Chapter 6

ClawstonePark’s pentagram hadn’t been drawn on the front of the gated property, but on the fence surrounding it. I tried to get us a lift, but nobody would take the dogs, so we hoofed it, with me carrying Fluffy most of the way because the poor thing was getting tired. Traipsing on asphalt and flagstone all morning was very different from frolicking around a grassy cemetery with handy spots for napping.

Bythe time we arrived at a parking nook between two houses backing into the pack’s territory, Key and I were sweating hard, and I hoped my green makeup had survived the trip. I didn’t want to frighten children for real.

Huttonwas waiting for us, his usual scowl in place. He was tall and handsome in a pretty way, with green eyes a few shades lighter than Ian’s. The familiar resemblance was unmistakable.

“What took you so long, witch?” was his opening salvo.

Alsohis usual.

Fluffysquirmed in my arms, and I put her down. She immediately retreated behind Rufus, who was eyeing Hutton with deep mistrust. They were being affected by the alpha aura Hutton took no care to tamp down. Now that I knew Bagley had created this alpha aura with a potion, it never failed to raise the hairs on my arms and the back of my nape. I could almost feel the wrongness of dark magic coating my throat as I breathed in.

Behindme, Key lowered her head and tried to make herself smaller, instinctively feeling the waves of power emanating from Hutton.

“Oh, cut it off,” I said, annoyed. “We know you’re the big bad alpha, etcetera, etcetera. Stop trying to intimidate us. We’re here to help.”

Hutton’show dare you expression was priceless. I returned it with a what you gonna do, huh? arch of my brow.

Hecould, of course, tell the Council about my dark magic marketplace listing and get me kicked out of my shop, so, in the interest of maintaining the peace, I switched to a bright, friendly smile.

“Where’s the pentagram?” I asked.

Otherthan right there behind him, the red clear as day on the whitewashed wall.

“Where do you think?” he snapped. “Do you need glasses?”

Ishook my head in disappointment. “You’re being very rude.”

“At least I don’t look like a fool.”

“Hey now.” I made sure my witch hat was still perched where it should be on top of my head. “It’sHalloween.”

“Not for another day.”

Ipatted his arm on my way to the pentagram. “You need to learn how to be in the moment. Live a little! Put on some dog ears or something.”

“Har, har,” he muttered, coming to stand by my side.

Aswith the other pentagrams, I took a bunch of photos, then checked for residual magic. Yup, a spell had also been performed here.

“Who discovered it?”

“One of my shifters smelled the blood during her morning run,” Hutton said.

“What time?”

“About four.”

“The witching hour,” I murmured.

“That’s three, isn’t it?”

“Who’s the witch here?”

Hepressed his lips tightly and said nothing. Smart man. Wouldn’t want to wake up with a neon yellow face next time he needed one of my potions.

Likethe symbols on Janet’s pentagram, the ones here were also slightly sloppy, drawn in a hurry. The culprit must’ve gotten scared a roaming shifter might smell the blood ahead of time. Hutton’s pack often went around the grounds in their wolf forms—that was the whole point of the pack living in a gated community with a forest inside. You could glamour your scent, but you couldn’t hide the smell of blood as easily.

“Whoever did these was a busy person,” I mulled aloud. “Four buildings in one night, all some distance from each other.”

“Or owned a car,” Hutton added unhelpfully.

“Any suspects come to mind? Anyone with a beef with the pack?”

“You’re seriously asking that?”

Onceagain, I found myself sweating under my jacket. “Right. Too many to count. What about people who’ve hung around the front entrance lately? Anyone try to get in from the forest side?”

ClawstonePark’s forest rear-ended near the cemetery and had no fence on that side. Patrols and old, very powerful wards meant to repel interest usually took care of any intruders.

“We always have idiots trying to get inside this time of year.”

“Maybe one got mad that you didn’t let them in and decided to prank you guys?” But no, that made no sense. Why put pentagrams on the other buildings too? Some foul names on this wall would’ve been enough. “Do you have security cameras?”

“No.”

“Maybe you should.”

Heshrugged, as if the notion was of no importance. WasIan the only security-conscious paranormal in town?

“What about your alibi?”

Hiseyes narrowed. “My alibi?”

“What were you doing last night?”

“Sleeping.”

“Alone?”

Hegrowled. “None of your damn business.”

“Hmm. That’s not a very good alibi.”

“Do you seriously think I did this?” he demanded, all outrage.

Igrinned. “Nah, just messing with you.”

Cometo think of it, though, I’d yet to hear his name linked with anyone in a romantic way. I made a mental note to ask Dru to dig into the shifter forums about this. For research purposes only, of course. A witch needed to stay abreast of these kinds of things.

“You walk a fine line, witch,” Hutton growled in his growliest of growly voices.

“Aw, you know you love me.”

“No.”

Ididn’t let the categorical denial affect me. Hutton was a good guy deep inside. Sometimes, anyway.

“What about the younger shifters?” I asked. “Any of them known to do pranks or tag stuff?”

“They’re accounted for.”

Iimagined a bunch of teen wolves herded around like sheep. “How?”

“They had a meeting yesterday about the Garreth appearances,” Hutton answered in a tone that made me think he’d been bugged more than once about who got to play Olmeda’s number one ghost dog attraction. “It went on until well after midnight.”

“They wouldn’t have had the time to paint all these pentagrams.” One or two, maybe, but not all four. And the brush strokes told me they had all been done by the same person.

“No.”

Imight have one less pool of suspects, but the confirmation made me happy. Dealing with Hutton was hard already, and I didn’t want to get into hot water with the pack by accusing their teens. Still, it could be one of the adults.

“What about the rest of the pack?” I asked. “Anyone unhappy with the twins’ deaths, maybe?”

Oneof Hutton’s seconds in command had been the main backer behind the twins’ bid to take over the pack a few weeks back, but there must’ve been more supporters for him to think the twins had a chance of being accepted.

“That’s my business, not yours.”

“They could be a suspect here,” I insisted.

Hescowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Doodling on walls to get revenge is not the shifters’ way. Are we done here? I have a million things to do.”

“Planning your Halloween party?” WouldI get an invite?

“I hate Halloween.”

Igasped in horror.

Heran a hand through his short hair in a way that reminded me of Ian. “It’s a pain in the ass. We have to put extra wards and patrols every year because people keep trying to jump over the fence. Some idiot started a rumor about us being a cult, and now people think we sacrifice pigs or something during Halloween.”

Ilaughed, then sobered abruptly. “Wait, who puts the extra wards?” Because it sure as the earth was blue and green hadn’t been me.

Huttonignored my question. “How long is it going to take to fix this?” He waved toward the pentagram. “Can we clean this up now?”

Maybethe wards had been put before I arrived by Bagley or another interim witch? I studied Hutton with deep suspicion. Had he hired someone from out of town to work on his wards? WhileI was here?

“What?” he asked, noticing my stare.

Iopened my mouth to ask about the wards again, but a woman came jogging into the parking space. Judging by her jeans and flannel jacket outfit, she was part of Hutton’s pack. Shifters were rustic like that.

Herpolite incline of a head toward Hutton confirmed my suspicions.

Shestudied me and Key and the dogs with curiosity. I stepped forward and gave her an enthusiastic wave. “Hi, I’mHopeAvery, local in-witchy-gator. This is Key, my assistant today.”

“Oh, for the love of God,” Hutton muttered.

Thewoman’s mouth twitched with amusement. “Hello. I’mMadeleine.”

“Like the cakes?”

Hersmile showed a lot of teeth. “And just as sweet.”

Ilaughed at that. We were going to get along just fine. “Feel free to come to the TeaCauldron any time. First drink on me.”

“Stop trying to drag my people into your shop,” Hutton said.

“I can’t help it if they love my teas and potions.” I made a what can you do gesture.

Moreand more shifters had become regular patrons of the shop. The cozy interior aligned with their sensitivities, even with the Wicca and occultism parts.

“I’ll make sure to drop by,” Madeleine said. “Thank you, Hope. I like your getup, by the way. Great branding.” Her face registered sudden recognition. “Oh, you’re Cavalier’s mate.”

“Cavalier’s mate?” That was news to me. Mate and girlfriend were two different things in the shifter world. My attention snapped to Hutton, but he didn’t appear shocked or interested or anything other than impatient to get on with his day.

“Yeah. You’re kind of famous in the pack. We heard that—” She sent Hutton a nervous glance. “Uh, never mind.”

Huttonrolled his eyes. “They heard you were at the challenge.”

Amemory that still haunted my nightmares. I shivered at the reminder. “I was there.”

Madeleinebrightened with interest but hesitated. She wasn’t about to ask questions in front of her alpha.

Ishould’ve been happy she would likely visit to talk about it later, but my brain was still trying to wrap itself around the mate thing.

“What do you mean Cavalier’s mate?” I asked.

Huttongrunted. “The man hasn’t dated in years. You arrive and two weeks later you two are involved? C’mon.”

“But…” I glanced at Madeleine, but she only looked curious. “But mates only happen between shifters, don’t they?”

Huttonsnorted.

“What does that mean?” I demanded when he didn’t elaborate. As far as I knew, mating for shifters was a serious thing. Maybe they used the term interchangeably with dating in Olmeda? Yes, I assured myself. That must be it, because as much as I loved spending time with Ian, mating was on a whole other galaxy. The galaxy of forever and ever and no matter how my heart jumped at the notion, that was scary far away.

Iswallowed the knot that had lodged in my throat and pulled my brain back to the things that mattered. Forcing a sly note in my voice, I asked, “So you’ve kept tabs on Ian, huh? Like a good brother would.”

Huttonbared his teeth. Very white, very impressive, with a bit of green sticking to one of his canines. “He’s a bounty hunter. I need to take care of the safety of my pack.”

“Sure, sure.” I turned toward the pentagram to avoid the full blast of his glare. “Do you know if any witches have arrived in town lately?”

“No. Madeleine?”

“None that I know of,” she answered.

“Oh, really?” I asked, hands on my hips. “Then who put all these extra wards for Halloween?”

“They’ve been here forever,” Madeleine said. “We just need to recharge them. We can do that ourselves.”

“Hmph.” I wasn’t completely convinced.

Huttonsmirked. “Can we move on now?”

“Yes.” I took a few more photos of the pentagram. “I’ll come cleanse the wall after you clean it up.”

“Good.” Hutton turned to Madeleine. “Stay here and call someone to come deal with it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Heturned and stalked away.

“Text me if you think of anyone of interest,” I called after him.

Arude gesture was his answer.

Iturned to Madeleine, hopeful she might be in a more talkative mood with her alpha gone, but she was busy on her phone, and her posture told me she was now in “job mode,” so there would be no small talk.

“What do you think?” Key asked as we made our way back.

Ididn’t want to think about any of it right now, but she was probably asking about the pentagram, not the mate thing. “I think it’s a witch.”

Now, whether the witch meant these pentagrams as a prank or something a lot more sinister was what I needed to find out.