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was right, she needed someone to feed Rylan, and she needed Rylan in case
something went horribly wrong.
    “We’ll follow you in our own car.” She tugged her hand back,
immediately missing his warmth, and turned to face the witch. “Do you have any
files on the case?”
    “Case?” The witch narrowed her eyes, their color bleeding to
black as her magic rose.
    Shadows began to dance in those eyes, and Raven took care
not to look too deeply lest she be sucked under their sway. Tortured souls
haunted those dark orbs, just waiting for the unwary to peer too closely so
they could ensnare them. “I assume there’s a reason you demanded my services.”
    She and the witch both eyed each other, looking for
weaknesses.
    Power and grim resolve stared back at Raven. The witch’s black
hair was scraped back, her light coffee-colored skin pale, the wrinkles daring
to crowd the corners of her eyes were more pronounced. None of it detracted
from her exotic appeal.
    At the slight tilt of her head, one of the witch’s followers
presented Raven with a slim folder. A quick glance showed less than a handful of
pages.
    “If you’re finished making demands, we must get back.” The
witch turned in a swirl of multicolored skirts, the rippling fabric betraying
her agitation for a few seconds. She and the two others headed toward the door
without another word.
    When Raven moved to follow, Rylan stepped into her path. He
was whipcord thin and elegantly dressed, never a hair out of place, but she’d
lay odds on him in a fight every time. There was a ruthlessness in him, a
determination to survive at any cost that most people dismissed because of his
easy manners.
    A mistake.
    He had an ungodly amount of power, enough to conceal his
otherworldliness so others often mistook him for newly turned or just plain human.
Though he stared at her, his words were directed toward Durant. “I will be
there at sundown. Please see if you can keep her out of trouble until then.”
    Raven would have protested, but in truth, she had run into
more than her share of complications in recent weeks.
    Durant gave a stiff nod, his eyes narrowing in displeasure
at being told how to do his job.
    Rylan kissed her forehead, turned abruptly and followed the
witches out the door. She would have been flustered by the show of affection if
she hadn’t felt a hum of power encircle her.
    Testing how very little control she had left.
    She could tell the instant he vanished. The warm static he
carried around with him flattened out into nothing.
    Only then did she relax.
    She’d passed.
    This time.
    She smoothed out the slightly crumpled folder. She needed to
solve this case quickly…before that changed.

 Chapter Three
     
     
    DAY ONE: SUNRISE
    D urant
effortlessly guided his Aston Martin through the winding mountain roads. The
machine leapt forward with a smooth rumble, reminding her of his tiger
counterpart. He was one of the few shifters allowed to drive, a privilege
granted to only the elite…alphas and their enforcers.
    High emotions could trigger a change.
    Road rage took on a whole new meaning when someone could literally
grow fangs and claws.
    As the sun crested over the horizon, Raven read the file one
more time, unable to glean anything useful from the rubbish. “There’s nothing
in here.”
    Durant didn’t even bother to take his eyes off the road. “Did
you really think she’d just hand over information about her coven?”
    Actually, Raven had. She was tired, achy and now, very
cranky as well. “How the devil am I supposed to solve anything if I don’t know
what the hell’s going on?”
    “We’ll have to wait. They’ll only tell us what they think we
need to know.”
    Raven snorted. “You mean nothing?”
    “Exactly.” Durant didn’t smile. “What do you know about
witches?”
    “The older the witch, the more powerful, and the higher the
rank. Casting magic has a cost. The bigger the magic, the more you pay.” Her
lips curled in disgust.