“Those are your sneakers?”
Anton barked a short laugh.
“What? They’re vintage.” Grandma shoved them at me.
“How did you wear these for aerobics?” I asked.
“I didn’t,” Grandma said. “Why do you think they’re still in pristine condition?”
Reluctantly, I put on the shoes. At least they fit. I’d have to suck it up until I could figure out what was going on.
“Why did your feet shrink?” my mother asked.
“Because she finally washed them,” Grandma said.
I glared at her. “Because I wished they were smaller.”
My mother turned to look at me. “You made a wish and wasted it on smaller feet? Why didn’t you wish for a boyfriend?”
“Or a more interesting personality,” Grandma added.
“I would’ve wished for more lemon trees,” Aunt Thora said.
“I didn’t know I was making a wish that would actually come true,” I said. “I was hunting for the wish demon.”
“I guess you found it,” Grandma said.
Except I didn’t. I had no idea what or how my wish had come true. Where was I when I made the wish? I needed to go back to the park, but right now I had to get over to Swiss Street.
“And where do you think you’re going in my shoes?” Grandma asked.
“My assistant thinks there’s been a werewolf attack. I’m driving over to the scene.”
“In those sneakers?” my mother asked.
“I’m not meeting a date,” I said.
“Who would be foolish enough to attack anyone?” Anton asked. “They’ll have the wrath of the supernatural community upon them.”
“That’s what I’m going to find out.”
My mother motioned to the table. “Take your brother with you.”
I squinted at her. “Anton works for an ad agency. I’m a federal agent. Why would I need to take my big brother with me?”
“So you don’t get hurt,” my mother said.
Anton glanced at her. “But it’s okay for me to get hurt? I have a family.”
My jaw clenched. “What does that mean? I’m dispensable because I don’t?”
“Like you said, it’s your job.” Anton stole a few slices of banana from Ryan’s tray and dropped them into his oatmeal.
“Yes, but you’re a vengeance demon,” I said. “You have skills, too.”
“You’re the one who said you didn’t need me to go,” Anton countered. “I’m agreeing with you.”
“But now it’s just insulting.” I grabbed my handbag from the counter and stormed out of the house.
I got in my car and drove to Swiss Street, careful to adhere to the speed limit. The last I needed was Deputy Guthrie to pull me over. He’d relish the chance to give me a ticket.
The flashing lights ahead told me I was in the right place. I parked behind the chief’s car and walked toward the ambulance.
“Agent Fury?” Chief Fox looked at me with surprise as I approached the scene.
“Hi, Chief. I heard there was an animal attack.”
“I’m not really sure what we’re dealing with yet.” He glanced down at my shoes. “Interesting footwear.”
“They’re vintage.” I glanced past him to see the victim being transferred to a cot. Despite the blood and gashes, he looked vaguely familiar. “Have you identified him?”
“Maxwell Egerton,” the chief said. “A thirty-seven year old male. His house is there.” Chief Fox inclined his head toward the brick house behind us.
“Can he talk? Did he say what happened?” I wanted to speak to Maxwell myself, but there were too many people around. I’d have to go to the hospital.
“The only word we could get out of him was wolf,” the chief said. “I know wolves have been spotted in the area on occasion, but I haven’t seen reports of any attacks.”
I watched as Maxwell was lifted into the back of the ambulance.
“Any witnesses?” I asked.
“Nope.” The chief rubbed his stubbled jaw and my attention was drawn to the dimple in his chin.
I tried to distract myself with actual work. “Any evidence at the scene?”
He squinted. “Are you checking up on me?”
“No, I’m just being nosy.”
The ambulance drove off, the wail of its siren piercing the silence of the neighborhood.
“I’m going to take another look around now,” the chief said.
I didn’t need to search for clues. What I needed was to talk to Maxwell before the chief had a chance to dig deeper.
“Okay, I’ll let you work in peace and quiet,” I said.
His brow lifted. “Really?”
“Far be it for me to interfere with your duties.”
“Since when?”
“Let me know what you find out,” I called over my shoulder. I rushed back to my car and raced over to the hospital. I hoped Maxwell was well enough to answer questions.
By the time I arrived, he was set up in a room and hooked up to fluids and painkillers. I made it past the nurses’ station without anyone noticing me, thanks to the charmed invisibility necklace.
Maxwell’s eyes were closed as I approached the bed. I opened my locket to make me visible again. I didn’t want to scare the guy to death.
“Maxwell?” I said softly. “Are you awake?” His face was lined with bloody scratches and a nasty gash on his shoulder peeked out from beneath his hospital gown.
His eyes fluttered open. “Yes,” he croaked. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”
“I live in town. I’m sure we must have seen each other before.” That would explain why he looked familiar to me, too. “Are you able to tell me what happened?”
Maxwell winced and shifted slightly in the bed. “I thought I saw a man in my yard. I went outside to see if he needed help or something, but when I got out there…” He groaned and I couldn’t tell whether he was in pain now or remembering the moment. “A silver wolf. Strangest thing.”
“And the wolf attacked you?”
Maxwell struggled to nod. “Rabid maybe. They’re running tests.”
“And the wolf just ran off afterward?”
“A car…scared it,” he croaked. “My neighbor.”
“He must’ve been the one to call 9-1-1.”
A woman came rushing into the room, mascara streaking her cheeks.
“Maxwell!” she said and pushed me aside to reach him. She clutched his arm and choked back a sob. “What happened, sweetheart?”
Through a haze of pain, Maxwell managed a smile. “Suzanne.”
She cupped his face with her hands. “Can I kiss you or will it hurt?”
Maxwell puckered his lips, willing to risk it, and Suzanne planted a kiss on him. I suddenly realized why Maxwell looked familiar. In fact, they both did—they were the amorous couple from the bushes near the promenade. I’d stumbled upon their secret picnic.
“Suzanne?” a gruff voice called.
Suzanne jerked away from Maxwell. “Kyle?” She clenched her fists as a man appeared in the doorway. “What are you doing here?”
Kyle looked older than Suzanne with lines around his eyes and streaks of gray in his hair. “I followed you. I tried to get your attention to see where you were going in such a hurry, but you didn’t see me.” Kyle narrowed his eyes at Maxwell. “Who is this?”
Suzanne inched away from the bed. “Don’t you recognize Maxwell?”
Kyle stepped forward to scrutinize the patient. “What happened to you, buddy?”
“He was attacked,” Suzanne said. “His neighbor called me.”
“His neighbor called you? Why?” Kyle looked from Suzanne to Maxwell.
“He knows Maxwell and I work together,” Suzanne explained. Her anxiety was palpable.
And it seemed apparent that Kyle knew they did more than work when they were together. He reeked of wolf. I had to diffuse the situation before it ignited right here in the hospital.
“Kyl
e, is it?” I gave him a friendly smile. “My name is Agent Eden Fury.”
Recognition flickered in Kyle’s eyes. “You’re Julie’s cousin.”
“How about you and I take a stroll down the hall and let Suzanne discuss whatever work issue she needs to with Maxwell?”
Kyle’s jaw hardened, but he took a step toward the door.
“I’ll only be a minute,” Suzanne promised.
I guided Kyle out of the room and down the corridor until we reached an empty room. I dragged him inside and shut the door.
“You know who I am, I take it?”
He nodded. “The new FBM agent.”
“Good, now I don’t have to flash my badge.” My blood began to boil. “What were you thinking? Do you know how many laws you’ve violated today? You’ve jeopardized this whole community.”
Kyle’s tough facade crumpled. “I know, believe me. I’m so sorry. He’s okay, though, right? He looked okay.”
“I think he’ll be fine. If not, I’m sure it’s something Dr. Verity can fix.” As a druid, my sister-in-law had certain healing abilities. “But we can’t let this go, Kyle. It’s too serious.”
“You don’t understand. Something weird is happening.”
“I sure hope so,” I said, “because there isn’t a good explanation for a werewolf attack.”
Kyle dragged a hand through his hair. “Okay, I admit I was out of line. I had no intention of hurting him. I only meant to scare him.”
“But you got carried away?”
Kyle’s nostrils flared. “I smelled her all over him. My wife.” He turned away from me, struggling to maintain his composure. “I just lost it.”
“How long have you known about the affair?”
“Only a few days,” Kyle said. He drew a deep breath and faced me. “They’ve worked together for years. I knew Maxwell had a thing for her, but I never got any sense that Suzanne was interested.” His brown eyes glistened with tears. “We’ve always had a happy marriage. I mean, really. Not one of those fake social media marriages.”
“Did something happen recently that would change that? Arguments over money or kids?”
Kyle shook his head vehemently. “Believe me. I’ve run through every possible scenario in my head and I come up with nothing every time.”
“Have you talked to your wife about it?” Now there was a novel idea.
“I’ve tried to broach the subject, but she’s made it clear that Maxwell is only a work colleague.”
“But you sensed a change.”
“It was like she went to bed one night in love with me and woke up the next morning in love with him.”
That did sound strange. “Would you mind if I spoke to her about it? See what I can find out?”
Kyle frowned. “Do you really think she’ll talk to you?”
“If I can’t wheedle anything out of her the old-fashioned way, I have alternatives at my disposal.”
Kyle gave me a crisp nod. He understood that ‘alternatives’ meant something supernatural. I didn’t want to resort to magic to get Suzanne to talk. I preferred the human approach whenever possible—anything to avoid accessing my powers.
“Does she know that you’re a werewolf?” I asked.
“No, and I don’t want her to either,” Kyle said. “Suzanne is human. No Sight. It would frighten her to death to know about us. She doesn’t even watch horror movies.”
“You don’t think it’s a bit unfair to marry someone without complete honesty?”
Kyle sniffed. “I generally take a blocker so I don’t shift. We opted not to have kids so that wasn’t a concern. It’s worked really well.”
“Until now,” I said.
Kyle said nothing.
“I’ll talk to her,” I said again.
“She’s the love of my life,” Kyle said. “And I know I’m hers, too.”
I didn’t know what to say. From what I’d seen in the bushes, Maxwell and Suzanne were infatuated with each other.
“Go home, Kyle,” I said. “Consider this your one free pass.”
His eyes widened. “You’re not going to report me?”
“Not today, but if you so much as pee against a tree, I’ll hunt you down personally.”
“Understood, Agent Fury.” He left the room and I waited in the corridor for Suzanne to emerge from Maxwell’s room. A nurse was bound to kick her out eventually. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, Suzanne came toward me. She seemed in better spirits than when she arrived.
“Suzanne, how is he?” I asked.
She blinked, not recognizing me for a moment. “Thank you for intervening with my husband. Kyle has a jealous streak. I never knew it until recently.”
Probably because he never had a reason to be jealous until recently. I didn’t have time to beat around the bush. Things were getting out of hand.
“So how long have you and Maxwell been together?”
Her gaze flickered around the corridor. “Can we maybe discuss this outside?”
“Sure, I’m on my way out anyway.”
We rode in the elevator and left the hospital together. Neither of us said a word until we were safely outside and out of anyone’s earshot.
“I’ve been careless,” Suzanne admitted. “I don’t really know what’s come over me. If Maxwell is there, I just want to be with him. Touching him. When he’s not there, I just want to go and be where he is.”
“Your husband said that you and Maxwell work together.”
“We have for several years,” she said. “I knew he was interested in me, but I’d never felt anything for him. My husband and I have had a good marriage.”
“Then what changed?”
Suzanne clasped her hands in front of her. “I don’t know. I just…realized that I had feelings for Maxwell. I think they’d been bubbling beneath the surface for years.”
“Bubbling?” More like exploding.
“I can’t explain it, really. It’s like we’re magnets drawn to each other.” She smiled and touched her lips. “I hope they release him today. I can’t stand being away from him.”
“What about Kyle? He seems to know something is going on.”
“Maxwell and I had just been talking last night about when I’d ask for a divorce. We’d like to be married as soon as possible.”
Wow. “You don’t think things are moving too fast?”
Suzanne blew a raspberry. “You sound like my sister, Bridget.”
“Bridget disapproves?”
“Thoroughly. She’s been baffled by this whole affair. She thinks it’s temporary insanity and begged me not to sleep with him. I told her I would never do that until I was officially separated.”
“And you’re planning to talk to Kyle?”
“Yes, although Bridget wants me to wait. She thinks I’ll go crawling back to Kyle next week when I come to my senses.”
“But you don’t think so?”
Suzanne’s expression grew dreamy. “If you knew Maxwell the way I do, you’d understand. It’s like all my dreams have come true.”
Dreams—or wishes?
Kyle was right. Something weird was happening and I had a feeling I knew exactly what it was.
Chapter Fourteen
Clara and I sat in a booth in Gouda Nuff, the downtown diner with more dishes than they could fit on the menu. I called her from the hospital parking lot to see if she wanted to meet for breakfast. We’d spent many afternoons after school in this very booth, dreaming about our future lives or moaning about our families. One of us moaned a lot more than the other, it should be said. I won’t say which one.
“Kyle should know better,” Clara said, after I’d filled her in on the incident.
“I’m not making excuses for his behavior,” I said, “but the wolf in him was definitely triggered. According to him, he and Suzanne have been perfectly happy. No issues.”
“It sounds like Maxwell made a wish for Suzanne,” Clara suggested.
“That’s what I think, too,” I said. “I
’d like to talk to Maxwell again when he’s feeling better. See if he knows exactly where he was when he made the wish.”
Clara slid her fork through a sausage link. “You’ve narrowed it down to Davenport Park, huh? That’s a lot of area for the demon to hide in.”
“Except most of it is open space. Neville and I checked the river and walked all around the park, but there’s no sign of a demon.”
“You never told Tanner that you’re a fury,” Clara said.
I set down my fork. “What?”
“You gave Kyle a hard time about lying to Suzanne, but you did the same thing.”
“I was in high school,” I objected. “I wasn’t marrying him. It was different.”
“So you’ll tell your next human boyfriend?” Clara asked. “You’re not seventeen anymore. Marriage would be a real possibility with the next guy.”
“Which is why there won’t be a next guy.”
Clara eyed the lone pancake still on my plate. “Are you going to finish that?”
I pushed the plate closer to her. “At least one crisis has been averted this week. I was worried that my father was sliding into senility a little early.”
“But he’s not?”
“Just Mom and Grandma having their idea of fun.”
“Thank goodness because the idea of a senile vengeance demon is one I’d rather not contemplate.” Clara laughed. “Can you imagine?” She puffed out her chest and used a deep voice. “I am here to reap vengeance. Uh, but I can’t remember what you did or what I’m supposed to do to you. Would you mind filling in any gaps before I exact revenge?”
“I have enough to worry about without senile supernaturals running around town.”
Clara gasped. “Can you imagine your grandma with dementia?”
“Trust me, that’s the kind of thought that keeps me awake at night.”
Clara’s phone buzzed and she checked her screen. “Sassy is going to join us, if that’s okay.”
I groaned. “Does she have to?”
“Eden, you promised.”
I did promise. Sassy had proven herself to be a good friend to Clara in the years I’d been gone. I owed it to both Sassy and Clara to make an effort to get along.
“I’ll be on my best behavior,” I said, “but we’ll have to stop talking about supernatural stuff.”
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