A stern-faced man with eyes a shade lighter than Enzo’s awaited us on the porch of a pale-blue clapboard house. His crisp slacks defied humidity, and he wore a button-down shirt fastened at the wrists despite the heat. The house itself was the centerpiece of a bizarre garden divided into four distinct quadrants.

Decorative flowering plants adorned the area to my right, their zone tidy and pruned. Herbs grew wild on the left but managed to be at once inviting and forbidden. The rear of the house boasted a vegetable garden sprawling lush and plump. Its opposite was a massive square pond overflowing with water lilies, hyacinths and cabbage-like pistia plants.

“Adele,” Miguel greeted her. “It’s a pleasure to see you again so soon.” He reached behind him where a rocker sat and lifted a pink cotton bathrobe as though expecting us. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” She stepped up, let him help her into it and tied it on her way back to me. “Your house, your rules.”

“Agent Ellis.” His greeting for me rang cooler. “Come inside, won’t you?”

The wolf gave me a nudge to get me moving. He was acting more coherent, more human, by the hour. I hoped that was a good sign.

Inside the house was as strange as the outside. Most of the living space was what you’d expect, but the books weren’t light reading. The tomes gracing his shelves were thick, leather-bound. Crystals reflected rainbows in the windows. Bone sculptures took up table space, and elegant taxidermy brought a bleak air to the room.

“Have a seat.” He took one of the two chairs positioned opposite a couch. “Tell me what brings you so far from home.”

Enzo waited until Dell had plopped down on the couch before claiming the other chair. Left the only one standing, I sat beside Dell, and Graeson came to rest at my feet, his tail curled around my ankles. All this Miguel watched with detached interest.

“She wants to find the mermaid.” Enzo dropped my bracelet into his brother’s hand. “I told her we could help, assuming you two can settle on a price.”

Miguel rolled the beads between his fingers. “What business do you have with the girl?”

“She was abducted from the scene in Abbeville.”

“I see.” He studied the etchings on each sphere through narrowed eyes. “Is this personal or professional?”

“Both.” Hoping it might sway him, I added, “She’s a friend.”

“We can find her.” He closed his fist and sat back. “The closer she is, the easier it is.”

I scooted to the edge of my cushion. “Does that mean she’s nearby?”

A ghost of a smile shadowed his features. “What are you willing to offer me in exchange for this information?”

“I assumed there was a set price.” Graeson had told me their help was expensive, but not what it cost.