Page 7 of Huntress and the Splintered Court
“Can you tell me if this is one of the missing?”
He nodded before bending down. A quick inhale and he jerked away like he smelled something rotten. “Vampire.”
I followed the trail. A drip here, a drop there, until they stopped.
“He got in a car,” I mumbled noticing where I was standing. I turned, glancing back the way I came. There were two sets of footprints, the vampire whose blood trailed the ground and one other—most likely the second vampire.
I walked back down the alley and followed the other pair of footprints—the wolves. They lead to a dead-end.
“They jumped?” Adam called out. I hadn’t heard him approach. I nodded seeing no other reason for them to have vanished. “What if a vampire swooped in?”
“Old wives tale. Vampires move fast but they can’t fly. With how dirty this alley is, we’d definitely see signs of that kind of speed. See?” I gestured to some marks on the ground.
“So what’s next? They went opposite ways so maybe we were wrong.”
It surprised me how keen Adam was just to give up on the idea of the vampires taken the wolves.
“I need to see traffic cameras. I also want a shot of all the parties involved off the surveillance camera. I’d like to know who I’m looking for.”
Trey came out from the bar hearing my requests. “The surveillance camera we can do,” he stated coming to stand by Adam. “But traffic cams…that’s a little beyond us. Maybe Gideon could pay off someone?”
I waved him off. “I just need an Internet.”
4
While Trey gathered the still frames I requested, I sat in a coffee shop a block over with two of the werewolves as my bodyguards. Adam had lingered with the rest of the wolves. Too many of the pack in a small space might be unnerving for the humans, or so Trey explained limiting the numbers that followed me, which I agreed, but agreeing with the Head Enforcer felt wrong. Adam had tried insisting on being one of mybodyguards, but Trey wanted men that were trained to handle conflict, which Adam was not. As number two in the pack, the Beta was more than capable of handling himself, but the men Gideon had assigned me knew how to work together as a team. They could also handle a situation that arose more discreetly.
The buzz of the blender whipping together an iced coffee hummed loudly, followed by the hiss of the espresso maker. The aroma of roasted coffee and chocolate wafted through the air like invisible clouds of deliciousness. My drink was delivered to me in a white ceramic mug on a saucer. I had no idea the reason for the small plate, but it did nothing to deter me from my coffee. I sipped, enjoying the bitterness as it warmed my mouth before I swallowed relishing the simple pleasure. Coffee had been a rare commodity in the werewolf manor. They burned through the caffeine too quickly to get any use from coffee. At the counter baristas were busy taking and preparing orders. Shelves displaying their latest roasts sat behind them while travel mugs and tinned cookies rested in front of the register in hopes to entice the customers.
The two wolves sent to guard me sat a table away. They were muttering back and forth, but it was the hushed whispers that began to annoy me as I tried to set up my laptop. Bringing the device with me had been a spur of the moment decision. I was used to the Order’s resources when I was on assignment and the laptop was the best I could do in my situation. I needed to concentrate since I only had a general idea of what I was doing. The hubbub of the coffeehouse was a calming hum while the wolves’ whispering was irksome.
“What are you two going on about?” I demanded.
“Nothing,” one said too quickly to believe him.
“Just ask her,” whispered the other.
“Ask me what?” I stopped messing with the computer giving them both my complete attention. Better to handle it now and have no more distractions.
“Are you Luna now? I mean as Gideon’s mate normally that’s makes you Luna, but you’re not a wolf. I mean I know, you know, you’re not a wolf but what I mean to say…” His friend saved him by smacking him upside his head to silence him.
I gaped at them. They both suddenly appeared younger than they had just seconds ago. Was this really what concerned them? Then I wondered, could I be Luna? I wasn’t a werewolf. Gideon claimed I was his mate and I understood that being the mate of the Alpha meant the position of Luna, but he’d never mentioned it. Perhaps I couldn’t be which made me feel both relieved and disappointed. Outside of being his mate, what was I to Gideon? He’d begun treating me like his girlfriend, but was that what I was? Were we still just benefit buddies? Now my head hurt.
Blinking slowly, I turned back to the laptop, making it obvious that this wasn’t important right now even though my mind was racing at the thought. I clicked on the app Eric had added giving me access to the Order’s resources. Why he even thought to do it was beyond me but right now I was incredibly grateful. I’d send him an Edible Arrangement the moment I had access to my finances again.
With a quick search I found access to the traffic cameras. I’d helped my techs out enough that I was familiar with the design. A few fumbling clicks and I was staring at the camera feed from outside Blink. A few more and I rewound to the night of the kidnapping. I scrolled back trying to catch something, but without knowing whom I was hunting, it was really pointless.
Adam walked in smiling holding up a few sheets of paper. He glanced at the wolves who shifted uncomfortably drawing a furrowed brow from Adam, but he otherwise ignored them. Why it was him and not Trey wasn’t something I questioned out loud. I much preferred Adam to the Head Enforcer.
“Perfect timing,” I stated reaching for what he held.
“There wasn’t a good shot of one of the wolves, but Trey had someone from the manor send me a picture of both of them.”
I laid the images out before me, did a quick visual scan, then returned to my computer. That’s all I needed. Ten minutes later, I spun the laptop toward Adam, who was sipping a coffee he’d ordered. Setting his ceramic mug down with a clink, he leaned forward examining the image I had pulled up.
“A license plate?”
I nodded.
