Page 5 of Alice Worth and the Elite Death Machine

Sean scrubbed his face. “You’ve run across one.”

“Well, I think I’m looking for one.”

“That might be worse.” He rested his forehead on mine, his eyes glowing softly golden. “This is your case? Finding afaoladh?”

“Technically, I’m tracking down a missing person who may or may not be afaoladh.” I made a face. “But he probably is, given what you’ve told me and what I’ve seen so far.”

“Thefaoladhare the good guys, though, right?” Malcolm asked. “You said they’re protectors.”

“Don’t let the termprotectormislead you,” Sean cautioned. “Think of them as kind of the reverse of the Vampire Court’s deadliest Hunters. From what I understand,faoladhare just as single-minded and vicious. But where the Hunters are kept under control on their masters’ leashes, thefaoladharen’t controlled by anyone. They answer only to themselves.”

“What if someone sent thefaoladhto protect a person?” I wanted to know. “Wouldn’t they have to answer to that person?”

“No.” Sean looked grim. “Not if they thought that person was a threat. The safety of their charge is literally the only thing that matters. I’ve heard of cases where afaoladhkilled the person who’d requested their help on behalf of another.”

“So let’s say thisfaoladhis in town to protect someone,” I mused. “Maybe someone else wants this vulnerable shifter too and sent some very deadly people to get them and take thefaoladhout.”

“So now we’re dealing with even more killers,” Sean said. “The good news keeps piling up.”

“I call them Elite Death Machines,” Malcolm said helpfully. “EDMs for short.”

“He’s trying to make ‘EDMs’ a thing,” I confirmed at Sean’s raised eyebrows. “How would I go about figuring out who thefaoladhis here to protect? If this warrior guardian is hard to find, maybe I can find their target instead. But I’m guessing if there is a vulnerable shifter around, that wouldn’t be common knowledge.”

“Not common knowledge, but there might be whispers.” He looked thoughtful. “No shifter would advertise their weakness, and no one who loved them would either. There are too many shifters who buy into the idea that the weak should be culled without mercy.” His anger seared me through our nascent bond.

“Someone knew, though,” I pointed out. “Either someone asked thefaoladhto come, or someone sent him, right? He didn’t sniff this person out from across the country or halfway around the world.”

“No, you’re right.” Sean took out his phone and tapped it lightly on the counter as he considered the problem. “I can make some discreet calls to people I trust and ask if anyone has heard any rumors.”

“It’s a place to start.” I kissed him lightly. “In the meantime, I’ll run home and shower really well. If I have to go around any shifters, I don’t want to smell like I rolled in roadkill and then doused myself ineau de demon.”

“That sounds like an excellent plan.” He held me and nuzzled my hair to drink in my scent, though I was sure he was primarily getting a snootful of dead demon. This man truly, truly loved me. “I’m ready to ride shotgun with you,” he murmured. “Ben can take over here.”

In fact, I had no doubt he wasmoreready to put me in the passenger seat of his SUV, drive me home, scrub me clean, and keep me safe from the world, but he forced himself to make the choice mine. For an alphaanda man in love, that took herculean effort. The longer we were together, and the closer we became, it gotmoredifficult, not less, for him to let me put myself in harm’s way day after day. I didn’t take his struggle for granted like I once had.

“Thank you for letting me decide,” I said. And because this was part of his love for me too, I didn’t tell him I’d be fine without him. “Let’s see what you find out and take it from there. If Iamlooking for afaoladh, it would make all the sense in the world to have a shifter with me. Especially if he’s a super-sexy alpha who’ll have my backandsmack my butt every once in a while when nobody’s looking.”

“Oh, for crying out loud, you two.” Malcolm zipped away, presumably to find our pack mate Ben, who was also Sean’s installation manager, and complain about us.

“Did you do that on purpose?” Sean teased, kissing the tip of my nose. “To get us a little private time?”

“Maybe.” I slid my hand around his waist to his rear end. I treated myself to a little squeeze while I was at it, then rested my head against his chest to listen to his heart. I loved being close to the warmth and magic of the wolf’s head amulet he wore on a chain around his neck under his shirt. My matching amulet hummed when it was near its mate.

“Penny for your thoughts, Miss Magic.” Sean cupped the back of my head to hold me close. “What’s bothering you?”

“No shifter, especially a vulnerable one, should have to call in a near-legendary elite death machine for protection.” I rubbed my nose against his chest because he smelled so good to me, like a forest in spring. “A vulnerable shifter should be able to go to their own pack, or another pack, or the Council, and be safethere. In fact, they shouldn’t even have to do that. They should just be safe and thriving, period.” I looked up at him. “That’s what I keep coming back to. Maybe thisfaoladhhelps this person, but there won’t always be one around. And maybe there shouldn’t be, if they’re likely to kill first and not bother to ask questions later. That just contributes to the stereotype of shifters being bloodthirsty and violent by nature.”

“You know I agree.” Sean tucked loose hair behind my ear. “I won’t make any excuses for the dark side of shifter culture or try to make it less reprehensible than it is. The best we can do is push back against those ideas every day. As an alpha, I do everything I can to fight at the local and regional levels and make my position known to the Were Ruling Council. We show the world by our example that a pack does not need to cull the weak to be strong.”

“Yes, we do.” I could tell from his expression that something else bothered him. “What are you thinking?”

He frowned. “I can’t help but wonder why this vulnerable shifter didn’t come to me. It’s no secret our pack offers protection to those who might not be welcome in other packs or would be targeted if they lived as lone wolves. This is not about my ego,” he added, as if I didn’t already know that. “It concerns me. I feel like something else might be going on that we don’t know about yet. My instincts tell me we need to keep our eyes open for trouble.” His scowl became a rueful smile. “Well, more than the usual trouble.”

“We keep moving the bar on what constitutes the usual trouble.”

“I noticed.” He kissed me one last time. “Go scrub up, Miss Magic. I’ll make calls and see what I can find out. I love you.”

“I know.” With a wink, I turned and walked away. In my head, I counted down.Three…two…

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