The sound of retching. Something the guy had been holding had made Gary sick to look at it.

“What the fuck are those?”

“Werewolf eyes. You know what that means? I can see that the artifact has been here. Hand it over, and I’ll kill you quick.”

“You’re out of your damn mind. Get out.” Gary’s voice trembled. It wouldn’t be perceptible to most people, but I knew him. He’d been afraid. My hands fisted.

“Your choice. I’ll kill you, destroy this sad excuse for a store and take it from you.”

Gary growled, but the sounds he was making quickly turned into screams. A pained moan escaped Cil’s throat, and I shot to my feet.

“End it. Now.”

Gloria didn’t argue. Cil jolted and his eyes lost their distance. I crouched in front of him.

“You were very brave. I’m sorry you had to hear that again. Is there anything else you guys want to tell me?”

Cil glanced at Zip and then back at me. Then he shook his head. I sighed. The kids knew something else, but they weren’t saying. All I could do was give them time and keep asking.

“What will you do now?” Evie’s voice was low as I got to my feet. Samael was by the door, murmuring to Bael, who’d entered at some point while Cil was under Gloria’s spell. The witch packed up the last of her things and left without another word.

“If what that guy said is true, the werewolf alpha has a dead werewolf on his hands, and that werewolf is missing his eyes.” The wolves had their own morgue and prosecuted their own crimes. “I need to talk to him and see if that werewolf can lead us to his murderers.”

Evie got to her feet. “I’m going with you.”

I frowned. “I thought you’d want to stay with the kids.”

Evie shrugged. “I have to go. I can’t explain why, but I just have a feeling.”

We’d both been raised not to ignore our gut instincts. “Okay.”

Samael finished up his conversation with Bael and stalked over to me. He leaned close while Evie packed up her things, his breath warm on the shell of my ear. I shivered.

“When you speak to the alpha, remember how it felt when I was deep inside you, bounty hunter.”

Bounty hunter. He was pissed. Pissed and… jealous? I eyed him.

“Don’t be gross, dude. Do we need to have an awkward conversation?”

He merely reached for my hand. I allowed it, until he had the audacity to run his hands over the gold mark his bond had etched into my skin. I stiffened and yanked my hand back, giving him my death glare.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t curl up in a ball and beg for mercy. He simply gave me a long look. “Remember who you belong to.”