Page 8 of Before the Bond Breaks
Anger, maybe grief, flashed in his gaze, but it was gone before I could pin it down. “We’re sorry.”
Candra scoffed. “Not like you killed her. Although there was a scent of a shifter in the area.”
Jenson sent a glare at Candra and growled, “Whoever did this wasn’t one of ours.”
Nicky gave a humorless laugh. “We know that. And we know who did it.”
For a beat, no one moved. Then Talon asked, “Who?” When I didn’t answer, he continued. “We are here to provide our help in finding and ending whoever killed Jessica. Plus, we have other information that we believe will help.”
I gave him a sharp nod. “Not here. Conference room.”
I turned and led the way down the hall, past the gloss of client-facing decor that hid the bones of what we really did here. The large conference on the first floor was for human clients. Today, it was neutral ground.
The shifters filed in and sat on one side of the conference table. Candra, Nicky, and I took seats opposite them. Winter settled at the head of the table with her tablet and connected it to the seventy-inch smart TV on the wall behind her. Moments later, the VPA logo appeared on the screen.
When everyone sat, Talon leaned forward. “Maze, we want to help.”
My name in his mouth scraped nerves raw. “You’ve got enough to handle with your own clan.”
Jess was my responsibility.
“We believe Balder is behind this. He’s making an army, using the same ritual the Prime did when she turned us into shifters,” Shaw said, low and steady.
My thought instantly went back to Jessica’s memories. The lab and experiments…
Jenson nodded. “We’ve had a few run-ins with the beasts. They’re not natural. We call themeitrbornafter Quil did an autopsy of one of them and foundeitrin the DNA.”
Eitrwas a block poison that corrupted anyone it came into contact with. It also had the magical properties to create life.
Nicky snorted. “Cute name for nightmares.”
I caught each of my sister’s eyes before meeting Talon’s. “He’s usingeitrto replace thefylgja.”
“Or create a twisted version of the shifter’s animal spirit.” Talon fisted his hand on top of the table. “This is all guessing from what we know about the ritual. Balder has the Prime’s grimoire.”
Meeting Winter’s gaze, I nodded for her to start the memory feed. “We saw Jessica’s memories.” She recorded enough to confirm what you already suspected.”
The shifters didn’t speak as they watched Jessica’s last moments flicker on screen. Jenson’s jaw went stone hard. Larc didn’t blink, but I was pretty sure he broke the arms of his chair. Shaw muttered something under his breath that sounded like a curse. And Talon didn’t move at all, but I felt the ripple of his wolf thrashing inside him.
When it ended, Jenson’s voice was sharp. “Balder will die.”
“Fuck yeah, he will,” Talon said, his gaze never leaving mine. “We bring him down.”
“Winter’s tracing the magical signatures found on Jess’s body,” I said and took a breath to clear my head. “Jessica was in Manhattan before her trail went cold. There’s a coven in upstate New York she was working with.”
“Then you and I go there. Find out what she was tracking,” Talon said.
My traitorous heart beat a little faster at his words. “Agreed. Then we’ll track Balder from there.”
Winter’s voice was quiet as she said, “It’s not just witches anymore. If Balder really is creating an army of corrupted shifters, then he’ll need a lot of magic.”
“Any magical being is at risk of being taken,” I finished her train of thought.
The silence that followed was heavy enough to choke on. Finally, I stood and turned to Talon. “We leave at dawn.”
Chairs scraped as they rose, the meeting fractured into smaller movements. Shaw lingered long enough to refill his coffee. Jenson offered me a polite farewell. Candra and Nicky left bickering over battle tactics. Winter drifted out last, her laptop hugged to her chest like a lifeline.
That left me and Talon.
