Chapter 4

Lachlan

I stared at the woman, unable to take my eyes off her.

She was so beautiful and…bright.

Looking at her was like looking at the moon, and the beast inside me liked it. Too much.

I clenched a fist, trying to drive the feeling back. I'd only had this sensation once before, when I'd seen the girl that fate had chosen for me. I'd lashed out then, knowing that I couldn't afford any kind of feeling like that. I still couldn't afford it. Not for anyone.

But her scent…

It wrapped around me like silk, drawing me to her. It took everything I had to keep my distance. To rein in my wolf, that most bestial part of me that acted on instinct and desire.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the steel flask, taking a swig of the whisky that never gave me a buzz. My metabolism was too fast. But I liked the burn, along with the potion laced with the alcohol. The damned potion that kept stronger emotions at bay. Emotions were a bane for some of my kind—for my line in particular—driving us to the madness of the Dark Moon curse.

She eyed my flask and raised a brow. "Isn't it a little early for that?"

"No."

"It's almost morning."

"Then it's still late at night."

The collar glinted around her neck, and I wondered if letting her help was madness.

No. I wanted to know what she was up to. I'd tried to wind her up with my threats of throwing her in our dungeon, and she'd stayed cool.

I was almost certain she hadn't killed Danny. We'd found a few witness statements that I trusted, and she'd barely held his glass at all—not long enough to slip a potion in. To add to it, we'd analyzed the potions in her cuff, and none had been even close to poison.

But she was up to something, coming onto our turf with enough cash to buy a nice car. No one walked around with money like that. And her hidden signature…

She was a mystery, and I wanted answers.

"I need to see the body," she said.

I nodded. "I'll show you."

"And I need my things back."

Again, I nodded. "Come on, then."

She hurried to keep up, walking beside me through the main room. I couldn't keep my traitorous eyes off her. Her silver and pink hair glinted under the light, riveting. Oddly enough, she was almost familiar. Like the girl I'd once known, so briefly. But that girl had been a wolf, and this one was fae. And she looked entirely different.

That girl was gone, and good riddance. She'd disappeared in the dead of night, not leaving a trace. I'd tried to drive her off, and it had worked. My cruel words still sent a little shaft of guilt through me, but they'd been necessary. And they'd worked. She'd run.

She hadn't needed to be so careful hiding her tracks, though. I wouldn't hunt her.

No matter how much I might want to.

I couldn't.

I also couldn't afford to think of her right now. Danny had been a weasel of a pack member, but he'd been one of my brother's friends. One of my last links to Garreth.

I drove the thought away, considering another pull from my flask. Instead, I quickened my pace. She kept up, and I led her through the twisting hallways of the guild tower toward my quarters. When we reached them, I stopped at the door. "You'll wait here."

"Fine."

I let myself inside the sparse, austere rooms and went over to the table by the hearth. Her wallet, cuff, mobile, and envelope of cash sat there. I picked up everything but the cash and returned to her, handing them over.

She frowned. "Where's the money? And all the potions are gone from my cuff. And my chocolates aren't here."

"We had to test the potions and chocolates. They're gone. You'll get the money back when this is all over." And once I've figured out what you're hiding.

She scowled at me but didn't fight. "Just take me to the body."

"This way." I led her down to the main level of the tower, cutting toward the back of the building. "The body is in the meat freezer," I said, pushing open the door to the massive kitchen.

"What the hell?"

"We're not in the habit of having murder victims in the pack. We don't have the facilities."

"You could have taken him to the morgue."

"Outside our turf? Never."

"So you put him where you put the food."

"Aye." I reached the huge metal door and pulled it open, reveling in the icy air that flowed out. "And he's not touching any of the food."

"Still, gross." She slipped in before me, and I inhaled her scent as she passed, unable to help myself. I tilted my head back and squeezed my eyes closed, trying to get control of myself.

It was fine to want her. It'd been years, after all. But it wasn't fine to act on it.

Again, I wanted to reach for my flask, but I resisted. Self-control was a game I played—one of the only games.

She stopped beside Danny's body, which had been laid out on the massive table in the middle. "Did you search the corpse?" she asked.

"Aye." I pulled a business card out of my pocket. "Besides his wallet and cigarettes, this was all we found on him."

I handed it to her, and she studied it, something flashing in her eyes. Worry? "Clarence Tomes. I don't recognize it."

"How did you know Danny?" I asked. "I've never seen you around him."

"Don't really know him. He stopped me and asked me to hold his drink while he got a cigarette."

"No smoking in Pandemonium."

"That's what I told him." She turned back to the body, inspecting Danny's face.

I stepped up beside her to get a better look, trying to ignore what it felt like to be around her. It was almost like my heart moved more quickly, my mind was more engaged.

She was a curiosity, that was all. I'd been alone too long—not that that was going to change—and she was a distraction. Yet the pull I felt toward her…that wasn't normal.

I needed to be careful around her. I couldn't afford a distraction, especially not from a pretty fae.

She leaned closer to the body, her gaze on his face. Dark veins had appeared beneath Danny's skin, and his eyes had swollen closed. "Do you recognize what's happened to him?" I asked.

She frowned. "There's a couple things it could be. Do you have the glass he was drinking from?"

"It's at the scene, which has been locked down."

"I need to get that glass. Can I speak to the bartender who was on last night, too?"

I nodded. "Aye. Follow me."

Together, we walked through the tower. People moved aside and inclined their heads as I passed, and I felt the fae watching me. She said nothing, though, and it was for the best.

I led the way from the tower. The sun was rising over the city walls as we crossed the courtyard to Pandemonium, and I looked down at Eve. "Clara, the bartender, lives above the place."

She nodded. "She's going to hate me knocking at this hour."

"She'll do as her Alpha commands."

Eve grimaced.

"Do you have a problem with our way of life?"

"I don't know anything about it."

We'd reached the front of Pandemonium. I pointed to the small dormer windows at the third story. "She lives there. We can go around the side."

She nodded. "I've got it from here. No need to have the Alpha accompanying me."

"I'm coming."

She glowered at me. "Suit yourself."

I led her to an alley between Pandemonium and the shop next door. The narrow space was cobblestoned and damp, smelling faintly of vomit. They were overserving at Pandemonium, no doubt. I used the club for the monthly fights—the one release I allowed my wolf, besides runs in the Highlands—but never drank there. "Here." I stopped by a narrow green door and pushed it open, then climbed the steps to the third floor.

Eve followed closely, stopping just behind me and watching as I knocked on the door. From within, a thump sounded, as if someone were falling out of bed. Footsteps followed, and I could smell the distinct signature of Clara, cloves and orange.

A moment later, she pulled open the door and stared out at us groggily. Clara's purple hair stuck out at all angles, matching the shadows under her eyes. The annoyance on her face transformed to respect when she saw me, and she straightened as she lowered her gaze. "Alpha. How can I help you?"

"Clara. You can answer her questions." I nodded to Eve.

Clara looked at Eve, her gaze flashing with confusion. "Okay."

"Yes," Eve said. "I have a few questions about Danny."

"Really? I thought you were here to ask about my stylist." Her tone was sarcastic as she patted her hair.

"Clara."

She perked at the warning tone in my voice. "Apologies. What can I do?"

"Did you serve Danny last night?" Eve asked.

"He didn't get the drink from us."

"Really?"

"Really. Someone else must have ordered for him."

"And you didn't see who did?" Eve pressed.

"No. But Danny liked whisky, and he wouldn't turn down a free drink."

"He would have been an easy mark."

She nodded. "Probably, but I didn't see who did it. I thought it was you."

"But you served me a beer."

She frowned. "You're right. Doesn't mean you couldn't have brought whisky in a flask and poured it into an empty glass you found. Or dropped a bit of potion in the glass he handed you."

Clara was clever. We'd found no flask on Eve, however, and she hadn't held the glass long enough to slip anything into it. Probably.

"Well, I didn't," Eve said. "You haven't been down to the bar since the incident?"

"No, it's on lockdown. Alpha's orders."

"Thank you." Eve turned to me. "We need to go get that broken glass."

"I have the key."

"Thanks." Eve turned back to Clara. "Was there anyone in the bar last night that you didn't recognize?"

I studied Eve, wondering what her deal was. She was determined to solve this, but why had she been there in the first place?

"I didn't recognize you," Clara said. "And a few others."

"Can you describe them?" Eve asked.

"An artist is coming by to help you do that later," I told Clara.

She nodded. "I'll work with them."

"Good." Eve looked satisfied.

"Thank you for your help," I said. "We're going to go check the bar."

"Let me know if there's anything I can do to help." Clara frowned. "I didn't like Danny, but he was pack. What happened to him was wrong."

"It'd be wrong even if he weren't pack," Eve said.

"Sure. It's just worse."

Eve ignored that and turned to go. I followed her down the stairs, my gaze on her bright hair. It gleamed under the light, and occasionally, I caught sight of one of her pointed fae ears.

I looked away.

We reached the street and headed out into the alley. Pandemonium was dark and quiet as I let us in. I led the way down the stairs to the basement, then flicked on a light. It looked dingier without people filling it, but I preferred the quiet. Empty beer bottles and glasses were scattered all over the tables, and the floor was still sticky.

Eve headed straight for the shattered glass near the wall. She knelt and peered down at it, then rose and went to the bar, where she collected a half-spent kitchen roll. "I'm going to take some of this, all right?" she said.

"Aye."

I met her at the broken glass and knelt down to inspect the pieces. She joined me, kneeling as far away from me as she could but still so close that I wanted to move aside.

She picked up a piece of glass with the towel and turned it over under the light. A bit of liquid had dried inside the glass, sticking to the side with an oily sheen.

"That will be the potion that killed him," she said. "Left behind after the whisky evaporated."

Carefully, she collected and wrapped the shards. When she was done, she stood. "I'll need to take that back to my workshop to—"

"You'll do it here."

"I really can't." She pointed to the collar, glaring at me. "And it's not like you're going to lose track of me."

She was right. It was just that I didn't want to let her out of my sight.

It was fucked up. There was no reason to be attached to her. No reason to be attached to anything other than my pack.

Some distance would be good. I needed to get my head on straight where she was concerned, because none of this made sense.

"Fine. You may go. But you'll report back this evening," I said.

She nodded. "And you'll look for the person on the business card? And get sketches of the other people made?"

"Of course."

"I'll be back tonight to report on what I find. Leave me alone until then." She spun and strode out of the bar.

I watched her go, her hips swaying as she strode away. I turned toward the fight ring, needing to focus on something other than her curves. I'd avoided women for years now—ever since I'd been eighteen and my father had fallen prey to the Dark Moon curse. Ever since she'd left.

All shifters were at risk for the curse, but my line particularly so. Too much emotion—especially strong emotion—and we would succumb to a madness that would steal our loyalty to our pack and eventually our minds. We'd go feral, our wolves taking over.

It had taken my father, but it would not take me.

I wouldn't let it.

Quickly, I took a swig of the potion-laced whiskey, counting on it to help repress any emotions that might try to sneak through. I needed to be the cunning, clear-headed Alpha that I always was.

The fae woman was a problem, but it was possible she wasn't Danny's killer.

She was hiding something, however, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.