Heidi nodded. “He’s doing a minor surgery, but I’m sure it’s alright if you go back.”
“I can hear you!”
Will’s voice drifted into the lobby, and I rolled my eyes. I pushed into the back room and found him bent over a frog.
“Working on your dissection skills?”
He glanced up, his eyes hard over the doctor’s mask that covered his nose and mouth. “Ha ha. Very funny.” His voice came out muffled.
I linked my hands behind my back and came closer, frowning over the green guy’s exposed innards. I grimaced at Will. “Seriously, though?”
He held the scalpel and little metal prodding tool in his huge hands. It amazed me how he got those beefy things to perform such precise, minute incisions and movements.
“Witch’s familiar. Ate something he shouldn’t have.”
“Ah.” I raised my brows and eased away from the table. “I’d offer to help but I’d rather not lose my lunch.” I threw myself down into one of the chairs along the wall and crossed my arms and legs. I bounced my foot.
“I’m assuming you saw?” Will didn’t look up from his work, but let go of the scalpel, which floated magically onto a tray beside him. He kept his palm open, and a new instrument, tiny tongs, floated into his hand. He went back to work on the frog.
I sighed through my nose. “Yeah. I saw. I stopped into the corner mart for a bag of chips, and the old biddies couldn’t wait to show me.” The two older ladies had practically shoved the midnight edition of The Conch, Bijou Mer’s local paper, into my face.
And there I’d been. A huge photo of me pinning down Aileen Shen graced the front cover. The caption read “Jolene Hartgrave, police consultant, takes down suspect in dual fashion murders.” Madeline L’Orange had the byline. Of course.
“Your hair looked awful.” Will glanced up at me.
I rolled my eyes. “What’s new?” It was true, though. My usually messy bun had been disheveled further after I’d been pulled into the clothing rack and then chased a woman down and fought her to the ground. It looked as though the messy, black tangle on top of my head had never met a hairbrush in its life.
“On a positive note, did you read her exposé?” I bounced my foot faster, my nerves getting to me. It was true that Madeline’s work would undoubtedly lead to some reforms at the sweatshop. That was a good thing. But I was skirting around the real issue.
I couldn’t sit still anymore and leapt to my feet, pacing in front of the table. I bit my thumb tip. “How bad is it?”
Will scoffed. “Cat’s out of the bag, Jolene. There’s no possible way Ludolf’s in the dark anymore.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” I shoved my hands in my pockets and hiked up my shoulders.
Will arched a brow and leaned into one hip, taking a break from the surgery. “You’re going to be hearing from him—you’d better hope it’s through his goons, but if it’s directly….” He shook his head. “You’d better be ready.”
I sniffed and began pacing again. “Whatever. I’m a big girl. I’ll handle it.” I couldn’t help the dread that twisted my stomach into knots. Will had been right all along. I’d been living a fantasy in thinking I could have even a part of my old life back. And now I had to face reality.
I sighed. I would have to deal with Ludolf Caterwaul, king of the shifter mob, one way or another. And I needed to keep that part of my life secret from Peter, more than ever. Which would be hard, considering I badly wanted to be open with him.
“Ugh.” I stopped and spun to face Will. I curled my lip. “I’ve really mucked this up, haven’t I?” I braced. “It’s fine. Lay into me—I deserve it.” I made little grabby hands.
He paused, then looked up, his eyes searching my face. Finally, he shook his head. “We’re all pretty mucked up.” He jerked his chin behind me. “There are some hard ciders in the cold storage closet. Why don’t you grab us some?”
I grinned, uncertain. “That’s it?”
He rolled his eyes. “Also, I told you so. You happy?”
I chuckled.
“Don’t make me wait. Go. When you’re a shifter in the Darkmoon District, you’ve got to live it up while you can.”
I spun to head back out to the lobby for the ciders, Will’s words echoing in my head. While you can.
My time of pretending I could live a double life, secret shifter and police consultant, had come to an end. And I had no idea what would come next.
Book 3: A murder at a costume party. A boat full of suspects. What will Jolene do when a body drops and the masks stay up?
Read Game of Bones to pull back a villain’s veil today!
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PRIMPING
“Almost done.” Heidi stepped a few paces back and squinted at me. She bit her lip and twirled her wand around a lock of her long black hair (she wore the other half up in a top knot). She surveyed her work as I grew more and more uncomfortable with being stared at.
I let out a little huff of annoyance. “Is this really necessary? Most of my face is going to be hidden behind the mask anyway.” She’d been doing my makeup for the last half hour. I hadn’t seen myself yet, but I was sure I looked fine—better than usual at least. Which wasn’t hard, considering my usual look involved grabbing whichever clothes smelled least off the pile
