 
More Than Meets the Eye

by Wendy Cooper

Published by Wendy Cooper at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Wendy Cooper

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com. Thank you for your support.
Chapter 1

The autumn night was dark. Clouds, heavy with rain, hung over the city. And it was cold, so very cold.

Natasha Valentina Tereshkova stomped her feet to try to coax some feeling into her numb toes. At least that's what she told herself. The fact that she was ticked at her boss just added a little more stomp to her stamp.

She glanced first to one end and then the other of the dark back street. The lights that dotted the avenue reflected back weakly in the puddles from that day's storms. She was alone in the middle of a warehousing complex. It was fairly new, and not in a bad part of town, but it was dark and lonely and so still. Not a soul, not an animal, not even a breeze stirred.

She tugged her heavy knit beanie down further over her ears. "Take the bus, he said. The warehouse is only a quarter mile from the bus stop. Observe the area before you reach the warehouse, he said." She stomped her feet again. "I'll be there to meet you, he said. Well, Jake, you're late."

Natasha heard the vehicle before it rounded the corner. She pulled a pistol out of the folds of her coat, just in case. It was, after all, a poorly lit backstreet at 2:40 in the morning. She put the gun away when she recognized the modern muscle car driven by Police Detective Avery Chen and sighed heavily.

The car braked to a halt. Natasha didn't wait for an invitation, but opened the door, jumped in and slammed the door closed. "Hey Tasha," the Detective greeted.

"What happened to Jake?"

"What makes you think something's happened?" She glowered, because the only reason Avery would have been here was if Jake had called him and asked him to pick her up. "Yeah, okay, something's happened."

Tasha tried to stay angry, but concern won out. She sighed again.

"Is he alright?"

"Jake got jumped. He's at the Emergency Room getting patched up."

A slight twinge of guilt stabbed at her gut. But she got over it quickly enough. "Serves him right for leaving me out in the cold," she mumbled.

Avery twisted his lip into a smirk, the smirk he used when he wasn't being fooled by her bluster. Avery put the car into gear and headed off towards the hospital.

####

The faint smell of _hospital_ hung in the air. The waiting area was mostly empty. Avery showed Tasha to a chair and held up a finger, indicating that she needed to wait while he used his police credentials to get further into the complex than the general public would normally be allowed to do. He came back to the waiting room an anxious thirty minutes later.

"Well?" Tasha asked.

Avery looked around before leading Tasha over to a more secluded corner of the waiting room. "He's going to be okay, but the doc says we need to get him home so he can change."

"The _doc_ says?"

"Dr. Wyatt is a friend of Jake's." Avery said with special emphasis on friend. Not many humans knew what Jake was.

Tasha responded with a silent "O".

"He looks bad, Tash." Avery visibly shuddered. "Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing."

"How'd anyone get that close? He's got the best nose around."

"I'm not sure, but what I do know for sure is that they beat him with, well the doc thinks silver spikes were involved. Tore him up real bad, lost _lots_ of blood."

Tasha thought for a moment before making an observation. "So then whoever they are, know what Jake is. I can't believe it was blind luck that they chose silver."

"Fair to say."

"But the only case we are on is a divorce case."

Avery got a bit fidgety. "I don't know Tash."

Tasha noticed his fidget but didn't get a chance to ask why Avery was acting so squirrelly.

"Avery," a doctor approached, putting an end to Tasha's inquiries. His nametag read Dr. Wyatt. "You can take Jake home. I'd rather not bring him through here though, in case he has an involuntary change," he indicated the waiting room. "Come around to the ambulance entrance. There's no one back that way right now."

As they drove around to the indicated entrance, Dr. Wyatt had Jake in a wheel chair and was waiting. He and Avery put the werewolf in the back seat, Tasha looking on. "Oh Jake," She tisked.

He gave her a weak smile before closing his eyes.
Chapter 2

The office of Jake Wolf Private Investigations was located in the revitalized downtown area. The Main Street USA projects had been set up in the early '80's to revitalize the oldest areas of cities all across America. Some cities were successful with their efforts others were not. River City was definitely in the success category, as people got grants to clean and refurbish the old, rundown homes and businesses into something beautiful. Trees lined the sidewalks. Foot traffic was abundant.

Jake's office was the center building in a block of three and four story buildings. He had utilized the space by placing the office at street level and converting the upper three floors, as well as the basement, into apartments of various sizes: The basement had the same square footage as the office and was also his personal residence. The second floor was also of the same size, and it was where Tasha lived. Floors three and four were divided into two apartments on each floor.

Tasha sat in her office chair, gazing at the gathered clouds outside of her window, tapping her pencil on the polished surface of her desk. It was almost time to close up, and she couldn't wait. She was tired from the early morning jaunt to the warehouse as well as the wait at the emergency room. By the time she and Avery had managed to get Jake home, it had been time to jump into the shower to get ready for work. Jake had told her that she could come in later but she had final paper work to finish from the Darvey case that they had just concluded the day before. No final report, no final bill. No final bill, no end of case bonus for her. She got a regular salary, but it was fairly minimal. It was the bonuses that allowed her to acquire the extra things she desired. And she really could use the paltry sum she got as a Private Investigative Assistant. Her car note was due.

She thought of her nice, new, gas efficient vehicle parked in back of the office and fumed again as she recalled her bus ride to the warehouse and the miserable wait in the cold. And for what? There had been nothing there to see.

She hadn't worked for Jake Wolf very long before Jake had offered to train her as an investigator. He said she had good instincts and a good eye for detail. She didn't realize that he'd actually make her get up in the wee hours of a rainy morning to do actual investigating. The nerve of some people, she thought uncharitably.

Jake limped through the front office, interrupting her thoughts. He was a very handsome man and Tasha thought that she may be seriously falling for him. He had, outdoorsy, chiseled features and brown hair that was a bit shaggy but she thought it suited him somehow. His eyes were almost gold, with emerald green flames that radiated from his pupils. He was broad of shoulder and narrow of hip and reminded Tasha of a construction worker, strong and hardy, less the beer gut. Today, he was hunched in on himself, making his six-four frame appear shorter. He was pale and sickly looking. One eye was almost swollen shut and various cuts and bruises decorated his face. She hurt for him. Still, he looked so much better than he had looked earlier that morning. Once he had gotten home he had been able to change into his wolf form, which had sped up the healing process.

He flipped the sign to "closed" and locked the door. "Go ahead and take off early," he said with a half smile.

"Early? Jake it's ten minutes till quitting time."

"Yeah, so it's early," he replied cheerily. He sobered, "I've got some place to go, and there's no sence in you hanging around here by yourself."

That _by yourself_ gave her pause. "You think the men who tried to brain you might drop by for a visit?"

"Maybe. Well, okay, probably. I need to leave and I don't want you here alone."

"So, where ya going?" she tried to ask nonchalantly. The fact was, she was worried for her boss. If he hadn't been a werewolf, he'd have never had survived the beating he had gotten the night before. And he had a certain look about him that just felt like trouble to her way of thinking.

Jake shrugged. "Oh, you know, I've got errands to run."

She snorted a little sarcastic laugh. "Errand" was her primary job description. "Do your errands include sneaking out the back and lying in wait for your friends to show, then pouncing on them?"

He got very serious, as he looked her in the eyes. He never intentionally put her into harm's way. In fact, if he thought anything was going to be even remotely dangerous, he'd make sure she was far away from it. Or, at the very least, up stairs in the relative safety of her apartment.

"Maybe, and that's all I'm going to say on the matter."

Which meant exactly that.

"On second thought," he amended, "why don't you go on down to Franklin's and have some dinner. On me." He dropped a twenty dollar bill on her desk.

Oh, dear, she thought, slowly picking the bill up. She tapped in on the desktop as she considered. He was counting on messy. Jake never wanted her around if things were going to get a little, well, a little wolfy. Messy and wolfy always seemed to go hand in hand.

Tasha put on her brightest, most cheery smile. It was the very smile Jake hated because he knew that she was not just being insincere, but that she was pissed as well. It made him involuntarily cringe just a bit.

Good she thought to herself. Tasha grabbed her purse and car keys out of her desk drawer, shouldered the small bag. "All right then, I'll just head right out. And leave you all by yourself to face who knows what," she said tightly.

"Tash," Jake started then shook his head wearily. They'd had similar conversations like this before. "These guys mean business. They used silver spiked clubs to make their point last night. This time they may actually try to kill me."

"Which is exactly my point!" Tasha said hotly. "Is anyone coming to help you out? Someone maybe Non-Werewolf who wouldn't be effected by silver? What about Avery? He at least has a gun!"

"I won't be needing a gun," Jake smiled a slow, sinister smile, the very smile that Tasha hated. Well, more like creeped her out. Completely. She shivered. "All right you win."

Tasha left through the back door, noticing that before she was even out of the ally, a dark shape had also exited the back door, and had gone up the fire escape, towards the roof. Tasha turned her attention to where she was driving and left her boss to his own means.
Chapter 3

Tasha turned into the parking garage of the Tribal Casino at the outskirts of town. It was a little bit further than she'd normally go for simply something to eat, but it would be worth it. And it was on Jake's dime, so she would be sure to enjoy it.

Franklin's Place was a little piano bar tucked into a dark corner just off of the gambling floor. Before she even entered the dimly lit bar, she could hear Franklin tinkling away on his baby grand. As she got closer to the entrance, she could hear his clear tenor singing an old blues tune.

The bartender noticed her as soon as she came through the doorway and greeted her with a warm smile and waved over to a seat at the bar. Her seat.

"Hey Tash, long time no see."

"Hey Vince," she returned his smile. She liked Vince. He was tall and had the physique of a fitness nut, which also happened to be his day job. He was bald with sun-kissed skin and dark blue eyes that lightened when he had a good laugh, which was often. "What do we have on the menu tonight?" she asked.

"Ah, you know, nothin but junk," he said remorsefully. "But I know you'll like the deep fried cheese sticks that Jilly has for tonight."

Vince was right on both counts, of course but Tasha loved them anyway. They were high in fat, and Vince always reminded her how close to a heart attack she was every time she ate them. Which wasn't near as often as she would like as she did try to keep an eye on what she ate.

"So I'll run an extra mile or two tonight," she smiled.

"If they don't kill ya before that," Vince gave her a wink and placed the order. "How 'bout some fresh vegies with that?"

She agreed. But not before adding a slider to her order. She was still concerned and a bit angry with Jake and was craving some comfort food.

Her order came, and she tucked in. Franklin, the magical musician finished his set and took a break, coming over to sit next to Tasha.

He gave her a shoulder hug and a light kiss to the top of her head in a grandfatherly gesture that always made Tasha smile.

"Hitting the high fat content a little hard I see," observed Franklin. "Jake off on a hunt?"

Tasha nodded. Franklin was her oldest friend in River City. Well, in any city. The casino had been the first place she had stopped, or more accurately, broke down, when she first arrived in town. Franklin had given her a job as a waitress in his bar, letting her sing sometimes to get additional tips. She still performed with him now and again, on special nights, like New Years Eve. He always teased her by saying she must be a song faery because of the way she was able to enchant the audience.

When the job came open for an office assistant at Jake Wolf, Private Investigations, he had given her a glowing reference, which had basically got her the job, as Jake and Franklin were friends. He also one of the very few who knew that Jake was a werewolf, and therefore the only person who could possibly understand how she was feeling at that particular moment.

"He got attacked last night, Franklin," she began. "Four thugs, all wielding clubs with silver, spikey doo-dads. Beat him badly."

"Did he change?"

Tasha shook her head. "Didn't have the chance, too many witnesses. A beat cop on a routine check witnessed part of the attack and broke it up, so he couldn't change with the cop, or later, with the paramedics that responded, around."

Franklin took a deep inhale of breath. "So no time to heal quickly, then?"

Again, Tasha shook her head. "He was in bad shape when we took him home. Multiple stiches, concussion, dislocated shoulder, a broken leg. I don't know how he kept from involuntarily changing and totally rampaging through the ER."

The elderly black man with almost completely white hair next to her simply smiled and shook his head. "Jake has incredible control. He has to. How does he look now?"

"Oh, he looks almost normal. Little sore but you should have seen him this morning. When Avery and I got him back to his apartment, he changed and then slept. Got up about two this afternoon almost completely healed of course. But then he made some phone calls, and, made me come here. Out of the way."

Franklin narrowed one eye at her. "You know he's trying to protect you."

"I'm not helpless Franklin. I can fight. And I can shoot damn straight too," she remarked a little hotly.

Almost as a condition of her continued employment, Jake had signed her up at the jujistu dojo where he was a member. That hadn't bothered her at all. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. She had participated in martial arts training for most of her life. He had then encouraged her to get her conceal and carry license, gave her a gun and made sure she could use it, very, very well. Yes, she could fight. Theoretically anyway as she'd never had actually needed to.

"Perhaps he doesn't want you to see him in his wolf form."

"I could handle it," Tasha answered with a little less certainty.

"He also doesn't want to accidently hurt you."

"I thought he had excellent control."

"Ya know, with shape shifting types, it's kind of hard to tell what can happen when they are in their, uh, other form. And since he tends to use the wolf form to be violent, well, it's hard to say if he had berserker in there somewhere. Trust him, Luv. He doesn't want anything to happen to you."

"He still shouldn't have gone by himself," Tasha said petulantly.

Contrary to Hollywood werewolves, real life werewolves didn't turn because of a werewolf bite. Well, not usually, unless the werewolf who did the biting had a certain virus; think rabies but worse. No, it was in their blood, their DNA. Since it was in their genes, werewolves tended to not be the bloodthirsty maniacs seen on the silver screen. They were, however a violent lot while in their wolf form as well as very hard to kill as they were practically invincible. Practically but not entirely.

She ate her meal, sharing conversation with Franklin until he had to leave. She was pushing her plate away when Avery approached with an easy smile and a "Hey".

Tasha raised an eyebrow. "You my escort home?" Tasha liked Avery. He was smart and quick and always made her laugh. He was nice looking too, with his Asian features and neat but somehow still messy jet black hair. He was shorter than Tasha and slender. They were friends only, so the company they kept was always easy going.

Avery shook his head and smiled his all-tooth smile. "Naw. I'm just here to make sure you stay put for a bit longer."

"Well, in that case, Detective," Vince said with a bright, welcoming smile, "Have a seat, and can I getcha anything?"

With Avery settled, he and Tasha began talking, eventually getting around to what, exactly, Tasha had been doing hanging around the warehouse in the dead of night.

"I was there to meet Jake. Obviously he had a more interesting date with four hoodlums. He said he wanted me to take a look at the area, then the warehouse. Said it was for training purposes."

"So you weren't on a stake out, not anything like that?"

"No sir."

"He just wanted you to take a look? I wonder at what?"

Tasha shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes he just wants to get another set of eyes on the situation. Every once in a while I can catch something that Jake doesn't. He also says its all part of the training."

"Did you see anything?"

"Nope, not a stinking thing."

"You sure?"

"There wasn't anything there to see. Nothing. No street people, no rats or ally cats, or even a stray piece of garbage."

They sat in silence for a moment before Tasha repeated, "Nothing was there. It was an empty street."

"What?"

"It was devoid of anything. I mean not a thing, not even an oil stain on the drive. If that warehouse was in use, ever, there should have been something. Like trash in the bin, or a weed growing through a crack in the sidewalk. Maybe even gum on the sidewalk. Or, I don't know, something to make it look like _life_ happened there."

"Maybe the owners are super tidy," Avery offered, but he knew Tasha and that look she got when she thought she was onto something. Jake trusted her intuition and Avery had learned to trust it as well.

"Maybe, but Avery, I'm telling you, it looked too sterile. It didn't even smell."

"Just because it's a warehouse doesn't mean it has to smell bad," Avery chuckled.

"No, that's not what I mean. It didn't smell like anything at all; not cleaner, not dust, not, I don't know, random warehouse smells. It didn't even smell like wet, and it had rained all day."

Avery narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the bar top. He tapped his fingers. Tasha knew that action. He was thinking, considering something.

"Did it, um, did it smell like magic?" he reluctantly asked her, almost in a whisper, his face scrunched up in a grimace.

"Magic." Tasha said it, not asked it. She pursed her lips together then blew out a rude little noise from between them. "I don't know. Never smelled magic before, not that I know of anyway."

"You don't seem suprised by that question," Avery observed. He was evaluating her as he talked.

"No," Tasha said with a little realization. "I don't know why. I've not been around magic, but it just seems plausible. I mean I _do_ work for a werewolf, so I guess magic should be possible too."

"But you're not supposed to know about werewolves either," he reminded her. Knowing that Jake was a werewolf hadn't surprised her. It was like all the fairy tale stories her mother had told her when she was a child had been truth to her, not just stories.

Avery smiled at her. "So, you aren't surprised that there is magic, but you don't know if there was magic at the warehouse?"

Tasha returned his smile. "No, and no."

Avery stood and took his leather jacket from the back of his seat. "Well then, c'mon then, Miss Tasha. Let's go have a little look see, shall we?"

Tasha jumped up enthusiastically and gathered her belongings. "My car or yours?"
Chapter 4

Avery drove his silver muscle car down the drive towards the warehouse where he had picked up Tasha the night before. Tasha followed close behind in her little, dark blue, sub compact. They came to a stop and got out of their vehicles.

"Well, you're right about one thing. There's nothing here."

Tasha nodded in agreement. "See what I mean about the smell. Or the lack of one?"

Avery took a deep breath in through is nose, and let it out slowly. He grinned. "That, absence of smell? That's magic."

Tasha looked a little disappointed. "That's what magic smells like? Well that's a little bit of a let down."

"No, no, the lack of smell is what I mean. Lack of smell sometimes means magic. But magic can also smell like whatever makes it. One thing you can count of for sure; there are no hard and fast rules on how to detect magic." He grinned.

"You are so helpful sometimes Detective. How is it you know so much about magic again?"

Avery ignored the question as they stood shoulder to shoulder, in the middle of the alleyway, and took in the warehouse as well as the street they stood in. Avery looked at the door that read "office".

"I'm betting we find a little hiding glamour, or a deterrent spell, or maybe even a protection ward of some kind. Maybe all three."

"How do we find out for sure?"

Avery shrugged then gave her a little crooked, sardonic smile. "Depends."

Tasha couldn't help but give a little chuckle. "But of course."

Avery took a coin from his pocket and tossed it at the door. The coin disappeared. "Interesting."

"So, do we go in?" Tasha asked, taking a step forward.

Avery grabbed her arm. "Whoa, no ma'am. Not yet. Just hang back, don't go any farther. I've, uh, gotta get something."

Avery popped the trunk of his car and stood, looking at the interior for what seemed like a long time. He was mumbling about how many and painful the ways were that Jake was going to kill him for showing her magic. Finally he reached into the trunk, rummaged for a moment before he joined Tasha, a black glove on his left hand. In that hand he held a metal disk with engravings of symbols that Tasha did not recognize.

Avery held the palmed disk and reached in towards the door with it. His arm disappeared just as the coin had, but the facade of the warehouse door remained the same, except for a slight rippling around the visible portion of Avery's arm.

"What the?" Her voice seemed loud in the quiet twilight.

"Shh."

"What are you doing?" Tasha continued in a loud whisper.

"Would you hush for a minute? I've got to concentrate. Keep an eye out please. Tell me if anything out here changes."

Tasha did as Avery had bid her and looked about them. She turned around in a small circle. As she did so, she squinted her eyes to look into the gathering shadows as the sun's light was finally swallowed by the night. She craned her ear to the left and the right. She did not see that Avery had gained entrance into the warehouse until he called to her from just inside the opened office door. "Tasha, you comin?"

She stared blankly at him for a second before she followed him inside.

The warehouse was dark, only the spot of the flashlight Avery had brought in with him being the only point of illumination. The warehouse smelled awful!

"Avery," Tasha whispered. "Something feels, _wrong_."

"Yeah," he agreed.

"And what's that smell?"

"Shh!"

They crept forward, Avery shining his light on nothing, yet the darkness seemed to hold shadows of something vague and sinister and almost tangible.

Very suddenly Avery stopped, and put out his arm to halt Tasha's progress. "Wait," his voice was scarcely audible in the eerie silence.

Tasha nodded in the darkness. She felt the hairs on her neck and arms stand on end.

"Magic?" She asked in an almost whimper.

"Yeah. Bad magic. We need to leave."

Before they had turned, however, they heard a whisper of movement just ahead of them.

Tasha grabbed Avery's arm. "Did you..."

"Yeah. Shit. Tasha go."

"What is it?" Tasha squawked around the lump of cold fear that had formed in her throat. She wasn't afraid of much, and didn't give in to panic very easily, but this was completely out of her realm of experience.

A deep, guttural growl penetrated the darkness.

"Avery!" she screamed.

"Tasha, run! And whatever you do, do not look back!"

Tasha ran towards the door, but Avery was not next to her. Or in front of her. She looked back.

Just in time to see two red, glowing eyes engulfed by an explosion of light that originated from Avery's ungloved right hand. The light was so bright it caused her to go momentarily blind. She made to turn towards the door, but she wasn't sure where the door was anymore, nor could she see it for all the spots before her eyes.

Avery turned, saw that Tasha had stopped and was blinking blindly at him. He screamed, "Run I said!"

She turned to face the opposite direction of Avery's voice and hoped she was headed again towards the door. As soon as the dark of the warehouse replaced her blindness two things happened. First, Avery had sprinted past her, taking her by the arm with his gloved hand, a slight jolt coursing through her where he touched her. He dragged her behind him. The second, and most notable to Tasha's thinking, was the searing pain she felt at her back and the hot, rancid breath that accompanied a bone rattling roar that spurred her on to greater speed.

They burst through the door, Avery slammed in shut, leaning his back against it, reached into a pocket for what looked like a large, red, wax seal and slapped it onto the seem between the door and jamb, just above the door knob. It flashed with light and flame then settled into a gentle glow that spread until the glow encompassed the entire doorway. A heavy thud that shook the ground came from behind the closed door accompanied by a roar. Then silence.

Avery looked at Tasha with a mixture of relief, anger and a little chagrin. Both of them were panting from exertion, exhilaration and fear. And Tasha had a whole lot of questions for Detective Avery Chen.
Chapter 5

Avery was applying a salve to the deep, clawed furrows on Tasha's back as Jake came roaring down the ally on his motorcycle, swerving around the various vehicles from various parties to whom Avery had called to respond to the situation. Oddly enough to Tasha, none of them appeared to be police.

Jake came to a screeching halt, barley stopping long enough to drop the kick stand before he jumped off, ripped the helmet from his head and fairly charged at Avery with a growl in his throat and his eyes sparking a golden fire.

"Jake, you just stop right there." Tasha had steel in her voice and her stance caused Jake to pause. "Take a breath," she demanded.

Jake growled audibly, but did as he was bidden. Then, before he could launch into his tirade, Tasha launched into one of her own.

"No! You don't get to chastise me, or yell at Avery for me being here."

"Well I'm going to anyway! What the hell do you think you are doing out here without my protection?"

"What? I was out here last night! What's the difference between then and now?"

"Well for one, I didn't tell you to go inside the stupid place. I just said to meet me here. You were just going to observe, not enter into the actual danger!"

"I did observe. And I found something."

"You should have waited for me. You should not have undertaken this on your own."

"I wasn't on my own. Avery was with me. And it was Avery who got me out."

"Yes, well I can see he did a fine job of it," Jake jerked his chin in her direction, indicating her already bruised and damaged skin, the angry, dark gouges still leaking blood. When he launched in again, his tirade was directed at Avery. "And you, Avery, how could you subject her to such tremendous danger? You should know better."

"Hey, back off Jake. If I'd thought she was going to be in serious danger, I would have never let her come. As it was, it was her sense of, of _nothing_ that got me to investigating in the first place. And a good thing I did too. Do you know what was in there?"

Jake ground his teeth together. He wanted to rant more, but he was also curious. "What," he bit out.

"A hellhound," Avery answered smugly.

Jake's short-lived calm broke. "A what? And you took Tasha in there?"

"Jake, settle down," Tasha sighed. "Avery didn't know. There was a glamour that hid the sight and the smell of anything being off. We didn't know until we were inside the warehouse."

Jake was about to launch into temper again, but was cut short by the arrival of a middle-aged woman; dark skinned, long, straight nose, full lips and bright, dark eyes. Her salt and pepper hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She was tall for a woman, sleek and graceful in her long stride, wearing a smart looking pinstriped pantsuit and low, sensible heals.

As she approached, both Jake and Avery bowed their heads in respect. Tasha did not, but she could tell by their simple action that this was no average woman. Avery gave her a little nudge, but before she could react the woman spoke.

"No, Detective Chen, it's all right." The woman smiled at Tasha and held out her hand. Tasha was momentarily captivated by the woman's smile. It was warm and genuine. Tasha accepted the proffered handshake. The woman's voice was smooth and assuring. "My name is Maven. I'm with the Council."

"Natasha Tereshkova. I am an assistant investigator with Jake's firm."

The woman's smile grew broader and friendlier if that were possible. "Ah, I've heard of Jake's assistant. The human who can not only see fae runes but can also read the fae language. It would appear that there is more to you than it seems. "

Tasha screwed her face up in obvious confusion.

"You, my dear, are not supposed to even know about the Fae, let alone be able to read our language."

Again, Tasha looked at her in confusion. She didn't know anything about Fae language, whatever that was.

"And you accept the fact that Jake is a werewolf?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Are you aware that Avery here is a mage?"

"Uh, no, I mean now I do, I guess. I saw pretty light energy coming from his hand a bit ago. I know I can't do that, so, it doesn't really surprise me."

Maven nodded, pursed her lips in thought for a moment, and smiled again, one eyebrow raise. "Do you know about me?"

"No ma'am, other than your name is Maven and you are with the Council. I'm guessing that doesn't mean the City Council."

Maven laughed quietly. "No, no, not the City Council. The Fae Council. It would seem that we are going to have to have a bit of a discussion soon. You and the Council that is."

Jake tensed. "You don't mean..."

"Oh, Jake, no, we aren't going to hurt her. That may have been the Old Way, but we no longer can afford to be so paranoid or so short sighted when it comes to our human friends."

"Will you take her memory?"

"I don't think so. She has demonstrated tonight that she can mentally deal with a supernatural danger. If her mind hasn't broken from seeing a physical manifestation of the supernatural, then I don't know that anything would. And if I'm not mistaken, her skills in research and observation have been helpful to you in past investigations, including those, _situations,_ that you look into for the Council. I think I can speak for the Council in saying that she will be, if not accepted, at least, tolerated."

"Tolerated?" Tasha said almost insulted.

Jake shushed her. "I'll explain later. Thank you, Lady Maven."

"Lady?"

"Shh."

"Don't shush me, Jake," Tasha said with quiet irritation, behind gritted teeth.

Maven smiled in amusement. "I like her, Jake. I see why you have her around. She's not the least bit afraid of you."

Was that a blush creeping over Jake's cheeks?

"I promise, Natasha, that we will have a discussion soon and I'll answer any questions you may have. For right now though, I would like to know just why it was that you were interested in this particular warehouse in the first place, Jake."

"As you may know, I have been assisting Burly in investigating a smuggling ring, my lady. Our inquiries have led us to this general area. There have been various reports of strange comings and goings from this location, but when anyone looks into it, there is nothing to see, which of course made this place even more interesting to me."

"But the glamour, it allowed you to see nothing but a plain, ordinary warehouse," mused Maven.

"No doubt about that, now. I knew I was getting close to a breakthrough when I picked up on a delivery van in the drive."

"It's a warehouse district. Of course there will be delivery vans,"

"But this one was a refrigerated unit that originated from this warehouse. This warehouse, by all appearances, doesn't appear to have any cold storage. But before I could get the proper equipment to come and investigate this location further, I was attacked."

Maven nodded. "That was last night. I see you have almost healed. Except it looks as if you may have re-injured yourself." Maven narrowed her eyes as she studied Jake.

"I, uh, may have run into addition trouble this evening in the process of continuing my investigation."

Maven smiled slightly in an all too knowing smile. "I see. Please, continue."

"I had an idea that we may be dealing with something in the supernatural, but I had no idea it was a hellhound."

"More than one," Avery said. "While only one was here tonight, there is evidence in there of at least one other one having been here."

"What made you think it was supernatural Jake?" Maven asked.

"Well, for one, there were rumors of general unease in this district, with this warehouse being the epicenter."

Maven nodded. Tasha looked confused. "I don't," she began,

"Have you ever heard stories of haunted houses, and the one thing all the reports have in common is that everyone feels real uneasy?" Avery asked her. Tasha nodded. "Most kinds of supernatural beings send off vibes like that. And have you noticed how cold it is here?"

"I thought that was only with ghosts," Tasha remarked skeptically.

"Any malevolent spirit will produce cold," Maven explained.

"Nothing more malevolent than a hellhound," Jake grumbled, "except maybe an actual demon."

"Well, thankfully, we are not dealing with one of those horrendous beasts," Maven remarked. "What else Jake? Burly wouldn't have sent you out here to simply investigate rumors of unease and cold spots."

"You are correct in that. What really got my attention was the fact that this is one of Big Jim Thompson's warehouses. He's been known to acquisition certain supernatural items on more than one occasion."

"But nothing like this," Avery commented.

"Well, none that we know of anyway. And that brings us all up to date. I was in the process of investigating just what he could possibly be acquisitioning that would set the whole area in an emotional uproar. I'm sill not done investigating yet. The only reason why I'm here is that I heard about the attack and came by to see what had happened and to make sure that Tasha here was all right. I had originally been on my way to the Duggan farm before all this happened."

That brought Maven up short. "You don't suppose that Old Man Duggan is trying for another underworld take over do you? And using a hellhound to accomplish his goals?"

Jake shrugged his shoulders. "Hard to say. I would have thought with his son dead as well some of his best soldiers, he wouldn't have any strength left to try for a take over."

"But a hellhound on the scent of an old debt would take care of a lot of underworld enemies, as well as put some serious fear into those who might try to oppose Duggan as lord of the underworld," Avery offered.

"My thoughts, exactly," Jake agreed.

"Wait, what?" Tasha interrupted.

"Hellhounds are supernatural. They, uh, collect debts." Avery answered.

"They do more than that, my dear," Maven spoke. "They collect the souls of those who owe a debt. A very specific debt. However, they also have to have a specific talisman of some kind, in order to trace the debtor.

"Now, we've got at least one hellhound unaccounted for as well as the talisman that would direct it to its targeted victim. That is more than enough cause for concern. If it is Duggan who in possession of it, and he plans to use it as you have suggested, then we need to put a stop to this immediately. Crime bosses are bad enough, but to have a bad Fae with a hellhound at his disposal as the top boss, well, may the seven heavens help us. Very well, then, Jake, I'll let you get on with your investigation. Will you keep me updated? I'll leave my phone on, call me day or night. And whatever resources you require, do not hesitate to ask."

"Will the Council now be considered my client, or will I still be answering to Burly?"

Maven gave him a half smile. "Since Burly works under the sanction of the Council, you already work for us, technically. But I see no need to jumble the string of command that a change like that would surely bring. No, continue to report to Burly, as he has a vested interest in this matter, just include me in the loop."

"Yes, lady. With your leave then?" Maven nodded.

Jake turned to Tasha, gripping her gently by both arms. "Will you be okay by yourself?" he asked softly. He was still angry, Tasha could tell, but she could also read the concern in his eyes.

She smiled up at him, touched by that concern. "Will I be having any unwelcomed visitors?"

Jake's smile was feral. "No ma'am."

Tasha suppressed the shiver that wanted to run down her spine. "Then I'm good. I'll see ya when I see ya."

Jake gave her a wink before looking over her shoulder at Avery with an unspoken question.

"I'll see that she get home safely," Avery offered.

"And we can continue this discussion at another time," Jake said sternly, accompanied by an even sterner look.

"Oh goodie," Tasha retorted, without blinking an eye.

"Yes Jake, I think I like her just fine," Maven said before she turned and left.
Chapter 6

It had been two nights of little or no sleep followed by two days of work with no time for rest. Tasha was near the point of exhaustion. She also felt, well, _odd_. Not sick, not exactly, but she felt a restless sensation deep inside that radiated throughout her entire body, causing all of her limbs to twitch every now and again.

Towards the end of the workday, Tasha was seated at her desk, answering an email inquiry, struggling to stay focused when she heard the door chime, alerting her to that fact that the front door had opened. As she looked up to greet her visitor she noticed a man in a cheap, rumpled suit that did little to accentuate the positive or diminish the negative. Though not short, his suit made him appear shorter than what the measurement on the doorframe guide said he was. The suit also made him look fat, though, if his lean face was any indication, that was probably not correct either. Maybe the suit was a size too small, she couldn't decide, but he definitely needed a makeover. And it was definitely meant to be a distraction, as she nearly missed the way his small, beady eyes where set to close together on his face, or the way his flat nose drew her eyes to his thin, chapped lips. Or how his greasy hair was combed over to cover a balding patch on the top of his head.

Tasha put on her friendly business face and stood to close the distance between her and the odd looking man.

"How may I assist you?

"Is, um, Jake Wolf in the office?" Tasha noticed how his eyes shifted about, taking in everything but not looking into her own.

"No, he's out on business. Can I help you with anything?"

"I just have a few questions."

"I will try to answer them as best as possible. Would you care to sit?"

The man shook his head no and instead of asking anything, stood there, looking about his surroundings. Tasha had learned from experience that sometimes potential clients weren't sure where to begin, so she stood quietly, waiting on him.

"How many employees?"

"Two."

Then the man finally looked at her and took her in, head to toe but not in a lascivious way, more like someone sizing up an opponent.

Tasha was a tall five foot ten. Her hair was long, almost to her waist and glossy black. Her eyes resembled the gray color of the storm clouds that had been filling the autumn sky for the past week. Her lips were prettily shaped and her skin resembled porcelain. She enjoyed physical exercise and her physique showed it but she still had the feminine curves to prove she was all woman.

As the man continued his appraisal, Tasha arched an eyebrow and she entwined her long, slender fingers together in an act of practiced patience. She was on the verge of being annoyed, however his behavior piqued her interest somewhat. He was a curious study for sure, but the longer his appraisal lasted, the less curious she became and the more uncomfortable he made her feel. Before she could put voice to any further questions, he spun on his heal and purposefully walked out the door. Unnerved by his behavior, Tasha followed him to the door and observed him as far as she could without opening the office's street entrance. Only after he suspiciously ducked around the corner of a neighboring building did she decide to lock the front door and scurry towards the bowels of the store front office.

Jake had once told her that their office had originally been a pawnshop. Jake's personal office had been the ultra secure cashier's cage, with rebar reinforcements and steal supports and concrete built into the walls. Cell service was horrible in there. However it made a wonderful make shift panic room, which she had used as such exactly once since her employ with Jake, but it was to his office where she headed, entered the office and closed and locked the door. The strange man and his even stranger behavior had, quite frankly, given her the creeps. She wasn't afraid, exactly, but she had felt a sudden compulsion to seek the refuge of the safest room in the office.

She plopped down in Jake's large, comfortably padded, desk chair and propped her feet up on Jake's big, wooden desk, seeking comfort in normalcy. She folded her hands over her stomach and was trying to decide weather or not she should bother Jake in regards to her bizarre visitor when the private line rang.

She picked up the receiver. "Hello."

"You sitting on the phone waiting for it to ring?"

"Something like that. Actually, I was just wondering if I should call you or not." She told him about the peculiar man.

Jake did not speak for a moment but finally answered. "Yeah, that is a little out of the ordinary. What does your gut say?"

Jake was a huge proponent of using the gut as a means of deliberating any possible action or reaction.

"My gut says that the guy's a creep. I've locked myself in your office."

Jake chuckled. "That bad? Did you see him walk away, or did he leave by vehicle?"

"He walked down the block, crossed the street and I lost him behind the Credit Union."

"Have you locked up?"

"Yep."

"Good. Want to get out?"

Tasha narrowed her eyes. She knew a set up when she heard one. "What am I going to be doing?"

"Oh, just take a little drive, do a little sight seeing."

"Okay," she said hesitantly. "Where to?"

"Go change, we're going to be out in the field. I mean, literally, a field. Meet me out at the casino, I'll pick you up there."

"Then where?"

Jake sighed. "I need you to come out to Old Man Duggan's place."

Tasha paused before intoning sarcastically. "Uh, that may put me in danger. We are talkin about a dangerous crime lord here."

"Don't be a smart ass," Jake growled and then sighed, slightly exasperated. "Look, I've been snooping around all yesterday, last night and all day today. I have come up with exactly zero evidence that Duggan was the intended buyer of those hellhounds. What's worse, I can't find the damn hound. Those things are more than bad news. Only a fool would think they could actually control one."

"Well, that explains why you sound so tired. Jake, you've barely recovered from your injuries and you haven't slept since. No wonder you can't find anything. Even supernatural beings need sleep every now and again."

"I don't have time. I need to find that hound."

"I know, Jake. I'll help, but I don't know what good I'll be. I mean, after all, you're the big, bad werewolf, with bionic hearing and super sniffer! You are a natural born hunter. I am just a mere mortal," she teased.

"Yeah, well, mere mortal or not, you see things I don't. Those hunches you have at least get me to thinking differently, and that gets me pointed in the right direction. Sometimes I rely too much on my immortality, my superior strength and senses. And I miss the most obvious things."

"Awe, I complete you," she laughed.

He snorted on the other end of the line. "Yeah, somethin like that. Look, meet me in an hour, okay?"

"I'll see you in an hour then."
Chapter 7

Tasha didn't pick up on the fact that she was being tailed until she pulled into the parking lot of the Tribal Casino. Normally, she would have caught on earlier. She blamed her fatigue for her failure.

She drove her little car to an out of the way area, pulling into a parking slot under a large oak tree, its brown leaves dropping like a gentle rain. She considered that the spot she had chosen may not have been ideal, considering that she was being followed, and again, proceeded to blame her lack of judgment on lack of sleep but decided to stick with the original spot.

She grabbed her leather coat out of the back seat of her car, casually checking around as she did so. A beat up van with large letters along the side declared it to belong to George's Landscaping Service. The windows were tinted, so she couldn't see who was inside, but whoever it was, was giving her the willies.

The phone she had tucked into her pocket vibrated. She pulled out the phone and read a text from Jake. He was wondering if she knew who was in the van. She didn't look around but knew that Jake had to be near. A second text instructed her to meet him at Franklin's.

Casually, she slung her jacket over her shoulder and strode into the casino. As she pulled the large glass door open to the aging establishment and stepped inside, she was hit with the smell of tobacco smoke and saw its fog hanging low over the semi dark gambling area. A single, faint, ding, ding, ding of a slot machine could be heard, but not much else. The bingo crowd would be in their bingo hall, but for the most part, the place was deserted at this hour. Wednesday afternoon was not a popular gaming time evidently.

Without hurry, Tasha ambled around this bank of machines and that, her eyes constanstly roaming, checking mirrors as she passed to check behind. The guy from the van had followed her in, but it wasn't until she was about to stroll into Franklin's that she could tell it was the strange man that had come into the office earlier that day.

The creepy feeling she had about him increased ten fold.

Tasha sat in her customary seat at the bar; the last seat at the end of the bar, next to the kitchen. Vince, the bartender, gave her a smile; not the warm one he usually extended her, but a more generic, this-is-the-smile-everyone-gets kind of smile. Tasha knew by that smile that business was not as usual. She cautiously glanced up into the mirror that was set behind the bar to see Mr. Creepy stride past the entrance of Franklin's bar, pause but for a moment at the doorway, then continued on to finally halt in front of a slot machine not far from the door and pretended to gamble.

_Buzz_ vibrated Tasha's phone, which she had set on the bar top. It was a text from Vince this time; _Jake's in the back_. Tasha tucked her phone into her front jeans pocket.

A young woman, Franklin's niece and Tasha's second oldest friend in River City, came in from the kitchen area, walked over and sat next to Tasha. She appeared to be about the same age a Tasha, which would make her thirty, give or take a year. She was dressed in business attire, as she was Franklin's accountant, secretary, sales rep, product procurement, whatever it was that Franklin needed, she was it. "Tasha, I'm glad you could make it," she greeted with her hand extended.

Tasha took her hand in a firm shake, and smiled, picking up on the play act. "Anytime Pauline. Franklin mentioned the other day that you had some forms for me to sign if I want to ever perform with him again?"

"Why yes I do." Pauline winked. "Come on back and we'll get them all signed and get you back on your way."

She followed Pauline through the leather padded swing door, through the kitchen, past the office and out through the back door of Franklin's establishment. "See ya Tash," waved Pauline as she pulled the large, metal door shut.

Jake rotated his cell phone so that Tasha could see a picture. It was the man from the office and who had been following her. "This is the guy from the van," Jake said matter of factly. "Look familiar?"

Tasha didn't even ask how he had managed to obtain a picture of Mr. Creepy. She nodded. "Yep. He's also the one who came in asking the random questions today."

Jake nodded.

"Do you suppose he's got anything to do with this hellhound business?"

Jake shrugged as he started to walk towards the employee parking lot. "Hard to say. We just got done with one case, got another on the books, as well as this hellhound situation. I've sent this picture to Avery, asking if he's got any idea who it is. But right now, we've lost him, so lets get on to the business at hand."

After reaching Jake's truck, they headed out onto a two-lane highway that led into a remote area just outside of the city that was heavily wooded.

Tasha had questions, but she wasn't sure how to ask them. "Jake, I, uh, well, this case."

"What about it?"

"It's not on the books."

Jake rubbed at his eyes. "No, it's not. Well, not officially anyway."

"I'm wondering, how many other cases we work on that aren't officially on the books?"

Jake tapped a thumb on the steering wheel, his jaw muscles flexing slightly in his silence.

"All right, I get it. I'm going to guess the times that you up and leave to do 'errands', what you're really doing is working on an unofficial case."

"Perhaps."

"Don't perhaps me Jacob Wolf. I'm not under any delusions. The amount of case work we do is okay for one person, but it's not enough to keep the both of us busy, let alone be able to pay my salary as well as afford that fabulous office."

"That office was cheep. I bought it years ago before downtown was a place people wanted to be instead of avoiding like the plague. I also own the buildings on either side of the office, as well as the garage at the end of our block. I'm what you might call a slum lord."

"Stop it," she interrupted. "I want to know what the real deal is."

Jake sighed. "Tasha, you know when I was so upset about you and Avery being at the warehouse? I wasn't just worried about your safety. The more you know about, well, my world, the more dangerous life in general could be for you."

"Ah yes, we're finally getting around to that are we? So, what? I know about werewolves and now I know about the reality of magic and mages and fae. Big deal."

"It is a big deal. We've spent centuries trying to keep our selves hidden from humans. In the past, humans have hunted us almost to extinction. As a result of that, some of the Elder Fae have a heavy dose of hatred for humans."

"Maven, she's an Elder Fae?"

"The Eldest. Well, in North America anyway."

"Oh," now she was beginning to understand the respect that bordered on reverence that everyone at the warehouse had shown her. "She mentioned something about me being tolerated."

"Yes, and that's a good thing. As early as fifty years ago, you would have been killed outright, no questions asked. But killings call for investigations, and we can't have humans investigating Fae business."

"Great. What about the memory thing?"

"As early as twenty years ago you would have had an _accident_ that would have erased the memories of the last two years that you've been working for me. That could still happen, by the way."

"But Maven said..."

"That's the Lady Maven from here on out. At least in public, okay?"

Sigh. "Yes Jake."

"For now, Maven can keep the council from giving you a mind wipe. Later the council can always vote to rescind that decision, but Maven has some considerable pull within the council. Just keep in mind that you don't want to give these guys any reason for wanting to change their collective mind."

"She mentioned something about meeting with the council?"

"That will be next week. It will be brutal. They will ask you all manner of questions, kind of feel you out, to see just what you're all about. How that session goes will determine your status as merely tolerated or accepted."

"Accepted means?"

"That you are in and it would be very difficult for anyone to bring up further discussion of mind wipes or even death in regards to you. To be considered Accepted can take years, but once you're in, well, you're in. Now, either way, you'd have to hold to the Rule of the Fae, but we'll discuss that when we get there."

Tasha sat silent for a moment. "So you were trying to protect me from the Fae then, not the danger?"

"Both Tasha. The Fae can be a hard and ruthless bunch, especially on humans. You will not find acceptance in many circles, even if you are officially 'Accepted'."

"I don't know if I should feel flattered or insulted."

"Try not to worry about it. I have accepted you, and I'm all that matters, right?" He gave her a wry smile.

"Right Jake, my life revolves around you," she said dryly.

"I thought so," he smiled again.

####

They drove for a few miles until the woods opened up onto farmland. Not large farms, but smallish, privately owned organic lots, which seemed to be all the rage to own nowadays. After the third such farm, Jake turned down a dirt road and slowed. A pretty, white, two story house, complete with dormers and gingerbread trim was situated on the right side of the road, with a large, red painted barn behind it. Though it was fall, the yard was clean of debris, the grass, though browning was neatly cut, the roses bordering the property pruned for winter. There were a number of large oaks in the front and side yards, and what looked like fruit or nut trees were planted in the back in organized rows. It was completely idyllic to Tasha's mind.

They proceeded on past the farm house. Eventually, they came to another wooded area that was designated as a property of the National Park Service. It was a pretty little park, located next to a running stream. There were picnic tables and barbeque pits and trash bins that were caged up so the wildlife wouldn't raid them. Jake drove through the picnic area to the furthest parking lot at the back area of the park, pulled into a slot and shut off the engine. Jake pulled a full backpack out from behind the seat and shut and locked the doors before leading Tasha towards a barbed wire fence. There were three strands of the wire running parallel to the ground, as far as the eyes could see. He stepped on the bottom most wire, pulled the top two strands up so Tasha could slip through, before slipping between the strands himself. They walked for about a couple of miles, her following his lead.

They followed a game trail that had begun back at the stream and broke off into different directions to who knew where. Jake followed a particular trail as it wound around a little rise. At that point, they left the path and crouching, they climbed until they finally topped the little hill.

"How convenient. This rise looks right over the back yard of that cute little farm house we passed," Tasha murmured as she spread a small tarp out flat on the ground before lying on her stomach and propping herself up with her elbows.

"I know, right?" Jake replied as he fished a pair of binoculars out of the backpack and handed them to Tasha before he joined her on the tarp, imitating her prone position.

"Alright now, there have been all kinds of comings and goings day and night. Old Man Duggan is currently in the house. You can see him through the third window from the right. He's got his Lieutenants in there with him. I counted two but there should be another one somewhere."

Tasha focused on the house, then turned her attention over to the barn. "What's in the barn?"

"He's got five of his thugs in there. All of the vehicles except one are parked in there as well. I got a look in there last night, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, well, besides big guys playing cards and drinking coffee. The stall area has been converted into a barracks that could hold a lot more people than I've seen, but I don't know if more will show up later, or what. The tack shed was locked up tight, so I'm guessing that's being used as an armory."

"Sure, nothing out of the ordinary there. What about the hay loft?"

"Empty."

"Too bad."

Jake sighed. "No sign of a hellhound, or a talisman or anything." Jake rested his chin on the heel of his hand and looked over at Tasha. "So? Got anything?" he asked brightly.

"Will you give me a second? I just got here." She could tell that Jake was tired. He was getting impatient, which almost never happened. "I've got an idea. Why don't you lay back and take a little nap, and I'll look around."

"You're not going down there."

"I hadn't planned on it. Just going to walk back towards the game trails and head in the direction of the highway a bit."

"I didn't find anything that way, but okay. Stay out of sight of the house and the barn." Jake looked sternly, admonishing her with his eyes before he rolled over onto his back and was asleep in an instant. Even werewolves needed an occasional nap.

Tasha back-crawled down the hill and set off towards the direction of the highway, leaving the path when it veered off in a direction contrary to the route she intended to take. She wound around scrub brush and trees, pulling out a flashlight, as it got dark. The wind blew through the trees rustling the dried leaves and causing some to flutter to the ground. She stood still and looked and listened and smelled just as she had been taught to do. She focused on a faint scent, decided it was rotting vegetation and moved on. After a few yards, she stopped again, repeating the process. The wind brought her whiffs of pine and tilled soil and animal waste but nothing out of the ordinary, especially nothing that smelled like hellhound. She heard no sounds other than the wind whispering through brush and trees and dried grass.

She continued walking until she came upon a dirt road that would have run perpendicular to the road in which the Duggan farmhouse was located. Of course, the term dirt road was being generous. In actuality it was two parallel tracks with dead weeds and tall grass residing in the center. Tasha followed the dirt track to a dilapidated, single story house. It was falling in upon itself, and a tractor shed in back was leaning precariously to one side. Both looked as if a simple exhale of breath would be all it would take to knock either one over.

Tasha walked through the gateposts, noticed the busted up gate that was lying in the derelict driveway, and was about to investigate the property further, when a hand slid over her mouth, and another grabbed her upper arm. She screamed into the hand, but relaxed when Jake shushed in her ear. He released her when he was sure she wasn't going to make any louder noise than a whisper.

"What the hell was that?" she whispered angrily, "You scared the bejeebers outta me!"

"You were gone too long. I came to make sure you hadn't found any trouble."

"I've only been gone for thirty minutes!"

"Which was too long."

Tasha stared daggers at her boss, but for just a moment. "Did you investigate here?"

"Yes ma'am. If you look over that way, you will observe the footprints I left behind. See?" Jake shone his light on the prints just beyond Tasha's feet. "Didn't see, smell or hear anything."

Tasha danced her own light around and about Jake's footprints before she proceeded to follow them. "This place is sure run down. I wonder why no one's bought it. Wouldn't take anything at all to knock down these old buildings and put up new ones."

"You could always put a down payment on it with the bonus you got from the Murphy case."

"Yes, but I couldn't afford to live after that. I don't make enough money for both a car payment and a property loan payment."

"Your boss must be such an ass."

"You have no idea."

"Did you see these tire tracks?"

Jake walked up behind her and shone his light. "They weren't here last night." Tasha heard a popping/cracking sound and deliberately averted her eyes away from Jake's face and stood very, very still. He was letting his snout sprout, as she liked to say, allowing his nose and mouth to morph into the wolf form. She heard him sniff and taste the air. She saw him crouch and do the same over the ground. Another sound of cracking bone and Jake stood up, shook his head and rubbed a hand over his face, totally human again. "Fresh tracks. Within the last hour."

"If you hadn't come to get me..."

"Yeah, I know, but this may work out yet. Where do the tracks begin I wonder?"

The pair rushed forward, excitement urging them on.

Their search ended at the back of the old house, in front of a newly repaired cellar door.

Jake snorted a little, "Well, this wasn't here before."

"You suppose it was hidden by a glamour?"

"More than likely," Jake said absently. He gave the door a tug. Nothing happened. It did not even budge.

"Is it locked?"

"No, it's got a glamour on it. Can't you tell?"

Tasha shook her head, then, cautiously, laid her hand on the door. She pulled it back quickly, as if she'd received a static shock. "Okay, now I can." Gingerly she touched the door again, and as she did so, the hair along her arm and neck rose. "Look," she ran the light beam across her forearm to show Jake that the tiny hairs were erect.

They stood and Jake moved away from Tasha. As he did so, she asked, "So what's the plan?"

"I'm going to change, and follow the scent. It's new enough, so if I get right on it, I shouldn't lose it."

"What about once you get on the highway?"

Jake shook his head, "Not a problem. This highway isn't well traveled at night, so it shouldn't make a difference. Now once I hit town, that may be a different tale."

Tasha thought for a moment. "Can you trace the smell of the beast itself? Or is the glamour too strong to get a scent?"

"I may be able to get one, but not until after I change. You take my clothes, get to the truck and get into town. Call Avery and tell him what's going on and have him call Burly. Do not go home, I don't want to take a chance of that ass who followed you to pick you up again."

"Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh, I've never been around when you've changed before."

"I know. You gonna be okay with that? It can be pretty disturbing."

"I'll manage, but what about you? I mean, you won't loose control or anything will you?"

He smiled and rubbed her arm reassuringly. "Nah, maybe if I where a berserker or something, then there'd be trouble. If there was a full moon I might get a little, I don't know, testy but that's it. You are safe. I wouldn't do this if I thought you'd be in danger."

"Okay," she managed, but she couldn't deny the slight tremble in her limbs. She stepped away from him and turned around.

"What, you don't want to watch?" Jake teased.

"Oh, no thank you," she laughed weakly.

Jake shucked his clothing and set them neatly aside. He gave a quiet groan of pain, followed by the crackle and pop of bones breaking and then rejoining in a different configuration.

It didn't take as long as Tasha had imagined. But then again, while she didn't know exactly how old Jake was, she did know that he was an experienced wolf and had learned to control himself. She heard a long sigh, silence, then a large black wolf stocked up next to her. He looked up at her, gave his fur a vigorous shake, then moved on, stopping to get a good whiff of first the door, then the tire tracks. The wolf looked back at Tasha, then like a shot he was off.

Quickly, Tasha gathered Jake's things and then quietly and as swiftly as she could manage in the dark, ran back to the truck.
Chapter 8

Jake ran by the Duggan farm before he left for the city. He sniffed around the entrance of the farm and picked up the familiar tire scent there as well. So, whoever had been in the vehicle at the derelict farm house had stopped here as well, Jake thought.

He noticed that the inhabitants inside the Duggan home had settled down, as there were fewer lights on than before. He noticed the same at the barn as well. He spun around and loped back down the way he had come, turning towards the highway.

He cautiously approached the highway, but no one was coming or going. He got the scent of what the tires smelled like with the mingling scent of the asphalt. He rechecked that scent again as the tires had had opportunity to heat from the friction of moving along the road and took on yet another aspect of smell.

He ran on into the night, towards the burning lights of the city.

####

Tasha made it to the truck with no trouble, other than falling when she tripped over a bush. The barbed wire fence had given her a bit of trouble. Jake was much stronger than she was and therefore had no problem separating the strands of wire that was lined at regular intervals with sharp barbs. But she finally managed, having gotten only a few strands of her hair tangled in a barb. She hopped she had collected all of the strands. According to Jake, you never left pieces of your DNA behind when on a job, which sounded like good advice to her. Especially with a hellhound around.

When she finally reached the safety of the truck, she cautiously set off towards town but only after she had called Avery to explain all that had happened. They decided to meet at Burly's Pub, a middle distance between Avery's location as well as Tasha's. At least she would be occupied while she waited for Jake to find the hellhound.

####

Jake made it to the city limits without being seen. No wolves roamed these parts anymore, and only a few coyotes, so he was pretty sure he'd stand out if he were observed by a passerby. He kept to the shadows. He'd lost the scent a few times, each time having to backtrack and take the chance to go out into the street to do a more thorough search with his nose. It cost him time, which frustrated him to no end.

At one point he had to dodge a semi that had turned a corner and almost hit him, as he had been in the middle of the street checking the scent he had followed into town. He ran back into the shadows to take stock of his situation. He needed to clear his head before his single mindedness got him killed, or worse, captured. He'd never solve this case if he were stuck in the dog pound.

He had been able to detect the faint scent of the hellhound, but he didn't know if it was enough to pinpoint the exact location of the thing. He looked about him. He was nearing a warehouse district, but not the same area Tasha and Avery had met the initial hound. This one was older, a little run down and next to the river.

This was in Quick territory, as in Gregory Quick, notorious black marketeer.

To Jake's way of thinking, it appeared that Old Man Duggan was going to use the hellhound to collect a debt, and that debt belonged to Quick. The hellhound was that supernatural debt collector.

Jake sighed a giant wolf sigh. If that hellhound decided it wasn't going to be content with just Greg Quick and his gang's souls, this was going to be a long night indeed.

Jake followed the scent as long as he could before the tire scent he was tracking merged with the smell of many other tires from the other traffic exiting and entering this particular locality. The direction left little doubt in Jake's mind that the vehicle was headed towards the Quick headquarters. He wasn't sure exactly where that was, but he knew the general area. He looked for a payphone.

When he finally found one that was in a poorly lit, mostly empty street and in working order, he made a collect call to Avery, who, of course, accepted his call.

After he confirmed Tasha was safe, he told him where he was, gave Avery the details of where he was headed.

"Just hold on for a sec," Avery implored Jake. "I can get a friend of mine from Bunko on the line. He may be able to narrow down Quick's location a little."

Jake held on the line with more than a little impatience. He was stark naked in a public place, and he did not want the police getting involved. He didn't need a public indecency charge on his record. It was bad for business.

He could hear Avery's conversation as well as if he were in the same room with them. As soon as he heard the location, he interrupted Avery with a "Meet me there," and hung up, quickly changing back into wolf form and charging off for the dock area.

####

The docking area was a small, natural bay set in from the river. Since it was not a large river, neither was the docking bay.

The dock warehouses tended to be large and old, throwbacks from a more thriving river trade era. Most were made out of stone with metal rooftops, sturdy enough to stand up to the ravages of time. Many of the old business in town maintained their original warehouses that they had owned for decades whether they got their goods by river or not.

The Quicks had a longstanding tradition of being in the construction trade. Great, great grandfather Quick had been a hard working man who had built a thriving construction empire that spanned three states. As each generation was born into the Quick empire, that generation pissed more and more of the empire away, until Greg took over and had an epiphany; use Great Granddad's business as a means to traffic black market goods. Then boom, just like that, the Quick name was a name of significance once again.

Only you didn't want your kid hanging around with the Quicks, nor did you want your daughter to be married to one. They were mean and ruthless and no good. Except at staying out of law enforcement's web.

Many times the police had tried to nail Greg Quick for various nefarious dealings, and every time he managed to walk away clean. Evidently, Greg Quick was involved in enough legitimate business ventures for the Quicks to hide behind that even the Feds couldn't get at him.

His underworld dealings gave him a well-earned reputation of being vicious. He was hard on his associates and merciless on his rivals.

And Bernard Duggan was the main competition.

The two men had struggled with each other to be Lord of the Underworld for nearly twenty years.

Until five years ago when, allegedly, the Quicks decided to shut down Duggan for good. Quick tried to massacre everyone in Duggan's organization. Duggan had gotten out, but many of his men, including his son whom he was grooming to take over when the old man retired, were killed.

Now, it appeared that Big Jim Thompson, procurer of hard to find objects, had located some hellhounds for Old Man Duggan. And Duggan was about to set those hounds loose to collect a debt from Quick.
Chapter 9

Avery drove his car down to the waterfront, passing darkened warehouses and half abandoned loading docks, scanning this way and that, looking for a large black wolf in the darkness.

Tasha was also looking, but the inky blackness of the water to her right kept drawing her attention. There were a few barges tied up, but nothing bigger. And nothing that looked like a gangster hideout. She rolled down her window, despite the cool autumn air that flowed into the car, chilling her.

"Why you looking at the water? Werewolves can't swim," Avery reminded her. He parked his car behind a large crane, rusted with age, but still looked to be functional. "Hey look. That dock looks like it gets regular use."

"I've notice that a number of these docks are still in use. What makes that one so great?"

"Because this one is in the Quick's territory. If it's not Quick's then they pay Quick to let them do business here. Either way, it's as good a place to start as any."

Tasha was about to open her door, when Avery laid a stilling hand on her arm. "You know, I shouldn't let you get out. Chances are pretty good that you will be in danger."

"Yeah, yeah, and Jake will have a conniption. Got it. This is too exciting to just sit it out in the car."

"Oh man, I did not want to hear that," Avery mumbled. "Just promise me you'll hang back, and do exactly what I say. Oh, and here," he handed over an amulet. "Wear this. It'll help make you not quite as appetizing should we run into a rabid hellhound."

"Not quite as appetizing?"

"You won't be invisible to it, but it makes you seem less interesting than, say, a gangster, or two fools out in the middle of the night chasin it. The amulet kinda confuses it, so it will go for the most obvious target. Just make sure that target is not you, kay?"

"Got it." She pulled the chain attached to the medallion over her head. "Lighter than it looks."

"Yeah, cuz it's not got but a trace of gold in it. Which is why it's not as effective as say one with a lot of gold in it. You are still vulnerable, so..."

"I said I got it. So, where do we start? That warehouse?"

"Might as well. It's seems a little obvious though."

"Yeah, well, c'mon, let's keep to the shadows." The two moved from behind the crane, to a pile of crates, on farther to crouch down to peek around the corner of the big stone warehouse. "You're not getting one of those, intuitions or anything are you?" Avery whispered tightly.

"Nope. You?"

"Not a thing.

"Because there's nothing here," Jake said from behind them, causing Avery to turn and draw his side arm and Tasha to jump straight up with a squeak of surprise.

Jake laughed. "Gotcha."

Tasha was about to give Jake a piece of her mind until she turned to face Jake, saw he was stark naked, and turned back around, her cheeks burning. Jake chuckled at her discomfort.

"So, you're not going to yell at me for bringing Tasha?" Avery asked, warily eyeing his friend as he slid his gun back into its shoulder holster.

"Well I would, but I know it wouldn't do me any good. I'm beginning to think that the only way to keep her outta this is to chain her up."

"Damn straight," Tasha muttered.

"I've gone over the entire area you said was Quick territory, but I couldn't detect anything. You didn't happen to bring my clothes with you did ya?"

"Yeah, in the trunk of the car."

They crossed over to the car, Avery opened the trunk and handed Jake a bundle.

Meanwhile, Tasha walked to the very edge of the dock and looked down into the black water. It was colder here and Tasha hugged herself against the sudden chill.

Jake and Avery came up and stood to either side of her. "Something about the water Tash?" Jake asked.

"I don't know. I do seem to keep getting drawn to it though."

"Let's walk a little," suggested Avery.

"I've already been down in front of that warehouse, so let's go the other direction," Jake pointed and the others followed.

"Smells pretty," Tasha commented. "Like rotten everything."

"Old wood, metal, rubber and fuel. Throw in fish that have died from the contamination and it does make for an olfactory delight," Avery added sarcastically.

They continued to walk until Tasha stopped.

Jake immediately began to sniff. Avery pulled his gun, "Whatcha got Tash?" Avery asked while scanning around them.

"Nothing. It's just not as cold right here."

Jake shook his head in disbelief. "I should have felt it. You're right of course."

"Air movement," observed Avery, as he directed Jake's attention to the swirling movement of Tasha's long, black hair. "There's no wind, but Tasha's hair is floating up. Suppose its exhaust?"

Jake held his hand out over the particular spot, beginning from the farthest point away from him over the water and then moving it back towards the edge of the dock. "It's strongest right here." He knelt down onto the cement and lowered his hand past the dock. "Hold my feet," he ordered.

As Jake slid over the edge, Avery and Tasha grabbed him by his legs and held him in place until he began scooting himself backwards with his hands.

"There's a vent down there," Jake said as he stood, dusting himself off.

"And why would you need a vent under a dock?" Avery asked as he walked further, leaning over the water as he went.

"Good question," Jake replied, sniffing the air again.

Tasha followed Avery, with Jake trailing behind her, sniffing, ever sniffing, until he took off at a run, past both Tasha and Avery. He stopped about one hundred feet away, crouched low. He stood and asked Avery for his cell phone, which he opened without saying a word to his companions, pressing a finger to his lips for silence. "It's me. I've found it." He pointed down to what looked like a large drainage grate, inset so that it was even with the cement of the dock, then motioned for Avery and Tasha to move away.

Avery spotted an out building, what may have once been a guard shack, not twenty feet beyond, so he led Tasha there, Jake following after he had completed his call.

"You caught a scent?" Avery asked. Jake nodded.

"What do we do now?" Tasha asked. She was scared and excited. And she was starting to get twitchy and restless again.

"We don't do anything," Jake admonished. "If I am correct, then we've got our selves a very dangerous predator nearby. And probably some magic somewhere as well. We need an actual monster hunter to help out."

"Mel comin then?" asked Avery.

"Yeah, he'll be here in a few. Don't know how he knew where I was going to be, but he's nearby."

"Burly had him on standby," Avery said.

"Wait, hold it, an actual monster hunter?" Tasha interrupted.

"What, you know there are monsters, but you question the existence of monster hunters?"

"It's just, I don't know, there's this whole alternate culture that I'm just finding out about. Just give me and minute to adjust will ya."

"Well, when Mel arrives I want you stay here, out of the way. Things could get nasty."

"Yeah, I remember," Tasha was still sore from the claw gouges she'd gotten the night before. She looked at her watch. It was going to be yet another late night.

It wasn't but a few minutes until Mel pulled up. He didn't come right onto the scene, but parked a few hundred feet away. In that time, Jake had done some additional investigation of the grating. He met Mel next to the guard shack, greeting him with a grim face and a handshake. "Glad you got here as quickly as you did."

"Pleasure," the grim faced being grunted. Mel was a giant of a man, the biggest man Tasha had ever seen, leaving her with the impression that Mel may actually be a _giant_. He had huge, broad shoulders and was thick all over. His hands were broad and looked like a large club or double headed ax would feel quite at home there.

"I'm guessing that grate is where the hound was given access to an underground hideout. I'll bet..."

But Jake never got to finish what he was going to say, as Mel turned and headed towards the drainage grate that Jake had indicated. Mel took a whiff, grunted what Tasha assumed to be an affirmative, lumbered back to his work truck and unloaded a large, leather bag. He brought the bag over and removed a large, double headed ax and set it on the ground beside him, causing Tasha to grin with satisfaction. Then he removed a broad sword almost as long as Avery was tall, as well as its scabbard, which he strapped onto his back. He also picked out some round grenade looking spheres of various shapes and sizes, which he tucked into a sack fastened to his waste. He finished by pulling out a handful of knives, which he tucked in various locations about his body. The last thing he took out was a net. When he stood, he took the ax in hand and set the net next to Tasha.

"You got a weapon?" He asked Jake, who shook his head to the negative. "Look in my truck, find something you can use. You too mage. Girl, you should stay here."

Jake and Avery ran to the truck to rummage for weapons while Mel sought for a way to remove the drainage grate. He finally settled on forcing his thick fingers through the grate and gave a great tug. The grate came up in his hands, pieces of concrete bouncing to the ground. He quietly set the grate down onto the ground and jumped into the hole.

A moment later he popped his head up and gave final instructions. "We go in, get the hound. You, girl, when we go, you cover this hole up with the net. It will keep anything from getting out."

Tasha nodded dumbly but as soon as all three men disappeared down the hole, Tasha picked up the net. First she noticed the tingling sensation running through her body. Of course it's magic, she thought, a regular net's not going to hold a supernatural being. The net also came apart without any tangling, also an indication of magic. The corners and sides where weighted with weights.

She spread the net over the drainage hole and then she moved back to the guard shack. Currently, she had settled in to a mood more scared than excited. There was no one around to bolster her bravado. She was also cold, as the wind had picked up. It was blowing off of the water and chilled her to the bone.

Tasha considered the guard shack and decided it would definitely be warmer in there than outside. It would at least block the wind.

She tried the door knob. It was unlocked. She tried to open it, but the door was warped, so it took a little shove to get it opened then closed again once she was inside. Tasha hunkered down on the dusty floor and hugged her knees to wait. The waiting portion of any investigation was always the most difficult, this one, even more so. She couldn't help but wonder if her friends were safe, or if this was just some elaborate trap. Or what if the Quick gang wasn't home, but came in now, trapping the three men she'd just locked in. Tasha sighed and rested her chin on her crossed arms to wait it out.

####

Tasha felt it before she heard it, a slight tremor in the floor. She heard the faint sound of a guttural, roaring howl that set her already cold body to ice. A stronger tremor followed by a louder roar, brought her to her feet.

Tasha cleared a spot in the dirty window and looked towards the netted drainage hole but nothing was disturbing it. Where was the hellhound then?

Another thump followed by another roar. It sounded further away from her than where the gutter was located. She looked down the ally way, but couldn't see anything, so she wrestled the door open and crept around the corner of the little shack, eyes trained down the street, past Mel's big truck. There was yet another thump, much stronger now and the roar was unmistakable. The hellhound had found a back door, or at the very least was making one of its own.

Tasha saw the pavement surge upward and she staggered slightly from the shudder of the earth as it yielded to the terrible power of the beast. The Hellhound had broken out of its underground prison.

It was free.

Tasha was terrified. It took her a moment to pull herself together, but she managed somehow to quit with the blinding panic and look for a way to help.

"Tasha!" Jake hollered from just below the netting. As she ran over to him he continued. "This net's not going to let us out. You need to pull the net up from your side."

Quickly, she gathered up the net, which Jake took from her when he pulled himself from the drainage hole. Another roar made them both freeze in their tracks but still they managed to turn their heads to the direction of the hideous sound.

The hound was advancing on them. Jake nudged Tasha towards the guard shack. She obeyed and quickly moved behind the shack. Jake and now Avery who had just joined him, slowly moved towards the beast, the net spread open between them. Mel had popped out of the hole the beast had created farther down the street and was closing in from the back.

"We can't take it from the front," Avery muttered. "It's too smart."

"We can keep it occupied and Mel will have to take it from the back."

"I don't like it, brother,"

"I don't either, but we don't have many more options. None that I like anyway."

Tasha had an idea, but didn't ask for Jake's permission. She knew he wouldn't allow it.

Tasha popped out from behind the shack and ran. First she ran straight towards the monster, hollering and waving her arms as she ran so that it was sure to see her. Once she was sure that she had gotten its attention she ran back towards the direction she had come from and ran beyond the shack.

"Ta..." Jake began, but Avery slugged him in the chest.

"Quiet, she's distracting it so we can take it from behind."

Jake's answer was a low, angry growl, though at Tasha or him, Avery wasn't sure.

The hellhound slowly advanced on Tasha, only taking a casual, unconcerned glance at Mel, who was trying to head it off. It was more interested in investigating the noisy being that was running about. Usually, running meant prey.

Avery and Jake hurried behind it.

Tasha had now slowed to a backwards walk. She had the monster's full attention now, but as it was not charging her, Tasha figured that the magical amulet Avery had made her wear was, indeed, confusing it.

Mel approached Tasha with a great deal of caution. Once he arrived at Tasha's side, he proceeded to keep pace beside her. He took note of her amulet, and quietly spoke. "Ah, now I see why it didn't attack you. Good work, but you need to leave now. Quickly and quietly, when I say, you run between those two cargo pods." Tasha nodded as she glanced to the direction Mel had indicated with a jerk of his big, wooly head.

Still walking backwards, she tripped over a piece of debris. Mel grabbed her by the arm and held her upright until she regained her footing. "Easy there, girl. Steady. Now go!"

As Tasha quickly turned and ran, Mel bellowed out at the same time, "Over here ya ugly beast!" and continued to yell insults at the thing until the hound's full attention was on Mel and not Tasha.

Tasha ran, fast and sure until she had squeezed herself inside the tight space between the two cargo units. Breathing hard, she poked her head out from her hiding place to watch as the hound bore quickly down on Mel. Tasha was fearful for the giant hunter's life as Jake and Avery weren't close enough to keep the beast from reaching Mel before they did.

Mel stood his ground, pulled the mighty sword from its sheath, and, with the other hand still gripping the heavy double-headed ax, took on the great monster when it reached him.

The guttural screams that issued from the hellhound's mouth was more than Tasha could take. She covered her ears, but it didn't seem to do any good. Her ears rang.

Mel's gaze never lost contact with that of his adversary. The hound attacked with tooth and claw, Mel blocking and stabbing at the ghastly thing but the beast didn't even seem to register the blows.

Avery and Jake ran up behind the monster, dragging the net up and over the beast. As the net settled, it began to constrict, as if of it's own accord, bringing the flailing beast to its knees while at the same time, impeding it's thrashing, until, finally the monster lay in a quivering mass, yowling with impotent rage.

Mel pulled two items from out of his sack. The first was the summoning talisman that Mel slid under the net to rest on the hound's back. The second was one of the spheres and stuck it upon the wriggling mound of hellhound, and as he stood back, a bright flash emitted from the sphere, pouring light and energy over the beast. When the light finally dimmed, the hellhound was encased in a solid covering of what looked to be a metal of some kind but Tasha couldn't decide what type. Not that it mattered. The important thing was, the hound was now inert, tightly sealed up in a metal cocoon.

Mel left Avery and Jake in charge of the malformed lump on the ground while he went and got his truck. Tasha cautiously left her hiding place and made her way to where all the action had just taken place.

Jake glanced her way and shook his head and smiled wryly in her direction. When she reached them, he hugged her shoulders and grumbled, "I don't know if I should be proud, or bend you over my knee for getting involved."

"Good thinking, Tash," Avery commented.

"Thanks."

"But what if Mel hadn't gotten to you in time?" Jake asked, his perturbation winning out over his pride for her actions. "You could have been killed."

"But he did. I thought it was worth the risk."

Jake growled again, but it was drowned out by the even louder growl of the engine of the large truck as Mel backed it across the empty lot then braked to a halt mere feet from where they stood. Mel hopped down from the tall cab and walked to a control panel at the back. He flipped a lever and a hook on a thick cable lowered from a large boom. Mel fed the cable through a loop that had magically appeared when Mel gave the metal cocoon a tap with the flat of his hand. Another flip of the lever and the bound beast was hoisted up into the air, rotated to hover just above a large, enclosed crate, and lowered down into the crate. Mel sprightly jumped into the bed of the truck, leaned over the crate and unhooked the cable. He covered the crate with its lid, secured it, ensuring that the entire crate was locked down tight before he jumped back down, leaned into the cab and shut off the noisy engine.

Mel strolled back to the three figures, and shook hands with each, his warm smile out of place on the hard cut features of his face. "Thank you for your assistance," he said, as he placed an oversized hand on Tasha's shoulder. He was clearly three feet taller than she was. "Girl, you did fine, but you should train." Tasha held back a snicker when she saw the scowl that crossed Jake's face. To Jake he said, "You bring her to my place, I will teach her how to handle monsters." Before Jake could answer, he turned and hopped into his cab, his nimbleness for one so large stunning to Tasha. With a loud growl the engine turned over, and a groan of a transmission shifting into gear, the big monster hunter roared off, leaving Tasha, Jake and Avery in a flurry of dust and exhaust.

The three silently walked towards Avery's car. A sudden wave of exhaustion over took Tasha and she stumbled slightly.

Jake took her by the arm. "You okay?"

Tasha waved his concern away. "Fine, just experiencing an adrenalin let down. I don't see how you werewolves do it, up all day, out all night. I'm exhausted."

Avery stifled a yawn. "Me too."

"Even werewolves need their rest. I'm about done in."

Tasha had managed to crawl into the back passenger seat of Avery's car and shut the door, when a large, black sport utility vehicle with darkly tinted windows pulled up next to Jake. Five people in dark army-like fatigues stepped out, one directing the other four to begin their duties.

The one who directed the four was a tall, pale man with closely shaved blond hair. He approached Jake and Avery, shaking both of their hands before leaning over to take a quick look at Tasha in the back seat.

"Here for clean up, I see," Jake commented.

The other man smiled, a rather impish looking grin that Tasha thought rather alluring. "If you'd quit makin a mess, I wouldn't have to clean up." The man sobered. "So what's down there?"

Jake leaned back against the car, folding his arms under his chest. "Well, we got here too late, so by the time we got down there, that hellhound managed to tear up, oh, what do you think Avery, a dozen gangsters?"

"Yeah, hard to tell, but about that. There were lots of body parts. That hound had a grand ol' time."

The dark man grimaced. "Well, that limits our options. Any survivors?"

Jake shook his head. "Nope, just the hellhound. When we got down there, he was just kind of, resting, like it was just waiting for a ride home."

"That's exactly what it was doing," confirmed the man. "What about that hole up the street?"

"His exit."

He motioned towards Tasha. "And the girl?"

"She's fine. Helped to trap the son of bitch as a matter of fact."

"Huh. All right, that pretty much answers all my questions. I'll call you if I need any more details."

The men shook hands again. Avery got in and started his car, while Jake climbed into the back seat with Tasha. She was frightfully cold now, her teeth shattering. Jake wrapped his arms around her, which helped to fend off the cold that had settled down into her very bones. She rested her head on his shoulder, grateful for his comfort.

As they pulled out onto the main thoroughfare that would eventually get them home, a large explosion rocked the dock behind them.
Chapter 10

It was just before dawn when Tasha was finally able to drag herself up the flight of steps to her apartment. It was handy living in the apartment above her place of employment. It was also part of her compensation; free room and board. And having her apartment just above her office allowed Tasha to sleep just a tick longer as she wouldn't have to allow for drive time to work. Too bad a tick longer was no more than a total of four hours of sleep. Tasha drug herself out of bed and after a quick shower, headed downstairs to open up shop.

When she entered through the front door, she could smell the wonderful aroma of brewing coffee. As she flipped the sign from closed to open, she realized something else; there was a homemade sausage biscuit sitting on her desk. Jake had made her breakfast.

Jake came out of his office, his own sandwich in hand. He raised it in salute and walked to the small kitchen area to grab a cup of coffee.

"Morning," he mumbled around his sandwich.

"Wow, you're up earlier than I thought you'd be. I know I am." Tasha tried to stifle a yawn without succeeding.

"We've got a client meeting at 10:30. Figured I could at least get the coffee started. Besides, when you turn on the shower, it makes a little whistle in the lines. It woke me."

"You can hear that all the way down there," Tasha pointed towards the basement apartment.

"High pitched noises tend to get my attention," he said with a smile.

"I can call someone. That has got to be annoying."

"I've got a guy. I'll give you his number."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"I felt kind of awkward about it. I didn't want you to think that I was hanging around your door, listening to you from the outside."

"Point taken. I'll give your guy a call later today then."

Tasha had walked into the kitchen area while they were talking. The kitchen was the area behind the front office proper. It consisted of two counters set parallel to each other, connected by a shorter counter containing a double sink. The counter facing the door was taller than the one behind it, hiding the coffee maker and a microwave. Under the counter sat a small fridge. The cabinets underneath the counter held most of their paper supplies. And a weapon. Just in case.

Tasha drew a cup of coffee for herself and leaned against the opposite counter from Jake, both chewing and drinking in a companionable silence. The silence was broken by the arrival of Avery.

"Hey," Avery said as he shuffled half awake to the coffee pot. He tossed the morning paper onto the counter and began sipping from his mug. "Did you see the front page?"

"Not yet." Jake picked up the paper. "'Quick Death; thirteen killed in explosion.' Now that's a tacky headline."

Tasha grabbed the paper from her boss and began to read. "'A gas leak is to blame for the explosion in an underground facility that took the lives of thirteen people, including the lives of George and Paul Quick, Gregory Quick's two youngest sons. Mr. Quick was not available for comment.' Wow, that's tough even for a bad guy."

"Duggan wanted his pound of flesh and got it."

Avery agreed. "We've got cops trying to get a location on Quick and keep an eye on him, though I doubt that will keep him from trying to take out Duggan again."

"Do you suppose any of the remaining three kids will try taking revenge on Duggan?" asked Jake, his words muffled.

"Naw. Quick is a real SOB of a dad, has always pitted one kid against the other. Gregory Jr. got sick of it, and moved to South America about ten years ago. He's working on some oilrig down there, and from what I hear, stays out of trouble. His daughter disobeyed Quick by not marrying one of his cronies. Instead, she ran off with her college roommate. They are currently backpacking through Europe or something like that. I guess he can't find her, and she's not inclined to be found. Truth is, she hates her dad, loves her lover and wants nothing more to do with Gregory Quick. The youngest girl is his baby, only about sixteen or seventeen I think. He's kept her isolated from his business dealings, so she doesn't know just what kind of a man her father really is."

Tasha swallowed a bite. "What about the rest of the organization? Won't they attempt to get back at Duggan?"

Avery shook his head. "Quick only has loyalty from his people because he pays them. He's also a tight bastard and won't put out the extra cash for anyone else to hunt Duggan or his guys down. He thinks his people should just do it for him out of loyalty."

"Wow, with friends like that," Tasha trailed off, taking a sip of coffee.

"Quick's organization is rotten from the top down. I'm surprised it's taken this long for Duggan to bring him down."

"Because Duggan," Jake wadded up and threw his paper towel away, the sandwich that was in it now gone, "up until his son was killed, bowed to the authority of the Fae Council. Well, bowed to a certain extent anyway. The Fae Council said NO to taking out Quick."

Avery nodded. "Well, I'm guessing his number is up too. From what I hear, the Council is plenty mad at him for bringing a hellhound into this dimension."

Jake agreed. "No kidding."

Tasha stopped drinking and stared. "You mean they are going to kill him?"

"Well, this time, yeah. Now, before you get all indignant, remember that Fae rules are a little tougher than human rules. There is more power involved, so the rules have to be absolute. Especially when dealing with something from another dimension. The rules are in place to help protect fae and human alike. And Duggan broke them big time. The Council may have been more lenient, maybe, if this was his first offence, but it's not."

"Not by half," Avery added.

"Yeah, I get it. But I forget. Is Duggan a human dealing in the supernatural, or is Duggan a fae?"

"No, he's a fae," Jake said matter of fact.

"Right, okay, so a fae broke the fae rules. Brutal, but I get it." Then she paused for a moment. "But what if he were human?"

Jake shrugged. "It all depends. Now, there's something you're gonna have to understand now that you officially know about the fae."

"Yeah, I know, I'm to be held to the same standard as the fae."

"Right, and since you have accepted to live by those rules, you will be held accountable should those rules be broken."

"Got it. I already said I'd sign the document when the time came, remember. I just wanna know if, he were human, what would happen?"

Jake shrugged. "Depends on the infraction. The Council would convene, consider the evidence and act accordingly."

"Almost like a trial?"

"Very much like a trial. Human or fae, once you break fae rules, there are no human courts to take this to. The fae don't exist remember? So, they will protect their own. In this case, he brought a supernatural being from another plane. That is serious beyond serious. And so are the consequences."

"What about the man who acquired the hellhounds?"

Avery shifted. "Big Jim's already in fae custody. Has been since the night we found that hound in his warehouse. He's already been in trouble, so I'm not confident with his well being."

"Can I ask you another question?" Tasha asked a little timidly.

"You can ask anything you want, but I may not answer," Jake answered with a smart assed grin.

"When you, ah, do work for the Council, does that include, er, _taking care_ of someone like Duggan?"

"You mean, am I the one who's going to take out Duggan?"

"Yes, that's what I mean."

"No. I will hunt down an individual and if there's no other way, well, yeah, because it's them or me. Or mine. But I am not an assassin. That's someone else's job."

Tasha wasn't sure if that made her feel better or not. She could understand the "you or me" mentality, but she'd been able to work this long with a werewolf because she didn't see him as a cold-blooded killer. Not that "you or me" was cold-blooded. But, she reminded herself, he was still more than capable of killing.

"Tash, you okay?" Jake asked, watching her closely.

Reluctantly she raised her eyes to meet his. Jake's golden, green flecked eyes were all the reassurance she needed. He defiantly was not a cold-blooded killer. He would do what needed to be done, and if that meant death, then that's what he'd do because he needed to. Not because he wanted to. Big difference. She could live with that.

Tasha held his gaze steadily and smiled. "Yeah, Jake, I'm just fine."

She was fine for about as long as it took for Avery's fellow detective, Gil Masters to walk through the front door with news of his own.

"Hey, Peaches!" Gil called as he entered, flashing his most charming grin. He had wavy, sun-kissed brown hair, brown eyes and a brilliant smile bracketed between dimples, all set in a tanned face. He wasn't so much handsome as he was adorable, adorable as in that Shirley Temple kind of way, all dimples and teeth and mischievous eyes. Combined with his charm and youthful exuberance it made him hard to resist. Tasha often wondered if his mother was ever able to tell him "no" once he locked that smile on her.

"Hey Dimples," Tasha returned the customary greeting. "What's up?"

Gil sauntered through the front and parked himself on the edge of the counter next to Tasha. "Avery here showed me a picture of the guy from the van. This guy right?" Gil handed his smart phone to her. There, on the screen, was the man who had walked into the office and had later followed her to the casino. It was, indeed, Mr. Creepy.

"Yep, that's the guy. You know who this is?"

"Why yes, Ms. Tereshkova, I do. His name is Richard Roberts."

"Sounds harmless enough," Tasha scoffed, but her stomach started tensing up.  
"Yeah, well, this guy's a real piece of work. I had dealings with him before I came into Homicide."

"Well, at least it's not been _since_ you've been in Homicide," Jake offered encouragingly.

"Yes, well you may not think so," Gil winced as he looked over at Jake. "You'll remember this guy. He fancies himself a monster bounty hunter extraordinaire."

Tasha looked up in alarm. "Uh, oh Jake. Do you suppose he knows about you?"

Jake shrugged. "I don't see how."

Avery shook his head, "Oh, hell no."

"What?" Tasha asked, dread spreading through her bones.

"I remember this guy. I didn't recognize his face, he's changed quite a bit in the last few years. But that name is one I'll not soon be forgetting. He caught an actual tree sprite, oh, about five years ago."

Jake nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

Tasha looked from one man to the other, considering the fact that they were all taking openly about fae with each other in front of Gil. "Wait, Gil knows about tree sprites?"

"Uh, Yeah," Gil said. "I know all about this guy too," he pointed the phone towards Jake.

"He saved my life once, so it's kinda hard to kill a guy when he does something like that."

"Life debt kind of thing?" Tasha asked.

Jake smiled. "Not quite, but close."

"But you're not fae? Werewolf? Wizard?"

Gil Shook his head and smiled. "Nope. Just plain ol' ordinary human."

Tasha shook her head. Jake had kept her isolated for just over two years from his world, but now that she knew, all kinds of things were coming to light.

"Okay, okay," Tasha said, getting back to the subject. "So, what about this Richard Roberts guy? If he actually caught a sprite, shouldn't he be, I don't know, dead or mind wiped or something?"

Jake crossed his arms over his chest. "An accidental death couldn't be done cleanly, mostly because he's got this crazy bunch of followers that would start making even more trouble than Roberts ever could. And a mind wipe was attempted but he is one of a very limited number of the population that can't be wiped. He's got some kind of wild talent no one can explain. Doesn't happen often, but it _does_ happen."

"That wild talent allows him to see the fae runes as well," Avery added.

"He's been trying to decipher the few symbols he has seen, but he can't figure them out. And no one believes him, cuz no one else can see them," Gil gave a wicked little smile. "So, he's been disgraced instead. Long story short, the sprite got away. He had no proof, after his irrevocable proof had been proven to be revocable. Not even the Enquirer would touch him after that. He even spent some time in prison. Anyway, he can't get a real job, so he's been chasing monsters ever since. He's got a blog and some group of kids that call themselves his disciples, but he's never gotten close to anything since."

"How'd he get the sprite in the first place?" Tasha asked.

"Accident," Avery shrugged. "See, it's like if you shoot into the dark long enough, you're bound to hit something. You better be extra careful, Jake."

"Yeah, but two things are buggin me. First, how did he get a line on you? And second, I'm wondering why he's following Tasha here instead of you," Gil said while accepting a cup of coffee from Jake.

"I don't know," Jake said, frowning, "We'll just have to be extra cautious. Got anything else?"

"No, but I'll let you know if I do. Want me to harass him a little, Tash?"

"No, not yet. So far, he's just being creepy, and as long as he doesn't know that we know about him, maybe we can find something out about what or who he's looking for, and why." She looked up at Jake for confirmation. He was slow in giving it, but he finally confirmed with a nod.

"For now," Jake murmured around his coffee cup.

"You've got my number, Tash. If anything changes, give me a call. If you feel like you're in danger, get someplace safe and call," Gill lectured.

"Call me first," reminded Jake.

"Yeah, okay," Tasha tried to sound nonchalant, but it didn't translate very well. She was moved by their concerns and was concerned by the fact that someone that unpleasant had her in his sights.

Avery's phone rang. "It's headquarters. We gotta go," he said to Gil.

####

Jake handled the morning appointment while Tasha ran some errands.

She had decided to walk to the post office. She was feeling cooped up and restless and wanted to move about. Anyway it was only a few blocks away from their location, and while the autumn air was crisp and cool, the sun warmed her as she walked.

She turned a corner, almost to the post office, when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. A van had pulled up to the same corner where she had just been.

Forcing herself not to rush, she made her way through the post office parking lot and, as she opened the door of the establishment, she saw the writing on the side of the van as it drove passed on the street; George's Landscape Service.

No doubt about it; he was following her and not Jake.
Chapter 11

Tasha was tapping her pen on the polished surface of her desk. She'd been distracted most of the day, her mind dwelling on the fact that Richard Roberts was following her.

She'd discretely checked outside a number of times during that day and had seen the van parked in the shadows of one building or another.

Jake outwardly seemed calm and unaffected by the hunter's efforts of surveillance, but Tasha noticed a slight tightness around his eyes.

She finally asked him about it.

"Of course I'm concerned, but not for me. I can take care of myself. I've been doing so for over a hundred years."

Tasha nodded and asked hesitantly, "How old are you, anyway?" Tasha had asked a number of times and had finally stopped asking. Anytime she'd asked about his werewolf-ness in the past, he deflected, avoided or plain ignored her questions.

Evidently, the time for avoidance was over because this time he answered her. "I'm one hundred and thirty three."

"Is that young or old for a werewolf?"

Jake shrugged. "My Granddad is still alive, so I guess I'd still be considered a youngish man. Wolf. Whatever."

"And where is your Granddad?" she asked carefully, afraid of frightening him off.

"My entire family is in Scotland. And, before you ask, I have three older brothers and a sister who is younger than me. I've been in America just over one hundred years. And, I'd rather not talk about why I'm here and not there."

"How long have you been in River City?"

"About ninety years."

Tasha shook her head and chewed on her lower lip. "I'm having a little trouble getting my head around that. My life is so finite. And yours is, well, not. It's weird."

Jake smiled slightly, world-weary.

Tasha was about to ask him another question, when something on the television caught her attention. She had seen her friends Avery and Gil on the screen, so she grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.

Jake, having observed her action, turned to face the flat screen.

The Pretty Little Red Haired Reporter, as they liked to call her, was at a crime scene. "found a body while he was jogging. Police say they are in the process of identifying the remains, and have declined to comment on the nature of the victim's death. Jim, back to you."

"Wonder what's up?" Tasha asked, to which Jake simply shrugged.
Chapter 12

Burly, proprietor of Burley's Pub, was a bear of a man. He wasn't especially tall, but he was, well, burly. He had beefy hands attached to beefy arms. His big barrel of a torso sat atop beefy, sturdy legs. His salt and pepper hair curled in an unruly way about his head that perfectly complemented his bushy beard. His eyes were dark, with deep lines at the corners from both laughter and worry. His eyes could twinkle with merriment as well as glint hard as steal with dangerous intent. All in all, he was a good natured being with a big, ready laugh, but also ready to take care of business, either at a moment's notice.

Burly's Pub was, for all intents and purposes the primary hangout for the supernatural set.

It was, for the most part, free of humans. Only those humans who were accepted by the fae, but most importantly, by Burly himself, were allowed to come and go as they pleased. Any human could enter, but, unless they were accepted, they never stayed, thanks to certain glamours set upon the place.

All in all it was a supernatural's refuge from the human world.

It was not simply a drinking establishment. It was a throwback from days gone by. It was a place for fae to connect. They would come to talk, play chess or cards or billiards. They would come to post for or locate employment. They would come to hear news, share rumor or simply speculate on the latest fae issues. They would argue politics, both in the fae and human arenas. A fae could receive and send mail there.

It was also head quarters for the fae's head of security, as Burly was not just the pub's owner, but also head of the security interests as it pertained to the fae.

The fae observed most of the human laws. But there were certain human laws that did not pertain to the fae, and therefore imperative for quick and quiet enforcement. That job fell to Burly, appointed by the Fae Council.

He had invited Avery, Gil, Jake and Tasha for an impromptu get together. He even made them diner. After they had eaten their fill, the quartet sat back and waited on their host to inform them for his reasons of bringing them all together.

"I suppose you have heard about the body that was found in Freedom Park earlier today?" Burly asked in his rough baritone.

Jake and Tasha nodded. Gil and Avery glanced at each other before Avery answered. "They called us in on the case after it was determined that it was definitely not an animal attack."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"At first, it appeared to be an animal mauling, but upon further investigation, well, it wasn't."

Burly nodded, pursed his lips, intertwined his thick fingers and plopped his callused hands on the tabletop. "That is correct, Jake. Not a mauling." His gaze caught Avery's, then Gil's. "Will you fill these two in on the details please, detectives?"

"Well, it was gruesome," Gil made a face.

"Must have been bad to make you say that," Jake joked. "You're not easily disturbed."

Avery shook his head, "No, it wasn't just the body, I mean, it was pretty gross and stuff, but the nature of it was just so,"

"Brutal," Gil finished.

"Yeah. Jake, the body was all torn up, like an animal had mauled it."

"But it wasn't an animal mauling." Jake confirmed.

"No sir. The lacerations were too clean, not like claws or teeth. And, well, there were no parts missing."

Tasha made a face. "Ew, what does that even mean?"

"What it means, Peaches, is that if it were an animal attack, there should have been chunks taken out and strewn about, random bite marks, etcetera. Animals tend to be messy, they don't care about aesthetics. This was way to clean. I mean, the body was all kinds of messed up, but you know what I mean, right?"

"Uh, I guess," Tasha made another face.

"I gotcha," Jake said. "No foot prints either?"

"No, and that's the weird part. There's no way someone should have been able to make that kind of mess and not trail blood everywhere."

"So, if it were an animal, there would be prints," Jake reasoned. "And whoever did this, observed great care and purpose as to not leave any trail."

Avery nodded, his face screwed up in a scowl. "Yeah, and that worries me."

"We're facin a real nut job, here" Gil sat back in the booth, stretching his legs out. "Sorry, did I kick ya Tash?"

"No, you're okay."

"This could be the beginnings of something real nasty," Gil continued as he reached both of his hands up to rub his face. It had been a long day and promised to be an even longer night.

Burly spoke, "The reason I've brought you all here is to say that this attack has gotten the attention of the Fae Council, and they would like, Jake, for you to investigate, with the cooperation of the police. The Fae Council is pretty anxious to find something out. They are not exactly happy with the fact that someone is going around imitating an animal, especially with this monster bounty hunter hanging around."

"Why would the Fae Council care about an animal mauling?" Tasha asked.

"Because the only thing big enough that could do the type of damage that was done would be an extremely large wolf, or a bear or a big cat, none of which are indigenous to this area, or not any more anyway."

Light dawned in Tasha's eyes. "So a werewolf or something."

Jake nodded. "A werewolf or something." Tasha looked anxiously at Jake. "Look, it wasn't a werewolf, so don't worry," he said.

"I understand that. I just find it odd that a bounty hunter shows up the same time as a wanna-be werewolf."

"You and me both Tash, you and me both." Jake ran his thumb along the condensation lines on his glass as he spoke to Avery. "Can you get me in to see the body?"

"Yes, but not until nine tonight. Dr. Jenkins is on the case right now, and you know how he is about unauthorized people in his morgue. Dawson is there too, and said he wouldn't be leaving until ten or so, but Jenkins won't leave until he's forced to, and his overtime will kick in at nine. You know how the city's been about overtime."

"Always can count on the bureaucrats to do something right," Jake commented dryly. "Okay, I'll call Dawson and tell him we'll get there just before ten. Do you mind if I bring my lovely assistant? I think I'd like for her to observe my unorthodox methods of detecting."

Avery gave Tasha a skeptical look before he nodded. "It's pretty gross, but if you can handle it, then by all means. Just don't puke, cuz Jenkins will for sure know someone unauthorized has been there."

"No puking, got it," Tasha said over enthusiastically, two thumbs up.

Gil checked his watch and yawned. "Man, we gotta finish that paper work."

"Yeah, okay. Paperwork. Bleh."
Chapter 13

It was raining again. Tasha sat in the passenger side of Jake's truck, in a windshield wiper induced trance, her mind wandering at will.

Finally she spoke into the thoughtful silence that had captivated the cab of the pickup. "Jake, do you think I have a wild talent?"

"You mean why you can see the runes?" Jake hesitated way too long Tasha thought. "Maybe."

"But I can read them and Roberts can't."

"Mm, I don't know," he said evasively.

Tasha noticed he was _not_ answering her question on purpose. She decided to leave it alone and asked a different question that was probing at her brain.

"So, why, exactly, am I coming along for this?"

"Because, now that you are, _aware_ of certain things, you can be more of a part of my investigations, especially those investigations that I do on the Fae's behalf. Consider it another aspect of your training, my young padawan."

"I'm not exactly crazy about this aspect," she grumbled a little too harshly. She was irritable. She was tired, and unaccountably sore in her muscles, and had had that strange sensation in her gut again. It had been her constant companion since she had first experienced it. It wasn't pain exactly, more like she felt like there was something in her that wanted to get out.

They parked near the back door of the city morgue. The door opened before they had even exited the parked vehicle. They hustled across a few feet of water logged blacktop to the door, a young looking man with Dr. Dawson embroidered on his lab coat was holding it open for them.

"Rick," Jake greeted him as he followed Tasha in, shaking the water off of his coat.

"Jake. Is this our little Natasha, then?" Jake confirmed with a nod before introducing her to the doctor. "This is Rick Dawson. He's a cousin of Henry's."

"Ah, I was wondering. You resemble him. And no one who knows better calls me Natasha. Tasha, please Dr. Dawson." She extended her hand and the doctor took it.

"My pleasure, and please, no need to be so formal. Call me Rick." He was as blond and blue eyed and as handsome as his relative, Lord Henry Winston the III, the guardian and representative of all the shape shifters in the district as well as a member of the Fae Council. "If you will follow me, I'll take you to see the victim."

Rick led the way through the bland, brick structure, into a room that was filled with all manner of medical equipment, one wall lined with small, square, stainless steal doors. There was a sharp tang of chemicals in the air. He handed a jar that smelled of camphor to Tasha and indicated that she should dab some under her nose. She did so as Rick turned and opened one of the silver doors and pulled out a covered body. He looked over it at Tasha, "You think you can handle this?" At her nod, Rick looked over at Jake for additional confirmation. He also nodded. "Okay then here we go." Dr. Dawson pulled the sheet back.

Tasha gave a gasp and looked quickly away. She turned back to the body with extreme caution, taking in shallow gulps of air.

Though it had been cleaned of blood and debris, the body was still a mess. Long, jagged strips of skin lay away from the body, radiating from the victim's torso. Gouges were raked across the arms, neck and thighs.

"The victim has no defensive wounds, so he was taken by surprise and either didn't have the strength to fight back or was dead before the killer did all of _this_ ," Dr. Dawson motioned with his hand to indicate the torn up state of the body. He rolled the body up onto its side. "We think this was the first, surprise strike."

"Three blades all at once?" Jake asked as he gingerly touched three stab wounds, all of equal length and at equally spaced intervals.

Rick settled the body back so that it was facing upwards again. "That's not the half of it. The blades went through with enough force to knick a chip off of the underside of the front ribs. Now, when I first examined the body, I could smell leather. At first I dismissed it as being from an article of clothing. But now I'm not so sure."

"Meaning?"

"Well, you have to realize that this is totally speculation on my part,"

"But?"

"But follow my reasoning and you may come up with the same hypothesis. The wounds here are, one, made to look like an animal mauling,"

"And?"

"And, though this man was cut up, a traditional stab wound is typically in, or, in and up, or, in and down, or, in and twist. This mess here was a result of an in and scoop, like an up and out type of motion, as if the killer were digging."

Tasha silently gagged.

"Okay, so,"

"Okay, so, the back wounds are a result of a quick, hard thrust, all having to have had an exact spacing and consistent pressure, which would be impossible to achieve one at a time, which mean that they had to be all at the same time with the same strike. I think the weapon is a, well, a glove type of device, with, er, blades coming out of it."

"So it would resemble a Wolverine kind of thing?" Jake asked incredulously, as he flexed his hand into and out of fists.

"Well, yeah, and that's the exact reaction I got from Dr. Jenkins as well," Dawson groused.

Jake looked at his fisted hand then over at the body. "That's incredible," he suggested.

"I realize that, but the science is there," the doctor pointed at the body.

Jake slowly nodded his head. "Okay, I see that."

Tasha huffed. "Oh that's just fabulous. A Wolverine wanna-be. Bet the police are just crazy about that idea."

"You're not kidding," Rick agreed.

Jake looked closely at the body again, before he looked up at Dawson. "Did you get anything else?"

Dawson shook his head, "No, but you're much better at tracking than I am. That's why I agreed when Avery suggested that you would probably want to take a look at him."

Tasha looked first at Rick then at Jake. "You mean you're better at, what, sniffing? I'm not following."

Rick smiled at her. "He's older than I am, so I am relying mostly on his experience. He has, I don't know, he's smelled more in his lifetime? Plus there's his ancestry."

Tasha was confused and must have looked it. "Look, Tash, we can sometimes recall certain sights, smells or emotions of what our ancestors experienced," Jake muttered while he continued examining the corps.

"My ancestors have lived in the city most of their lives, so we may not have the full scent range that Jake may have, who's family is from the country."

"Ah, okay, I guess."

Jake straightened. "Anything missing?"

Rick shook his head. "No, everything is accounted for. It's all torn up, but accounted for."

"Tasha, look at this. Don't look at the mess, just concentrate on the form. An animal would be blunter in its attack. For example, see this flap of skin right here? Take a good look at it."

Tasha looked at the torn bit of flesh. She concentrated on the area at hand, and, once she got passed the gore and horror of it, she actually did see something. "Yes, yes I see. The laceration is smooth, is that what you mean?"

Jake nodded. "An animal wouldn't leave this smooth of a mark. It would be jagged and torn.

"I see." Tasha took an uneasy step back, color draining from her face. That odd sensation in her stomach was beginning to rage through her whole body now, causing her to tremor slightly.

"Okay, you're done. You can't do anything more so you can stand back if it'd make you feel better," Jake said with a sympathetic smile.

"Thank you kindly." Tasha gratefully took as many steps away from the carnage as she could without actually fleeing from the room. "Have I mentioned that I'm not crazy about this aspect of my investigative training?"

"Yeah, you mentioned it," Jake gave her a wry grin before leaning in over the body again.

"There's not much to smell," Rick commented from behind.

Jake began reasoning with himself. "If it were an animal attack, you'd smell animal. I can smell people, there's been a handful of them here on this guy."

"I smell a lot of the same people I often smell," the doctor broke in, "Avery, Gil, that hot little paramedic..." Rick's words died on his lips as Jake lifted his eyebrows with that, ' _really_ ' look.

"No werewolf smell. That is, except for you, Rick."

The doctor looked expectantly at Jake. Jake shook his head. "It's been too long. Any scent I could have picked up that would have belonged exclusively to the killer has been masked by too many others' scent. I'm sorry."

Tasha called from across the room, "You don't suppose someone was trying to, uh, fillet the victim and just did a bad job at it do you?"

Jake and Rick both shook their heads. "No," Rick answered, "Not even an attempt was made. The victim was purposefully mutilated."

"To look like a mauling," Tasha was still trying to digest it. It just didn't make any sense.

Dawson nodded and looked across the body at Jake before saying, "Unless the killer just wanted to throw the police off of his trail. By messing up the body so thoroughly, perhaps he was hoping the death would be blamed on an animal, thus leaving him in the clear."

Jake smiled. "Yes, but did you smell the stainless steel? There's just a hint, but it's there. That and wet stone oil."

Dawson bent over the body again. "It that what that is?" He looked at Tasha. "See, experience. I didn't get that."

"But you can't use, er, _scent_ as evidence," Tasha reminded them.

"Ah, but it can lead us to evidence we _can_ use," Rick said.

Tasha nodded. "Okay, got it. Are we about done Jake? I'm feeling a little, weird."

Jake glanced over to Tasha, his brow furrowing as he looked at her. He thought she _looked_ a little weird. "Yes, we're done," he looked over to Rick, "aren't we? Got anything else?"

Rick shook his head, "Nope, nothing. Are you going to check out the crime scene?"

"Yeah, just a quick once over. The cleaners have already been there and whatever scent that may have been left has surely been washed away by the rain by now."

"Be careful, I heard that Hatchet Creek is running, and has flooded over Freedom Avenue."

"Thanks, I'm in my truck, so I should be okay."

Rick bowed formally to Tasha, "And it was a pleasure to finally meet you, Tasha." He said before he gallantly lifted her hand to his lips, gently brushing her knuckles with them.

Tasha gave a girlish giggle and blushed, despite the fact that she was still feeling ill.

Jake spoke to the blond werewolf sternly, almost over protectively. "Okay, knock it off you." He took Tasha by the elbow, a look of concern momentarily crossing his features as he took in her pale complexion. "C'mon, we gotta go."

####

The rain was coming down harder than before, making the streets a hazard. By the time they had reached Freedom Park where the body had been found, the streets indiscernible from the sidewalks under the torrent of water that poured from the sky.

Jake parked his truck in what may have been a parking space and turned off the ignition.

"What do you hope to find here, tonight?" They were the first words that either of them had spoken the entire drive from the morgue.

Jake shook his head. "Don't think I'll find anything. I just wanted to get a feel for the place."

Tasha nodded her head.

Jake squinted his eyes as he looked over at her in the dark. "You still don't look very good. I'm sorry I took you in there. I thought you were ready." He gently took her face between his thumb and forefinger and turned her head towards the inadequate light of the street lamps.

"I'm okay, really. I don't know if I'd ever be ready for _that_. There's just something about this whole mess that makes my stomach cinch up, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Same here. Look, why don't you stay in the truck and I'll go look around."

"No, I think I'd like to check it out as well."

Jake reached behind his seat and took out an umbrella and handed it to Tasha before he stepped out into the rain, turning the collar up on his jacket. He didn't seem to mind the rain at all.

Personally, she had never been much of a fan.

####

"He sure bled out a lot," Tasha observed as she noticed an indicator left over from the police investigation.

"Yeah," Jake noted as he looked up at the tree they were standing under. It helped to break up the rain somewhat.

Tasha looked around at their surroundings. "Well, besides the jogging path here, there's an access road just over there,"

Jake nodded and headed over to the narrow road and growled a little. "Asphalt drive. This brush," he tugged on an evergreen bush, "could have hidden a vehicle from the sight of the jogging path."

Tasha followed the access road a few paces before she stooped over a stain. "Any way to tell if this is a new oil patch or an old one?"

Jake shook his head, "Not with this rain. If I were to guess, I'd say it's fairly new. There's still oily residue coming off with the rainwater. But it could have been left by a city vehicle, not necessarily the killer's."

"But it could have been the killers."

Jake nodded thoughtfully rubbing the end of his chin with his finger tips.

"So, let's pretend that this stain was not left by a city vehicle, but, in fact, the killer's. The perpetrator sat here and waited for his victim? Does that mean he knew our vic I wonder?" Tasha absently rubbed her toe against the edge of the oil stain.

"No way to be sure, but it's something to consider. Regardless of weather the victim knew his killer or not, I'm going to say that the killer waited for him, hunted him."

"What makes you think that?"

"The body was discovered about nine in the morning. That's kind of late don't you think? I mean this park is used by many joggers and walkers."

"Avery said the Medical Examiner put time of death at about four in the morning. No one would see it until after sunrise, which would be almost seven." Jake paced back to where the victim had been found, circled the area, mud splashing up on his pants leg and over his boots. "He was killed here on purpose, so no one would observe him being killed or that the body would be seen too quickly. So it wasn't a crime of passion. It was definitely pre-meditated." He kicked at a stone. "I've seen enough, you?"

"Yep,"

"Let's get outta here. I think I hear my bed calling."

Tasha, cold, wet and worn out, heartily agreed.
Chapter 14

Too many nights with too little sleep was what Tasha credited for the generally crappy way she felt as she clomped down the stairs from her apartment, opened the door to the street letting it slam shut behind her. She walked the few yards to the office's front door. She glanced down the street to see the now all too familiar landscape van parked down the street in yet a different parking lot than it had been the day before. Her stomach seized, and her temper boiled, upsetting her more than she already was.

Jake met her at the door of his establishment, unlocking it for her and flipping the sign to say 'open'. "You look like hell."

"Thanks, I feel like hell."

"Got the flu?"

"Nope, er, I don't think so anyway. No fever, no congestion, no stomach pain. Well, that's not true, I do have stomach pain, but it has everything to do with Mr. Roberts, nothing to do with a virus. His van is down the street. And that mess we saw last night. What a terrible fate for that poor victim."

"Better pass on the coffee. I'll make you some tea. Sit," he motioned to the seating area they used to meet with clients. There where two comfortable yet contemporary sofas facing each other. She gave a weak smile of thanks as she sat. Tasha leaned her head back and closed her eyes, but she felt too anxious to sit quietly for long.

"And on top of all this, I missed a call from my mom last night."

"So call her back," Jake called from the kitchen.

"I've tried off and on all night, but no answer."

"She leave a message?"

"Yeah, just wondering how I was. She's got this knack of knowing when something is up and calls me. You know, I hadn't realized that she hadn't called when all that hellhound stuff went down. I'm surprised it's taken her this long to try to reach me."

"Maybe you should have called her first," he chided, good naturedly.

"I know I should have, but I didn't think about it. You know, being all caught up in the moment and stuff. Besides, I don't know if she'd be too keen on me being involved with a hellhound." She smiled her thanks as Jake handed her a cup of steaming tea.

"Would she even believe you?"

"Probably. How do you think I know all about faeries and werewolves and goblins and stuff? My mom has told me about them since I was a child."

"Does she know about me?" Jake asked.

"She does," Tasha answered hesitantly. "I know it's supposed to be our little secret, but I had to tell my mother."

"No, I get it. So, she's okay with that?"

"Oh, absolutely not. She has always told me to stay away from werewolves, were-anything in fact."

"Wonder why?"

"Eh, she's all kinds of superstitious, so who knows." She took a sip of her tea. "That helps," she sighed, resting her head back on the sofa again.

"You look pale," Jake observed and when Tasha opened her eyes she saw that he had leaned in for a closer look, causing her to start slightly. "What is up with your eyes?"

"What do you mean? They blood shot? I hardly slept at all last night."

"No, not that. I noticed last night that they looked lighter than your normal stormy gray. This morning they're even lighter than that."

Tasha shrugged. "Stress maybe?"

"Maybe." Jake didn't say more, but continued to scrutinize her. He took her jaw between his fingers and moved her head first one way, and then the other. "Got any swelling?"

"No, but all my joints feel stiff. I couldn't get comfortable last night. Movement felt better. Bet I paced a groove in my floor."

"Hmm," he muttered as he dropped his fingers to her carotid artery. "Pulse is too fast. How's your breathing?"

"You know, it's funny that you mention it. I feel like I've been exercising. Not panting, but,"

He began probing at the glands under her neck. "Any other pain?"

"No, other than the stomach, the joints and the general feeling of unease. I'm starting to get twitchy too."

"Twitchy?"

"Muscle spasms, tremors, whatever," she snapped before she closed her eyes and apologized.

Jake's jaw muscles began to flex, as he clenched and unclenched his teeth.

"I wonder if you've gotten an infection from where the hellhound got a hold of you?"

Tasha shook her head. "The nurse at the hospital said they shouldn't get infected. She said they weren't very bad."

"Well that's not right,"

"What do you mean?"

"Tasha, I saw those marks. They _were_ bad."

"Huh, you know, I've not really paid much attention since then. Been a little sore, but no big deal. Maybe that salve of Avery's had some mage magic in it?"

"I don't think so. His stuff is all herbs and what not that just aids in swelling and keeps infection out. He doesn't put magic _anything_ in it. Turn around and lift your blouse."

"Why?"

"I want to see your back."

Tasha complied.

"Huh," Jake managed. "Tasha, you are quite the healer. Only the faintest of marks is left. No bruising, nothing." He pressed his fingers gently to her skin. "Any pain? Soreness?"

"No, none."

"Not right at all."

"So?"

"So, you should not heal that fast," Jake said a little tersely as he pulled her blouse down.

"Turn back around and open your mouth."

"Should I say aw?"

"Just open smart ass."

She did.

Jake stood up suddenly, a look of alarm crossing his face. "Shit, c'mon, get your things." He slid his cell phone out of his jean's pocket and quickly dialed. He did not waste time on pleasantries. "I'm bringin' Tasha in. Something's happening. Yes sir, we're leaving now." He disconnected and replaced the phone.

"What's wrong? Jake, please talk to me. What did you see?"

"Tasha, damn it, now would be a really good time to let me know just exactly what you are."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by that?"

"What are you? If you are human, I'm a monkey's uncle."

Tasha stared in disbelief. She shook her head, and stammered. "I, Jake, I don't know what you're talking about." She would have thought he was joking but for the seriousness she saw in his eyes, his entire posture rigid.

Jake shook his head and closed his eyes. He knew that she was telling the truth, or, at least, the truth as she knew it. "Look, Tash, I probably should have told you my suspicions a long time ago. Now, aw, never mind."

"Told me what Jake?"

Jake shook his head, irritated with himself. "Never mind that now, I'll explain later. Let's just say for now, that if you are human, you've got something exceptionally wrong with you. There is nothing to be done now but get you some help, so let's _go_."

That brought Tasha up short, alarm spreading through her already tense body. "Help? What kind of help? Jake, what are you not telling me?"

"Your teeth, have they always been, pointy?"

"No, why?" she ran her tongue along the bottom edge of her teeth to find that her teeth where indeed, sharper than usual, the incisors protruding down a fraction longer than the others "Jake?"

"Come on, we have got to go. And keep trying to get a hold of your mother. I'll bet she's got the answers to certain questions that I've had for a while now, and I'm thinking that we are going to need her before this is all over with."
Chapter 15

Tasha was on the verge of panic as they headed out of town. The longer it took for him to make his was through town only heightened Tasha's agitation. Jake took time to make sure that Richard Roberts was not following them, by doubling back, and then doubling back again. The prolonging of their departure from the city proper wore on Tasha's already ragged nerves. Only when he was sure that the landscape van was not behind them did he proceed on his way, heading away from the city limits.

"Tasha, I should have told you, but Henry thought it better to let nature take its course."

"What are you talking about, Jake?"

"I'm talking about the fact, that, well hell Tasha, I don't know how to say this any other way: You are not human, no matter what you say."

Tasha sat silently, waiting for the punch line. It never came. "I, don't understand."

"Look Tash, you know how you not only can see the fae runes, but you can also read them? See, there have always been humans that can see certain things, like runes, or see certain elements that they shouldn't be able to, but it ends there. No human has been able to read the runes without tutoring."

"I've not been taught," she said quietly.

"Correct. It was instinctual."

"Instinctual," Tasha parroted. "I don't even know how you know that. I sure don't."

"How did you first learn of the position I had available?"

"I saw the flyer that you posted up on Franklin's bulletin board."

"Correct. But that was just an advertisement for private detective services as far as human eyes go."

"But I saw the 'help wanted' portion you had printed on that flyer." Tasha protested. "Werewolf requires office assistant."

"Correct again. But that portion was written in the fae language in a fae ink that only a supernatural being would be able to read.

"Now, when you first showed up, I knew you were, uh, different. Something in my gut said it was so. I waited for you to tell me what you were. I figured you would tell me when you were ready. But you never did. You also didn't have the stink of deception about you either. So, since I didn't know what to think about you, I consulted my Alpha."

"I remember when I first met Henry. He said he was just dropping by to visit. Am I the actual reason he came in? To check me out?" she asked as she remembered not only the peculiar way she had felt in the man's presence but also the way he had scrutinized her so thoroughly. By the time the Alpha had left, she'd honestly felt like she had been cross-examined.

"Also correct. He and I both could tell that you were not a human. You smell like a human, you look like a human," Jake hesitated.

"But?"

"But you are, uh, _too_ human I guess would be the best way to put it. It's like you are covered in a human fragrance that saturates you so thoroughly that I can't smell beneath. You've got no depth. "

"I'm sure that makes perfect sense to someone," Tasha grumped.

"No one but a were-something would be able to tell, on account of our senses. Lady Maven may have a hint that you are more than you appear, but only because of experience."

"Well, that answers why Mother never wanted me to hang around with werewolves." Tasha mused. "Okay, so what does that make me?" Tasha felt almost ready to cry from frustration. She grit her teeth until her jaw hurt.

"I don't know," Jake said quietly.

"Super-duper!" Tasha exclaimed with fake enthusiasm.

"It's on account of whatever is masking your smell, your _real_ smell, neither I nor Henry can detect your true nature."

"And that's why we need my mother," Tasha sighed as she picked up her phone and tried to call her again, with no answer on the other end. "Oh Momma, where are you?"

They drove in silence for a few moments, Jake trying to remain calm, for Tasha's sake, and Tasha trying to be calm for sanity's sake.

"Where are we going?" Tasha asked as it dawned on her that she'd never been out this particular direction before.

"Henry's place. It's, ah, safe there."

"Safe for whom?" Tasha said quietly.

"For you and whoever you're around," Jake said with an apologetic smile. "We still don't know what you are, remember?"

"Super-duper," she intoned again, this time with much less enthusiasm.
Chapter 16

After an hour, the wild countryside gave way to a more manicured landscape; acre upon acre of mowed grass, bordered by hedges to indicate the end of one property and the beginning of another. Trees filled these properties that were dotted sparsely with large, sprawling homes.

"I never knew this was out here," Tasha murmured. "It looks like park land, lots and lots of park land."

"All of this land," Jake motioned to both sides of the two lane highway, "is privately owned."

"By who?" she asked in amazement. The grounds were spacious and beautiful.

"By a number of people. Most of the members of the council have estates out here."

"Ah," Tasha said. "So, all the residents know that their neighbors are mystical creatures of one sort or another, then."

"You got it."

"And Henry is out this way?"

"Yes."

"And he can figure out what I am?"

"Hopefully. He's been doing some research, but nothing like you has ever existed. Let me rephrase that; has never been documented."

"What a way to make a gal feel special," she grinned ruefully.

"Uh, Tash, there's something else. We've had a plan formed for as long as I've known you. A number of plans actually."

"Okay," Tasha said hesitantly. "What does that mean?"

"It means that your, uh, condition, has been the topic of discussion for some time not only between Henry and I but within the Fae Council as well."

"And?"

"And, well, there will be some experts on hand when we arrive, or shortly upon our arrival."

"Like who?"

"Well, I believe Maven will be there. And Dr. Dietrich,"

"Who is Dr. Dietrich?"

"Besides the fact that he is on the Fae Council and has more than just a passing interest in your condition, he has an in depth knowledge of all things, eh, unusual and unexplainable, both past and present. He's like a walking encyclopedia, and has helped to write the official histories of many mystical societies. He may be able to be of some help."

"Okay," she took a deep breath. "Anyone else?"

"Well, eventually, I expect the entire council to make an appearance at one point or another. All of the members of the council are curious about you because of your, uh, uniqueness.

"Is that a good thing?"

Jake shrugged, "Well, only one of them is ready to vivisect you, to see what makes you tick."

"Ah!" Tasha cried out in alarm.

"Easy," Jake tried to sooth, "but she's been out voted."

"Thank goodness!" Tasha said with only partial relief, as she realized that Jake had not been joking.

"And everyone has their own theory about your origins. They have only agreed on one thing; you are definitely a mystical creature of some kind. Probably."

"Was that a unanimous decision?" Tasha asked sarcastically.

Jake tried to give her a reassuring smile. "Try to relax. You're making me jumpy," he joked.

"I'm sorry, this is just a lot to take in," Tasha said quietly.

"I know," Jake reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. When he tried to pull away, Tasha's grasped tightened. His strong, warm hand enclosing her cold, clammy and slightly trembling one made her feel better, if only a little bit. She sat back, closed her eyes and simply tried to breath.

####

Jake turned into a private, paved drive and stopped before a towering, open iron gate. A man stood in the middle of the drive, barring their way. The man took one look at Jake and waved him on through. Though Tasha couldn't see anyone else about, she had the distinct impression that they had been noticed by more than just the man at the gate.

"Where are the other guards?" she tried to ask casually.

Jake looked out his window. "Oh, they're not far."

"Are they out there to keep me in?"

"No, there is always a watch party keeping an eye on things. Many shape shifting types come out here to, well, to roam. And they are watched over to make sure no one molests them. Or that they get into any trouble."

"Roam? Really? Like change and run about and all that?"

"Yes. We have to every once in a while or we'll get, uh, testy."

"Do you hunt?"

Jake eyed her and nodded. 'There are deer out here and we need the hunt to,"

"To keep you from becoming testy?" she finished.

"Yes, exactly."

Jake followed the drive through a long avenue of trees, finally pulling into a circular driveway paved with smooth, white stone. The stone extended up the planter beds that lined the drive. The drive curved around a huge, circular pool, with water splashing and gurgling down and around the tall stone figure standing in the center of the pool.

"Wow," Tasha said, eyes wide with wonder.

"Pretty impressive, isn't it?"

"I'll say."

Jake brought the truck to a halt before a petit man with bright red hair and pale skin, who stood before a wide stone stairway. The little man opened the door of the vehicle for her, taking her hand to assist her as if she alighted from a carriage.

She smiled shyly and gave him a quiet thank you.

"The name is Clancy, at your service," the wee man said with a deep bow and an even deeper Irish brogue.

"Thank you again, Clancy," Tasha said with another smile.

Clancy gave her a wink and nodded at Jake. "The master is awaitin ya inside, lad."

Jake took Tasha by the elbow and led her up the short flight of stairs and onto a wide veranda that ran the entire length of the estate home. The wide door opened before them, and Henry, the lord of the manor greeted them.

"Come in, come in," he said with some concern as he looked Tasha over. He smiled warmly before taking Tasha's hand and tucking it in the bend of his elbow. He lead them into a library where the Lady Maven was already seated, a delicate looking saucer resting in one slender hand, the other hand elegantly holding the cup by its handle.

Jake bowed low, and Tasha, unsure of what to do, awkwardly mimicked him.

Maven gracefully stood, placed her cup on a side table and took Tasha by the hand and smiled at her. "I hear you're having a bit of trouble."

"Evidently," Tasha tried to laugh it off, but it didn't work. The worry for her condition as well as the physical discomfort she was experiencing was etched upon her face.

"Come on in, have some tea, and let's talk a bit."

She led Tasha to a sofa and sat next to her, Henry taking a seat across from her. Jake chose to pace in the open space behind his Alpha's chair and in front a long row of leather bound books.

"As I understand it, you do not know what you are," Maven began with a good-natured smile.

"No, ma'am," Tasha wanted to cast her eyes down, but Maven took her face gently in her hands.

"There is no need for shame. Here is some tea," she took the cup and saucer that Clancy had just poured, and handed it to Tasha. "Now, Natasha, tell me what you _do_ know."

"I don't know much, it seems," she smiled gratefully as she accepted the tea. The cup rattled slightly in its saucer. Tasha quickly sat the saucer on her lap to stabilize the cup.

"Let's start with your mother. Where is she?"

"I can't locate her," Tasha croaked, her jaw visibly tightened. "She called for me a couple of days ago, but I haven't been able to reach her since."

"This bothers you."

Tasha nodded, biting her lip. She took a sip of tea in an effort to remain calm.

"And your father?"

"He died before I was born. He and my mother were from Russia. My mother was able to come to America as a political refugee. My father was captured before he could make it out and he died in prison. Or, more accurately, was shot while trying to escape."

Henry sat back in the tall, winged back chair crossing one long leg over the knee of the other. "I'm sorry Natasha."

She smiled up at him and shrugged, unable to say anything. She sipped absently at her tea again.

"Alright, then lets try this," Maven suggested, "Tell me where you were born, where you've lived, where you went to school."

"I was born in New York," Tasha let out a long breath, trying to settle her nerves. "We moved around a lot. My mother was always saying that bad men where after us and so we would often pick up and move in the middle of the night. The longest we ever stayed in one place was when we were in New Orleans. We lived there for six years. I finished high school there. From there I went on to university."

"Did your mother go with you?"

"No, she continued to move about. She said it was better that way, that _they_ would have a harder time tracking us both if we went different directions. I never understood who _they_ were and she was so reluctant to talk about it that I eventually quit asking."

"I see. But she keeps in touch, normally?"

"Yes ma'am, all the time. She's practically obsessive about it."

"I understand why your inability to reach her must upset you. Tell me how you happened to come to River City?"

Tasha took a sip of her tea and sat it back in the saucer before answering. Jake quit pacing and was watching her intently.

"I was working a job upstate. I'd been there for two years, when my mother calls me in the middle of the night and tells me I need to leave, that she feels that I'm in danger."

"Were you?" Jake asked quietly.

"I don't know. Maybe. We lived our whole life like that, so I never questioned it."

"Just as you never questioned whether there was really such a thing as werewolves?" Henry asked with a good-natured grin.

Tasha managed a smile back. "Yes, just like that.

"Anyway, I packed up everything I owned, which wasn't much, and left. I got on the highway and headed south."

"Why south?" Maven asked.

"No reason in particular, I just got on the road and went. Anyway, I drove and drove and drove until I reached River City. I parked my car at the Tribal Casino, well, because the car broke down there and I couldn't continue on. You know the rest."

"I wonder what your mother was running from?" Henry mused.

"Mother said she was a political activist and that she had made many enemies. I just figured it was them."

"And now, you are being tracked by this Richard Roberts character. Henry, do you think there is a connection? I think it's obvious by now that there is something very special about Natasha and her mother."

Henry shook his head. "I don't know, but it's possible." Henry uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "Natasha, can you remember anything from your childhood that seemed, oh, I don't know, out of the ordinary in any way?"

Natasha barked a little laugh. "My whole life has been a little out of the ordinary. Moving all over the place is only a part. Where some parents might teach life skills, my mother schooled me with faery tales as if they were gospel. Which is why seeing a werewolf advertising for an assistant didn't phase me. But let me see," She closed her eyes and thought. It didn't take very long. When she opened her eyes, she looked at the Alpha-her alpha now it would appear- and spoke hesitantly. "I saw a monster when I was little."

Henry's eyes lit up. "Ah, well there's something not everyone can say. Tell us about it."

"When I was a child, about five I think, my mother and I were in our small house and the door burst open. My mother grabbed me before I could see who had opened the door and stuffed me under our bed. She told me to be like a cat."

"Why a cat?" interrupted the Alpha, his clear blue eyes focused intently on Tasha's face.

"It was a game we played. When mother wished me to be quiet, we would sit very still and she would say something like, 'Pretend you're a cat. Pretend you are lying on a rug in the sun. Pretend you see a passerby. You swish your tail, but you don't make a sound,' things like that. It was usually when she wanted me to take a nap, or when circumstances required me to be especially quiet."

The handsome man nodded, pursing his lips in thought. "Very well, continue with the monster."

"That's all, sir. She said to be to be like a cat, so that's what I did. I was quiet and still. The monster looked under the bed and sniffed at me, but went away. It was a long time before my mother came and got me. When she did, she told me there had been no monster at all, that I had just been dreaming."

Tasha remembered the experience like it was yesterday. Mostly because her mother had insisted that there had been no monster. But she knew what she'd seen and heard, and she knew she had not been dreaming.

Henry reached out and took her hand. "Don't be upset with me, dear, but are you _sure_ you were not dreaming?"

Tasha nodded emphatically. "I am sure, sir, I know what I saw."

"What did it look like?" Jake asked, as he leaned his elbows on the tall back of Lord Winston's chair.

"It reminded me of a boar. It had little, black, beady eyes and a snout and tusks that went up past his snout. His hair was bristly and he was gray. And he smelled bad."

The council members glanced at one another.

"Bet is was a tracker," Jake murmured. "They do work as bounty hunters. They literally sniff out their quarry because their eye sight is so bad. Did you ever see it again? What about any others?"

"I can't be sure, but I thought I saw another one outside of the school yard when I was in grade school."

"And what did your mother say about that?" asked Maven.

"I didn't tell her. I wasn't sure and I didn't wish for what I saw to be dismissed as fantasy again."

"I wonder why she would teach you about faeries but then dismiss the fact that you saw a monster?" Maven wondered aloud.

Tasha shook her head. "I don't know, other than maybe she didn't want me to be afraid of monsters coming to snatch me away from my mom."

"Did it work?" Jake asked.

"Not really. I know what I saw, no matter what Momma said. But, I also knew that she would protect me. She still does, as best as she can anyway."

Henry's head snapped towards the door. "We have company," he said as he rose to welcome the newcomer. Tasha hadn't heard a thing to indicate the arrival of a visitor.

"Well, at least we know that it is not out of the ordinary to have someone follow you," Maven commented as she took a sip of her now tepid tea.

Jake sunk into the chair that Lord Winston had just vacated. "Tasha that may explain why Richards is following you and not me. He thinks _you_ are the werewolf. He could be looking for a bounty."

"Are there normally bounties out for werewolves?" Tasha asked. Her voice sounded tight and strained.

"There is always someone who gets a wild hair and thinks a werewolf killed his cattle, or stole his wife or violated his daughter," Jake said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Tasha gulped, and the teacup clattered on its saucer again as her hand renewed its tremors.

Maven took the cup and saucer from her trembling hands and handed the set over to Jake. As soon as the items left her hands, she immediately grabbed Tasha's and held them gently yet firmly in her own grasp. "Tasha, don't worry about that now."

"I can't help it," Tasha whispered forlornly. "It's just too much. I'm being followed, I'm not human, and something is happening to me that I don't understand."

"Let's talk about that last bit then," cooed Maven reassuringly as she gently rubbed the backs of Tasha's hands with her thumbs.

Before she could respond, Tasha looked up as Henry escorted a bookish looking man with a long nose, bushy gray eyebrows over bright, expectant dark eyes. He was followed by an especially small man, smaller in stature than Clancy, and was very stocky. He was not fat, though almost as wide as he was tall, with large shoulders, and long auburn hair with a long flowing beard and a long mustache that blended so well with his beard that Tasha couldn't see where it ended and the beard began.

Henry indicated the former. "Natasha, this is Dr. Dietrich. He specializes in various anthropologies. I thought he might be helpful to us. And this fellow here," Henry indicated the short man, "is Dr. Reinhardt. He is an actual physician that specializes in were-creatures."

Dr. Dietrich quietly took a seat next to Tasha, while Dr. Reinhardt took a standing position directly in front of Tasha, his hands clasped behind his back, his feet slightly apart. He squinted his dark eyes at Tasha, as he looked her up and down while rocking back on his heals.

"Natasha was just about to tell me what she's feeling," Maven explained to the new comers.

"Yes, please continue," the short man said. His was voice soft, with a Germanic accent. He gently extracted one of Tasha's hands from Maven's grasp, checking her pulse as he examined the back of Tasha's hand, then the front, ending with her fingers. "Are you having trouble breathing my dear?"

"No _trouble_ , really,"

The doctor leaned in, gently prodded her neck and under her jaw line with his fingers. "But your breathing, it is shallower?"

"Yes,"

He took both of her arms in his hands and stretched them out in front of her. "Does this hurt?"

"No, not any more than it has been. The stretch actually feels good."

"So you've been experiencing pain in your joints? In your bones?"

"Yes,"

"Open," he said as he held her face in his overly proportioned hands.

She opened her mouth. The doctor gently prodded her incisors and tisked.

"Your eyes," he commented. "They are almost white. I take it that is not your usual color?"

"No sir." As she spoke with the doctor, she felt her panic heighten.

The doctor must have sensed her panic. "Ah, now, none of that," he said not unkindly. "It is imperative that you remain calm."

"I'm trying," she tried to smile. "Got any idea what's happening?"

"Oh, my, yes. You are showing all of the classic signs of changing."

Tasha stilled. "Changing into what, exactly?"

The little man gave a chortle. "That's the million dollar question now, isn't it?"

Henry spoke up from the position he had taken next to Jake. "This would be her first change, but I can't recall any change taking this long to get started. Nor taking place at her stage in life."

Dr. Reinhardt took a step back, his hands reaching behind his back again. He rocked back onto his heals and then up onto the balls of his feet before going back to his heals again. "I do not understand it either, but I have a suspicion," he muttered as he bent down to retrieve a black leather bag that he had set down when he had entered. He pulled out a rather sinister looking knife.

Tasha let out a quiet yelp of alarm.

Jake tried to make a lunge for the doctor, but Henry held him back.

"Not to worry, I am not here to harm you," the doctor said softly, "though, I am sure that this will sting a bit," he gave an apologetic smile. "Will you please assist me, Dietrich?"

"Indeed," the bushy man said as he accepted a length of cloth from Reinhardt and cupped it underneath Tasha's outstretched arm. "Rest your hand here, on the cloth please, Natasha, your palm up. Very good."

Dr. Reinhardt glanced back and noticed Jake's anxious demeanor. "You all right there, son? You look more like an expectant father than her employer."

"I'm alright," Jake said in a low base. The doctor looked at Henry and raised one eyebrow. Henry nodded his head for the doctor to continue.

Dr. Reinhardt looked Tasha in the eyes and said very seriously, "I am going to cut your hand. I am not going to harm you; I just need your blood. Are you alright with this?"

Tasha nodded once, her eyes never leaving his.

"Alright, now, no jerking away," he gave her a wink, brought the knife up and made a clean, quick slice across her palm.

Tasha gave a little grunt, but held still. Her hand tingled a bit and understood immediately why he had used a knife instead of a syringe; the blade had an enchantment on it.

Dr. Reinhardt took a small Petri dish and collected some of the blood as it dripped down off of the back of her hand. Maven took the dish at a nod from the doctor and closed it up while Dietrich bound her hand tight with the strip of cloth.

"This should give us some idea," Reinhardt said as he held the knife aloft, point down, his free hand taking yet another piece of clean cloth from his bag and wiped the blade clean. As he did so, he leaned in close and sniffed the crimson stain. "Interesting," he murmured. "A waste bin, Henry, if you don't mind."

Henry handed him a small waste can, which he retrieved from under a desk. The doctor then lit the cloth on fire, holding it over the can. The flame burned purple then green, giving off yellow sparks. "Well now, there's one question answered," he smiled at Tasha.

"What is that, doctor?" she whispered.

"Magic."

"Is that why she is not changing?" Maven asked, her forehead furrowing slightly.

"Yes, I would say so. Any idea who may have done such a thing to you my dear?"

"No sir," Tasha said, perplexed. "Magic?"

"Indeed," Reinhardt said as he dropped the burned remains of the cloth into the trash. He wiped his palms together, bent to repack his bag, took up the Petri dish with the blood sample and straightened. "I can do some additional tests on the blood, but at first take, I'd say you are more than simply a changeling. I smell faery, not sure what type, but definitely faery."

Tasha sat back, pressing her undamaged palm to her face. She felt light headed and the room had began to spin. "I don't understand."

"But how do we help her?" Jake burst out. "If she doesn't change, it could damage her mind beyond repair."

"Of course, you are correct young Jacob," the doctor frowned and pursed his lips in thought.

Tasha struggled to keep her composure. She looked over at Jake, the sight of which upset her more; the man was in definite distress.

Maven stroked her shoulder and began making gentle shushing noises, as a mother might a fussing child. The physical contact helped to sooth Tasha and she absently wondered if Maven was using Fae magic to calm her.

"I can give you a sedative, but I'm reluctant to give you anything substantial, not until I know all of your physical attributes."

"And I don't know them and I can't reach my mother," Tasha gave a frustrated sigh.

"I have a solution," Dr. Dietrich stood. "Henry, do you have any silver about?"

"Of course," he said and walked over to a large, oak cabinet, with ornate designs exquisitely carved into it. Henry took a brass key out of a drawer that was inset into a long library table just in front of the cabinet and unlocked the cabinet door. "I have a number of silver bands located throughout the house, just in case of emergencies. We can put it on her wrist."

"Why?" Tasha looked over at one man and then the other.

Dietrich smiled kindly at her. "If you are wolf, it will, _hinder_ the change, though only for a short time."

"If I'm not?"

Dietrich furrowed his bushy eyebrows together. "Henry, have you got any copper as well? And brass?"

Hank disappeared behind the opened door of the cabinet, appearing with a wooden, lidded box. He brought the box over to the low coffee table and opened it. He pulled out a copper pendant stamped with an arcane symbol. He took his silk pocket square from the front pocket of his jacket, dropped the silver band, the pendant and the brass key into the bit of silk and handed them over to Dr. Dietrich.

Dietrich opened the silk to examine the contents before he folded them up in the silk, placing the little bundle into Tasha's hand. "There. No matter what manner of were-creature you are, any one of these metals will suffice. Do you feel any relief in the tension of your muscles and joints?"

Tasha took a breath in through her nose then slowly blew out through her mouth. She waited a moment before answering. She nodded her head slowly. "Yes, though the tension is still there, it doesn't feel as if my bones are being pulled from their sockets."

Jake visibly relaxed.

Dr. Reinhardt leaned in close to examine Tasha's face again. "Eyes continue to have a dark silver ring around the iris. Not as white, and I see the tiniest bit of grey flecks popping up, but the, open please, the teeth, while not elongated, still have a point." He stood back and smiled. "This will have to do for now, but it is imperative for you to change and sooner rather than later. I will run some tests on the blood and see if I can find a reversal for the spell that is hindering your change, but it would be better for you if your mother could be contacted. It will take all guess work out of the equation, as I believe it is your mother who either cast the spell, or at least knows who did."

"I will try to call my mother again, then, if that is alright," she looked about the room at large for confirmation. All nodded, except for Jake who remained in a general state of agitation.

Maven stood, and taking Tasha's hand, gently pulled her to her feet. "Henry, is there someplace where Tasha can make her call that isn't quite so public?"

"Absolutely. Follow me," Henry said as he extended an arm out to indicate the direction of a smaller room just off of the library. It looked like it could be Henry's private office. He led her in and closed the door quietly behind her.

Tasha sagged against the closed door, one hand clasping the metals, the bandaged hand, she noticed, was trembling as she pulled her phone from her pocket. She called once, no answer, called again, same results. She tried her mother's work phone number, only to be told that her mother had turned in her notice three days previous. She called her mother's number six more times before she finally let her hand drop and dangle at her side for a long moment. She leaned her head back against the solid wood of the closed door and allowed a single tear to slip past her closed eyelids. "Momma, I need you," she whispered.

Someone's phone rang in library. She heard Jake's voice, followed by a soft knocking at the door. Tasha opened it and Jake handed her his phone. "It's Avery," he said simply.

Tasha took Jake's phone and motioned for him to join her. "Hey Avery, what's up?"

"Jake told me to keep an eye on the place since that Richard Roberts guy has been hanging around."

"Yeah, okay, so?"

"So, I drove by and saw this tiny little blond lady pounding on the door."

Tasha's breath caught in her chest. "Who, Avery, who is it?"

"Don't know. She ran off as soon as I parked my car to find out who she was."

"How blond?"

"What?"

"How blond? Strawberry blond, dirty blond, what? And how tiny?"

"Blond blond, almost white. And how tiny? I mean tiny, like five foot nuthin. And she was hollerin in some foreign language."

"Russian? Avery, could it have been Russian?"

"Yeah, that might have been it."

"Avery, that sounds like my mom! Where are you?"

"I'm still here at your office."

Jake motioned for the phone. "Avery, park in the back. You remember the code to access the office?"

"Yeah."

"Go in and open up the office and wait for her to return."

"What if she runs away again?"

"I don't know, use one of your mage tricks, I don't care. We need her. Fast."

"Okay, Jake, I'll do it. I'll call you as soon as I have her."

Jake hung up the phone, Tasha looking hopeful. "Soon, Tasha, soon."
Chapter 17

Henry had settled Tasha in a quiet sitting room that over looked a beautiful flower garden full of fall flowers. The furnishings were as beautiful as the view outside of her window. She tried to appreciate the view as well as her surroundings, but couldn't concentrate on scenery and was more comfortable pacing instead.

The Alpha had left strict orders for her to be left alone until her mother arrived, which was fine with Tasha, as the crowd of people in the library had cause her anxiety level to reach its limits. She'd asked that Jake wait with her. His physical presence was reassuring to her, yet at the time, his emotional state had put her on edge. But she still wanted him with her. It was Dr. Reinhardt that suggested that Jake be given a tonic that would dull the edge of his primal need to protect. With him finally calmer, she was able to relax a little herself.

"Tasha, you're going to wear a hole in Henry's carpet," Jake reminded her. "The metal still working?"

Tasha stopped her pacing long enough to flex the wrist that sported her new bracelet of silver, copper and brass. Before they had received information from her mother, Clancy had swiftly collected the materials needed and braided fine strands of all three metals together, and then wrapped the entire circlet with a thin, silk mesh, to keep the metals from burning her skin. Once she had been able to speak with her mother, her mother had told her she was a wereleopard and that the brass would do the same for her that silver would do for Jake. "Yes, still working. I just wish Avery would hurry and get Momma here."

"It's been an hour since Avery called. He should be here shortly."

"Unless he had trouble with our friend Mr. Roberts," she reminded him.

"True. Still, she agreed with Dr. Dietrich that the metals would help.

"I know," Tasha finally settled on an antique ottoman that accented the antique wing backed chair where Jake was seated. His eyes were gold, no flecks of green to be seen. They were the color of his wolf's eyes, so Tasha knew he was still fighting to control his baser, wolfish instincts. "If you let go, would you actually hurt someone?"

"Probably."

"Who would you hurt? I mean, no one is actually harming me, so, who would bear the brunt of your anger?"

"Oh, I suppose I'd mostly tear things up, and if anyone got in the way, I'd hurt them. If I went completely out of control, I could even hurt you. Maybe."

"But I'm the one you want to protect," Tasha reminded.

"The beast doesn't always know reason," he said quietly. "I don't like to think about it, so let's change the subject."

"No, let's stay on the subject. Why do you feel the need to protect me so much?

Jake sighed and sat quietly for a moment before answering. "Look, werewolves need a pack, or they get a little,"

"Squirrely?"

"We go crazy. Literally, and once that happens," Jake raked his fingers through his dark hair, "well, someone has to put us down."

"Oh," Tasha said quietly.

"When I came to River City, I was in a bad way. So when I arrived here, Lord Henry took me in as one of his own. But I still wasn't very happy. Something about me having alpha tendencies, er, something like that. Anyway he suggested that I take on my own pack."

"You mean, take a mate, settle down and make baby werewolves of your own?"

Jake chuckled. "That's one way, sure, but I didn't want a mate, and no, I'm not going into why, so don't even ask."

"Fine," Tasha held up her hands in surrender. "So, what did you do?"

"I adopted a pack. Blood is the best, but sometimes friends are closer than family, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Not having much of either, I wouldn't know."

"Well, I didn't go looking for a pack, but I found it anyway. First one was Franklin."

"Wait, did you take him in as part of your pack, or did he take you in?"

"A little of both. You know how Franklin is. He became my friend, helped me get my head on straight. As a result, I feel like I owe him. I do what I can for him. He helped me to feel like I belonged."

"So, you have known Franklin for a long time. By my math that would make Franklin very, very well preserved."

Jake gave a laugh. "Haven't you guessed yet? You've said yourself that he must be a song faery."

Tasha stared at him. "You mean Franklin actually is a faery? Well, I'll be. Anyone else a faery? Vince perhaps?"

"No, Vince is human. He's a tolerated human, but still, he's human."

"What's his story?" Tasha asked.

Jake shook his head. "You'll have to ask him as it's his story to tell, not mine."

"I suppose Avery is part of your pack as well."

"Yes, he came along not long after Franklin."

"Wait, our Avery? He's not that old, maybe thirty five!" Tasha exclaimed.

"Try eighty seven."

"But I thought he was human?"

"He is. Mages tend to live longer than most humans. It's part of their elemental powers. Their life force is connected to the land and the land helps to sustain them. Which, by the way, is why mages don't live as long as they used to. More population, more pollution,"

"Yeah, I get it. So, Franklin and Avery are part of your adopted pack. Gil too?"

"Yes, and now you. Once Franklin vouched for you, well, I chose to take you in as part of the pack. That means responsibility as well as protection by the way. So, no goin all crazy and makin problems for me once you learn to change."

Tasha smiled slightly. "I promise."

Tasha stared down at her hands in silence. There was a clock ticking somewhere in the room, though she hadn't noticed it when she had first come in. "Why?" she finally asked.

"Why what? Why did I choose you to become part of our misfit family?"

"So now I'm a misfit?"

Jake smiled. "Well, you don't exactly fit the 'normal' bill now do you? Look, Tasha, from the moment I met you, I knew there was something, _different_ about you, and knew you had some kind of, oh, I don't know, an issue, for lack of a better word. See, I don't think it was an accident that you ended up in River City. This place just draws all kinds of people like us. Most of the fae population here have come through River City looking for an escape from whatever trouble they are running from whether they know it or not. This place is kind of a supernatural refuge, and, though it's completely on a subconscious level, our kind always seems to end up here. Some beings get what they need and move on. Others get what they need and stay." Jake shrugged. "You were running, were you not?"

"Yes,"

"And you ended up here. You were in trouble and I've taken you in as part of my family."

Tasha stood and resumed her pacing. "I'm grateful, Jake. But I've got to tell you, I don't know how to react to that. I mean, someone taking me in just because I'm in trouble? The concept is totally foreign to me. It's been just me and my mom for so long, with only a few casual friends thrown in, that I don't understand why you would do that for me," she said as she shook her head.

Jake shrugged. "Blame Franklin, he knew I'd take you in since he had. I'm kind of a sucker for damsels in distress," he grinned then sobered. "I've been in trouble. I needed help. Call it paying back the universe.

She snorted lightly and gave a small smile. "Jake, I, uh, thank you."

A knock at the door interrupted her, making her jump slightly. "Come in."

The door opened and Henry stuck his head through the opening. "Your mother has arrived. She will meet us downstairs."

"Thank you sir," Tasha and Jake said together.

They headed downstairs; to the basement.
Chapter 18

Anna Tereshkova stood as soon as Tasha entered the room, practically throwing herself into her daughter's arms. "Oh Natasha my darling!" She exclaimed in a heavily Russian accented English. "I am so sorry you have had to endure this. I will explain all in time, but now, we must be getting you ready for your first change."

The petite woman drug her much taller daughter to a room that resembled a jail cell. When she saw her destination, and more importantly what it looked like, Tasha glanced back at Jake and Henry with a touch of alarm.

Henry tried to soothe her with an explanation. "It is secure to protect both you and us. The interior has no sharp corners so if you thrash about, there won't be anything to cause damage to you."

Tasha bit her lip. "It just looks like,"

"A jail cell, I know," Henry said apologetically. "The pack calls this the dungeon for that very reason." He smiled, but he knew that his little joke hadn't eased her mind at all.

Jake took her by the hand. "It'll be alright. I'll stay right here."

Tasha looked up at him, silently cursing the tear that slid down her face. "I'm scared," she whispered.

Jake smiled down at her and wiped the tear with a gentle finger. "I know. I was too."

Anna separated the two, taking her daughter by the hand. "It will be all right," she said as she drew her daughter into the cell, casting a wary look over her shoulder. She did not know whether she trusted Jake or not.

On the floor, next to the opened iron door was a small, teakwood bowl and twelve small, plastic bags lined up behind it as well as a tiny metal box. A piece of parchment with a fae text lay next to the bowl.

Henry followed them into the cell. "Have you everything that you require to reverse this spell Anna?"

"Dah, I brought everything with me. I am ready."

Henry laid a manicured hand on Tasha's shoulder. "Natasha, you will be safe here, just try to relax. Wereleopards are different than werewolves in form only. The change is pretty universal among all were-creatures. Oddly enough, the more you relax, the easier it will be on you. Try not to fight it. It may take hours, though, and I regret to say that it will be more than uncomfortable. It will get easier in time, but the first change is always the hardest."

Tasha took a deep, cleansing breath. "Okay, I'm ready," she said as she steeled herself for the upcoming ordeal.

Henry crossed the cell and opened a door set inside of the cell. "Disrobe in here. You'll find a blanket in the closet. Wrap that around you if you prefer. When you change back to human, you can return here and redress. Take a shower if you'd like. Everything you need has been provided."

"Alright, here I go." Tasha disappeared into the room, shutting herself off from the world.

Tasha removed her clothing, taking the time to fold and stack it neatly upon a shelf. She unwound the bandage from the hand that Dr. Reinhardt had previously sliced open; it was almost healed. She washed her face with cool water and as she dried it, she examined her face in the mirror, absently wondering what she would look like as a leopard. She noticed her eyes; the irises had turned almost completely white, with little sparks of silver radiating from her pupils. A dark silver ring ran round the edge of her iris. The sight took her aback, causing her to realize that, yes, this was really happening. She was not what she thought she was, and knew that there was more to the story. She put the towel away, snugged a lightweight but oh so soft blanket tight around her above her breast and resolutely opened the door.

Her resolution faltered slightly when she saw that not only were Jake and Henry still there, but also doctors Dietrich and Reinhardt had joined them as well as the Lady Maven.

Maven gracefully glided over to Tasha, encircled her shoulders with a slender arm, and gently guided Tasha towards the center of the room. "We will not stay to watch your transformation, dear, so rest easy. We just came down to wish you good luck." Maven gave Tasha a little squeeze before she released her hug, then looked down at the much smaller Anna. "And hopefully, get an explanation as to what is keeping you from changing," her lips quirked up in a half smile.

"Dah, I will tell you." Anna sat before the little bowl, her legs crossed over each other. She sat up straight, inhaled, exhaled, her eyes closed. She opened her eyes and looked over at her daughter. "Natasha, there is much for me to tell you, but what you must know for this moment is this. You are more than wereleopard. You are also part song faery with a bit of human mixed in."

"Why can't I smell that she is leopard? No offense, ma'am, but I could sense what you were the moment you walked through the door." Jake asked from the doorway. He was casually leaning against a wall, arms folded under his chest, but Tasha could see from where she stood the tenseness around his eyes and mouth.

"Dah, wolf boy, that is because of the magic from the fae blood."

"Of course," nodded Dr. Dietrich. "Some fae can, _borrow_ the scent from what is around them in order to hide from predators. Her fae nature must have covered the scent of the leopard by utilizing the scent of her human nature."

"Dah, this is correct. This is because of her father. He was the product of an evil experiment. The idea was to create the perfect assassin, one that would have the stealth of leopard, magic of the faery and scent of a human. But that can wait for later. Right now, we need to be getting on with it. I need some of your blood my darling."

Tasha shuffled forward and knelt down in front of her mother. Maven made a move to leave, to give the two their privacy but the others lingered behind with a clinical curiosity.

Anna patted her daughter gently on the cheek and gazed lovingly into her eyes. "You are good girl. Sit here. Now, before we begin," Anna stretched her neck to the right then the left, closed her eyes and began some inhale/exhale exercise. She opened her eyes and began to chant softly while at the same time she picked up first one small bag and then another, all filled with carefully measured ingredients that went into the bowl in a specific order. When all of the bags were emptied, she took up a small, black dagger and cut herself across the palm of one hand. She clenched her cut hand into a fist and squeezed. Droplets of blood splashed onto the ingredients all the while she chanted softly in a tongue that Tasha recognized, though at the time she did not realize that it was an ancient fae language.

Gently, Anna took Tasha's hand into hers. As she reached the dagger towards Tasha's hand to make the cut, she looked up at her daughter and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but, as she was chanting at the same time, the smiled looked almost like a grimace. Deftly, Anna sliced across Tasha's palm, diagonal to the cut Dr. Reinhardt had made. She instructed Tasha to squeeze her hand over the ingredients as she had done. Once Tasha had complied, Ann took her daughter's bloody hand in her own, rubbed their palms together and allowed their mingled blood to drip into the bowl.

Once Anna released Tasha's hand, Dr. Reinhardt offered Anna a length of clean cloth, to which Anna gratefully accepted, and allowed the doctor to bind up her wound for her. Dr. Dietrich performed the same service for Tasha. When the first aid was complete, the two doctors stepped back out of the way.

"Now is time, Natasha. It is almost complete," Anna said in satisfaction. She took up the very small, tin box. "Here we are." She opened the box and removed an oversized capsule. "This is placenta from when you were born. This is the binding of the spell, and conversely, the unbinding as well." She dropped the capsule into the bowl, took a flint and lit the piece of parchment that had a listing of all of the ingredients as well as the words of enchantment, applied the flaming parchment to the mixture in the bowl and sat back, chanting once again. The fire flared up brightly, a greenish blue that sparked bright yellow until the ingredients in the bowl were completely consumed. As the fired died to a single ember, Tasha heard a loud pop in her ear, causing her to give a little yelp of surprise.

Anna sighed deeply. "Dah, that is it."

"That's it? It's done?" Tasha asked cautiously. "Now what?" Tasha asked breathlessly.

Anna shrugged. "We wait. You should start feeling pressure in your bones, and an aching in your joints and muscles very soon."

Tasha worked her jaw, feeling a tenseness that had not previously been there. "I think it's beginning." She groaned softly as she continued to work her jaw. It had begun to ache in earnest.

Without uttering a word, Henry ushered everyone out of the cell but Anna, who was busily picking up the detritus of the spell, dumping them into the tote bag.

Jake was the next to the last to leave. He stood in the doorway and looked over at Tasha, giving her a reassuring smile and wave.

Tasha gulped giving him a halfhearted wave of her own, half wishing that he would stay. She sat with her back against the wall, arms wrapped about her, to wait.

Anna crouched down beside her, cupping Tasha's face in her palm. "It is being all right now. I will sit here for a moment."

Tasha nodded and looked over at the door to see that Jake was hovering just outside of the still open doorway. She closed her eyes and grit her teeth as the spasms became agonizing.

A wave of unyielding, unapologetic pain swept over Tasha. With a scream, Tasha brought her knees up to her chin before thrashing out, her entire body becoming straight and rigid. Another scream escaped her lips as yet another, more intense pain tore through her. But she did not appear to be changing.

Anna wailed in fear. "No!"

Anna's cry of alarm was enough to cause Jake to leap through the doorway, taking Tasha in his arms and cooing soothing words, petting her hair.

"She should be transforming, but she is not!" Anna cried in alarm.

Jake stared at Tasha's mother. "What do we do?"

Anna shook her head, her eyes large and troubled, liquid pooling and spilling over onto her cheeks. "I did everything correctly!"

Tasha screamed again, grasping at Jake's arm and shoulder in her agony. "The bracelet," Jake said when he grasped Tasha's wrist to try to still her.

"Dah, the bracelet, quickly!" Anna said as she untied the silk that held the circlet onto Tasha's wrist.

As soon as the bracelet was free from Tasha, she gave a heave and a kick and a scream. The violence of motion tossed both Anna and Jake free from Tasha. Jake crab crawled back from her but refused to leave until he noticed Tasha's jaw begin to buldge grotesquely. "She's changing," he looked at Anna for confirmation.

Anna nodded and pulled back from Tasha who was thrashing and kicking out dangerously in her anguish. She tugged on Jake's shirtsleeve and he followed her out of the cell, closing the iron grate door behind him.

####

The open area outside of the cell resembled a comfortable living room complete with large, comfortable looking chairs and sofas and flat screen television. Large, colorful rugs covered the cement floor and warm colored tapestries hung on the walls. This room had no resemblance whatsoever to a dungeon but more like a family room.

Maven was seated in a large, overstuffed chair, flipping through a magazine, apparently unaffected by the noises coming from Tasha's cell. Henry also appeared relaxed, though Jake noticed that his pupils were dilated, the iris ice blue, the color they were when he was a wolf. His Alpha, apparently, was feeling the stress of Tasha's change almost as acutely as Jake was. The doctors sat, but it was evident that they were impatient to ask Anna questions. Jake took up position at the edge of the room, feeling the need to stand, and pace, and fidget. Anna stood and watched through the iron door, monitoring her daughter's progress. They all remained this way for a number of hours.

Only when Tasha's screams ceased did any movement in the living room come to a sudden and breathless halt, all eyes turned to Anna, all filled with the same voiceless question.

Maven asked it. "Is it done then?"

Anna smiled as she turned and sagged against the wall of her daughter's cell. "All is well." Anna turned back to the iron door, gasping the rungs and leaning her head against her hand.

Jake came up behind her to peer inside. Tasha was no longer there. He did see a torn blanket, a discarded bloodied bandage and a long, lanky, white and black leopard lying in the center of the floor, her sides heaving as Tasha the leopard panted in exhaustion.

"She is beautiful, is she not?" Anna said to no one in particular.

Jake smiled and released a deep breath, "She certainly is."

####

Anna straightened and turned to face Jake. "So," she began, a hard look in her eyes and voice, "you are the werewolf."

Jake tried not to smile. He could see where Tasha got her _stern_ look. "Yes, ma'am. My name is Jake," he said and lifted his hand to shake hers.

But she did not move to take his. Her eyes narrowed. "You knew she was not human?"

"I did."

"Did you know she was wereleopard?"

"No."

She continued to scrutinize him with her eyes. She pursed her lips. "And is there being any funny business going on with my daughter?"

Jake's eyes widened and he choked. "Funny business? No, no ma'am."

Anna slowly nodded her head. "Dah, I see you tell truth. Make sure it will be staying that way,"

"Yes ma'am."

Anna abruptly turned on her heal and strode towards the open living space just beyond Tasha's cell.
Chapter 19

Avery had been sent down with a tray of sandwiches. He offered Anna one before he took the tray around the room. Anna gratefully took a sandwich and enthusiastically bit into it. She chewed it contentedly, took another bite and chewed it down before she settled herself into a chair, the sandwich still in hand as if she were reluctant to let it out of her sight.

"I am ready to begin." Anna said before taking another bite.

"Are you sure?" Henry asked. "We have many questions, but they can wait until you have eaten and even rested. By the looks of it, I would say that you have not slept in some time."

Anna nodded while she swallowed. "Dah, this is truth, but I am owing explanation, and I will do that now." She glanced back towards Tasha's cell. "I can explain to Natasha later."

Dr. Dietrich removed a small, pocket-sized digital recorder from the inside pocket of his sports coat and set it on a side table next to the chair were Anna had collapsed.

"Do you mind if I record this?" he asked her.

Anna eyed the device suspiciously before she nodded. "Dah, this will be fine."

"Ms. Tereshkova,"

"Anna, please,"

"Anna," Maven smiled warmly. "I am so happy that you arrived when you did, however, please, forgive my intrusiveness, but where have you been?"

Anna swallowed another bite of sandwich, took a pull from a bottle of water that had been handed to her and replied. "I am always being able to tell when my Natasha is in pain or danger. It is the magic. It has always bound us together. These last weeks I am feeling that there is something wrong, but when I call, my Natasha says, 'no momma, I am fine.' Eh, she is adult, she does not have to tell me. But it is like buzzing in the back of my head, so I know all is _not_ fine. Then, one day, I feel like devil himself is chasing me. I look, but I see no one. Now, I am being first to admit that I am full of the paranoia, but this is different from everything I am experiencing before. I know my Natasha is very afraid. And that she is in great danger. So, I call, but no answer. 'That is it,' I say and I leave job and home in New Mexico and make my way here. But I feel the paranoia, so I must take longer than I am liking to, traveling many miles out of way, making the many transfer of the buses and the trains."

"What are you afraid of, Anna," Henry asked in his soft, reassuring voice.

"Many things. I will tell you about myself, and you will see that it is not all in vain.

"As you now know, my darling Natasha is being part human, part wereleopard and part fae. I know, is quite combination, but this is the way of things," Anna shrugged.

"Not just unusual, but very much improbable," Dr. Dietrich intoned, not impolitely. "There have always been human/fae hybrids, human/were-being hybrids. But your daughter..."

"My daughter is one of a kind. Well, almost one of a kind," her mother sighed almost sadly, "but please, hear me.

"Now, where to begin. We go way back, back before my own time, to time of my great grandfather. You have heard of Ivan the Terrible? He is terrible because he kills many, many people. He thinks everyone is out to kill him, and maybe he was right. It is possible that aristocracy kill his wife. So, he kills aristocracy. He also kills others for treason, but it is not clear if for real treason or make believe. He forms special branch of military called _oprichniki_. These men wear the black and ride the black horses and have head of dog on stick. They use this as symbol to sniff out the treason. Let us say that merely the sight of them alone is deterrent. At any rate, they are silent and deadly and everyone fears them. My great grandfather, he is one of these _oprichniki_. He is young and is ready to serve the strong leader Ivan. He is honored above all others in the _oprichniki_ , because he secretly uses his skill as wereleopard to find his quarry, makes him very effective at job. One day, the commander discovers his secret. This is a bad thing, to be found out, as you well know. He wishes for great grandfather to bring others like him, to make even more elite group, but great grandfather, he refuses. The commander, he takes Grandfather's family hostage, and forces Grandfather make super elite, super secret fighting unit. Grandfather finally agrees in order to protect his father and mother, as well as his village. So he builds super elite force. They are respected by some, feared by others. Ivan's own son, the first-born, respected the wereleopards. But he was killed when the Ivan went into rage, killed him accidently. His second son, he was worthless and weak. He had no interest in ruling Russia so he let others do it for him. These people feared the leopards and hunted them, to exterminate them. Many of my Grandfather's people escaped to the mountain hideaways. Many were killed. Famine and plague in the land interrupted the hunting down of wereleopards and my people survived, but barely.

"Our kind does not propagate quickly. In good times, it may take fifty years for a youngling to be born. When times are bad, eh, even longer. The wereleopards were affected by famine as well as the humans during that time. Many years of hard famine make for many dead wereleopards and very few new babies.

"They lived in solitude, not trusting of the people so much. Rulers come and go, but there are too many troubles for humans, and that alone keeps the leopards far from their attention. Then came Peter the Great. He aspired to make Russia great, and did so. He was aggressive, but he was also being a man of science. He created a grand army, but he needed more to expand the Russian boarders. He put his most trusted and brilliant minds to work, and they come up with plan. Someone is remembering the wereleopards, and searched them out. This someone was promising riches and influence, but it was being his promise of protection and food that made my grandfather, who was by that time leader, alpha, whatever you may call it, give in to the Peter. He sent his leopards in, and they served the Czar well. But then Peter got a brilliant idea to his mind. He would make assassins of leopards. But, they had to pass the test of the fae and the wizards who served in many a court. The assasins had to be able to pass as completly human, undectable by them. He began doing experiments. Peter the Great is known for his torturing. He tortured the leopards, forcing matings between leopard and human. But, even if human and leopard mate, no matter what the outcome, the offspring still smell like leopard, and that is no good. Thus, this project of Peter's, it ended badly. Peter, he killed many wereleopards in his anger. Again, we had to go into hiding. I was born into that time. It was a dark time, hiding, constantly on the move.

"After Peter, there were no more elite wereleopard fighting units. We survived, but in very few numbers. We hid in the freedom of the mountains and the forests. But, as with all things, this too came to end. The boarders expanded, people came and went. We kept to ourselves, but it is hard to stay in complete isolation, as I am being sure you know. When the Nicholas became Czar, he was dealing with revolutionaries, and World War I was in the making. Turmoil and tribulation for all, not just leopards. And with him comes the Rasputin. He was evil wizard. He was going to rule Russia through the weak Nicholas. He sought to do so with the aid of the leopards, but he understood the mistake that Peter made; that the leopard would be detected by the fae, by wizard or mage alike. Rasputin was son of a son who had worked on the experiments during Peter's time. But, this Rasputin, he has an idea that is most evil; use fae to fool the fae.

"But you can only do that if first you find the correct type of fae. So, there is one obstacle he must overcome. He must find a certain type of fae that will borrow scent from something else to hide behind. The second obstacle he must overcome is that even if he does find the correct type of fae, this perfect fae/leopard union will not be happening in nature."

"No, it is practically impossible," Dietrich said, all of his attention riveted upon Anna, him practically sitting on the edge of his seat with anticipation.

"Dah, this is correct. It will have to be done with magic. But what magic, how much and at what time to use it is the big trouble. He needs to experiment. So, he builds secret laboratory. He searches far and wide, and locates the perfect fae that will be suiting his needs. He was able to convince a naïve young fae woman to come and work for him under the assumption that she is to come work with a great scientist who's main goal, on the surface, was to protect the many endangered species of Russia through a special breading program. He chose her on purpose, for she is also half mage. He is thinking that the combination of the mage elemental powers combined with the fae magic is what will be required.

"Now, this young assistant was a song fae. These beings are more romantic in nature, and can be a little, what is word? Ah, gullible. Well, this young fae, she was being easy to manipulate to his purpose, at first anyway. You have to be understanding that the science of preservation was new concept during this time. She was so excited to be a part of it, to be at beginning of new thing. She was caught up in the science of preservation not knowing that Rasputin was intending to use her to help create master assassin breed.

"In the meantime, Rasputin find and capture wereleopard and bring him to lab. The fae lab assistant, thinking to have actual Amur Leopard coming, was most excited. When she find a man in cage, she was putting the two and two together. She also realized that she was about to become an active part of experiment as well. You see, Rasputin did not count on her having brain. She was scientist, and knew when she had been, how do you say? Knew when she had been had.

"Now, this human/fae was beauty. Black hair like raven, skin like the snow, eyes gray as the steel. She used her fae songs as well as her mage magic to charm her superiors. She makes them happy with her work, and they begin to trust her. They even let it slip that she is to mate with wereleopard. When superiors not looking, she let the wereleopard go free, and she goes with him, for they have fallen in love.

"Now comes the part that concerns my daughter. The reason Peter could not have the success is because he was needing the magic of the fae and the mage both to create the being that he wanted. Peter failed because the wereleopard is like the werewolf; they either are or they are not, there is no in-between. The gene is carried from parent to child. But a fae with the powers of an elemental mage can do things that defy reason. The fae and the wereleopard had a child that exhibited traits of both parents. Natasha's father was this child, My Yuri."

"Yuri's parents, they hid for a time and when the Rasputin, he is killed along with his associates, they think they are being safe."

Anna took a moment before continuing. "Consequently, I was not knowing any of this until we chose to be mated but it did not matter. We settled with his parents, we were happy for many years.

"During his lifetime my Yuri, being part mage, he is learning from his mother certain things. When we were mated, she tried to teach me some things, but I have no talent for it, for as you know, mages are born not made. But I managed to learn some spells that were not elementally dependent and it helped me to get by."

A cloud settled upon Anna. "Then suddenly, we are being hunted again. There is cult in Russia that has been formed from those that follow after Rasputin. They are religious zealots who believe that they can reform his legacy. Part of that legacy includes the creation of the assassin wereleopard, who are to deliver the world into their hands. When the time is right, they still believe that Rasputin will reincarnate and rule the world. My Yuri, he is being their prime target. Since I was his mate, I was sought also, as well as his parents."

"We split from his parents. I do not know what happened to Yuri's parents. I have heard that they made sure that they died before any experiments could be made on them. My Yuri and I ran away together and run many years until I became pregnant. I could not run anymore, not without putting my baby's life in danger. And we also knew that since Natasha would be her father's child she would be in as much danger as he was. That is when we decided to come to America. We split up and ran again. I came to America first, before anyone knew of my pregnancy, Yuri leading those who were chasing us away from me. He was to meet me here, but was captured instead. He was captured, oddly enough, by the politburo, which accused him of being a revolutionary. He was sent to Siberia with other political prisoners. He tried to escape, but was killed in the process."

Anna became quiet again. Maven reached over and gently patted Anna's knee in consolation. "I sense the truth of this. Thank you for telling us."

Dr. Dietrich nodded. "I recall seeing the papers on Ivan's as well as Peter's experiments. I had no idea that Rasputin had met with success. I had heard rumors, of course, but no evidence could be found."

"Are you doubting my account?" Anna asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Oh, no, no my dear. I am saying that he was very cautious. He was a slippery wizard, that one. Perhaps at a later time, you could give me a little more detail. I would like to document your mate's account. Hm, if we could but find the laboratory or some of those notes of his," the doctor's voice trailed off, his mind already working out the details of the new possibilities that Anna had laid before him.

"Dah, I will help if I can to rid the world of such evil."

Jake spoke, concern creasing his brow. "I've heard of bounties being set for wereleopards. I mean, there is always some kind of bounty somewhere for werewolves, but leopards were mostly unheard of in this country until, oh, twenty, thirty years ago."

Anna nodded. "Dah, this is why. The zealots look far and wide searching for us everywhere, taking any wereleopard they can find, hoping to find my Yuri, my Natasha. But I take care of bounty hunters," she said grimly.

Jake gave her a crooked, understanding half smile. "I'm sure you do ma'am."

Avery leaned in. "But the spell that kept Tasha from changing. How did you manage it? And for what reason?"

"Dah I am almost forgetting that. Well, as you can imagine, I could not risk our detection. As far as the United States Government was concerned, I was political refugee. No need for them to know different. But we are different from the werewolf in this respect; we make partial change minutes after birth, and will change back and forth for the first week or so until we stabilize. Then we do not change again until the time of puberty, while the werewolf does not change until the puberty sets in. Well, I could not have the baby change in the middle of bus station, or on train, so I did some research. I am very good at the research. I discover a spell that would temporarily prevent a were-being from changing. So, I got all of ingredients and prepared for baby's arrival. I had to deliver on my own, which was terrifying, but I am Russian wereleopard in new country so I manage. Natasha changed into leopard then back to baby. I do spell and Natasha does not change again. Now, I am poor at doing the magic, but as I say, I manage to get by. One thing I know for sure, is that a blood spell is one of the most strongest spells to be made."

"Ah, I understand where this is going. And the most strongest of all spells is based on that of the blood of a child," Maven said.

"And a newborn child is the strongest. That is why a black witch is so dangerous, because they have no qualms about killing the innocent to make their spells so powerful," Avery finished.

"Dah, I made spell, and added my blood to the blood of the baby to make it even stronger spell. This is how I know my Natasha is in trouble, because the blood connects us. It is only after I cast spell do I find out that this spell cast with the blood makes it very strong. Usually spell will wear out after few years on child, less on adult. But with blood, it has longevity of about twenty five years."

"It's held on five years longer than it's supposed to," Jake remarked.

"Maybe because of the human, fae, wereleopard mix, it skewed the spell even more," Avery said with interest.

"Dah, this is what I am thinking," Anna said with remorse. "I should have told her. But I fear at all times for her safety. I think I am keeping her safe, that as long as she does not know what she is, no one else will know either. And then there is timing. When is good time to tell baby she is not like other children, that bad people seek us always?

"But anyway, I am thinking time is close, but I do not have connection that I had in past. It is like bad phone connection; sometime is there, sometime is not. Then I feel the fear from my Natasha, and with that, something else, something primal, and know that I cannot wait any longer. So I come."

"Just in time," Jake said, as he tugged on his ear lobe absently.

"Just as you say, wolf boy," Anna replied.

Avery shook his head. "Magic like that has the potential of going very wrong."

"Magic always does mage." Anna gave him a tired smile. "Magic always comes at cost, and undoing what has been done, well there is even more cost to pay. But, the time had come for my Natasha to change. I feel that it was worth the risk,"

"I must agree," Henry said. "Avery, if Natasha had not changed, if she had waited for this spell to wear off, she could have been badly damaged, if not physically, then certainly mentally."

"Dah," Anna agreed quietly. "I am ashamed. I should have told my Natasha all, but I thought that the less that she was knowing, the safer she was being. I never wanted for her to be loosing mind."

Maven leaned towards Anna. "But she is well, and I am certain she will forgive you for trying to keep her safe."

"I wonder if Richard Roberts knows about her," Avery mused.

"About her being a wereleopard?" Jake shook his head, "He thinks he's after a were _wolf_."

Ann sat up straight, alarm on her face. "What are you saying? Is there a bounty hunter after my Natasha?"

Jake cursed Avery with his eyes. "We don't know, ma'am, but someone has been following her for the past few days."

"Ah, well, I have taken care of bounty hunters before. I can take care of yet one more." Anna settled back and finished her sandwich.
Chapter 20

With Tasha's changing safely behind her, business went on as usual, except for just a few exceptions; Anna took up residence with Tasha. Also, Tasha was unusually on edge as she discovered she could see, hear and smell clearer and with more distinction than ever before. It was a bit of a distraction, and Tasha, usually focused, was seldom, if ever, distracted.

With great effort, Tasha turned her attention to their most resent case. A Mrs. Smith was concerned that her husband may be cheating. Apparently, Mr. Smith had a regular late night business meeting every Thursday night. According to Mr. Smith's GPS, his meetings were being held at an abandoned factory. Odd place for a meeting, thus the services of Jake Wolf, Private Investigations was contracted.

Tasha's job, at the beginning of every case, was research. She proceeded according to protocol.

She began with a series of questions, such as, what kind of factory had it been? Who owned it? What was the connection between the factory and Mr. Smith? So many questions, and Tasha, being distracted by the newness of _her_ , decided that a field trip was in order.

As she stepped out of the back door of the office, car keys in hand,

Tasha got the oddest tingle in her gut. She was certain that is was magic and it made her wary. She had the distinct sensation that someone was searching for her. Or had found her and was watching her. She was too new at experiencing magic to know which one for sure.

Tasha got into her car and eased down through the alleyway and onto the street. She caught a glimpse of the dirty landscaping van. But she'd seen him following her previously, so why would he need magic now? "Bastard," she turned onto the street and on to her excursion.

####

Tasha drove out to the abandoned factory, but not before making sure that Richard Roberts wasn't in her rear view mirror. The last thing she wanted was to get cornered at an abandoned factory by him. She then wondered if that was why he had decided to use magic; she had always been able to ditch him in the past.

The drive wasn't a long one, and she wasn't gone for long. She just wanted to get at look at the derelict structure. It looked abandoned; though the yard was free of weeds and debris, there were only a few windows intact, covered with dirt and grime. The rest had been boarded up with plywood. The doors were chained and locked. A temporary fence had been erected with notices to "keep out" and "no trespassing". Inside the fence was a large sign indicating that the property was for sale. Tasha jotted down the name and number of the realtor and smiled slightly. She knew the realtor. More importantly, the realtor knew Jake, and had a thing for him. "Oh, Jake is going to hate me for this," she chuckled as she headed back to the office.

####

Once back from her drive, Tasha relayed the information she had learned to Jake via text. She had been correct, he was not exactly pleased to know who the realtor was. It meant he was going to have to search the realtor out for the purpose of asking her some information about the property. And that realtor was going to misconstrue his looking for her as him taking an interest in her. It was going to be a long visit for Jake.

At closing time, Jake had still not come back from his meeting with the realtor. Tasha closed up shop and walked up the flight of steps that led to her apartment. As soon as she was within the safety of her own walls, she explained to her mother what had happened earlier in the day as she had left the office. Tasha took a peek out of the massive window that overlooked the street. She saw no sign of the landscaping van.

"Mom, you keep an eye out." Tasha warned.

"I always keep an eye out. This is why I have lived as long as I have. Now, what is this tingling in your body parts that you spoke of?"

"I don't know, I've never felt it before."

"Hm, I am at loss. Now that my spell is no longer affecting you, you may simply be able to sense more of your surroundings. I do not feel this, this tingle, but you have other blood in you. Handy it may be, no?"

"It could be."

"Still, do not put complete trust in feeling alone. Continue to use all senses that you have. You are new to whole fae thing, so you may be, how you say, short circuiting?"

"Maybe."

####

Jake was a little more concerned than her mother had been when Tasha was finally able to tell him about the way she felt when he came into the office the next day.

"Tough night?" Tasha asked him as she placed a cup of coffee on his desk and sat in the guest chair across the desk from him.

"You have no idea. I wasn't able to meet the realtor at her office. She insisted I meet her for dinner. A potential client dinner is what she called it. I played along. Big mistake. I spent the whole time trying to keep that gal's hands from roaming all over. Damn I swear she had about ten of them."

"Ah, the things you suffer for your craft," she teased. "But were you able to find out anything?"

"Only that Mr. Smith used to own a corporation that had an interest in the factory. It was like a silent partner type of deal. He has agents that deal directly with any sales questions, so he really has no reason to be there anymore. I will be checking it out Wednesday night."

"Why Wednesday? His wife said that Thursday's were his usual late night."

"Because I want to check things out in their normal state before he shows. Then I'll go out again on Thursday."

"You're the boss."

The front door's alarm chimed, indicating someone had opened the door. Tasha got up and poked her head around the doorjamb of Jake's office to see Detective Gil Marshal strutting through the office. She waved him back and he headed their way.

She smiled broadly at him. It was always hard not to.

"Hey there Peaches," he said as he slid past Tasha and into Jake's office.

"Hey there yourself," Jake responded.

Gil sank into the chair that Tasha had just occupied, his long legs bumping Jake's desk. Instead of taking another chair, Tasha perched on the corner of the desk.

"Whatcha got, Gil?" Jake asked.

"Richard Roberts is an ass hat."

"Figured that out on our own, did ya? But anything else?"

"Ran him off from down the street yesterday afternoon. I got a chance to watch him before I did though. He was walking from one end of the street to the other, stopping and watching your office from doorways and such. He's starting to creep the area shopkeepers out as well as you, Tasha, so they are all beginning to file complaints with the Department. He thinks I'm the one filing the complaints, so he's retaliated by filing a harassment complaint against yours truly. But, my boss doesn't like him any more than I do. Bottom line is, with him making the neighbors antsy, and him aware that the police have been alerted to his presence, well, there's no telling what he's going to do, but whatever it is, it's probably about time for him to make a move. Just thought I'd let you two know, and remind you to be careful."

"Thanks Gil, I appreciate you taking an interest in this. He really gives me the heebie-jeebies," Tasha gave a little shudder.

"My pleasure." Gil stood and smiled one of his disarming smiles. "If you need anything, you've got my number."

"Hey Gil," Jake asked as an afterthought, "You've investigated him before. Does he have any magic know how or been known to use charms of any kind?"

"The guy's an idiot. That deal with the sprite was pure, dumb luck. But he does use all the old superstitious tropes, the stuff you can find on the Internet, so, yeah, he uses magic, its just ineffective magic. Nothing that Avery couldn't handle if that's what you're worried about."

"Good to know," Jake extended his hand and Gil took it.

"Call me if you need me," Gil said again, this time without the smile; he was all business.

After he left, Tasha reclaimed her seat again. "So, Gil's a human. Not fae, not were-anything. Just human?"

"What do you think? I mean, besides what he's told you, what do your senses tell you?"

She thought about it for a moment. "No, he smells human. I don't know how I know that though."

"Remember, we carry our ancestor's memories, so that's how you know. Gil is human, however, even humans can be good hunters and Gil is a _very_ good hunter."

"Is that why he's accepted by the Fae?"

"Eh, in a way. He's trustworthy and he's my friend. The council doesn't like him much but they tolerate him. Mostly because, human or not, there are always times when a keen hunter can be an advantage. He's a capable warrior as well."

Tasha nodded her understanding. "Good to know."
Chapter 21

"Hey Jake, what's going on?" Tasha yawned into the phone as she looked at the clock; it was 3:30 in the morning.

"Are ya up?" Jake asked, far to cheery for so early in the morning.

"I am now. Why am I up so early Jake?"

"Avery called me. There's been another murder."

"Same as before?"

"More or less. They've taken the body to the morgue. Dr. Dawson is there now, waiting for us."

"Us?"

"You started this with me, I'd like for you to finish."

Tasha rubbed her eyes and sighed. "Alright. I'll get dressed and come right down."

"I'll be here."

####

Ten minutes later, Tasha was knocking on the door to Jake's basement apartment. He opened the door before the second knock.

"Here," Jake said as he handed Tasha a travel mug, the aroma of coffee rising with the steam from the mouth spout, "this should help a little."

Tasha covered her mouth as she yawned again. "Jake, I'm still part human. I actually need my beauty sleep."

"Your beautiful already. Any more and I'd not be able to stand being near you," he said dryly. "Now, wake up, sleepy head, we've got places to go."

Jake opened the passenger door of his truck and Tasha crawled in. Jake settled behind the steering wheel and they drove out of the ally behind their office and headed toward the morgue.

####

Dr. Dawson opened the back door and led them to the exam room. Avery and Gil were already there, waiting for them, as well as Burly.

"Good news is," Avery greeted them, "Not as many people have touched the body."

"We were first on the scene and were able to limit the body's exposure," Gil finished, grinning.

Tasha thought that the two detectives were also way too cheery for the time of morning. She narrowed her eyes at them, disgusted with their chipper demeanor.

Burly simply grunted, his face showing that he agreed with Tasha's assessment.

Jake looked over a Tasha. "You ready for round two?"

"Jake, you say the sweetest things." Tasha sighed. "Yep, lets go."

Dr. Dawson had the body ready for them. "Is it me, or does this one look, uh"

Avery finished for her. "Yeah, it's a little messier."

Tasha lost all color in her lips as she took a look. "Look past the gore, look past the gore," she chanted to herself. "Oh my,"

"Take a minute, Tasha," Dr. Dawson pulled her away and turned her around. Avery gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"Okay, I've got it now," Tasha said as she moved closer to the gory mess. Somehow it didn't seem to bother as much as it had previously.

Jake looked at her with concern. "You sure?"

"Yeah, let's get this over with."

Jake nodded, then looked up at Dr. Dawson. "What's your take so far?"

"Well, as with the other body, there have been a number of people that have handled it. I've got no fewer than five distinct people."

Jake nodded. "How about you Tasha?"

Tasha looked doubtfully at Jake before she took a sniff. "Alright, I'll go with that."

"Avery, is there anyway I can meet the people who had direct contact with the body?"

"Uh, maybe, sure, if you think it will help."

"Hm," grunted Burly. It was the first intonation he had made since Jake and Tasha arrived. "Process of elimination, Jake?"

Jake nodded. "Theoretically. Hopefully, I'll be able to eliminate the people I can smell and leave the one smell I don't recognize as the one person responsible for this. Like I said, theoretically."

"Dr. Dawson," Tasha broke in, "were there body parts missing this time?"

"None missing, but definitely more damaged, due to the ferocity of the attack."

"Why is the killer stepping up the ferocity I wonder?" Jake mused, pursing his lips and furrowing his brow in thought.

Burly grunted, "Perhaps this is what he intended all along, but was timid. He's more comfortable now."

"Well, that's a cheery thought," Avery's mood became more somber, all joking aside for the moment.

"I don't smell the knife smell that you spoke of last time," Tasha said.

"It is there, smell deeper, but don't look for the oil smell, that is not there."

"Okay, got it.

"And by the way, unofficially, the Chief is beginning to favor the animal mauling angle," Avery said.

Tasha was incredulous. "Even though the evidence doesn't correspond with that?"

Avery shrugged.

"We can blame Dr. Jenkins for that," Rick commented sourly. "He's old fashioned and this just doesn't fit in with anything he's ever experienced. And we still don't have a motive. Not one that makes sense, anyway."

Burly grunted. "Someone is killing, but wants it to look like an animal has done it, possibly a werewolf. Is there a motive other than killing for fun? I mean, killers don't think the way normal folk do."

Jake nodded thoughtfully. "My gut says there is a motive. We've just got to find it, sir."

Burly considered Jake a moment before answering wryly. "Alright then, we'll continue to go with your gut."

Avery grunted. "Your gut is not much of a lead there Jake."

"A lead's a lead," Gil offered. "Anything else Jake?"

"Nope, that's all I'm getting. Tasha, you getting anything?"

"Nope, just nausea."

"Let's go then."
Chapter 22

"What did you find at the factory tonight?" Tasha asked on their way home.

"Just what I expected; nothing. We'll see what happens tomorrow night, er tonight rather. Sorry to wake you up so early. You don't have to come in till this afternoon if you'd like to get a little more sleep."

"I don't see how I can sleep after seeing that. That was, rather brutal. I'm afraid I'll dream about it."

"Sorry about that. I didn't know it would be so much worse."

"Ha! You make the first go round sound like it was routine. I still want to finish this investigation. This is valuable training that, hopefully, I will never be able to get again."

"You're going to live a long time, I'm sure you'll have ample opportunity to find a mutilated body somewhere along the line to sniff on."

"Oh yay, something to look forward to. Seriously Jake, I'm really kind of freaked out about this."

"It is a concern, yes."

"I don't get what the killer is after."

"Maybe he's got an animal fetish of some kind and wants to act out being an animal that hunts," Jake offered with a shrug.

"You think maybe? That's sounds kind of crazy."

"This whole thing is kind of crazy. Who goes to the trouble of making a kill look like an animal attack?"

"I don't know."
Chapter 23

"Jake, turn on your TV," Tasha called from the front desk. Jake came in from his office to watch with her instead.

The news was reporting an animal attack, the same attack that Jake and Tasha had been called in to investigate earlier that morning.

"Oh, this isn't good," Tasha shook her head.

"No, but the people need to be aware that something dangerous is out there, and take protective measures."

"The police are letting them believe that there is a wild animal roaming about that kills people."

"Better than having the populace terrified of what? Wolverine with rabies?" Jake asked. "Either way, it's bad news for the populace as well as the police. Remember what Avery said about the Police Chief leaning towards the animal attack angle himself."

"But the evidence."

"I agree, but it makes his office look better if he can blame animal control or something. He is up for re-election you know. Avery says that his department is feeling the pressure, and I don't doubt it."

"What kind of animal are they blaming it on?"

"Unknown animal attack. I feel sorry for any predatory animal found anywhere near the city limits. There are posses forming up, looking for anything that even resembles a predatory animal. Oh, and that reminds me, Henry has mandated that all of us under his jurisdiction refrain from changing. We don't need one of ours getting accidently shot and blamed for the killings. Be sure to let Anna know."

Tasha nodded. She had no desire to be shot, accidently or otherwise.
Chapter 24

Avery dropped the newspaper on the desk in Jake's office.

"What's this?" asked Jake.

"It's a picture of the crime scene. An unauthorized picture."

"Uh oh," Tasha said.

Jake stared at it for a moment. "Good camera. This picture was not taken from up close."

"How can you tell?" Avery asked, picking up the paper and holding it close to his face.

"See here, this blur? There was an obstruction of some kind. I'll bet the killer or someone associated with the killer took this picture."

"Officially the paper already said they wouldn't reveal their source. Unofficially, the picture came in by mail."

"I've always wondered how you get unofficial information," Tasha asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Its Gil. He has incredible powers of persuasion."

"Ah, the editor is a woman?"

"No, but his executive assistant is."

"Ah ha."

"Says here that the police are being blamed for a cover up." Jake said as he looked up from reading.

"Yeah, that's not all. Look at this one," Avery pulled a gossip paper out of his back pocket and flopped that on the desk as well. "This one is calling it an outright werewolf attack."

"Looks like our theoretical motive has just been confirmed. Someone wants to blame a werewolf for the attack."

"Well, whaddya know," Tasha picked up the paper and read the article. "The police are hiding the evidence, and there's a call out for the citizens to put pressure on the police department to release all the evidence they have to the public. Ah, let's see. A leading animal expert, no name included, says that the evidence indicates an animal larger than the normal species of predator that are native to this area, such as coyotes, foxes or even dogs. It would take an animal the size of a lion or tiger to inflict the type of injury found on the victim. Oh goody."

"You're leopard isn't as big as a lion or tiger."

"Well that makes me feel better. Look Jake, this is serious. This article spells out very explicitly that werewolves are the only things big enough and clever enough to make a kill like this without being seen. Even if the police don't take this serious, you know some crazy vigilante group will and start looking for werewolves."

Jake nodded. "If that news didn't make you happy, then the information I got from Burly is going to make you even less happy. He put out some feelers, to see if there were new bounties being offered for werewolves."

"And?"

"And, the answer is yes. Though we don't know who yet, there is someone offering serious cash for any kind of were-creature or shape shifter."

"Hell, we even know of a self professed bounty hunter that's been keeping an eye on this office," Avery added, "who's got a following of blog readers just waiting for an opportunity to put theory into action."

"One thing in our favor, however," Jake said with dry humor, "no one really believes in werewolves."

"Jake, damn you, this is serious." Tasha frowned.

"All it takes is the right person that does believe to make trouble for you," reminded Avery.

"I guess I'll have to be more careful then. We all do."

####

"This will be the third such killing in our area in the last month," the strong-jawed man with the spiffy haircut said to the television audience as he sat behind the news desk.

"Jake, they're talking about our third vic on the news," Tasha called out from her desk.

Jake strolled in, resting a hip against a sofa as he watched the newscast but was interrupted by Avery and Gil as they entered through the front door. "Detectives," he greeted.

"Hey Jake, Tash." Avery looked worn out, Gil not much better, his usually ready smile replaced by a grim line. "Look, there's no way to say this nice, but we've got a problem."

Jake pointed towards the TV. "No kidding."

"No, it's worse," Avery said as he looked over at Gil.

"I was running down some leads, and had a little discussion with that rag that's calling these werewolf attacks. It seems their main contact is a greasy man who claims to be a monster bounty hunter. No name, but it sounds like our man Roberts," Gil explained.

"Uh oh, Jake." Tasha looked at her boss, worried for both their safety.

"Roberts got to runnin his mouth and he says he's got a line on the werewolf they're lookin for. Says it's a hot little number with black hair and gray eyes." Gil looked over at Tasha. "I only know one hot little number that matches that particular description, Tash."

"I didn't do it," Tasha shrunk in on herself.

"We know that, but what if this guy comes at you?"

"We will not be letting her out of our sight," Anna said, coming in from the back part of the office.

"Momma," Tasha began to protest.

"No, I agree with Anna," Jake said. "If he's got his sights set on you, you are in danger."

"Just because he may have his sights on me, doesn't mean that the killer does as well."

"True," Avery agreed, "but he could kidnap you and torture you into making a confession."

"Or worse, if this information got around, the killer may take interest and start killing all good lookin women with dark hair," Gil added.

"Tasha, you will be in the company of one of us at all times." Jake pronounced.

"Jake, really,"

"No, we are going to protect you."

"Do you think we should send her to the Lord Henry?" Anna asked.

"Maybe. I don't know though, that could lead to even more trouble. He's called all wolves with control issues to his estate to keep them safe. If somehow it's known that Tasha is out there,"

"Someone could stumble upon a whole pack of werewolves." Avery finished. "The council would not be happy with that."

"They are already going to be unhappy that a bounty hunter is hunting one of their own," Jake said. "Tasha, we've got to be pro active on this, or they will lock you away for the safety of the whole of the fae."

"Okay," Tasha said, trying to accept her fate. "Do we have a plan?"

"Gil, does that paper have any photos of the latest attack?"

"Funny you should mention that. An anonymous packet came in just before I did, and there were pictures of the scene."

"Did you happen to get a look at them?"

Gil's normally charming smile took on a predatory air. "I did better than that," he said as he pulled a single picture from his inside jacket pocket.

Jake took it and studied it. "Once again, it's from a distance. Hey Tash, you got that magnifying glass in your desk still?" Tasha dug through her desk and handed him the glass. "You know, this appears to be a similar angle as the last one."

"So what does that mean? And how can you even tell?" Tasha asked.

Gil took the photo and looked for himself. "What? Can't you tell?" Tasha shook her head no, "Huh, really? It seems pretty obvious to me. Well, what it means is, what are the odds that there is a hill or a house or a rock outcropping or whatever that's exactly the same height at both crime scenes?"

"I would imagine it would be almost impossible."

"So let's go take another look at both of those crime scenes," Jake suggested. "Maybe we can pick something up, or at least get inspiration of some kind."

"I'll drive," Gil said, walking out the door without waiting for the others.

####

"This is the sight," Gil said as he paced around the crime scene of the second victim. He knelt down and looked out. "The picture would have to have been taken from a height of, oh, about as high as that branch there on that tree across the street."

Jake mimicked his posture to look for himself. "Yeah, about. But," he stood, "he wouldn't be on the street because the crime scene investigators would have had the street blocked."

"Unless the photographer is the killer," suggested Avery.

Gil gave a slow nod of agreement. "Those pictures looked as if the police hadn't arrived yet. He could have committed the crime, taken the pictures and left before anyone even knew what had taken place."

"What if he was in a house?" Tasha suggested.

"No good," Gil shook his head, "there wasn't a house across from the third crime scene, just a parking lot."

Jake stood. "Maybe that's the key. C'mon Tash, we're going for a little walk."

The two walked across the street, walking first one way for half a block, crossed the street and came back up the other side before rejoining the other two. "What about a vehicle?"

Tasha looked confused. "For what?"

"To get up high enough to take the picture," Jake suggested.

"Like a big truck?"

Gil shook his head. "There were no big trucks, not on the street."

"Okay, let's get the proper direction. About the height of this tree branch you said, Gil?"

Gil looked first at the tree then towards the crime scene. "Yep. But," he was interrupted as Tasha began to climb the tree. "What are you doing?"

"Turns out I've always been good at climbing trees." She slid her behind along the branch then shook her head. "He didn't take the photo from here. It would put him too high up."

Jake began walking the dirt driveway next to the tree, on towards the garage that sat back at the rear of the property and separate from the house. About half the distance between the garage and the street, Jake stopped. "Oil spot."

Gil stooped down and rubbed his finger through the dirt, looked towards the garage then up to the house. The front door of the house opened.

An elderly woman called out from behind a closed and no doubt locked screen. "Can I help you folks? This is private property you know."

Avery began to approach, but Gil waved him off. "Ma'am, I'm with the police department." He showed her his badge and the woman visibly relaxed. "Do you have a vehicle?"

"No, detective, I haven't had a car since my eye sight went."

"Do you have a friend or family member that drives you?"

"My son does."

"Does he pick you up here at the door or on the street or..."

"Oh, no, he drives down to the garage, by the back door. There aren't as many steps for me to maneuver back there. Plus it's covered, you know, in case of rain."

"Thank you ma'am, that's all I need. Hope we didn't frighten you," he smiled and she shook her head muttering about cops bothering old ladies when there was a killer on the loose.

Avery scratched his head. "What are you thinkin partner?"

"I'm thinkin, that if you had a vehicle parked right about here, and if you stood on the back of a bumper or pickup bed or a seat even, it would put you up about the right height to take an incredible snapshot of a gory killing."

Avery took a sample of the oil and dirt, placing the sample into a small evidence bag. "We might be able to use this."

"Tasha, you got the scent?"

"Yep. We off to the third crime scent?"

"You bet."
Chapter 25

At the third crime scene they found many, many oil spots dotting the parking lot, but Jake and Tasha narrowed down the correct spot. "Same vehicle was here." Jake muttered as he dabbed his finger into the stain. He was deep in thought as he rubbed the oil between his fingers and smelling at it.

Avery took a sample as well. "The samples will give us evidence that a single person was present at both scenes. All this scent detection that you and Jake are doing is great, but we still have to have hard evidence," he explained to Tasha.

"Okay, now what?" Tasha asked. "We've got a vehicle that has been in both locations, and the person in that vehicle more than likely took the pictures. How will that help us find the killer?"

Gil was thoughtful, "Pictures were taken before the body was found. We have the statements from the citizens who found the bodies, so they are accounted for. So, the photographer either knows the killer or is the killer."

Avery, Gil and Tasha began to migrate towards Gil's car but Jake remained near the parking spot where they had located the oil spot. Tasha looked over at him and hollered out, "Jake, you coming?"

Jake stood slowly, wiping the oil on the leg of his jeans. "Yeah."

They were headed back to Jake's office, Tasha in the back seat with Jake. "What are you thinking boss?"

"I'm thinking, where's the motive?"

Avery turned in the front seat to speak. "So far, nothing has been found that link any of the victims together, other than they all got caught late at night by themselves next to an overgrown area. Two males, one female. None were poor nor effluent, just regular people with regular jobs that did regular things."

"Why were they out at night?" Tasha asked.

"Lets see, the first victim was jogging before heading into work, the second was walking home from work because his car broke down on the road and the third was looking for her dog that had gotten out of her yard."

"Whoever did this wasn't looking for any particular victim, any victim would do," Gil finished. "A hunter of convenience I guess."

"I need a map," Jake said. "I've got to get a look at this."

They were quiet while they traveled through the busy streets. When they reached Jake's office, they all got out and filed quietly into the office. Anna was waiting for them there.

"Any messages Mom?" Tasha asked.

"Dah, only two, they are here," Anna said as she passed the slips of paper to Tasha. "And one visitor, but he would not leave name. I did not like him, he give to me the big creeps, make my hair stand up on neck."

"Great, can't wait for him to come back," Tasha said as she walked in front of the desk, then stopped suddenly. "How long ago?"

"Oh, I say hour ago. What is the matter Natasha?"

Tasha looked up at Jake. "Richard Roberts, he's been here."

"You remember his smell? You were still under the magic the first time you met him, so you wouldn't have had any of your abilities."

"But his cologne, it was cheap and he wore too much of it. You don't need super senses to pick up on something like that."

"Dah, he did smell like that."

"And I smell it, right here." Tasha stood just in front of the doorway.

Jake stood next to Tasha. "Ah, I smell it. Good catch. And what's more, I've smelled this before."

"Yeah, when he was here last."

"No, it's so faint that I could be wrong. Avery, who's on duty at the morgue?"

"Jenkins is now. Why, did you smell this scent on one or all of the victims?"

"I can't be sure, but it's possible, which is why I'd like to check."

####

It was ten that night before Jake got the call that he could come in and see the body again. Dr. Dawson let them in as usual, leading the way to the examination room.

"How can you do this day after day Doc?" Tasha asked. "I get nauseated every time I come down here."

"Some of us are more sensitive than others I guess. That, plus I've had years of practice. But don't get me wrong, these last three bodies have been worse than the usual. And it's okay to be squeamish. It shows you are not hard."

"Whatever you say," Tasha said with a thin smile.

"Alright Tasha. You remember the smell better than I do. Any trace at all?"

Tasha calmed herself, but didn't look at the body, more like she sensed it. She ran through the obvious smells, the blood, dirt, clothing, and plant debris. Down to the scent of the man; grease, like a cook might smell like. Soap, hair gel, engine smells. "This is the man who walked home from work? The one with the car trouble."

Dr. Dawson nodded.

She closed her eyes again and tried to sift through the myriad smells. The blades, those were now distinct in her mind. Leather, but not from the victim. Okay, now she was getting to the smells of the killer. "The killer's scents are more removed from the victim's, almost like a ghost hanging over the body," she mused.

Jake nodded slightly. "That's a good way to put it, actually. So, anything?"

"Don't rush me." She concentrated again, toning everything out as she focused her efforts to detect the scents from the body.

Jake was incredibly silent, as he was doing the same as she.

"I think I have a clothes scent, French fries. Uhg, the killer needs better deodorant," She stopped opened her eyes to see Jake looking directly at her. He'd smelled it too. Tasha gulped. "It's the cologne. Oh my," she couldn't finish, as the bile had swelled up into her throat.

Dr. Dawson was attentive enough to see she was about to vomit, and turned Tasha away from the body and towards a trashcan. Tasha threw up into it.

Dawson looked at Jake then back to Tasha. Jake pulled her hair out of her face and let her empty her stomach then gave her a tissue to wipe her mouth with. "So, I take it by her reaction that she's come into contact with our killer?"

Jake nodded, his face grim. "He's been stalking her."

Dawson's face fell. "I'll take care of her. You call Henry."
Chapter 26

Tasha was seated in Jake's basement apartment, drinking something hot, but she wasn't sure what it was. Her mother was next to her, wrapping a blanket around her. "I'm not sick Momma," she finally said. It had been the first words in an hour.

Jake, Gil, Avery and finally Henry and Burly were seated about the massive leather sectional that filled Jake's living space.

"Natasha, you have shock. It is serious business," her mother was trying to explain.

"No, I'm okay. I mean, yes I'm a little upset, but I've just been thinking."

"What about, Natasha?" Lord Henry Winston III was watching her with his alert, blue eyes.

"First, I'm wondering why Roberts would be killing people, but it's not the why but the how that's got my wheels really turning."

"He's wanting it to look like an animal attack," Henry offered.

"No, he told the paper it was a _werewolf_ attack," corrected Gil. "He's a monster hunter looking for a monster remember."

"Right, so do you suppose," Tasha started but Jake cut her off.

"He's emulating a werewolf."

"But what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, we've been worried that he was looking for me," Jake said, "but he's been following you. We know you are the one he wants."

"Why the killings then? Just so he can blame Tasha?" Avery asked. "That doesn't make sense. There's no evidence. And he's got to know that a mob isn't going to get at her if she has a pack anywhere close."

"Don't forget that he's delusional," reminded Gil. "He wants to draw out his prey, which is Tasha. If he thinks that she thinks that one of her pack is loco and killing for fun, then she's got to investigate sometime."

"Drawing her out," Henry considered.

"Its working; I have been investigating, though for entirely different reasons."

"Hell of a training session, eh Tash?" Gil smiled.

"This is all good, but what are we going to do? I cannot sit still and let want-to-be bounty hunter kill by baby." Anna was pacing.

"But how does he know we've been investigating?" Jake asked. "I haven't seen him, or anyone else for that matter, when we've been on those crime scenes."

"Magic," Avery suggested. "You know there are location spells that almost any idiot can use, given the right circumstances."

Tasha nodded. "Most likely,"

Anna narrowed her eyes. "What you mean, Natasha?"

"I've felt this pull, not always, but that little tingling I've told you about. It's with me almost all of the time now. I thought it was your magic, Momma, but you said it couldn't be."

"No, it is not my magic," Anna sighed sadly.

"Well, there we go then," Henry said gravely. "I wish you would have said something about this sooner, Natasha."

"I didn't think it was anything."

"But how did he get to you?" Avery asked. "I mean, you've got to have something of his and he has to have something of yours."

"Tasha, did he take anything from you at all when he was here that first time? A pen, a business card, anything that you would have touched?"

Tasha shook her head slowly. "No, I didn't even shake his hand."

Avery was shaking his head as well. "No, it would have to be something personal, a simple business card wouldn't do. It's hers, but its not private, not exclusive you know?"

"Then it's not his magic you are feeling, Natasha," Henry said as he stood, clasping his hands behind him and walking to stand in front of the gas fireplace. "So, how else can he know that you are in on this investigation?"

Gil leaned his head back into the softness of the sofa he sat on. "Well, it could be deduction. Anyone watching the news could have seen Avery or me, and drawn conclusions from there," he offered.

"Alright, I'll accept that," Henry agreed. "Anything else?"

"Hidden cameras around the crime scene?" Anna suggested.

"No, there have been none," Gil said with confidence. "We checked after the second murder and those pictures started showing up. No hidden cameras."

"But, official pictures were taken by the Department, right?" Jake asked.

Avery and Gil nodded. Avery answered, "Always. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that perhaps you can look at those pictures and see if Richards is there, say, in disguise, I don't know. Maybe that's how he's aware of who's helping you investigate? No, that doesn't work either. We never show up until after everyone is gone."

"And we've not been followed," reminded Tasha.

"Let's not worry about the how he knows for now," Burly broke into their deliberations. "Let's just work on the assumption that he does know that you two are working this case, no matter how unofficial. We cannot discount anything, yet what we need to do is concentrate on protecting our own. We know he's fixed on Tasha. We know he's either the killer or with the killer."

"Right, I still haven't adjusted. He doesn't have to be the actual killer, just along for the ride," Avery said as he sat back.

"But we detected Richards' scent on the body," Tasha argued.

Jake shook his head. "All he needed to do would be to touch the body and that would be enough to leave his scent, however faint. Some of what we detected could have been someone else as well."

"Well, that makes a little more sense." Gill commented.

"How do you mean, Gil?" asked Henry.

"This guy Richards, I believe I've said before, is an idiot. He'd almost have to have an accomplice, or be an accomplice, whatever. Tasha, you said you feel the pull of magic. Well, if he's using magic, and I mean actual factual magic not Internet magic, then someone else has to be helping him."

"Could he have gotten hold of some real magic, by accident I mean?" Jake offered.

"Not likely," Avery said. "This guy is no good, and everyone knows it. There's no way that any of the magic shops are going to give him anything real. I know all of them: Even the shady ones, you know those that would sell their grandmother for a buck? They would not sell him anything more powerful than a mood ring, for fear that he'd use anything they'd sell him against them."

Burly pursed his lips and thought for a moment. "Alright, so magic may or may not be back on the table. We need to make allowances for a collaborator who may be, in all likelihood, more dangerous than Mr. Richards." Burly sighed. "It would appear that we have all manner of unknowns to contend with."

"Okay," Jake sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands. "We need a plan," Jake absently reached for his cup, which was empty. Anna took it from him and left to fill it before Jake could protest.

"Does anyone have one?" Henry asked in general.

"Not yet. Well, none that I like anyway," groused Gil.

"Same here," agreed Henry. Burly grunted his agreement.

"Well I have one," Tasha said.

Avery sighed as if he already knew what her plan was and hated it.

"If Roberts wants me, then we should use me as bait and trap him."

"Here we go," Gil said quietly to Avery.

"Absolutely not!" Jake practically roared.

"I must agree with wolf boy," Anna said as she placed the freshly filled cup on the coffee table in front of Jake. "No good you being the bait Natasha. We will wait for better plan."

"Momma its the only way for sure get him out in the open. Otherwise he will kill again. Or his confederate will. Anyway, if he's trying to draw me out, then he will keep on with the killing until he gets what he wants."

"Makes sense to me," Gil said, only to be stared into silence by the opposing factions.

"Natasha, this plan of action is very dangerous," Henry finally said. "You could be seriously injured or even killed."

"Wait, no, you can't possibly be in favor of this?" Jake asked his Alpha incredulously.

"This idea is pretty much what I have been thinking. I said I had an idea, I just didn't like it," Henry shrugged.

"And you!" Jake turned on Gil.

"Hey man, you're just too close to the situation to see it from a logical perspective. I think it would work."

"No way, I'm with Jake on this partner," Avery shook his head. "If anything went even the slightest bit wrong," he didn't finish.

"So, we have to make sure nothin goes wrong," Gil retorted. "Look, we've got to protect Tasha. It's gonna get harder to do that from the shadows. I'd like to be a little more proactive with the protection. A plan like this would allow that. We also have to stop this guy and whomever he's workin with. We've got to do it in such a way that, one, we discover who this other party is, and two, we've got to find enough evidence to convict them. A trap to bring them both out into the open, well, it's the best way."

"No need," Jake snarled as he stood. "I'll take care of Roberts myself. No need for the police to worry about evidence."

"Jake, no," Tasha stood to intercept him, reaching out to catch his arm.

Jake tried to shake her hand away, but she held fast. She interposed herself between Jake and the door, placing her free hand upon his chest. She looked up into his eyes, and what she saw there before he quickly looked away made her much more afraid for Jake than for herself.

"Jake, you can't," she said softly.

He reached to her hand to move it away, refusing to look at her as he did so.

"Jake, please, look at me,"

He relented. He locked eyes with hers, his gold wolf eyes glowing fiercely. His growl was low but primal, his face contorted in anger and agony. He covered her hand with his and squeezed.

Henry spoke into the tense silence. "Son, you need to take a seat and look at this rationally."

"I am," His speech was ragged with emotion, not looking up from Tasha. "Sir, we take care of problems like him all the time."

"No, not the way you're thinking. Let me guess. You plan on ripping his throat out?"

"For starters."

"And how will that look to the police?"

Avery scratched at his cheek. "It'll look like an animal attack. But this time it would be an animal attack. The police, we, would still be looking for a killer and the public would still be in fear."

"Don't forget that unknown factor," Gil reminded them. "Someone else is out there, and we need to draw him out into the open."

Jake growled low in his throat again as he looked up at Henry and stopped only when Henry held his stare and Jake relented his challenge to the alpha.

"If you have a better way Jake, then let's hear it," Henry said calmly and not unkindly.

Jake huffed air through his mouth in frustration. "I need some air." He tried release Tasha's grasp. "Tasha, damn it, let me go."

"Jake," she interrupted him. She reached up and gently caressed his cheek. "We'll try to think of something else. You go get some air, just promise me that you won't do anything stupid."

Jake sighed. "I can't promise that," he drew her hand from his cheek and held her hand in his, "but I'll promise not to do anything stupid tonight."

"That's all I can ask."

He nodded. "Do you have your car keys on you?"

Tasha narrowed her eyes, "I do, why?"

"Can I borrow your car?"

"Don't hurt her," she said as she pulled the key ring from her pocket, relinquishing them to his open palm.

"I won't," he said as he affectionately gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "If anyone gets hungry, there's stuff in the fridge. If you get tired, you can sleep in my bed, just _do not_ leave this apartment. I won't be gone long."
Chapter 27

They made a plan, or at least most of one. Burly had a hunch that Jake was onto something, and he wasn't willing to leave Jake's input completely out of the planning process.

As promised, Jake returned without damaging Tasha's car or Richard Roberts. He plopped onto the sofa after tossing Tasha her keys. "Question. If Roberts had put a location spell on Tasha, why would he follow her car about town?"

"He wouldn't," Burly said, considering Jake. "He'd know exactly where she was."

"Unless he didn't trust his magic," Avery suggested.

"True," Henry considered, "but I doubt it. I mean, why go to the trouble to use magic if you didn't trust it."

"Naw, he'd trust it," Gil said. "He trusts his magic, weather it's faulty or not. Which means there is another player. And he has magic."

Jake nodded. "An unknown factor that may or may not be in with Roberts."

Burly nodded. "We've considered that and have made contingencies for it."

"So you have a plan?"

"Most of one." They explained it to Jake and when they were done, all eyes rested upon him.

Jake sighed and looked at Tasha. "I haven't got one any better. Not without more people dying in the meantime anyway."

Tasha smiled a weak and sympathetic smile. She knew he was unhappy and was wishing she could make it better. "I know, we all do. We could always wait it out, but we all know that means more loss of innocent life. You know that this has the best chance of success."

Jake shook his head. "I still don't like it, but we can manipulate the circumstances so that they are more in our favor, your favor, Tasha. So, you have an idea of where this should all take place?"

Burly smiled, "I figured you'd have someplace picked out by now. Am I incorrect?"

"No, you're correct." Jake pulled a map out of his back pocket and laid it out on the ottoman in front of him. "I drove around for a while, picked Roberts up almost immediately."

"He's been in the credit union parking lot hasn't he?" asked Gil.

"Yeah, and incidentally, there is a ladder on the back of his van. Looks like he could get just the right height to take those pictures. Now, as I was saying, I did some driving. I've also noticed that all three killings have taken place in a triangle around the downtown area."

"We are in the downtown area."

"Right, and most of the business you conduct is in this area as well. I'm not sure how he'd manage it, but I'm going to make a guess and say that he's trying to pin these deaths on you, and eventually he'd achieve just that. Maybe not evidence enough for the police, but a werewolf hunting, vigilante group would be quite interested."

"Why would he do that?" Anna asked. "I thought this man was mighty hunter of monsters, interested in bounty."

"Cuz he's a hell of a nice guy," Gil grumbled. "He's a coward. He's never brought anything in, remember, he just talks real big. He needs help."

"Yeah, so, with the plan of Tasha here being seen out by herself in a wooded area, I think that we choose this area for consideration."

"Where is this place?" Anna squinted at the map. "I am not familiar with this city enough to know what is there."

"This," Jake circled a small area with his finger "is a communal garden. There is a large park, and I mean large, over here to the side, then the rest of the land is filled with gardens, fruit and nut trees and bushes."

"It is so big." Anna commented.

"And it's a bit over grown. Since it is the community that mostly contributes all the work, it tends to get a little overgrown once everything has been harvested."

"And it's next to the government center so there won't be anyone there at night," Avery added, "nice."

"There are a number of trails back in this area for the work trucks to get in and out of, and there are all kinds of paths that crisscross out here by some of the out buildings. Those are really grown over and not everyone knows about them," Gil pointed to an area on the map.

The entire party looked up as one at Gil. "What? So I do a little gardening. I enjoy the physical labor, it's outside, and there are some pretty hot chicks who volunteer there."

"Ah, that's the man I know," Avery said with a slap to Gil's back.

"He's right though. This garden area here is all cleared, but the berry bushes in back are thick with over growth and there are plenty of places for us to hide. Tasha, you need to cut through here, and head towards the wilderness preserve at the back."

"There is wilderness in middle of city?" asked Anna.

"Not wilderness like you're thinking. It's more like a big, overgrown park. It is the home to some rabbits, foxes and quail. Not big enough for anything of substantial size, but it is a nice respite for those of us who find ourselves stuck in the city," Henry commented.

"One of the old wood elves donated the land years ago, with the stipulation that it be retained as a preserve," explained Avery. "Hey, this is a good place right here," Avery tapped.

"Why there?" Anna asked.

"That is around the same area that Roberts caught the wood sprite, or so he said," Burly grumbled.

Tasha's insides twisted at bit. "So maybe he'll think he's struck lucky again, then?"

"Sure, why not. He's superstitious enough, so, yeah."

"Okay, Tasha, you'll drive through the parking lot, if no one is there, you swing back and park here. The light is out and it's darker here. Get out and walk with a purpose, like you're going to meet someone farther back in the park. Walk through this area here."

Gil poked at the map, "There's a huge tree around here somewhere. I'll set up in there, up high, with my night vision. I'll be able to see up to this point," he tapped the map with his forefinger.

"That is quite a tree if you can see that far," Anna commented.

"It's an awesome tree," Avery said enthusiastically. "I used to climb it when I was a kid."

"Is there good hiding place in this area, just beyond line of sight of tree?"

Gil nodded. "You take that area then Anna?"

"Dah, I hide in there."

They went over their plan, their hiding spots and plan of action.

"What if he doesn't take the bait?" Tasha asked.

"Then you walk on through. We'll have a car on the other side; you get in and drive away. Then we'll try again another night."

"There is a lot of territory for you to go through, so chances are, something's bound to happen eventually," Gil said cheerily.

They were done planning. Everyone, except for Tasha, was seated and eating sandwiches and chips and talking idly. Tasha was silent, thinking.

Tasha said quietly, "What happened to the sprite?"

"What?" Jake asked.

"The sprite, what happened to her?"

Jake hesitated and looked down at his empty plate. When he looked up again, Tasha could see that he was agonizing again. Gil cleared his throat uncomfortably and Avery began to fidget. No one but Henry would meet her eyes.

"She was fine, eventually," Henry said with a heavy sigh. "That man tortured her and kept her bound in irons for days before he finally decided to show her to the world."

"He put her on TV?"

"Internet," Henry continued. "He couldn't convince the local news stations that he actually had something, so he had to go the Internet route. He trotted her out, cleaned up of course, and unshackled, but by the time he got the attention he sought, she was completely, eh, subdued."

"What happened?" Tasha whispered, Anna slipping her hand into Tasha's.

"Well, one of our people who worked with Child Protective Services saw her. Sprites are tiny things and they do have fae magic, so the sprite projected herself to look as a child would. Our CPS agent made a meeting with him, under the auspice of an interested television executive. They met, she knocked him out and took the sprite away then turned him in for suspected child abuse."

"She should have killed him," Gil groused.

"She can't, it's against her code," reminded Avery.

"Still, it would have been a lot better if she'd have forgotten her code."

"But, that was then. We have to focus on the now," Burly reminded them. "This," Burly motioned to the map, then to the people in the room, "this is on purpose. That puts the odds in our favor." Tasha couldn't deny the feral glint she beheld in his eyes.

"When do we begin?" Tasha asked with more courage than she felt.

Jake thought, "Not for at least a couple of days. I want you to be prepared."

"The longer we wait, the better chance we have of another person being killed," Tasha reminded him. "We have to act fast. I think you should show me the area in the morning and take action tomorrow night."

Jake looked anguished. "Tasha, I don't know."

"She is correct," Henry nodded his agreement. "The whole purpose for this operation is to protect more innocents from being harmed."

Jake sighed. "Not much of a choice."

"No, it may not be, but it's still a choice. And I choose to do this. You know, it's the best way." Tasha looked intently at Jake.

Jake looked into Tasha's eyes, but couldn't hold them. He looked away. "What if I can't protect you?" he all but whispered.

"Then you will have to trust me, and in my abilities to stay alive. I can protect my self, or at the very least, stay alive until you can come and get me," she shrugged. "I've been training with Mel, I know jujitsu, and as far as he knows, he's dealing with a wolf not a leopard. That gives me better odds."

"Dah, silver cannot hurt her. Well, it can hurt but not incapacitate."

"You could still be killed," Jake reminded her, "and I don't care what or who you are, pain is still pain."

"Please, tell me more, I'm not near freaked out enough," Tasha said.

"He won't kill her, not on purpose. He needs her alive," Burly said. "He will want you to change, so he can prove to the world that he was right."

"That's all he wants, is recognition," Gil said.

"Yeah, but what is he willing to do to her to get her to change?" Avery asked.

No one answered.

"Should I change?"

"Not unless it's the only way out."

"Super-duper," Tasha leaned back into her chair with a sigh. "I almost wish this was going down tonight."

"Why?"

"Because, I'm not gonna get a bit of peace until this is over."
Chapter 28

They used Franklin's niece as a decoy. Pauline drove Tasha's car, and the beat up landscape van belonging to Richard Roberts followed her. Once the coast was clear, Jake, along with Tasha and Anna headed out to the preserve and met up with the rest, along with a few others.

As Tasha got out of her car she noticed that Mel had shown up as well as a couple of Burly's bouncers. "Thanks for coming," Jake said as he shook everyone's hand.

Mel grunted his assent. "Anything to get rid of that piece of shit. And to protect the girl of course," he amended with a wink.

The party set out across the preserve, working back towards Tasha's projected starting point. They scouted hideouts and possible places for Roberts to make his move.

Tasha roamed around taking in the landscape and plotting her course. She felt almost nostalgic, but couldn't figure out why. This place was new to her, so why would she feel happy and yet sad to be here.

Anna spoke, causing Tasha to start, as she hadn't heard her approach. "It reminds me of a place my father showed me. The lake there, with the evergreens and the fallen leaves from the other trees. It reminds me of the place where my father was born, his home when he was a child.

"Momma, is that why it feels, I don't know, familiar?"

Anna nodded. "Dah, you are feeling the memory of your ancestors. I feel it too."

"Why do I feel sad?"

"I do not know, Papa never told me, but I think that some great tragedy happened there. I know his mother was killed when he was young child. Perhaps this is what you are feeling."

They stood in silence at the edge of the small lake. Suddenly, Anna stiffened. "What is it Mom?"

"I do not know. I feel like we are being observed."

"I don't smell anything," Tasha said as her eyes roamed the thick underbrush.

"Nyet, I do not either. Perhaps I am being over sensitive."

Tasha tried to smile at her but found it hard to.

Jake approached. "What's the matter?"

"Maybe nothing. We thought we felt like we were being watched is all."

Jake was on immediate alert, lifting his chin and sniffing, and listening. "I don't, I don't sense anything."

"We did not either," Anna said, moving in the direction she had felt the threat was coming from. "Natasha, you stay here with wolf boy, I go to investigate."

Anna left to investigate but Jake's eyes followed her as she went. "So, I'm thinking this lake will be a good place for him to capture you."

Tasha gulped but remained as calm as could be expected. "Why?"

"Because your back would be to the lake. Werewolves can't swim."

"How deep is this lake?"

"Deep enough to swim in. The kids used to swim here years ago when it was actual wilderness instead of a wilderness park.

"The underbrush is a bit far away," Tasha noticed.

"Yes, but we will be there."

"I know. I'm just, you know, totally freaking out," she was calm as she spoke, but Jake noticed the iris of her eyes had lightened considerably.

Jake wrapped her in a hug and rubbed her back. "Me too, kiddo, me too."

Tasha reveled in that embrace. It felt safe and warm and right. Reluctantly Tasha pulled away from his embrace and looked around. "I noticed that the path runs right along the lake, and this area here bows in on the lake a little. You're right, it would be a perfect place to capture a wolf that can't swim."

"It may not happen here, so don't let your guard down. It may be earlier or even be later. Keep your nose on, so to say."

"Got it boss."
Chapter 29

The whole lot of them congregated at Jake's place, except for Jake and Tasha, who went up to the office to take care of some actual business. Jake made up the final report for Mrs. Smith. As it turned out Mr. Smith was not cheating at all but was involved in an odd role playing game where people dressed as zombies and ran through the factory "making" zombies when they caught someone. "Like a new version of tag, but with makeup," Jake had told Mrs. Smith. She'd been slightly pertubed by the revelation but still relieved to know that her husband was not a philanderer.

When darkness finally fell, Tasha locked up the front of the office, but not before stepping out onto the sidewalk and looking up and down the street. Sure enough, she saw her stalker lurking in the shadows. Too bad for him that she could see into the shadows better that humans, so she saw him as if he had been standing in direct sunlight. Well almost.

She walked through the office and out the back door, then down the stairs to Jake's apartment. "He's out there, just as expected," she told no one in particular as she joined her mother, Henry and Jake in his apartment.

"Okay, so we're on," Jake said. "Need to rest at all?"

"No, I'm immortal, remember?"

"Well, not exactly, but close. Still, you might want to eat something."

"Dah, Natasha, you must eat. It will help you to concentrate."

Tasha accepted a plate of food from her mother, and, though she didn't think she'd be able to eat, she cleaned her plate and went back for seconds.

They hung around, waiting for a later hour when their chances of anyone being around was at a minimum. But the wait was tortuous.

Finally the hour of action arrived. "It's time," Jake said without preamble. They all took up the earpieces that Gil had provided for them and placed them in their ears. They patted themselves, checking pockets, sleeves, pant legs, as they made sure the weapons they had were secured. Henry stood by quietly and watched.

Everyone quietly left Jake's apartment. Before Jake could lead Anna out of the apartment, Anna turned and gave her daughter a hug and a kiss on her cheek. She could not speak, but Tasha knew her mother was frightened for her, and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"Give us thirty minutes to get there and set up, then give me a call. You won't be in radio range almost until you get on sight. You set?"

"Yep, let's get this over with."

Jake looked up at his Alpha.

"Be careful, Jake," was all he said.

Jake gave Tasha's upper arm a gentle squeeze. Tasha couldn't resist. If this were the last time she should see Jake, well, she wanted it to count. She lifted her face to his and kissed him on the mouth.

Jake pulled away first. He looked down at Tasha, a smile playing at his lips. He didn't say anything. He smiled his goodby before he and Anna turned and closed the door behind them.

Henry eyed Tasha with a mild curiosity but they sat in the silence, neither saying a word, and waited.
Chapter 30

Tasha left Henry at Jake's. They all voted that he should stay completely out of it in case everything went wrong. She drove to the garden and parked her car in the spot that Jake had indicated. The street lamp above had been shot out and had not been repaired as yet. She took a deep breath, tucked her phone into the front pocket of her coat, stepped out of the car and shut the door. She looked about her and saw nothing, but the sound of the rattle-trap landscaping van could be heard puttering up the street, heading towards her position. She saw the van pass on the street, driving past her location, but once Tasha had stepped up onto the community garden grounds, she heard it park and shut off. She looked around again, took her time taking the phone out of her pocket, making a show of making a call. Though Jake was on speed dial, she still took the time to dial his number. He picked up instantly. "I'm here. So is Roberts." She put the phone back in her pocket before she began to walk.

She heard Avery in her ear. "I see you. Roberts is layin back, but he's mobile." Tasha didn't answer, but made her way around the large, tilled field that, come spring, would be green with new growth.

As she drew even with the berry bushes she heard the faint crunch of Robert's shoes on the gravel path. _He's not very good at this_ , she thought to herself. _Doesn't he know that a werewolf would hear him_?

Tasha passed through a vine-covered archway that led into the orchard. "Got ya," Gil said, and she could see his grin in her mind, which in turn made her grin herself. She passed through the orchard, her feet crunching through what few leaves the wind had left untouched on the orchard path.

She could hear the soft pads of Richards' progress; it sounded like he was at least trying to avoid the crunching of the leaves.

At one point, Tasha could smell Bob, one of Burly's bouncers, then Tom, the other bouncer. Even though she could smell them, she could not see them, and that lack of sight caused the loneliness of the bare orchard to creep in on her. _Keep it together, Natasha_ , she thought to herself.

Just when she thought she was going to scream from the silence she heard Avery say "I'm following him now. He's digging in his pockets, so be ready for anything." Tasha heard the clicks of mics being tapped in response, one, then two, until all eight individuals responded. Be ready, she thought to herself.

As she passed through another vine-covered archway, she heard Roberts picking up the pace. "This is it," Gil's voice sounded in her ear.

Tasha couldn't help it; she turned around to look at her nemesis, Richard Roberts. He flashed her a predatory smile that, even though friends surrounded her, sent her into a mild panic.

Tasha turned and picked up her own pace. She heard Roberts break into a run, and as soon as he did, so did she. "He's movin in," Gil said. Tasha turned to see Roberts gaining on her, so she ran faster.

"He's a lot faster than he looks," huffed Avery's voice.

"Move in closer, but he's got to catch her. It's no good unless he captures her." Jake's voice sounded strained.

Tasha knew that Roberts had to drag her back through the orchard and the garden to get her back to his van. She absently wondered what means he intended on using to subdue her, because, let's face it, she was supposed to be a big, strong werewolf.

The shot that ripped through her body took her by complete surprised, though it shouldn't have. She heard multiple curses over her ear-piece. She could taste silver in her mouth. She felt a searing pain in her shoulder. At least Burly was correct about one thing, Roberts wasn't going to kill her. Not yet anyway.

She faltered but continued to run. She was near the lake now. She could sense her compatriots surrounding her, all except Bob and Tom who were supposed to be headed back to Roberts' van.

Tasha stumbled, surprised that the loss of blood was causing her to head to spin so soon. No, there must have been something else on or in the bullet, she thought to herself. Wolfsbane, her mind told her. That must be some of that ancestral information Momma was talking about. She regained her footing, but not before Roberts had reached her. She could hear her mother cursing in Russian, and Jake telling her mother "not yet" over the ear-piece. She felt the bounty hunter's hand grab at her. She screamed, pulled away from his grasp, and ran some more but her strength was beginning to lag and her vision was blurring.

"There's another player," Gil's voice said.

"Go to plan B," Jake growled.

"He's coming in from the opposite side of the park. They're closing in on Tasha" Gil's voice was eerily calm.

"Take him out, man," urged Avery

"Not yet," Gil answered.

Tasha turned her head and saw another man coming towards her. She had nowhere to go, so she ducked her head and charged forward, intending to run right through the second individual coming at her.

She fell instead, a rope wrapped around her ankles. "Damn!" but before she could react further, everything began to go dim, then, complete blackness overtook her.

"Tasha!" was the chorus she did not here.

"I'm takin the shot," shouted Gil as he aimed his crossbow at the easiest target, which at that moment was Roberts. He didn't wait for confirmation. He let his arrow fly.

It found it's mark in Roberts' chest, but the wound was not mortal. "Missed" Gil spat as he took aim at his second target.

There was a sudden, blinding light that almost caused him to fall out of the tree. "What the hell!" he yelled as he grabbed for purchase,

"Can anyone see her?" Jake's voice was frantic.

"Can't see anything man," was Avery's response.

"Blinding spell" Burly said, with a curse. "It'll only last a few seconds."

"Tasha!" Anna called, no longer bothering to be quiet, but ran blindly through the bushes.

Mel came crashing through the underbrush nearer to the road than anyone else. "I can hear him, over here,"

"Damn, I can't see," Jake practically wailed, but began moving in the direction of Mel's big voice.

They all heard the roar of an engine and the squeal of tires about the time that their eyes were beginning to clear.

"Tasha," Jake groaned. He stumbled, caught himself and plowed on. He reached the street and saw Mel chasing after a work truck with metal tool bins along the side, a spool of electrical wire in the cargo bed. "Why didn't I see that?"

Jake took off at a run, Burly not far behind. The work truck went around a bend in the roadway and they lost sight of it. They heard a loud crash. Jake ran faster. When he rounded the bend that had blocked his view of the work truck, he saw the second player. Roberts' accomplice was an older man with wild gray hair. He was struggling to get out of the cab of his damaged truck. Another man, tall, black haired and naked was laying in the street. As Jake approached, the gray haired man tried to run, but only managing a quick, limping walk. Jake changed his trajectory in order to pursue the man, when the naked man rose to his feet, shook his head to clear it, and in heavily accented English said, "You get Natasha, I get gray man."

Jake, confused, nodded and ran towards the truck, yelling Tasha's name. No answer. Jake became frantic as he tore at the bins, but he found nothing but tools. He stopped. He had to get ahold of himself. It had been over a hundred years since he had felt this out of control. He breathed deeply. He could smell the smells associated with the electrical trade. Wire, plastic, a little oil. But where was Tasha?

Avery and Burly had finally caught up with him. "Where is she?" but Jake ignored the question.

"She's here, I can feel her, smell her." He bent to throw the spool of wire from the bed of the truck, but it held fast. "What the hell?"

"It's attached to the bed of the truck," Burly pointed to a bracket.

"The bed, it's got a false bottom," Avery murmured as he began examining the bed.

"You're right. Jake, get out, I'll bet this whole thing lifts up." Jake complied, but they couldn't find the latch that would allow the bed to lift.

Jake began to tear the bed apart, beginning with the wire spool. It came off without too much trouble. He tossed it to Avery, who staggered back as he caught it, thinking it would be heavy, but it was considerably light. "Its fake."

"Fake?" asked Burly as Avery tossed the foam replica over to him.

They both had to jump out of the way as Jake began pulling at the plywood bed. One final tug and it was free, revealing an unconscious Tasha in the shallow space beneath.

"Grab her!" Jake commanded as he held the plywood away from the prone woman. Being a large man, Burly shoved his way past Avery, grabbed Tasha as best he could and pulled her over onto his shoulder. He carried her to a grassy spot just off the black top and placed her gently down.

Jake let the plywood drop and he hopped out of the back of the truck and ran to the turf next to Tasha. He gently picked her up her shoulders and cradled her, checking for a pulse. He found one. He let out a breath. "She alive, just unconscious."

Avery took her limp hand. He muttered an ancient Mandarin phrase. "She's been drugged. She'll be okay."

"He's not hearing a word you say," Burly said wryly. He began to scan the area. "We have to get. We made quite a racket so the cops may be showing up soon. I'll get my boys, clean up the mess and get out of here. The less fae involved the better."

Avery released Tasha's hand, laying it over her stomach. He stood and looked at the truck. "I got this."

"Where's Anna?" Jake asked over his mic. "I figured she'd be here by now."

"She's here with me," Gil said, "standing guard over Roberts."

"He alive?"

"Yeah, but he seems to have cracked his head on her foot, so he's out of it for now."

Jake looked up to Burly. "Will you take care of Anna?"

Burly nodded. "I will take her to my place. It's probably best if she's no where around here when the police arrive." Burly keyed his microphone as he stood, "Has anyone found a naked guy? Tall, dark hair? Yes, I said naked."

"What are we going to tell the police?" Jake asked him.

"As close to the truth as we can," suggested Burly. "Some guy nabbed Tasha, hit something while trying to flee and took off. Who was that guy that was hit anyway? And why was he naked?"

"Don't know, but I thought I saw a very large animal running through the woods just ahead of me. Could have been him."

"A were-something?" asked Averey.

"Stranger things have happened."

"Hey," came Gil's voice over the mic. "How am I going to explain me being in the woods at just the right time with a cross bow?"

"Ah, there's just no time to fix the crime scene," Avery moaned.

Burly soothed. "Mel and I can fix this. I've just decided Gray Hair is the shooter."

Once everything was set and all non-essential parties were gone from the scene, Avery called the police as well as an ambulance. It wasn't long before a police car rolled up to their position and Avery and Jake both pocketed their earpieces, Jake taking Tasha's out of her ear as well.

"I'm Detective Avery Chen," he said as he lifted both hands in the air, one hand holding his badge. "Were is the ambulance I called for? And do you got backup on the way?" Avery asked.

Before the officer could respond, Avery jumped into explanations.

"Yeah, well we've got two possible kidnappers. One shot the other with a crossbow. That suspect is on the run, I just stopped to make sure that the kidnap victim, which is this young lady right here, is okay. I'm on my way to apprehend him. The other suspect, the one that was shot, is in the park. Detective Marshal is there with him.

Gil came sauntering onto the street, "Hey, you got an ambulance coming? Cuz we've got a guy down over here."

The ambulance pulled up but Jake remained at Tasha's side while Avery went into a very animated explanation of events for the policeman. "It was crazy. This woman here, her name is Natasha, she's a friend of mine. This guy is Jake, he's her boss, also a friend of mine. She got this call from some guy, I don't know what the heck she was thinkin' but she came out here to meet him. Well, Jake and I we didn't want her comin out here by herself, you know, with a crazy killer on the loose. Well, we pulled up, but no Tasha. We went in to try to find her, when we hear all this commotion and ran up to find this crazy gray haired man with a crossbow. We ducked down, because we didn't know what was goin on. Well, the guy without the crossbow, he grabbed Tasha here, tied her all up, and drugged her but the gray haired guy shot him, and he nabbed Tasha and took off. When we got out to the street he was already on the road but that gray haired guy he hit, somethin, I didn't see what because we were still around that little bend up there, but before we could get to that gray haired guy he took off. Craziest damn thing I ever saw!"

Jake just smiled at his friend. We might just pull this off, he thought to himself.
Chapter 31

Jake made sure Tasha was belted in before he closed the passenger door of his truck. He got into the driver's side and pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Jake, I'm fine. I have a headache, and my shoulder hurts but I just would really like to go home."

"We've got to make a detour first."

"Where?"

"Burly's. Your mother is there."

"Why didn't someone bring her to the hospital? She must be crazy with worry."

Jake smiled. "She is worried, but not crazy. Something came up that has her attention right now."

"Jake?"

"Not saying a word."

They drove in silence. Not that she was ready to talk yet. She was still shaking from her ordeal with the bounty hunters.

They walked into Burly's pub. It was empty for all but their associates.

Anna rushed to her and wrapped Tasha in a strong hug that squeezed the breath out of her. "Oh, my darling! Are you okay?"

"Dr. Wyatt says I'll be fine."

"Oh, I've been so worried. Ach, look at your poor face, it's all scratched up. From that horrible man tripping you, eh?" Tasha nodded. "Ach, oh well, you are still beautiful and you will heal quickly. Now, I have someone to show you." Anna led Tasha to a corner area, where Burly was sitting across from a tall man with shaggy black hair and gray eyes.

Tasha stopped short. She knew him. The tingle in her gut was buzzing uncontrollably the nearer she got to him. "You are the one who has the location spell on me."

He nodded once. "Dah." He stood. He wore sweat pants that rode high above his ankles and a hooded jacket with sleeves that hit him above his wrists. He was barefoot. "You are my Natasha." It was not a question.

She nodded dumbly. "Natasha," her mother was choking with tears. "This is your papa."

She nodded again, unable to speak. She knew who he was. She saw his resemblance in her mirror every day.

The tall man took her in his arms. It was the best hug she'd ever had. "I, I thought you were dead," she finally managed, muffled, as her face was pressed closely to his chest.

"Dah, me too. It is long story, but while in prison I met a guard. He was known to me. He helped me escape from the prison, but he was killed in process. He is big man, like me, with the dark hair. I am pretending to be him when officials come. They say I am dead, so I let it be. I ran and hid for time, then decided to come to America, to find my family. But before I can come, this crazy bounty hunter, he is looking for me. He is bad man. He is also part fae. Not a lot, just enough fae in him to make him crazy good hunter. I decide that I am going to look for him, to kill him before he kills me but he vanished.

"I fear he is looking for you, so I come quick to America. I search for years, but Anna is good at hiding. So I do spell that my Mother taught to me. You are mine and I am yours, so the spell of the location will work. But it does not work for long time. Then, all of a sudden, I feel your pull, like the light is turning on."

"Momma's spell blocked yours."

"Dah. But I find you. I also find that the crazy hunter man is tracking you."

"The man with the gray hair?" Jake asked.

"Just so," Yuri answered. "I am wondering why you do not know this one?"

There was a tone of accusation in Yuri's voice.

Jake shrugged. "I never saw him, had no idea he was tracking Tasha as well."

Yuri sat in quiet contemplation for a moment his narrowed gaze directed at Jake. Finally, he nodded his assent, but the narrowed gaze remained. "Dah, he is very clever, as I have said. But I am more clever that he, because gray haired bounty hunter does not know that I am on his trail. I wait before I take down the gray man, because there is another man with him."

"Roberts." Tasha said.

"So you say. I know you are with this wolf, and your mother is allowing this, so I figure you are safe for time. I decide to lay back, to bide time."

"What happened to the gray man?" Jake asked.

Yuri smiled a feral smile. "Police will find him, eventually. He had terrible accident while running away. He fall off tall wall, break his neck."

Jake smiled his feral smile in return. "What a shame."

####

The three wereleopards were seated on a comfortable sofa, that was situated with other sofas and chairs around a large circular fireplace that was tucked into a semi-secluded corner of Burly's pub, allowing Tasha and Yuri to get to know each other, Anna content in observing them. Jake smiled from the bar. He looked up as the pub's door was opened and Avery stepped through the doorway.

"Well, you're not gonna believe this," Avery said loudly as he walked through the door, Gil close on his heals. He stopped short when he saw Yuri talking animatedly with Tasha and Anna. "Hey, who's the new guy?"

"That story that can wait. Now, what am I not going to believe?"

"That guy that called Tasha out into the woods? Yeah, turns out he was the killer, or at least with the killer anyway. We won't know for sure until all of the evidence is in."

"You don't say."

"CSI unit went through his van. Found traces of blood from all three victims in there."

"Imagine that."

"Yes, and that Richard Roberts fellow is screamin about how he didn't do the actual killing, but some other guy with gray hair. Even if he didn't do the actually killing, he's still going to be charged as an accessory as well as kidnapping."

"Oh, I'm sure. So, what's with the other guy?" Jake asked one eyebrow raised.

"Well, you're not going to believe this either, but when we went through that truck we found these crazy claw like things that fit on your hands like gloves but with blades comin out of the knuckles. And what do you know? There were traces of all three of the victims' blood on 'em."

"Do tell. And what in heaven's name was the motive?"

"Well," Gil drawled sarcastically as he accepted a bottle of beer from Burly, "As far as we can tell, that Roberts guy was the master mind and the gray haired guy was the muscle. Their whole scheme was to expose an actual factual werewolf and then charge everyone money from television networks to newspapers to see this lycanthrope. Ol' Gray Hair wanted his pay off now, before the heat for the murders got too hot and when he didn't get it, he turned on Roberts, shot him with a crossbow and took the supposed werewolf from him. It's a shame really." Gil grinned his big goofy, infectious grin and took a long pull on the bottle.

Jake became serious. "Any idea why Roberts narrowed in on Tasha? And why he was thinking she was a werewolf?"

Avery nodded all seriousness, took a drink and said, "It was all that gray haired guy. He told Richards that his name was Bartholomew Verone, a master bounty hunter from Europe."

Jake indicated Yuri with a tilt of his head. "Yuri said he was quite good."

"Richards wasn't impressed. He said Verone made him do all the dirty work, except the killin part," Gil amended.

"Anyway, it would appear that Verone had been snoopin in the area for quite a while before he contacted Richards," Avery said.

"Really?" Burly grunted. "He must have been very good to not even leave a hint of what he was doing here."

"Roberts said that Verone was drawn here," Gil said skeptically.

"It's possible. This area is a haven of sorts and Yuri said he has a bit of faery in him," Jake said, shrugging.

Avery nodded, "That makes as much sense as anything else. Well, he just happened to see Tasha down at the Recorders office one day and I guess that's when the real hunt began." He glanced over at the three wereleopards sitting in the corner. His brow creased in a frown.

Jake chuckled. "That's Tasha's dad. He said this Verone guy has been tracking him for years."

"Well, that's the missing part then. He saw Tasha, saw the resemblance to her dad. Anyway, Verone searched out Richards and told Richards he had a line on a wereleopard but needed help capturing her."

"I thought Richards was looking for a werewolf, not leopard," Jake reminded them.

"Yeah, cuz Richards said there was no such thing as a wereleopard," Gil snorted. "So, he agreed to help Verone out only of pity because Verone didn't know what he was talking about. Verone led Richards straight to Tasha. Richards was stakin the place out when he witnessed one of your meat deliveries, Jake. That settled it as far a Richards was concerned. So, he began tracking Tasha in earnest."

"What was he waiting for? I mean, if he had her in his sights, why did he do all the killing first?" Burly asked incredulously.

"That was all for your friend over there I'm guessing," Gil said, using his bear bottle to point to Yuri. "Verone told Richards that he didn't want just Tasha, but her pack as well. They needed to find everyone she had changed."

Jake snorted. "So why was he killing those people then?"

Avery shook his head, "Richards told him that those three were part of Tasha's pack, and that was how they'd draw her and the rest of her pack out. They knew we were there at the park, Jake. They were counting on us being there."

Jake stared at Avery. "No way. I supposed Richards was willing to take us all on?"

"Richards was thinking if he had the alpha, the rest of us would fall in line. However, I don't think he counted on there being so many of us."

Jake shook his head.

Gil began to laugh. "You should have seen him when he came to. He was already upset, but when I identified myself as the police, he just about peed himself. When Avery and I began to question him, he was afraid of us. He actually thought we were both werewolves and he cooperated just so we wouldn't change him."

"So," Burly interrupted, "Verone killed those three people just to lead Richards on?"

Gil and Avery both nodded. "Evidently," Avery answered.

"What a waste." Burly ground out. "And he was probably going to use Tasha to get Yuri."

"Yeah, but I'm sure he didn't want Richards in on that," Gil said, "because then he'd have to share the bounty."

"Meanwhile, what's going to happen to Richards? I mean, he can't possibly begin to hope that using a werewolf defense is going to help his cause any?"

Avery shook his head, "Don't know. Captain says his attorney will probably try an insanity plea, because, come on, everyone knows there's no such thing as werewolves," he smiled at Jake.

Jake raised his bottle in salute.

"Jake, I think I'm going to retire." Tasha called out from the sofa.

"Good. I don't think I can handle you being in on any further investigations. You simply cause too much trouble, girl. I'll want your resignation letter on my desk by tomorrow. Well, today."

Tasha frowned. "You serious?"

"Yep. No more for you."

"But Jake, I was joking. I can't leave you."

"Good, you don't have to."

"I'm hired back?"

"Nope." Jake took a long pull from his beer. He looked down at the bottle, swirling it absently, causing the dark amber liquid to slosh up the sides. He sat the beer down and faced Tasha, all seriousness. "Tasha, I thought I lost you tonight. I'm not going to let one more day go by without asking you to be my wife."

Tasha sat, stunned. A smile slowly crept over her face. Her father looked at her with wide eyes then narrowed those eyes as he turned his attention to Jake.

"If it's okay with your folks, that is," Jake amended.

Yuri looked at Anna. She smiled up at him. "Wolf boy is being okay. There is not being with the funny business," Anna soothed her husband.

"Jake, I, are you serious?"

"I am,"

"Girl, why you taking so long?" asked Avery, "We all know you love him."

"I do," Tasha agreed. "Yes, I do love him. However only on one condition, Jake Wolf." She said as she stood and slowly stalked over to him.

"No, no conditions." Jake smiled.

"You can't fire me. Ever." Tasha took the lapels of his jacket in both hands.

"I don't know if I can promise that," Jake was serious, "but we can talk about it."

"What?" Tasha cried indignantly.

"I said, I don't know if I can promise to never fire you. But you will be with me for the rest of my days. Or yours, or whatever." He grinned down at her.

"Alright then. I can agree to that."

They kissed.

The end.

