Page 54 of Dance With Death

“Mmm.” Rowan places a palm on another trunk. “Until we speak to Holly and discover who took her, and to where, we can’t draw conclusions.”

“Clearly, whoever wishes to change the face of Thornwood Academy orchestrated for the hybrid to room with a human. Then, they took away my potion in the hope I’d attack.” Leif gawks at me as I reach the edge of the clearing, kicking at tiny stones. “If I had, that would’ve been a double victory—the academy deemed unfit for humans to attend with supes, and Dorian’s daughter illustrating why with murderous clarity. That would also lead to questions about Dorian’s own... tendencies.”

“But who? Mrs. Lorcan?” asks Grayson.

“She’s likely connected. The woman controls every aspect of the academy.” I peer along the route the wolf took when leaving the scene. “Leif. Grayson. Can you track the shifter’s movements?”

Leif wrinkles his nose. “My senses aren’t strong enough. I can only scent those nearby.”

Grayson brushes rain from his face. “Yeah. I can if the shifter was bleeding. Was he bleeding?”

“His mouth was bloodied; I’m not sure about other injuries.” I dismiss the image and the effect that sight had on me. Holly’s blood? Or the other shifter’s? “There could be a trail through these bushes? The ground isn’t clear.”

“The rain will make tracking tricky,” admits Grayson.

Following a thorough search of the surroundings—which takes too long for the guys who’re nervous in case the police return—we head out of the clearing and into the denser area the wolf shifter ran through.

Rowan swears as thorns prickle his legs through his jeans, and I slow to keep pace with him. “The second shifter deliberately led you to Holly,” he says.

“I’ve reached that conclusion,” I say. “But what about the other? Who killed them? Holly, through self-defense using the rock? Or the shifter who brought me to Holly?”

“Why would the missing shifter do either of those things?” asks Grayson.

“One of them may’ve been a construct, and one not.”

“Or one worked for Viktor, and one didn’t?” suggests Leif.

“If I were them, I wouldn’t risk upsetting Viktor.” Grayson springs over bushes, feet barely touching the rain-soaked ground.

“Unless taking Violet to Holly was the second shifter’s task?” suggests Rowan.

“Yet the questions remain: who killed the shifter and why was Holly left alive?” I say.

19

VIOLET

Our search ends in failure. We can’t find any magic or a single item in the woods, related to Holly or not. Rowan and Leif grumble that they got soaked for no reason. At least visiting the café doesn’t involved traipsing around in the rain, so they can now cease their complaints.

We choose the café that’s open latest in the evening, close to the edge of the town, a short walk from the park and playground leading to the woods. The shifter’s presumed route from the scene led to several possible exits from the woods, but Grayson believes that the trail ends at the exit closest to the town, not in the direction of the shifter community.

Shifters aren’t welcome in the town, nor will their elders allow them to visit. With no reports from the elders demanding where one of their own is, the missing shifter may not be from the area at all, which won’t help.

I stir my coffee, deep in thought, until Leif places a hand over my fingers to stop the noise, and I place the spoon down. “I’ve seen him. The shifter.”

“Just then? Like scrying?” Leif asks.

Rowan chuckles.

“Scrying with coffee? Don’t be absurd. Remember I told you about the person visiting the ward this morning, while we spoke to the delightful detectives? He asked about Holly’s welfare.” I shift to face Leif. “Do all hospital visitors bring inmates cards and gifts?”

He half-smiles at me asking him as the expert on gift giving. “Yeah. Usually.”

“This person did not. Neither did he wish to leave a message. I’ve concluded that’s unusual for visitors.”

“Local or academy kid?” asks Grayson.

“Not academy, and not in high school uniform. I hypothesize that this male person is the shifter who ran last night, and he was enquiring about Holly’s welfare.”

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