Chapter 5

• Anger surged through me and I charged the pile of fabric, hoping to take out some of my aggression on a hidden assailant.
• When I pulled the sheets aside, a tiny black head popped out. Ears back, yellow eyes trained on me, Lola’s cat, Miles, meowed.
• Hot tears burned in the back of my eyes and I let out a labored sigh. I was relieved that it was just her cat but I was also disappointed the killer hadn’t waited around so I could serve up some justice.
• I squeezed the knife handle and quickly checked the rest of the room. Aside from the closet, there weren’t many places anyone could hide. The bed was in pieces and everything else was so scattered and broken it mostly covered the floor without the ability to cover a person.
• Enforcers! We’re coming in. If you’re in here, show yourself,” a male voice echoed through the apartment. It was amplified with magic and it sent a chill down my spine.
• Another one of my shitty half shifter gifts: I could sense magic. Whole lot of good it did me now. Sensing it kept me alive on occasion but rarely gave me much of an advantage. It pretty much just helped me to know when a supernatural was pretending to be human or when an object was spelled. But I had to be pretty damn close to the thing in this city. There was so much magic everywhere that it was hanging in the air most places.
• Usually I kept that skill turned off, not worrying about it unless I was hunting. But now that my senses were fired up, I could feel the magic residue hanging like fog in my apartment. It was never like this. Either the enforcers were using insane amounts of magic, or whoever had broken in had. Both thoughts sent my stomach in knots.
• “Last warning, I can feel you. If we come to you, we will shoot first,” an enforcer called.
• Fuck me.Can’t they give a girl a minute to get her senses? I glanced at Lola and my chest tightened. Who would do this to her?
• I heard footsteps moving toward the room.
• “I’m coming out,” I called. “I live here and I’m unarmed.” I slid my knife back into the pocket on my filthy pants.
• Hands up, I walked slowly toward the front door where a group of enforcers was looking around what used to be my living room.
• “My roommate is back there in her room.” I swallowed hard. “She’s dead.”
• A female enforcer stepped forward, a pad of paper in her hands. “And you killed her for what purpose? Was it to send a message to her father?”
• My brow furrowed. “What? I didn’t kill my roommate. I just got home and found this mess.”
• “You seem real shaken up about it,” she said.
• “You’re kidding me, right? Because I’m not bawling, I killed her?” Hot tears stung my eyes. “I got here five minutes before you. I’m pretty sure I’m still in shock.”
• “Murder will do that to someone,” she said.
• “What the fuck are you even talking about?”
• “We got a call about a disturbance and a woman screaming,” another enforcer said. His eyes dropped down my body, then slowly traveled back up to my face.
• That’s when I remembered that I was covered in blood from my hunt earlier. “I can explain.”
• “You better,” the male enforcer said.
• “I’m a hunter. Guild official, certification up to date,” I said.
• “You were on a hunt tonight?” The female enforcer lowered her pad of paper. “Who was the target?”
• I opened my mouth to explain about Vincent and no sound came out. My brow furrowed. I tried again. All I could do was sputter and grunt. No words.
• The female enforcer lifted her brow. “Cat got your tongue?”
• “I really was on a case tonight,” I said.
• “Sure.” She picked up her pad of paper. “Who paid you to snuff out the princess?”
• “I didn’t kill my roommate,” I said. “And her name was Lola, not princess.”Condescending bitch.
• “Yes, Lola Vega, daughter of the High Moon Pack’s late alpha. Princess.” The female gave me a thin-lipped smile.
• My eyes widened. I knew Lola was a wolf shifter, but I had no idea she was so high ranking in the family structure. And I had no idea she came from the High Moon Pack. They were the most well-known and strongest pack around. You didn’t fuck with them and survive. Why had Lola run? Had someone from her pack found her and taken her out? She told me she was hiding from them, that she was never going back.
• “I didn’t kill my roommate. I don’t know who did, but it wasn’t me.”
• “Enforcer Cain,” a younger enforcer with long blonde hair and violet eyes walked up to the female I was talking to.
• “She’s dead and it looks like she was tortured before they finished her off.” He swallowed and took a breath. “They used silver pins all over her arms and legs.”
• “What?” Tears slipped down my cheeks and my pulse raced. “Why would someone do that to her?”
• “Whydidyou do that to her?” Cain, the female enforcer, glared at me.
• “Will you get off? I’m half wolf. Why the hell would I stab silver into my friend? I know how bad silver hurts and I wouldn’t be able to touch it with bare hands. Do your damn job. I’m not the killer here.” I inch closer to her, my anger winning out over common sense.
• “Back down or I will take you down.” Her tone is cool and calm. She’s not even slightly rattled by my aggression.
• If it weren’t for the fact that she was accusing me of murder, she and I might get along.
• “She didn’t do it,” another voice joined the party. A voice I recognized.
• My whole body tensed and I took a step away from Cain. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
• “Considering I’m the only one in this room who thinks you didn’t kill your roommate, maybe you should try being nicer to me,” he said.
• I glared at the enforcer I’d met earlier this evening. The creature who prevented me from giving an alibi. “You going to tell them the truth about where I was tonight?”
• “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “But I do believe you didn’t kill your friend.”
• “You asshole.” My anger moved from Cain to the newcomer. If I hadn’t reached for that money, if I had just left right away, I’d have my alibi. I wouldn’t be in this mess.
• “According to Hunter Guild rules, if a Hunter is accused of murder, they have forty-eight hours to prove their innocence,” he said, keeping his eyes on Cain.
• I glared at him. He could end this. He could tell them what happened and where I was. I opened my mouth to try to say that I was with him, but even those words wouldn’t form. Whatever he did to me, the magic was strong.Fucking asshole.
• “That’s an ancient rule meant to be used if they have crossfire or an accident or an enemy finds them,” she says. “This is an open close case. See for yourself.” Cain gestures around the room, then gestures to me.
• “You owe me new pants,” I managed.
• He ignored me. “I don’t think she would have destroyed her own apartment or been so obvious about leaving the body.”
• “She was trying to make it look like an invader,” Cain said.
• “Bullshit,” I said. “If I wanted someone dead, I’ve got much less messy ways to do it. And I would get rid of the body.”
• “That’s not helping you,” he said.
• I pressed my lips closed.Yeah, probably not.
• “It’s the law,” my new enemy who was somehow trying to get me two lousy days said.
• “Fine, but she’s your responsibility. I want her attached to you until her forty-eight are up. Then, you personally deliver her to the Hall of Justice.” Cain whistled.
• The other enforcers all gathered in a little circle around her. “Get as much evidence as you can and get the princess out of here. If we don’t get her body back to her pack before sunrise we’re going to have a war on our hands.”
• “You already have a war on your hands,” I said.
• Cain’s forehead creased.
• “Whoever really killed her started it. Lucky you, I’m going to find that fucker and end it,” I said.
• Cain smiled. “Well, good luck with that.”