Chapter Two
“Close the door.” Red Masterson motioned to the door as I entered his office. To his credit, he had bookshelves lining the wall, many with great classics such as The Lord of the Rings, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe, Beowulf, the Complete Works of Shakespeare, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid. He had contemporary works too such as the Jonathan Shade series, the Dresden Files, the Alastair Stone Chronicles, and the Montague and Strong Case Files. His desk looked like some lighter wood—oak or pine—and the two chairs at the front of his desk looked more for comfort than simple utility.
As I closed the door, I noted that ward runes flared. I read them to be silencing runes, meaning that not even a werewolf’s supernatural hearing could pick up what was said. I nodded, impressed by their design. At the same time, if Red tore me to pieces, nobody would hear that either. It was a chance I’d have to take.
“Ironspell.” Red looked at me appraisingly as he sat down behind the desk. “We’ve heard about your latest exploits, and I must say I am impressed.”
I grunted noncommittally as I fingered the truth charm in my pocket as I sat down. The charm was a simple one. Once activated, if the person you were talking to was lying, it would turn red. As a police officer, we’re forbidden to use them in our work, but this was my time off. They didn’t work on Fae, magic users, and other types of Supernaturals, but I guessed it would work on lycanthropes since they were in most respects closer to humans than other Supes. I palmed it and brought it out, taking a surreptitious peek at the flat, white stone.
“But, we didn’t attack the Denver Wolfpack. Least of all Alaric.”
“Then, who did? Especially when Alaric claimed it was you.” I raised an eyebrow as the stone remained white.
“As powerful as my pack is, it is no match for the Denver Wolfpack. What you saw in the bar constitutes our entire pack.”
I had counted maybe fifteen members of the Commerce City Wolfpack. If they all came together at Trader Vic’s, they would’ve been able to overwhelm the werewolves who were there. But—and I hesitated—Alaric had me and a real mage ward the entire bar and upstairs. It had taken me the better part of a week to research the runes and get the sequence right, but when all was said and done, nobody should’ve been able to enter and attack the pack on its home turf. The ward runes had been taken out, which led me to believe someone with powerful magic counteracted them.
“Do you have any magic users in your pack?”
“No.” Red shook his head. “We do know some ward witches, a tattoo witch, and a hedge witch, why?”
“The ward witch did your runes?” I pointed to the door.
Red grinned. “Yeah, she’s really handy with those. She only has to refresh them every six months or so. She offers them at a great price too for multiple entrances and multiyear contracts.”
The truth charm stayed white. “So, you want to talk to me?”
“Yeah, I want you to understand that no matter what Alaric thought he saw, it wasn’t the Commerce City Wolfpack.”
“Who would have cause to attack and kidnapped their unmarried women?”
Red’s brow furrowed. “Someone stole their women? Seriously? And you’re blaming us?”
“Well, it seems most logical…”
“Dude, get with the 21st Century. We’ve all gone through sensitivity training. We don’t steal women—our women stay with us because they want to.”
“But…”
“A ‘No’ is definitely a ‘No’ in my book, and any werewolf in the Commerce City Wolfpack will say the same thing. In fact, I’m so offended, I might have to go to my safe space.” He looked like he might actually cry.
“Dude, I-I had no idea…” I glanced at the truth stone. Still white and not a hint of red. Not even pink. “Look, I’m sorry for the accusation. I just wanted to follow up on the lead we had.”
Red nodded and sniffled. “Damn allergies.” He pulled a tissue from a tissue box on his desk. “I really hate spring. I thought I’d do better on the plains but the damn Normals keep planting deciduous trees.”
“I can relate. I have asthma.” I nodded back.
“Really? They let you into the Denver Police?”
“Yeah, it’s not that serious, and I have an inhaler I use for the days when the brown cloud gets a bit rough.” I paused. “So, if you didn’t kidnap the female weres, who did?”
“Good question. If it were a rogue pack that moved into Colorado, we’d know about it.”
I had little doubt of that. “Maybe someone else from out of state?”
“Maybe if I caught their scent.” Red scratched his head. “Odd, Alaric should’ve been able to smell right through any illusion…”
“Hmm.” I considered the possibilities. “Unless there was an olfactory component to the illusion.”
“Are there such things?” Red tilted his head again like a puppy.
“Yeah, but it’s complex and requires a talented wizard to pull off.” I pondered the possibilities.
“How powerful?” Red asked. “Someone like you?”
I almost laughed but caught myself. My illusions generally suck. The only illusion I got to work properly was creating a door to look like a blank wall in my house. I suspect the house had helped augment some of the magic; otherwise, my lab could be easily found by an intruder. “Someone better at it than me.”
Red shook his head. “I don’t know of any weres that employ mages.”
I felt a twinge in my hand and looked down. The charm glowed red. “Really? You might want to rethink that.”
Red frowned, looking menacing. “Are you calling me a liar?”
I took a deep breath. “No, but I think you might know of a werewolf pack in Colorado that may have a mage or two.”
“There is the Boulder werewolves, but they’re a bunch of vegan pansies. They’re all new-agey and
