Page 37 of Half Dead

“What is it, Clay?”

I snapped to attention. “There’s a possible situation. I thought I should talk to you sooner rather than later. Can I come in?”

Hesitating, he glanced over his shoulder.

“Let her in, West. It sounds important,” I heard a familiar voice say.

I peered through the crack and waved at the fae. “Hi, Sage.”

With a deep sigh, the werewolf created enough space for me to enter. Sage stood in the living room, wearing one of West’s T-shirts that was long enough to reach the tops of her knees.

“Good evening, Lorelei,” she greeted me. “Or is it morning?”

“Sorry to interrupt. I didn’t expect you to have company.” Sage and West had a complicated romantic history. They seemed to genuinely love each other, but as the pack alpha, West was expected to marry a werewolf in order to secure the bloodline. He was still working on merging his two great loves.

“I didn’t expect to be the company,” Sage said, somewhat embarrassed.

“I just need West for two minutes to discuss the crossroads log.” I pivoted to the werewolf. “Did anyone or anything come through this week? Even if they seemed legit, I want to know.”

West dragged a hand through his mop of hair. “I don’t need to consult the log. It’s been a quiet week. Nothing and no one.”

“You’re one hundred percent certain?”

“What’s going on?” Sage asked.

I told them about the bouts of insanity.

“Yeah, Elena told me about Horton,” West said. “I told her it wasn’t you.”

“I appreciate that you had my back.”

“It’s as much for Fairhaven as for you. If there’s something out there wreaking havoc, I don’t want her focused on the wrong suspect.”

“Do you think it’s an attempt to frame you?” Sage asked.

West spun to look at her. “Why would anybody want to do that?”

“Revenge or to sideline her,” Sage said.

I shrugged. “Or it could be a complete coincidence.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Sage said.

I groaned. “Me neither. I want to, but I think you’re right. This is connected to me somehow.”

“The Corporation?” West suggested.

“Not sure what they’d hope to gain.”

“I’ll have my wolves on the hunt,” West said.

“On the hunt for what, though? I wouldn’t even know what to tell them to look for.”

West hitched up the waistband of his boxer shorts to cover his V-cut abs. “We’ll start with anything suspicious and go from there.”

“If we could have one week without a crisis, I’d appreciate it,” I said.

Sage was more blasé. “Fairhaven’s gonna Fairhaven.”

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