“And when did you get here?”
“About three weeks ago.” She grunted. “Trevor immediately got in trouble at school for bad behavior. He was changing into a butterfly during class and the teachers were having none of it. I tried to explain that it was the stress of the move, but they refused to listen.”
“He was changing form?”
She nodded and took another sip of blood. “I assumed there’d be some repercussions from the move, but I didn’t expect it to be spontaneous shape-changing.”
“What made you think it was stress? Has he done it before?”
“No, never. I mean, he’s always been able to transform, which his father and I were surprised by because neither of us can do it and—I don’t know how much you know about vampires—but that ability is genetic.”
“Did you take him to see a healer?”
“I did, as a matter of fact, and the healer’s the one who identified stress as the cause. Trevor swore up and down he wasn’t doing it on purpose.”
“What time do you expect him home?”
She cocked her head. “You want to speak to my son?”
I nodded. “I have a few questions that I think only he can answer.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “You said he wasn’t in any trouble.”
“He isn’t, but he might be able to help my investigation.”
She sipped her blood. “That’d be a nice change. Trevor helping someone other than himself. Might be a good experience for him.”
The sound of the front door prompted a smile from her. “Perfect. Here he is now.”
Trevor didn’t appear to be the troublemaker his mother claimed. In fact, with his boy-next-door good looks, he reminded me of a catalogue model.
“Trevor, this is London Hayes from the Knights of Boudica.”
Trevor’s gaze traveled over me. “Why are you a knight? Nobody wanted to marry you?”
“You have a very binary perception of women.”
His mother clutched her bottle of blood to her chest. “Why don’t I leave the two of you alone to talk?” She hurried out of the room.
“I’d like to ask you a few questions about your move from Devon.”
His brown eyes glittered with curiosity and intelligence. A combination like that was definitely dangerous in the wrong teenager.
“What’s in it for me?”
Naturally. “The opportunity to help the greater good.”
He laughed. “No, seriously.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Answer the questions because I ask them, Trevor. I don’t want to have to resort to threats of violence.”
He wore a half smile. “You sort of just did. Clever.”
I stayed the course, despite wanting to throttle him. I was beginning to grasp his mother’s description. “Tell me about your transformation trouble.”
His jaw clenched. “My mother told you about that? That’s personal.”
I ignored him. “When did it stop?”
He squinted at me. “What makes you think it did?”
“I’m going to guess it started right before you left Devon and stopped about a week ago.”
Silence stretched between us. Finally he said, “Sounds about right. Is there something you can tell me about that?”
“You left Devon with a souvenir. Where is it now?”
“I left with an entire collection of souvenirs.”
“This one’s a stone the size of your foot. Has markings on it.”
He balked. “How do you know about that?”
I crossed my arms and stared at him. “Just answer.”
He flopped on the sofa in a huff. “I kept it in my schoolbag, but the day I got sent home for improper transformation, I stopped at a pub on my way home for a pint. I only turned my back for a second and somebody nicked my bag.”
“Any idea who?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t see.”
“Was the pub called The Crown?”
He gave me a wide-eyed look. “Yeah, it was. Did you find my bag?”
“No. Where did you find the stone?”
“Some fancy house where humans have no business living. The wall had caved in after a storm and my friends and I went to check it out. I saw the stone and took it.”
“There were lots of stones. Why that one?”
He shrugged. “Like you said, it had cool carvings on it. Two snakes twisted together. My parents had already told me we were moving—that’s why I was out with my friends commiserating. I took it as a memento.”
“And that’s when you started having trouble transforming into a butterfly.”
“Yeah, it’s a cool ability to have. Not all vampires can do it, you know? And suddenly I was getting stuck or changing when I didn’t want to.” He studied me. “Did the stone do that to me?”
“I think so. That’s why I need to find it. It’s been hurting others with shifting abilities. There’s a fox in the neighborhood that’s been getting into the garbage.”
“So what?”
“It’s not just a fox. It’s your missing neighbor, a fox shifter named Kari.”
“Why didn’t she transform back when I lost the stone?”
Why didn’t all vampires within range of the stone turn into butterflies like Trevor did? Lots of questions. Very few answers.
“I don’t know. The stone doesn’t seem to impact everybody in the exact same way, but Kari’s parents have been worried sick and poor Kari is currently hiding up a tree in Mr. Latham’s backyard.”
He dug a toe into the depths of a thick rug. “What do I care about some shifter?”
“Nothing, I suppose.” I rose to my feet. “But I can’t knowingly let someone else suffer if I have the ability to help them.”
He observed me out of the corner of his eye. “It kind of hurt when I was stuck in my butterfly form. Has she been stuck like a fox this whole time?”
“Ever since you moved in. The neighbor saw her foaming at the mouth. He thought she was rabid and would’ve killed her.”
His gaze dropped to the floor. “Shit.” He looked up at me. “What can I do?”
“What else was in the bag? Anything of value?” Anything I could track like a phone?
“Just books for school.”
It was just as well. The odds of the stone still being in the schoolbag were slim to none. Whoever had the stone now likely figured out it had power and moved it elsewhere.
“Thank you for answering my questions, Trevor. You’ve been incredibly helpful.”
A smile inched across his face. “Cool.”
I returned next-door and bypassed Gerald’s buzzer to hit the one for 2A.
A voice crackled through the speaker. “Who’s there?”
“Hi, my name is London Hayes with the Knights of Boudica. We met recently by your rubbish bins. I told you about the fox.”
The door clicked and I pushed it open, heading straight for the stairs. The woman was waiting for me outside her door. She ushered me inside hurriedly.
“You have news?”
“Yes, but first I need you to come clean. You know where Kari is, don’t you?”
She hesitated. “Yes.”
“And you know she’s the fox we found in your bins.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she offered a crisp nod.
“Why not tell your husband? Wouldn’t it make him feel better to know his daughter is safe?”