Page 63 of Seduced By Moonlight

“Hunters. It was the hunters,” Kayden reminded Lance.

“Some of them were originally paranormals who agreed to those assholes’ experiments,” Lance exhaled deeply. “Still can’t figure out why Marianna singledmeout. I’m not part of any clan. I’m nobody.”

“Let me ask you something. Did you, by chance, shower before you went out that night?” Kayden asked.

“That’s an odd question.” Lance peered at Kayden. “And your sudden curiosity about my hygiene habits is a bit concerning—”

“Good God, will you just answer the damn question?”

“Temper, temper. But no. All we did was show up here, look around, and then leave. I didn’t see any reason to—well, shit.” Lance ran his hands over his face. “I didn’t shower before I went out.”

Mika nodded. “There’s your answer.”

“But she’s not a shifter,” Lance whined. “I’m a shifter. Mika is a shifter. She’snot.”

“But she is a strong magic user. Plus, she’s involved with black magic. Witches are no more human than people like me, but I guarantee you, she’s notjusta witch. As unbelievable as it sounds, she must’ve smelled the gargoyles on you.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Lance looked helplessly from Kayden to Mika.

“Then the three of us went out, and as luck would have it, bumped into her again. Did she smell them on us? She shouldn’t have had, because I know damn well I showered before I went out that night,” Kayden said.

Lance frowned. “But if she started investigating the two of you because you were with me—”

“And if she’s interested in the gargoyles, why wouldn’t she? She’s probably paying attention to anybody the gargoyles are involved with,” Mika said.

“Except the gargoyles don’t really interact with other paranormals much,” Lance said. “They simply aren’t as sociable as, say, the daemons or dragons.”

“Precisely. Then Ward brought us in for some construction work on his castle after a recent attack by hunters,” Kayden explained. “So why would she be interested in us? She’s searching for any vulnerabilities she can exploit against them.”

“Shitttttt.” Lance grimaced.

“It wouldn’t take much to figure out that the both of you work for my company and that I do a lot of jobs for paranormals. Big-name paranormals in particular.”

“Certain groups know your name well,” Mika admitted.

“If she’s watching Ward’s territory, she’s probably noticed our comings and goings,” Kayden remarked. “I bet she knows we’re doing a job for him. Well, we were doing a job for him.”

“Do you think we’re in danger?” Lance asked.

“Honestly, I don’t think so,” Kayden said slowly. “We’re not clan members. We’re not anybody important to Ward—just employees he hired for a job.”

“I agree. Taking one of us as a hostage to use as leverage would be useless,” Mika added. “I can’t see him sacrificing the safety of any member of his clan for one of us.”

“Woo wee, when you put it like that—”

“Right? I hope by not continuing this contract, she’ll lose interest in us,” Kayden said.

“Let’s hope,” Mika said.

“Anyway, let’s get in there, get as much done as we can, and get out of here,” Kayden said.

“Sure, but I have to say that I’m not thrilled about just dropping this and hoping for the best. What if she doesn’t lose interest?”

Mika shrugged. “We take extra precautions. Maybe some wards or protective spells?”

Kayden rubbed the stubble along his jawline, thinking. “I’ll do some asking around and pay for that, of course. I don’t want to use Ward’s magic user. No point in cutting ties, then using her. Anyhow, it’s a temporary measure, I know, but better than nothing.”

“Do you think that’ll be enough?” Lance asked.

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