I scoffed, though even to my ears it was a weak front. “Eh.” I waved a hand. “It’s just a scam I’m running on them.”
Ludolf’s face split into a sympathetic grin. He splayed those long-nailed hands and glanced around the room, at his bodyguards and Neo and his goons behind me. His eyes landed back on me, the fire of the candles reflected in them. “Don’t lie to me, Jolene.”
Ice flooded my stomach at his tone.
He softened it immediately. “You’re in the company of fellow shifters, after all. You don’t have to.” He chuckled, a deep, grating sound.
His shifts, from deadly to gentle, threatening to friendly—they’d always made me feel off-balance, left me reeling. I was sure I wasn’t the only one, that it was a deliberate tactic. I struggled to find my center again, but my heart raced in my chest. I held still, not quite trusting myself to speak.
“Come now. Clearly, the police believe in your abilities or they wouldn’t keep hiring you.” Ludolf leaned forward, nostrils flared. “Do share your gifts with me.”
Oh, sea snakes. I could tell I wasn’t going to get out of this easily, but still, I had to try. I scoffed. “No one can read animal minds.”
Ludolf leaned back in his high-backed wooden chair and pouted at me, his eyes narrowed as if deep in thought. Faint voices echoed from the long hall behind me, and the candles gently guttered. Every now and then Viktor breathed out a weak giggle, but otherwise the silence dragged on as Ludolf studied me. I hoped he couldn’t see the trembling of my hands in the dim light.
Finally, he spoke, his tone flat, all business. “Where were you earlier this evening?”
I gulped, my throat tight. My first thought was none of your business. But the time for sass had (unfortunately) passed. “Oh… uh… out.” Maybe I could wear him down with vagueness.
“Someone told me they saw you at, of all places, the policeman’s ball?” He flashed his pale eyes at me.
Oh yeah… that. I felt like I weighed a thousand pounds as I struggled to stand there before him and keep my shoulders back.
He looked down, drumming his sharp nails on the gleaming wood desktop. “Who was that officer who was your date?”
I felt like I’d been dropped into a pond of ice water. I hastened to minimize the relationship. I waved my hands. “Oh, it’s not like that.”
“Officer Peter Flint, I believe?”
Snakes. I was a sand-headed idiot to think Ludolf wouldn’t be five steps ahead of me. I bit the inside of my cheek until my eyes watered. Of course he already knew about Peter—he had eyes and ears everywhere. Oh shell—just take me out with the tide.
“He patrols the night market district, correct?” Ludolf’s brow furrowed in concern. “Such a dangerous area.” He clicked his tongue.
His tone dripped with threats, and I ground my teeth together. My tremors now came from a mix of fear and anger. I hated hearing Peter’s name on his thin lips.
“You clearly care about him.”
“What? Me?” The words lurched out of me. “Care about a cop? No way.” My teeth chattered with nerves. I’d interrogated serial murderers as a lawyer, gone toe to toe with corrupt titans of industry and been unfazed. But this man had me rattled.
Ludolf’s eyes bored into mine. “It’d be a terrible tragedy if something happened to poor Peter while on duty.” He shrugged his bony shoulders and splayed his long, thin hands. “But it happens. As you know, the Darkmoon District is a violent place.”
Chills shuddered through me, and all my bravado dropped away. I could have handled it if he’d threatened me, but not Peter.
Violent anger surged through me, and tears stung my eyes. Once again, I was brought to feeling like a little orphaned shifter—angry over what was, but powerless to change it.
I clenched my hands into trembling fists at my sides. This was why you didn’t care about things—they were just used against you. But I couldn’t risk him hurting Peter.
I spoke through teeth gritted so hard together they ached. “I suppose I’m sometimes able to speak to animals.”
Ludolf raised his dark, thin brows. “You suppose?” He glanced around the room, as if surprised. “Well, now, this is a skill I could have some use for.” He jerked his pointed chin at someone behind me and I spun to look.
A door, hidden among the dark wood paneling, swung open, and a giant henchman in a black suit shoved a small, trembling man before him. He held the cowering guy by the collar of his shirt, and in the other, palmed a large grey rat.
I frowned and turned back to face Ludolf.
The head shifter gestured toward the frightened man. “Mr. Medes here claims he has no idea where my missing gold has gone.”
I held my palms up. “Look, I could try—try—to speak to an animal. No guarantees, mind you, it’s kinda on the fritz.” I gulped, trying to hedge my abilities. “But I definitely can’t read people’s minds.”
A slight grin played at the corner of Ludolf’s mouth. “How generous of you to volunteer your gift to my service.”
I glared at him. Well, that was a generous way of interpreting what I’d said.
“No, I simply ask that you question this rat here, who happens to live in Mr. Medes’s abode.”
I turned slowly around. The man let out a little whimper, and his legs gave out. But the beefy man holding him by the collar kept him from sinking to the floor. The rat’s whiskers twitched as it sniffed the air and it squeaked.
Do I smell cheese? I think there’s cheese nearby.
I cast an uneasy glance at Mr. Medes, who’d basically turned into a puddle. I rolled my shoulder and took a shaky breath before turning
