Wanted: Undead or Alive

The Chapter You've Been Waiting For (Kind of)

We walked away from the greenhouse, side-by-side. The kitten bounced along near our feet until the mama cat meowed at her and she reversed course. I swiveled my head from side to side like a bobblehead doll, making sure anyone watching would understand how very thorough I was being in my search for clues. Somewhere past the halfway mark between the greenhouse and the forest, I licked my parched lips and said, "Maybe you should go to your family's place."

"I'm not going anywhere until I know what's happening here."

Every little hair on the back of my neck stood up. Whatever else Nick was, he was a hunter. In fact, pursuit and destruction were so deeply encoded in his DNA that he was forbidden to start pursuing, as the destruction part was inevitable if he did. When we'd shared a connection, I'd felt how powerful the urge to chase and kill was within him. This investigation had him walking on thinner ice than I'd realized.

"You could go to the estate and let Moose and me sort it out."

"I am letting you and Moose sort it out," he said as he stomped across the field behind the murder scene. The two murder scenes.

The TV static was slowly returning in my skull. I gave myself a mental shake as we crossed the tall grass that separated the manicured grounds from the woods beyond. Our pace slowed even more then, as we picked our way over fallen branches and around the low-growing shrubbery. I cast about for something to say and came up with, "So, you're part thunderbird, eh?"

Nick glanced over at me. "Yes. It's a very small part."

How many generations back did that mean, by his definition? "Do you know all of your ancestry? I'd be sunk if I even had to name all eight of my great grandparents."

His silence stretched out so long I thought maybe he'd refuse to answer, but finally he said, "No. I don't know all of it. A lot of it was illegal and so kept secret. Women died. Mortals don't often do well as incubators for the supernatural."

His adopted mother, Hawwa, had once told me Nick's biological mother had died giving birth. It never occurred to me there might be a whole trail of death that led up to his life. Eesh. When I met the witch who'd had Valynais's baby, I hadn't fully understood her position. Or her strength.

With my conversational bubble effectively popped, I stumbled along between the trees until we emerged on the wide rocky beach of a small, pristine lake. If not for the rippling wake of a family of geese swimming by, the water would have been as smooth as glass. A mixed forest of towering pines and lush shade trees just beginning to sprout new leaves surrounded the sunken basin, which reflected the forest and sky as perfectly as any polished mirror. I sank down onto the ground and crossed my legs. Nick sat beside me, his knee an inch from mine.

Speaking loudly seemed obscene in this untouched place. "I know that I'm not supposed to apologize to you," I said softly. "I'll just say that I hope I didn't cause you any hurt."

"I'm fine."

I chewed my lip and stared at the water. Probably we really should look for clues but I didn't even know what to look for. For the ten thousandth time, I lamented the fact that I wasn't an investigator.

Nick laid back on the ground and stared up at the sky. "I'm not used to situations getting away from me like this."

"Yeah. I got that."

"It's frustrating."

"I bet."

He rubbed his fingers over the crystal cuff.

"Are they bothersome?"

"It's fine."

I looked closer and saw red burn marks around the edges. "Oh, no! They're burning you. Nick, you don't have to—"