a shifter’s body in a human morgue, and didn’t inform them straightaway, you’ll cause more trouble,” says Leif.

Oh. A morgue to investigate.

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