Page 54 of It All Started with a Bite

Gavin’s gaze locked on the jewelry. His horns popped out.

“The person we’re looking for was wearing that hoodie,” I explained distractedly.

A thin trail of smoke started curling from Gavin’s nostrils.

“Don’t you dare set anything on fire!” Didi hissed to the dragon newt in a threatening undertone. “The markup on these clothes is ridiculous enough without adding fire damage!”

Gavin listened with half an ear, his expression glazed.

“What’s the matter with him?!” I whispered to Didi.

“Dragon newts love shiny things,” the witch said in a disgusted voice. “It’s their hoarding instinct at work.”

An excited dragon newt was the last thing we needed right now.

Gavin decided to participate in the investigation.

“We’d also like to check your security cameras,” he said, panting in a disturbing way.

Gone was the sweet and shy dragon newt I’d met yesterday.

“Should I go fetch a pail of water?” Bo contributed unhelpfully.

My hangover headache started to get worse.

“Ah, Lana,” Claudette said with the glassy expression of someone determined to ignore the conversation taking place under her nose. “Can you help me go through our sales records?”

The fae met Gavin’s rapt stare. She smiled and bobbed her head in a greeting. The movement made her earrings sparkle alluringly.

Gavin’s tail popped out. Didi stepped on it.

Ten minutes later, Lana found the relevant receipts. There were fifty of them.

The Amberford supernatural community was way more affluent than I’d thought they were.

“Maybe we should split this up.” I wrinkled my brow. “It’ll take a forever to look through the security footage for all those dates.”

“Are you looking for a particular purchase?” Lana asked curiously.

Didi and I shared a hesitant glance.

I shrugged. “No harm in showing them.”

Didi brought up a segment of the security footage from Mystical Momentson her phone.

“That customer bought that particular hoodie three weeks ago,” Lana said promptly. “I remember because he paid in cash.”

The hairs rose on the back of my neck. Either our suspect was loaded or he didn’t want any traces left that could help track him down.

“Let’s take a look at that security footage,” Didi said grimly.

Claudette led us to a back office. Unlike the vintage aesthetic of the shop floor, this room was all modern chrome and glass. Multiple screens showed different angles of the boutique.

Moonlight Couture took its security seriously.

“Let me pull up the archives.” Lana sat at a sleek chair and started working on a computer, her fingers dancing lightly over the keyboard.

My wolf stirred restlessly under my skin as we crowded around the monitor. The moon’s pull was getting stronger by the hour, making my bones ache and my senses keener. I could smell something sweet and sparkly coming off the fae, like honeysuckle and starlight.

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