Page 57 of Howling Night

I frowned. “I wish I could be of more help. I guess I figured it was just a regular old house fire.”

“Could be,” Officer Rankin said with a sharp nod. “Unfortunately, the man who lived there was still inside.”

“That’s awful,” I said, my brows squishing together.

“Indeed,” she said. “Did you know the man?”

I hugged myself. “No, I only just moved in.”

Officer Rankin’s pen hovered over her notepad. “And you’re certain you didn’t hear or see anything unusual before the fire started? No arguments, strange vehicles, anything like that?”

“No, do I need to be worried?” I asked, swallowing hard. Lying so much was making me feel generally ill, which seemed to be working in my favor. “Am I safe here?”

The officers exchanged another glance that made the back of my neck prickle.

“Oh, no, miss,” Officer Moore said, looking toward the trees. “I’m sure you’re plenty safe here. This is all standard procedure.”

I nodded slowly, trying to keep my expression appropriately concerned without looking guilty. Their standard procedure felt anything but standard to me.

“Well, that’s... that’s a relief,” I managed, still hugging myself. The morning air felt suddenly colder than it had moments ago.

Officer Rankin flipped her notepad closed and handed me a card. “If you do happen to remember anything, no matter how insignificant it might seem, please give us a call.”

I took it with fingers I hoped weren’t visibly trembling. “Of course. I will.”

“Well,” Officer Rankin said, finally offering me a smile, “we won’t take up any more of your time, Miss Montana. We’ll be speaking with other neighbors down the road as well, but yeah, probably just a regular old house fire that the poor, old guy couldn’t escape.”

“Okay,” I said, the words feeling heavy on my tongue. “Good luck.”

The second they turned away, I closed the door, immediately leaning back against it. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. It wasn’t like I could have told them a vampire killed the owner and that werewolves killed her before setting the house on fire. They’d have locked me up and lost the key.

I made my way to the kitchen on wobbly legs and poured myself a glass of water, gulping it down before going back to the front window. The police cars were gone, and yellow tape fluttered in the breeze around what was left of the neighbor’s house.

It wasn’t like I’d done anything wrong. All I’d done was go over there when I heard someone calling for help.

I needed to clear my head. The police visit had left me rattled, and sitting around my house overthinking everything would only make it worse. Not to mention, it would be nice to have something new to wear for my date with Ryder tonight. Something other than my robe or pajamas.

Grabbing my phone, I dialed Courtney’s number. She answered on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Courtney, it’s Everly,” I said, trying to sound more cheerful than I felt. “I was thinking about heading into town to do some shopping. Any chance you’d want to join me? Maybe point me toward the best spots?”

There was a short pause. “Um, yeah. I could do that.”

“Great,” I said, noticing Courtney didn’t seem to be her usual bubbly, overtalkative self. “I’ll swing by to pick you up in, say, fifteen minutes?”

“I’ll be ready,” she said and ended the call.

I threw on some jeans and a t-shirt, grabbed my keys, and headed out to my SUV. It didn’t take long before I was pulling into Courtney’s driveway.

She walked out of the house as if she’d been waiting for me. Courtney looked beyond radiant in her flowing yellow sundress and round shades. The wind blew a few tendrils of her hair along with the fabric as she walked toward me, wearing a smile.

I smiled back, but it quickly faded when Kellan stepped out of the house, holding Mason’s hand. They both waved from the door.

My fingers tightened around the steering wheel. I hadn’t expected to see Kellan — hadn’t prepared myself for it. Even though he’d saved my life, a chill of something creepy and crawling moved through my body just at the sight of him.

I forced a smile and waved back… for Mason’s sake. Courtney opened the door and sat down on the leather passenger seat.

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