While I sat on the dock and watched, Jenks and Ivy wiped the boat free of fingerprints under the pretense of cleaning it. Snapping the weather tarps into place as they went, they worked their way from the bow to the stern, eliminating every shred of easily traced evidence that we had been in it. Jenks was the last to leave, vaulting to the dock to land beside me in a show of athletic grace that made Ivy’s eyes widen in appreciation.

“Got your people legs, I see,” she murmured, then grabbed one end of the tarp. Jenks grinned, and looking as if the rolled up tarp weighed no more than a cooler, the two of them headed for the van. I trailed behind, sullen and bad tempered. I had been up nearly twenty-four hours, and I was tired and hungry. If one of them tried to put a leash on me, I was going to take that someone down.

Jenks quickened his pace after they reached the gravel parking lot, in a good mood despite having missed his afternoon nap. “How did you know we might show up here?” he said as he dropped his end of the bundle and slid the side door to the van open with a harsh scraping sound.

“Dad!” Jax shrilled, exploding out to make circles about us. “How did it go? Where’s Nick? Did you see him? Is he dead? Oh wow! Ms. Morgan is a wolf!”

“Ah,” Jenks said, “we got him. He’s in the shower. He stinks.”

I went to jump into the van, stopping when Rex took one look at me, swelled into an orange puffball, and vanished in a streak of common sense under the front seat. Poor kitty. Thinks I’m going to eat her.

“Hey, Ms. Morgan!” the little pixy said, landing on my head until I flicked my ears at him. “Nick is going to be mad. Wait until you see what Ivy brought.”

Jenks frowned. “That’s Ms. Tamwood, son,” he said, unloading the tarp into the van.

Jax flitted into the van, darting among the belongings we’d shoved in pell-mell earlier. The small pixy flitted to the floor and in a high voice tried to coax Rex out, using himself as bait. I sat in the sun and watched, mildly concerned that no one was stopping him. I wanted a pair of shorts and a shirt so I could change too, but I was in a hurry and figured I could change in the van behind the curtain. Jax had turned his efforts to get Rex out to obnoxious clicks and whistles, and it hurt my head.

Ivy yanked open the driver’s side door and got in, leaving it ajar to let the cool afternoon breeze shift the tips of her hair. “You want to take Nick to Canada before you head home, or are you going to just cut him loose?”

I made a sick face, but seeing as I was a wolf, it probably looked like I was going to hawk up a bird. It wasn’t that simple anymore, but I had to change before I could explain. The van smelled like witch, pixy, and Ivy, and I didn’t want to get in until I had to. I could see my suitcase, but opening it was a different matter.