“Friend? Hope you don’t mean a guy. Only one thing they want if they ask you to meet them at a van in the woods.” He huffed. “It ain’t right. No friend of yours ought to drag you out here in the middle of the damn night.”

Smothering a grin at the human working himself into a protective frenzy over me, I took pity on his conscience and removed my ID from the purse slung over my shoulder. I flipped open the wallet and presented my badge, which was enchanted to appear to him as what he expected to see, whether that meant local law enforcement or a government agency. Still wary, he pulled a flashlight out of his console and swept it down the side of the van, illuminating the seal of the local marshal’s office, which was also glamoured to meet his expectations.

“I guess you can take care of yourself, huh?” He squinted at the badge one last time. “You keep my number, all right? I’m on the clock until six this morning. If you run into any trouble, you give me a call.”

“I will,” I promised, stepping back to give him room to execute a three-point turn.

His hand twisted in a slight wave, and he was gone.

Night sounds creeped over me as I stood, allowing my eyes to adjust to the gloom. That the noise and light from the cab hadn’t brought Harlow running wasn’t a great sign. I crossed to the van and found it empty, as expected. I checked the handle. The door was unlocked. I used the step and braced a knee on the front seat to get a look around. A pair of lime-green skate shoes sat on the front passenger seat, but her cellphone was nowhere in sight. I peered into the night through the windshield.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

My head popped up and smacked the ceiling of the van. Rubbing the sore spot, I climbed out and slammed the door hard enough the vehicle rocked. Graeson stood cloaked in shadow.

“What’s wrong?” I grimaced. “Afraid Charybdis might nab me before you get the chance to toss me at him?”

Graeson stepped from the trees into the parking lot, and moonlight kissed his bare skin. He was naked. Fully nude. Not a scrap of clothes on him. I’m not proud of how long I struggled to drag my focus from his navel to his gaze. A few inches lower, and I would never be able to make eye contact with the man again.

“My plan involves a team operating in a controlled environment where you’re kept perfectly safe, not rushing into the unknown without backup.” Another step closer. “I would never allow you to be harmed. Not even to capture him.”

Except he already had, whether he knew it or not, by pretending to be interested when all the while he was sizing me up for other reasons.

“You seem to have lost your clothes,” I pointed out, voice higher than usual.