Page 46 of Silver Claw

I walked toward my little private office with Zach. “I have some time to clean houses. I won’t be cleaning after midnight. Send in what you have.”

I’d barely sat down at my desk before he hurried in. “Fine, fine,” he said. “But I know something’s up. Gracie has gone to pick up a late lunch for all of us. So what’s really going on?”

I honestly didn’t know why I’d come to the office instead of scouring the city for Gavin Voss. Maybe because Jared and his wolves were already searching, and I knew that when I saw the Iron Fang alpha again, it would probably be because he’d found me.

I might as well save my energy for that fight.

“I do have some things to say,” I told them. Zach sat on the corner of my desk while Max plopped into one of the chairs. “So first of all—”

Then Sam pushed the door open and walked into the room. He lowered himself into the chair next to Max and didn’t seem to realize he wore a face none of us had seen before. I knew it was Sam, but Zach and Max were taken by surprise.

Max stared at Sam with his eyes widened in his “how dare you” stare. “Um, hello?”

Sam gave him a nod. “Hey, Max. Zach.” Then he looked at me. “Jared says Voss has become an obsessed stalker now that he’s gotten his ass kicked by you. Apparently, the guy’s a masochistic—”

“Sam,” I interrupted. “You’re still wearing someone else’s face.”

“Oh,” he said, almost embarrassed, and immediately and magically and seamlessly became Sam. “Sorry about that.”

Max gaped. “That’s…”

I laughed at him. “I’ve never seen you at a loss for words before, Max.”

He only shook his head and watched Sam, sort of like how a little kid might look at a scary Santa upon whose lap he was forced to perch.

“Anyway,” I said, “I was about to catch Zach and Max up. Also, I’ve been called in to meet with the council tonight.”

“Oh,” Max said, finally looking away from Sam, “so that explains why you can’t clean houses or take clients after midnight.”

“Are they going to cut you loose now that your magic is gone?” Sam asked.

“Fuck ’em,” Zach said. “If they do, they deserve to lose her.”

“I don’t know.” I stared down at my desk. “Maybe they’ll restore it.”

“Could theydothat?” Max asked.

“I don’t know,” I murmured again. “But maybe. They’re the council.”

But Sam looked away when I glanced at him, as though he didn’t want me to see either doubt or pity in his eyes.

I swallowed my hope and got up to pace. “Gavin Voss called me earlier. He’s decided to focus on me instead of Jakeston. He no longer wants Shadowfield. Or Silverwood, for that matter. He wants to hunt me. He wants me to resist him, to run from him, and he wants to chase me like a hunter after an elusive and magnificent stag.”

“I knew someone like him before,” Sam said. “Desperate to find the next high, the next thing that would make him feel alive.In the end, he killed himself, because he couldn’t keep that shit up. He couldn’t find anything but fear and darkness.”

No one said anything for a little while.

Max got up from his chair and headed for the door. “So do we have a plan?”

“Jared and his wolves are on their own hunt,” I said. “If they find him, Jared will end him. The vampires are searching, as well, though they can’t do anything until tonight. And if he hasn’t shown himself by the time I’ve met with the council, I’ll join the search.”

“He has magic,” Sam said.

“Yeah,” I told him, “but apparently only when he’s in his…werewolf form, or whatever the hell that thing is.”

“I’m going to do some research,” Max said. “I will help you fix this, as usual.” Then he hurried from the room, his fingers already itching for his computer.

“What do we know for sure?” Sam asked, once Max was gone.