Chapter 5

Whilst we worked the scene, Connor had kept a respectful distance and forced Margrave to do the same. When we were done, he followed us out to the Nomo vehicle. ‘Any thoughts?’ Gunnar asked him.

Connor ran his fingers through his unruly hair. ‘No signs of forced entry. I’m leaning towards the idea it was someone Kos knew. They got a key somehow, knew about the wards being redone. I keep coming back to those protesters. They want the barrier down and stealing one of the gems that powers it is a sure-fire way to do it.’

The protestors were upset because it cost them money to pay the magic users who kept the barrier powered up and working properly. Several members of the community thought it was exploitative; they believed the Portlock monster was a myth or a superstition, that if it had once existed it no longer did. The barrier was just a good earner for the magic users.

They were totally wrong. Gunnar, Thomas and I had gone through the barrier looking for two missing hunters, and though we’d found them they hadn’t come back alive. The beast beyond the barrier had seen to that. I still had nightmares about thick, cloying, black smoke pouring through the tear...

A chill ran down my spine at the thought of the barrier failing. We needed to find the gem, and we needed to make sure none of the other gems were stolen. ‘Can you make sure the remaining gemstones are heavily guarded?’ I asked Connor.

His jaw tightened. ‘You think they’ll go after another one?’

‘Maybe someone wants a huge ruby to sell – but if not, it doesn’t bear thinking about. We can’t lose two gems. The barrier can’t fail.’ No doubt the fear was showing in my eyes.

He gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. ‘I’ll see to it.’

‘Good. In the meantime, we’ll look into the protestors,’ Gunnar said. ‘Time for some basic police work, hitting the pavement to try to round up a suspect.’ He climbed into the SUV as I let Fluffy onto the back seat.

I’d already placed my hand on the passenger door when Connor called my name. ‘Bunny, be careful. If someone is going this far to bring down the barrier, who knows where they’ll stop?’

‘I’ll be fine. I’m undead already.’ I sent him a cheeky wink.

He shook his head slowly. ‘You might not be,’ he murmured quietly. ‘You have a pulse.’

‘Yeah. Anything new on that front?’ I tried not to sound hopeful. Connor had found nothing in his personal files so he’d started searching through other resources, but I didn’t know what those were.

‘Nothing yet, sorry.’

‘No problem,’ I lied.

He leaned into me and the electricity between us was like a lightning storm. His eyes were dark, more night sky than their usual ice blue. ‘Be safe, little doe. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.’ His warm lips brushed my cheek and my brain short-circuited.

‘Does are deer,’ I blurted. ‘There’s even a song about it.’

He gave me a lazy smile which warmed my insides. ‘Does are also female rabbits. Bucks are male rabbits.’

‘You’re a fount of useless information.’

His smile widened. ‘After a few centuries, you’d be surprised at the nonsense your brain chooses to remember. And what it chooses to forget.’ His eyes looked deeply into mine. ‘I could live a millennium and I still wouldn’t forget you.’ With that parting shot, he sauntered back to the house leaving me clinging to the car to stand upright. The man made me weak at the knees in the very best way.

I forced my mind to focus. Think about the case. You can think about Connor later. I opened the car door and climbed in. Gunnar was looking amused and my cheeks warmed. ‘Sorry,’ I muttered.

He turned on the engine. ‘No problem.’ His smile faded. ‘Just … be careful with him, won’t you?’

It wasn’t the first time Gunnar had hinted a warning about Connor, but unfortunately all it did was push me further into Connor’s arms. Give me a bad boy any day of the week; make him a forbidden one and I was a goner.

‘I will,’ I lied airily. I looked around for a way to change the subject and my eyes alighted on Fluffy. I was sure he had scented the thief when he’d whined in the closet with his nose to the rock pillar. He hadn’t been able to track them out, but maybe we could use the scent in another way. ‘Gunnar, if we call in each protestor for an interview, maybe Fluffy can sniff them and identify the thief.’

‘It’s worth a shot. We need to interview them all anyway, so we might as well give Fluffy the chance to get up close and personal at the same time.’

‘Nothing says hello like a sniff in the crotch.’

Gunnar laughed. ‘Don’t say that to Liv,’ he muttered.

‘Agreed. She doesn’t need any encouragement to try and get her face in your crotch.’ The words slipped out and he grimaced. I instantly wished I could call them back.

Since we were on the topic of Liv… ‘Do you think we should call her about the fire gem?’ As the head of the magic users’ group, she was the most logical next call.

‘She already knows all about it – that witch probably called her first. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s waiting at the office.’ We were silent for the rest of the drive, both wondering if his prediction would turn out to be true.

I was disappointed that there was no sign of Liv when we parked out back; I always prefer to get an unpleasant task over and done with.

When we got into the office, Shadow let out a plaintive yowl from his carrier. I obligingly opened the door and he pointedly turned around, giving me his back and refusing to come out.

‘A moment ago you were yowling to be let out,’ I sassed, ‘and now you’re staying in to spite me. I thought I was contrary.’ I rolled my eyes at him then turned to Gunnar. ‘I’ve got our list of protesters. I’ll start calling them in for interview.’

‘Great. No doubt Liv will be by soon.’

Almost like magic, the front door opened and we both looked at it expectantly but it wasn’t Liv: it was Stan. He gave me a slightly too-warm smile then he and Gunnar did a manly hug thing. Gunnar drifted back to his office, not so subtly giving us some privacy. It was entirely clear whom he would prefer me to date.

Stan and I had gone out on one-and-a-half dates already. They had been okay but had lacked the spark I craved. I’d finally had to tell him that I thought of him more like a brother. Stan was a great guy, but – he wasn’t Connor.

‘Hi, Stan,’ I greeted the shifter leader, keeping my tone professional. ‘Thanks for the help with the protestors.’

‘Bunny.’ He tempered the smile a little then it brightened when he remembered something. His eyes twinkled with mischief. ‘Why did the rabbit pursue a career in stand-up comedy?’

When I’d shot Stan down on the dating front, he’d promised that he would stop pursuing me but that he’d also subject me to a raft of bunny-related jokes. I sighed. I knew this one. ‘Because she’s very bunny.’

Stan grinned. ‘Next time I’ll get you with one you don’t already know.’

I doubted it; I’d heard them all. ‘I can’t wait,’ I said drily. ‘What brings you in tonight?’

His face grew serious, which was rare. ‘Connor rang about the fire gem theft. He was annoyingly close-mouthed about the circumstances, but the land shifters guard the wind gemstone. Is there anything I need to know about the break-in?’

‘Well for one thing, it doesn’t appear to be a break-in. No signs of forced entry.’

Some tension left his shoulders. ‘So it was probably a one-off insider job.’

‘Maybe. It feels too coincidental that there was a huge barrier protest around the time the gem was stolen. Anti-barrier sentiment is rising. At this stage we can only surmise the intentions of the thief, but my gut says to put more shifters on patrol and tell the other groups to do the same as well.’

He nodded and leaned on the counter. ‘Good advice, Bunny.’ Ugh: Portlock politics. Connor had already rung Stan to say exactly the same thing, yet here he was wanting to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth.

I sat at my desk and pulled out a notepad. ‘Since I’ve got you here, talk to me about the stone. What is the wind gem, and is it kept in a metal box about a foot square?’

Stan laughed. ‘You’re always working, aren’t you, Bunny? All work and no play make for a dull day.’

‘I’m on shift,’ I said drily, ‘and I play plenty.’ Just not with you. ‘The gem?’

‘It’s a diamond about the size of your fist.’ Measuring things by fist size wasn’t totally accurate because Stan’s fist and mine were very different. He had huge paws.

‘Has the gem been cut?’

‘I’m not an expert on precious stones, but yeah, I’d say so. I saw it once. It was very sparkly.’

‘Any idea what it’s worth?’

He shook his head. ‘No idea, but it’s priceless to us.’

Good point. Any Portlockian would value the jewel highly, but I suspected an outsider would think it had significant monetary worth. The British crown had some large, spectacular diamonds and they were worth several billion. If this diamond was the size of a fist, had been cut and had few inclusions, it could be worth billions, too.

I wondered how much the ruby was worth. I’d never heard of one as big as the fire gem, but I had no doubt it was millions.

I looked at my file of protestors. ‘I have a couple of people that I haven’t managed to ID. Gunnar knew most – the repeat offenders – but not all of them. Do you know these guys?’ I pointed to the few unknowns.

‘That’s Flynn, he’s in the siren group.’ He tapped the next guy. ‘That’s Howard. He’s a vamp. The last guy is Snow. He’s one of mine.’

‘Your impressions of him?’

‘He works for me. He’s a hard worker and I trust him, even if he hates paying his taxes.’

‘Shifter type?’ I pushed.

Stan’s lips pressed into a line. It wasn’t the done thing to share things like that with non-shifters but it was relevant. If Snow could become a mouse, maybe he could wriggle undetected into the witch’s house.

‘He’s a moose,’ Stan looked uncomfortable at divulging the information and he swiftly changed the topic. ‘How about a trip to Homer for a movie? Just as friends,’ he tacked on when he saw me stiffen. He held up his hands. ‘We could ask Sidnee to come, too.’

‘I do love the movies,’ I admitted, ‘but I can’t leave Portlock right now. The gem has to be my priority.’

‘No problem. We can go another time when there isn’t an emergency.’ He snickered even as he said it; we both know emergencies happened on a frustratingly regular basis here.

Stan headed out. He was right: if I waited for things to be calm, I’d never go to the cinema. Even so, I didn’t think it was a good idea to go with Stan because I was still worried he’d get the wrong idea. His smile had been a little too bright when he saw me and, although he’d been nothing but friendly, I wasn’t sure his crush on me had died a death yet. Why were things so complicated?

I leaned down and thunked my head against the desk a couple of times. I was still thunking when Liv breezed in.