Shifters and Sabotage

by Lily Webb

  “Oh, and they both received anonymous letters that seem, well, personal.”

  “Devoco,” Raina commanded with a wave of her wand and all three letters zoomed from various places in the house to her hands. She passed them to Mallory, who read over them with increasingly wide eyes.

  “Yikes, these are serious. Have you reported all this to the police yet?”

  “Why bother? What can they do that we can’t? Besides, Heath asked me to keep it quiet, and that was before Olivia’s incident.”

  Mallory shrugged. “Fair enough. The cops probably wouldn’t care that much anyway since it’s shifters.”

  “Exactly. I’ll never understand the whole werewolf-shifter fight, but whatever.”

  “Hey, wait a second. The handwriting on these looks funny,” Mallory said as she adjusted her glasses and held the letters closer to her eyes. “Yeah, it’s definitely different. It’s subtle, but if you know where to look, it’s there.”

  “Only you would notice something like that, but that’s why we called you.”

  “Here, see for yourself,” she said and laid the letters out on the table in a row. “Look at the L’s and O’s. There’s way more spacing on some of them in one letter than there is in the others.”

  I leaned forward to see, and she was right. “Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, does it? Whoever wrote these could’ve just been in a hurry or something, right? No one writes their letters exactly the same every time.”

  “True, but these are too different to have the same author. They could be impersonations.”

  “Well, we have literally hundreds more to compare them to.”

  “What? Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, Beau’s been getting letters like this for a couple months. He stuffed them in a drawer in his desk at work.”

  “Do you think you could get them for me?”

  I turned to Beau, who’d been lying by the fireplace the entire time. “Would you mind if we took the letters?” He barked, which I took as a no. “I think he’s fine with it. It’s hard to tell.”

  “You know, of all the weird situations you’ve gotten yourself into, I think this takes the cake,” Mallory laughed.

  “At least no one’s turned up dead this time, right?”

  “Don’t count your shifters before they’ve changed.”

  “That’s not funny,” I said, but Mallory sniggered at her joke, anyway.

  “Luckily for you, I know a certain historian with the Moon Grove Historical Society who specializes in document analysis.”

  “Uh, English, please?”

  Mallory rolled her eyes. “She’s the person they all turn to to verify that a document is legit before they admit it to the Historical Society.”

  “So she could analyze the handwriting to see if it really is an impersonation?”

  “Exactly. She’ll want to see those other letters though, so we need to get them from Beau’s office.”

  “That’s easy enough. I’m practically a favored guest at the station by now.”

  “Good, the sooner, the better. Who do you think did this, anyway?”

  “No idea. Raina thinks the letters are personal attacks, but I can’t think of anyone who would want to curse both Beau and Olivia like this.”

  Mallory scoffed. “You can’t? Not a single person?”

  “Uh… No?”

  Mallory sighed and shook her read. “You really are clueless, you know that? Marissa Knight.”

  “Really? Why? I mean, I know about her relationship with Beau, but why would she want to go after Olivia?”

  “You’ve never watched Olivia’s show, have you?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Obviously not. If you had, you’d know Olivia’s made it her personal mission to destroy Marissa.”

  “Marissa mentioned that when I talked to her yesterday, but doesn’t this seem a little too blatant for her?”

  “Olivia’s made a reputation for herself for going after Marissa. Like, she built her whole show and brand on it. Maybe it’s because of the way Marissa tries to run the entire shifter community behind the scenes with her bikers, I dunno, but I can’t count the number of episodes of her show I’ve seen criticizing Marissa.”

  “But we pulled the security footage from Beau’s office. Marissa visited Beau, and apparently has been since she learned he was taking over for his dad at Channel 666, but nothing unusual showed up on the footage.”

  “So? That doesn’t mean it doesn’t involve her. She’s grown up around shady people and she didn’t get to the top of the shifter totem pole by being nice. I doubt she was the one who cursed the candy and the coffee, but based on her friend circle, it wouldn’t surprise me if she knew someone who could do it for her.”

  When I stepped back to think about it, it was hard not to admit Mallory had a point. Of all the people I’d talked to, Marissa was the only one other than Katelyn who had a direct connection to Beau and Olivia — and given that Katelyn was with me around the time Olivia drank the coffee that trapped her as a cat, I doubted she had anything to do with it. Besides, she was already down one anchor, so what reason would she have to go after another?

  “You might be on to something. She fancies herself the leader of the shifters, despite not having an official position.”

  Mallory nodded. “I think you’d better get those letters out of Beau’s office before it’s too late.”

  “In the meantime,” Raina chimed in, “I’ll try to figure out what kind of magic this might be.”

  “Same here. There’s gotta be something in the books in the library at Veilside,” Mallory said.

  “What about Olivia? Luna will kill me if I bring another animal home.”

  “I’ll keep her here for the time being,” Raina said. “Besides, there are more tests I’d like to run on her while the magic is still fresh.”

  Olivia let out a low, worried meow, and Tierney cuddled up next to her to say he’d keep her safe, but Olivia didn’t seem comforted. As if he’d sensed I could use some comforting too, Beau rose from the stone hearth and trotted over to rub his head against my hand.

  “Well, I guess that’s my cue. We’re gonna head home and get some rest.”

  “I don’t doubt you need it, dear,” Raina said. “Good night.”

  “I’ll walk you out. See you later, Raina,” Mallory said. She folded the letters and tucked them into her robes, and we left together. Outside, the sun hadn’t finished setting, casting the world in beautiful shades of orange, red, and pink.

  “Thanks for your help,” I said when we reached the end of Raina’s walkway.

  “Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?” Mallory asked and winked at me. “I’m gonna run these over to the library now. If I know her half as well as I think I do, I’m willing to bet Estelle is still there working, and I’ve got some work to catch up on for school, anyway. I’ll text you as soon as I know anything.”

  “Perfect. See you soon.”

  “Later,” she said with a wave and turned to head back toward Crescent Street and Veilside. Beau and I turned the opposite direction.

  “We’re getting closer, Beau. I can feel it. Whoever did this is sloppy, and we’re going to catch them and get you and Olivia both back to normal.” Beau barked and ran an excited circle around me, and I hoped what I’d told him was true.

  Chapter Ten

  When I rolled away from the rising sun the next morning, I couldn’t believe my eyes: Luna lay curled up against Beau, her back to his stomach. Their chests rose and fell in perfect sync, and if I could’ve gotten to my phone to take a picture without waking either of them, I would’ve.

  Though she’d never admit it, I knew Luna was just as fond of Beau as I was — so long as he stayed in his human form, which I didn’t understand. Maybe one too many dogs had chased her to trust one, even if she knew Beau would never lift a paw against her.

  I pushed the covers off as carefully and quietly as I could and rolled out of bed wi
th my breath held. Thankfully, neither of them woke, so I slipped out of the bedroom and down the hall into the bathroom to get ready for work. I couldn’t have brought Beau with me anyway, so it was good he wasn’t awake to object. Luna would keep him company and out of trouble while I worked.

  When I arrived at the town hall twenty minutes later, I found Heath and Sam locked in conversation toward the back of the main chamber. The other members lurked around and chatted with each other idly. Some of them — namely, Pascal — eyed me as I passed, but most paid me no mind.

  Heath noticed before I reached him and Sam and cleared his throat. “Good, you’re here. We need to talk.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that, but I also needed to tell them about Olivia, so I nodded and followed him and Sam down the hall toward Heath’s office. We stopped just inside.

  “What is it?”

  Sam shuffled from one foot to the other. “I talked to the postmaster. He said there’s no way to track the letters or figure out who sent them, but he promised to monitor anything addressed to Beau.”

  “Well, he should add another name to his list.”

  Heath furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”

  “There was another incident yesterday. This time they got Olivia Starr.”

  Heath looked like he might faint. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

  “It was sudden. I was at the station talking to Beau’s producer and we found her stuck as a cat in her office. I took her to Raina. She and Mallory are working on it.”

  Heath relaxed at the mention of their names. “Good thinking.”

  “But anyway, what’s up on your end of things?”

  “It isn’t good news,” Sam said with a frown. “Rumors about what happened to Beau have already started to leak out, and the shifters are threatening to pull out of the banquet if we don’t figure out what’s going on. They’re scared.”

  “I guess I can’t blame them for that.”

  “No, but we need to sort this out and put Beau back to work fast before the entire Council loses its standing in the eyes of the community. If this keeps up, I might have to go back to the station.”

  “I agree, and we can’t afford to you lose you, Sam,” Heath said, nodding. “Which makes it equally important that we don’t let word of this latest incident out. Who knows about it besides Raina and Mallory?”

  “Just Katelyn, Beau’s producer. She was with me when I found Olivia.”

  “That’s good. I doubt Katelyn will talk. She’s got enough on her plate.”

  “I thought the same thing.”

  Heath glanced from Sam to me. “Do either of you have any idea who might be behind this?”

  I shook my head. “Sadly, no, but the circumstances were very similar to what happened with Beau. There was a cup of coffee on Olivia’s desk that I think connects all this, but I gave it to Raina so she could run tests on it.”

  “Good, good. She’ll find something. I’m sure if it.”

  “She already has. She cast the same revealing spell on Olivia that you tried on Beau and weird golden light came off her. She and Mallory are trying to figure out what that means. Raina said she’s seen nothing like it.”

  “Interesting. Neither have I.”

  “I swear Marissa is behind this,” Sam said, scowling.

  “What? Why?”

  “She’s trying to ruin our reputation on the Council before we can even make an impact. She’s beyond bitter that Jackie and I won the election over her. Before you expanded the Council, she and her bikers ran everything in the shifter community. This is just a stunt to sabotage the banquet to make us all look bad and stoke division between the shifters and everyone else.”

  “I wanted to talk to her again today anyway, so maybe I should pay her a visit sooner rather than later.”

  “Good idea,” Heath said. “We have to consider everyone as suspect, and Marissa has links to both Beau and Olivia.”

  “Leave it to me, unless there’s something you need me for here?”

  Heath shook his head. “We’re supposed to discuss planning for the banquet, but given the latest incident, it’s probably a smarter use of your time to talk to Marissa.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?” Sam asked.

  “No. It’s critical that you’re here to assuage the shifters and the rest of the Council,” Heath ordered. “If there are already rumors circulating outside these walls, then it won’t be long before they hear about Olivia too. It will be less conspicuous if Zoe is missing.”

  “Okay, I’ll do what I can,” Sam said. “Don’t go alone, Zoe. Marissa is friends with some dodgy people.”

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed, but don’t worry, I’ll take some gargoyles with me. It’ll be fine.”

  Heath sighed. “Well, let’s get this show on the road then, Sam.”

  “Good luck, you two.”

  “Same to you, Zoe.”

  We parted and I didn’t bother stopping at my office on my way out of the town hall. Instead, I waved to the guards posted outside it and together we headed straight for Marissa’s bar in the Werewolves’ Quarter.

  When we arrived, the area seemed deserted, but maybe that was because all the werewolves and shifters were sleeping off their fat heads from the night before. Unfortunately, Marissa’s bar at the end of Fang Street looked closed. There weren’t any lights on, and there wasn’t a single leather-clad biker hanging around outside.

  Puzzled, I walked to the nearest unbarred window and pressed my face to the glass. Though it wasn’t unusual for a bar to be closed this early in the day, I still expected to see Marissa or another staff member dashing around to clean up and prepare for the evening rush — but there wasn’t any movement or signs of life inside.

  “Well, looks like we might have a problem, boys,” I said to the gargoyles as I made my way back to the front door. The two of them exchanged confused glances as I raised my first and pounded on the front door. The sound echoed through the interior, but no one answered.

  I waited a few moments, just in case Marissa or someone else was at the back of the bar and needed time to get to the door, but when no one came, I raised my fist and slammed it against the door again with more force.

  “It’s the Head Witch! Open up!”

  The sound of a barstool clattering off the counter echoed from inside, and a few moments later, Marissa appeared in the door, her dark hair shining in the sunlight. She scowled at me.

  “What are you doing here at this hour?”

  “Can I come in? We need to talk.”

  Marissa shot a look at the gargoyles behind me. “I guess I can’t say no,” she said and swung the door open to welcome us. I stepped inside with the gargoyles right behind me and found a maze of cardboard boxes and random items strewn across the bar, the pool tables, and the floor.

  “Leaving so soon?”

  Marissa chuckled. “Yeah, we’re moving to the new joint tonight. That’s why the bar is closed.”

  “Seems awfully sudden, don’t you think?”

  Marissa shrugged. “Business waits for no one. My lease was up on this place, and I can’t say I’m sorry to kiss it goodbye.”

  “Why’s that?”

  Marissa waved her arm around the room. “Um, have you seen it? It’s an overpriced dump.”

  She wasn’t wrong, but to keep her talking, I decided not to say so.

  “So, to what do I owe the honor of a visit from the Head Witch?”

  I shot her a withering look. “There’s been another incident similar to Beau’s.”

  Marissa whistled and grimaced before snaking her way behind the bar. “Sounds like we could use a drink to help wash this news down. What do you like? It’s on the house.”

  Considering the links to food, drink, and shifter-trapping magic, I passed. “Just a water, please.”

  “Right, gotta keep a clear head while you’re on the job. I understand,” she said as she reached for one of the few mason jar glasses she hadn’t packed aw
ay and filled it with water from a hose built into the bar. She shoved the jar across the wood and I grabbed it just before it slid off the edge. “Nice catch. So, who’s the unlucky one this time?”

  I took a long sip of the water, which tasted like plastic, to give her time to sweat. Unfortunately, she was unshakeable. “Olivia Starr.”

  Marissa’s eyes shot wide open. “No way! What happened?”

  “Not sure. I found her in her office trapped in her cat form. I didn’t even know she was a shifter until then.”

  “Not everyone is out and proud of their shifter heritage around here.”

  “Why wouldn’t they be? There’s nothing for them to be afraid of in Moon Grove, is there?” I asked, watching her for a reaction.

  “Not if you’re a nobody, no. But for someone high profile like her? It could hurt her chances for moving up the totem pole.”

  “Why?”

  Marissa chuckled. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but we shifters don’t fit in with anyone around here.” Actually, I’d noticed the opposite — the shifters seemed uniquely able to get along with all the other paranormals in town — but I wanted her to finish her train of thought, so I kept quiet. “Beau’s the odd one out to that rule, though I don’t really understand why. As for the rest of us? We don’t have a place around town to call our own. We have to slum it with the werewolves, even though they don’t care for us, because we don’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “Is that why you’re moving the bar?”

  “Well, it’s part of the reason.”

  “What’s the rest? I mean, other than the building not being great.”

  “Honestly? Ever since the election, the shifters and werewolves don’t have any faith in me. They think I’ve lost my edge, and they can’t respect someone they don’t fear. Machismo is the only thing these testosterone-laden pups understand, and the deck was already stacked against me in that regard as a woman. Since losing to Sam and Jackie, they think I’m weak and that I have no power left.”

  Ridicule from her peers would definitely give Marissa a reason to retaliate against Beau and Olivia — both of whom had contributed to her political downfall — but I couldn’t come out and accuse her of it just yet.