"A one-night stand, detective. Sorry. She never even knew his name, or if she did she had forgotten it by the time we found out she was pregnant.”
"Ah well," he stood and stretched again before reaching into his jacket to pull out a card holder. He handed a card to her. "If you think of anything at all, please let me know as soon as you can. Don’t go trying to play amateur detectives, please? And if there’s any ransom demands…”
Faith nodded, but Aldric noted that she had paled as the detective trailed off.
"I will see you out, detective. Thank you for coming by," Aldric said.
"And for taking this so seriously," Faith added from her seat.
Aldric watched as the detective got into his car and drove off down the long driveway to the road, then turned back into the house. He stopped at the den, where Tamika waited by the door.
"Calling Leo?" she asked quietly.
"I am. I have the feeling that Mr. Greg is a werewolf, and has fixated on Kaylee and her mother. Leo will find out soon enough."
"I'll stick to the kids. Don't worry about them.” A grin started to creep over her face as she glanced over his shoulder to the kitchen, where the sounds of running water and quiet humming indicated that Faith was cleaning up after snack time. "You watch over her, hmm, Romeo?”
Aldric did not bother to rise to her bait. He simply nodded and turned toward his office. "Thank you. I will."
15
Faith put the last mug into the dishwasher and rinsed out the coffee pot. It would do until someone got to finishing the cleanup, probably right before dinner prep. She stared out the wide window over the sink and past the grassy, sun-filled backyard area to the trees beyond.
She knew, logically speaking, that there was nothing in those trees at this moment that she should be worried about, but it was impossible not to feel the anxiety starting to build. Aldric and Marc had both gotten very grim that morning when they were discussing Crissy and the wolves in the woods last night. It was fair, after all. She and Kaylee had brought danger literally into their backyard. And that wasn't even considering the whole dead guy in the road thing.
Honestly, if she was going to be completely blunt with herself, she was shocked that Marc was still not only allowing them to stay here, but was actively trying to help. He was putting his people at risk, and he was fully aware of it, for two total strangers. Faith gripped the edge of the counter and breathed deeply.
Then there was this detective guy. Faith hadn't missed his somewhat pointed comments about wolves in the woods. Did he think that the folks up here were, what, running a secret wolf preserve? No way would he guess 'werewolves' out of the blue. That wasn't something your average human being believed in.
It was puzzling, that was for sure. He didn't sound suspicious so much as concerned, but then, a good detective probably tried to build a rapport with the people he was questioning. People who were relaxed and trusting were more likely to let important details slip, and to be freer with secrets.
And then there was Kaylee's revelation. Was this Mr. Greg a relative of one of these guys? Was he a werewolf? That alone didn't make her nervous, though it probably should considering everything she'd learned over the last few days. What worried her was the idea that he had fixated on Kaylee and then gotten his relatives to make a grab for her. There were thinner reasons behind kidnappings, she was sure.
But what could she do? Sitting around feeling helpless wasn't really her style. Okay, granted, she had never had to deal with kidnappers before. Or werewolves and vampires. There was no way that she could ever learn enough self-defense to beat one of these guys. They were just too fast and too strong.
She could do something though.
Faith frowned and looked over at the empty coffee pot she had set upside-down on a kitchen towel. A quick glance over her shoulder and a listen for footsteps in the hall told her that she really was alone. Taking a deep breath, she did something she hadn't done in years– calling that shield in a moment of panic didn't count. That hadn't been a deliberate action, but more of a blind instinct. This, though?
She pulled on the magic that lay quiet inside her and stirred it up a bit. Then, very carefully, she pushed it out toward the empty carafe on the counter. Gently, gently wrapping the magic around the pot she gave it a slight push, and smiled as it slid easily over the counter a few inches. It wasn't much, but it was a reminder of what she could do.
Faith just needed to go to her room and practice for a while, in private.
"Damn," Marc's awed voice behind her made her jump, and she would deny forever that she squeaked, too.
"I knew what Aldric said, and I believed him, but seeing it in person..." Marc whistled under his breath and shook his head without taking his eyes off the coffeepot and the now rumpled towel.
"Um, I..." Faith tried to think of some intelligent response but kept coming up empty.
"I was hoping there was some coffee left, and I heard there were cookies, so I came in search. I'll make a fresh pot, if you're done with this?" Marc gestured at the pot and Faith just nodded. That twinkle in his eyes that she was starting to associate with Marc grew more obvious. Like some kind of younger, werewolf version of Santa Claus as played by Jason Momoa.
"I don't think you're on the wrong track here, Faith. From everything Aldric said you told
