Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“Excuse me?” Armendale said dangerously.
Sebastian didn’t seem to notice the warning in Armendale’s tone. He’d essentially just accused the alpha of having something to do with this murder, probably without even realizing it. He was solving a riddle.
“Invisibility potions hide the person who ingested it, but their containers don’t hide the magic. That is why you don’t leave them behind. If someone had used that vial, I could work backward from the smell alone, or a remnant of the taste, and figure out how they created it. If it was Momar, that would be a huge bonus for me. But I can’t imagine Momar ever being this sloppy. The Guild, maybe.”
He waved that away.
“The mages have been running away in here, probably because shifters are largely terrifying. Mages don’t engage one on one if they can help it, not even from behind. Because this shifter was big and powerful, all he’d have to do was turn around and there’d be trouble. If a mage wanted to kill this guy, they would’ve done it with magic.”
He nodded to himself and stepped back. Armendale watched him with calculating eyes.
“And then, of course, the obvious.” Sebastian looked around. “Someone strong picked this guy up from wherever he was actually killed and brought him here. Dead men don’t bleed. This guy has some congealed blood in the wounds, but not on the ground. His wounds bled, but not here. There are no drag marks. A mage wouldn’t have been able to carry this guy. Shifters and gargoyles could, obviously, but gargoyles don’t stab people in the back. They’d stab someone in the face, so the person knew who was killing them. The planted vial is just obvious. It’s the wrong evidence. I mean, why go through all this trouble…”
Sebastian trailed off, and he looked up at the three alphas staring at him from across the dead body, a murder they’d likely committed. Maybe they hadn’t used the knife, but they’d had a hand in this shifter’s ending up here. Calvin, the dead guy’s alpha, was one of the weaker in attendance, a generational alpha at the tail end of his family’s legacy. He still had political clout, which was why he was here, but he couldn’t keep up with someone like Armendale.
The eyes of the three shifters held a promise of violence.
Sebastian took a step back. “Ah. It seems you probably knew all that.”
“We all did.” Niamh held up the vial to Armendale. “Do ye want this back?” She lifted her eyebrows. “Count yer blessings now, boyo, because if Jessie and Austin Steele go down, ye won’t be long in following.”
Armendale put out his hands. “The way I see it, you’re the ones bringing all the mage interest, not us. And if this wasn’t done by a mage, then it looks like you didn’t live up to your promises, Barazza. This territory isn’t as secure as you say.”
Austin stared the other man down, desperate for a challenge. Wanting to rip his face off right this moment. But he didn’t have anything on Armendale, not without proof.
“Good timing, by the way, Armendale,” he gritted out. “I’m surprised you weren’t the one to call me.”
Armendale’s eyes glittered. “It is good timing, isn’t it? Now you won’t be able to sweep this under the rug.”
The alpha’s eyes darted to Sebastian, assessing. Sebastian had mentioned that shifters were terrifying. To a shifter, admitting that was a sign of weakness. This crew might think that meant he wasn’t as powerful or good at magic as Austin and Jess claimed. Austin wondered whom Armendale would convince to test out that theory. It surely wouldn’t be him.
“Run along, now,” Austin said. “Go gossip to your fan base. Feel powerful for a little longer. Soon you won’t be nearly so interesting to the alpha network.”
“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, Black Sheep,” Armendale replied. “Golden Fang is a has-been. You’re a never-was who hangs out with strange creatures…not to mention the enemy.” His gaze zipped to Sebastian again. “You’ll never get this off the ground.” I’ll make sure of it.
The last was a hint in his tone and body, in the gleeful sparkle in his eyes. Armendale only saw one thing: the status as king of the mountain. He’d take his crown all the way to the grave.
Idiot. He wasn’t worth Austin’s time, but he was loud, and now he’d created a problem in the form of a dead guy. He and his friends needed to be neutralized.
As the alphas and their people walked away, Austin turned to Niamh.
“On it,” she said, spinning.
“Is there anything I can do?” Sebastian asked.
“Watch your back,” Austin told him. “You have a target on it now.”
“I always had a target.” Sebastian looked down at the body. “Think they’ll still go with the mage angle?”
“No. They’ll go with shifter violence.” Austin dragged out his phone. He didn’t really want to make this call. “They’ll go with my incompetence, and they’re right to.”