Page 10 of Kin of the Wolf

We turned left at the convenience store and entered a designated wetlands area with the pond sprawling on either side of the road. Duncan turned into a small parking lot near the boardwalk. After stopping, he bounced into the back of his van to collect whatever gear we would need for this endeavor. When I met him outside, he hefted one of his huge cylindrical magnets and the coil of rope attached to it.

“We’ll start with this. Maybe we can find enough valuables to trade for eggs and bacon.” Duncan tilted his chin toward the convenience store.

Someone was ambling out with a paper bag that probably held a bottle of alcohol. The shopper slumped against a bus-stop sign, looking like he wouldn’t wait to get home to start drinking.

There was duct tape covering a crack on a front window of the store that hadn’t been there the last time I’d visited. The signs that the neighborhood was growing seedier distressed me.

“I suspect the store owner prefers currency to rusty bike locks and cutlery,” I said.

“Americans are fussy, aren’t they?”

“We pride ourselves on it.”

Duncan led the way along the boardwalk toward the dock jutting out into the water. Ducks paddled toward us.

“They’re either starving or not as able to detect our magical and predatory natures as the cats on the premises of your complex,” Duncan observed.

“I don’t think ducks are as smart as cats.” I didn’t point out that it was possible that they couldn’t sense our magic. It wasn’t as if most people could. Though animals—including birds—did tend to be more perceptive.

“Approaching werewolves isn’t wise. Though we prefer stimulating prey to hunt, their plumpness could make them targets on a cold hungry night.”

“I thought you filled up on bacon and eggs.”

“Oh,Idid. I was thinking of your lurking cousins.”

“I’m sure they came all the way to Shoreline to hunt ducks at the pond, yes.”

Duncan gave me a wry look, then, before we reached the dock, tossed his magnet into the water. None of the ducks were close enough to be in danger, but they didn’t like the noisy splash and squawked and paddled away at top speed. Several took to the air.

“Nowthey’ll think twice about approaching werewolves.” Duncan nodded, as if he’d done them a great favor.

“‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.’”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Maya Angelou?”

“I think so.”

Using the rope, he started pulling the magnet along the bottom of the pond. “She also said, ‘Love is like a virus; it can happen to anybody at any time.’”

He only glanced my way instead of giving me a long look laden with significance. That was a relief. We hadn’t even slept togetheryet. I wasn’t ready to contemplate deep feelings for my transient treasure-hunting werewolf.

“Did you read a lot of poetry when you were growing up in that lab?”

Though Duncan had shared his past with me, we hadn’t discussed how he felt about the reappearance of the man he’d believed long dead or what he thought it meant. That was something I was curious about and more interested in discussing with him than love. I particularly wondered if Abrams and Radomir would continue to be a threat. They were collecting wolf artifacts, and I’d taken back two of the most powerful ones that they’d acquired.

“I read everything I could get my hands on, which was a substantial amount, since Lord Abrams had a library of impressive breadth. That was the part of his castle I most regretted causing to burn. I couldn’t regret escaping, but I wished I could have managed it without damaging the home. I even stuck around longer than I should have to try to keep the fire from destroying the library. In hindsight, that’s probably what kept me from noticing that Abrams also escaped.” Duncan looked at me with an apologetic expression. “Therewasa charred body. All these decades, I believed it had been his, but it might have been the remains of a servant.”

“What do you think brought Abrams to Seattle?” I waved north, silently acknowledging that the lavender farm and potion factory outside of Arlington weren’t exactlySeattle. “Would he have been following you?”

“I don’t think so. In thirty years, he hasn’t reappeared in my life, even though I wouldn’t have been hard to track down, especially since I’ve started doing that YouTube channel.”

“You think that’s made you famous, huh?” I couldn’t imagine the seventy-five- or eighty-year-old Lord Abrams surfing social media sites for videos on magnet fishing.

“In certain circles, certainly.” Duncan lifted his chin as he reeled in his magnet. “A producer for a small television studio in Slovenia once approached me about hosting a show.”

“All good films are known to come out of Slovenia.”

Duncan squinted at me. “Are youmockingme, my lady?”

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