Page 48 of Bitter Discord

“When you’re powerful, people want to see you fail. I didn’t think it would be this bold, but whoever is playing this game isn’t pulling their punches. No warnings, no indication they have a problem.”

“Nope. They jumped straight to a mysterious murder that makes everyone look bad,” I growled, glaring in the direction of the tent. Thanks to the mole I knew was in the BSA, I trusted them even less than I normally did. I didn’t trust Rhodes or any of his agents. I only trusted Bethany, and she hadn’t arrived. Checking the time, I knew she was probably still thirty minutes out, but I didn’t have time to stay and see her.

I’ll text her later and make sure the BSA is doing what I was promised they would. I don’t need anyone screwing with Mason’s body.

“Let’s get out of here. We solve nothing by hovering.”

I pulled out of the maze of government vehicles and started back for the mansion.

“Are you going to start getting the werecats back to the mansion?” I asked Zuri as she fiddled with her phone.

“Yes…” She seemed worried about something.

“What is it?”

“I am trying to find a delicate way to ask Hisao if he’s at home right now,” she admitted.

I sputtered, unable to think of a response.

“Why?” I finally managed to ask.

“It was too clean, too well thought out, yet too obvious, a message. He knows how to do those.”

“Do you really think Hasan would send Hisao to murder one of our guests in an attempt to… what? Get us killed?” I was horrified she would consider it. Not because I thought it was impossible, but if Zuri’s mind went there, then it meant it was all too possible.

“No! I think our father would send Hisao to take out a werecat he felt would be too dangerous to be here,” Zuri countered. “I didn’t say anything, but I don’t know all of our father’s spies or sources of information. Thanks to his position on the Tribunal, there’s a lot he knows and has access to, which I’m not allowed to see, even when he wants to show me. If he knew Mason was connected to us, then heard Mason was coming here…”

“He’d have Hisao kill Mason to keep us safe.”

“He’s not entirely rational all the time. If it was him, he’ll have to fly out here and apologize to everyone, including us. He should tell us when he plans on killing people.” Zuri growled. “But it’s unlikely. I just need to make sure, just like you need to make sure the werewolves weren’t in some way connected to this.”

“Okay, so it’s just one of those possibilities we don’t really think is true. That’s good.”

Zuri gave me a weird look.

Okay, so maybe the Hasan angle has more weight than my werewolves being involved. That’s… troubling.

We were beaten to the mansion by at least three of the werecats. When we got out of my car, their cars also stopped. I waited for them to get out, wanting to see exactly who had gotten here first, which could be important. If any of them were particularly late, they could implicate themselves in the murder.

Right now, everyone could be a suspect if they’re trying to cause problems for Zuri and me.

Everett was one of the first, then Chao and Marnar.

“Come inside. We don’t know if it’s safe to be outside,” I said, unlocking the front door. In silence, they went inside while Zuri walked to the end of the drive. “What are you doing?”

“I’m wondering if it will be possible to mark a territory around the building or the neighborhood. I might need to look at a map.” She turned around and started walking back. “I’ll also need to wait until tonight. There’s not enough night left to safely run in werecat form.”

When she reached me at the front door, I locked us in.

“Not only that, but this is a rich neighborhood with high-level security at every house. You could easily be caught on camera.”

“And who will they show?” Zuri asked, crossing her arms. “The BSA who already knows werecats are real? They could upload it onto the internet, and it might go viral, but it doesn’t really expose anyone. They knew this mansion was used by werewolves, and while some might have moved thanks to that security risk, others stayed. Would you like to know why?”

“Why?”

“Status. The rich and wealthy like interesting things. They love their privacy, certainly, but they get to say they live near the wealthy immortals. There’s only been one werecat caught on camera—you. They’ll get to say they live near a supernatural no one knows or has ever seen.” Zuri smiled. “Never discount the lure of the mysterious or the unique.”

“Touché,” I mumbled. I checked the time and groaned. It was nearly six in the morning. At the perfect moment, my stomach growled. “Do we want to order breakfast for everyone? They’ll be cranky coming here early. We should have food ready.”

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