We all turned to the alpha of the rats. He’d been so quiet, I had forgotten he was there.
“It’s a wolf,” he said. “I didn’t get a scent because the odor of blood was too thick, but I was close enough to see the wounds in detail. Mulradin had fought back. He must’ve grabbed at his attacker, because I saw fur stuck to his bloody hands. Wolf fur.”
Jennifer glared at him. It was like flicking a match at a glacier. Robert remained unperturbed.
“We need to find the killer before the deadline is up,” I said before she could freak out again. If we had the killer in custody, there was still a chance to defuse the situation.
“If he or she still lives,” Jim said.
Good point. If I were Hugh, I’d kill this wolf to make sure we couldn’t turn him or her over.
“And should we find this person, what will happen?” Robert said.
The question was asked in a mild tone, but I got the feeling a lot rode on how I answered.
“If the killer is apprehended, an investigation will be conducted within the Pack,” I said.
“And if found guilty?” Robert persisted.
“Robert, what are you really asking?”
Robert paused. “I’m asking about custody.”
“I have no intention of giving the People one of our Pack members for their burn-a-shapeshifter-alive party,” I said. “We don’t roll over when they stomp their feet. But we need to find whoever is responsible. We can’t act until we know what happened.”
“We need to examine the crime scene,” Jim said. “The body didn’t smell of wolfsbane.”
Wolfsbane was used to obscure the scent trail. Once a shapeshifter smelled it, even the best tracker would dissolve into sneezing fits. No wolfsbane meant a slight possibility that somewhere an intact crime scene waited for us and shapeshifters could read its scents like an open book.
“We don’t even know a crime scene exists,” Robert said. “They could’ve set it on fire.”
“No, it exists,” Barabas said.
“D’Ambray likes games,” Derek said. “He wants us to play.”
If there was a crime scene, where could it be? The blood on Mulradin’s body was fresh. “Desandra? Did you get an idea of how long he’s been dead?”
“I’d say less than two hours,” she said.
Jim nodded. “That sounds about right, but it would put Mulradin in the Casino at the time of death.”
My nose had six million olfactory receptors. A wolf’s nose had two hundred and eighty million. If Desandra said he had been dead a couple of hours, I was inclined to believe her, but there was no way a shapeshifter had walked into the Casino, murdered Mulradin, and walked out. I turned to Jim. “Are you sure he was in the Casino?”
“Yes,” Jim said. “Ghastek and Mulradin switch off supervising, so that one of them is at the Casino at all times. Ghastek was at the Conclave, so Mulradin had the evening shift. He wouldn’t have left the Casino.”
“Not necessarily,” Robert said quietly.
Jim turned to him.
“Two weeks ago I got a report that one of my people saw him outside when he was supposed to be on call,” the wererat said.
“Where?” I asked.
“The Warren,” Robert said. “My scout saw Mulradin go into a building, but was unable to follow up because he had a different objective that night.”
“And were you planning on sharing that with the class?” Jim asked.
“There are a number of things the class chose not to share with us,” Robert said.
Clearly there was some tension there. “Which building in the Warren?” I asked.
“The scout didn’t specify.”
That narrowed it down about as much as pointing out which of the haystacks had the needle hidden in it. When magic wrecked Atlanta, it had stomped on the Warren, crushing entire streets. Anyone who could have moved, did. Now the Warren consisted of slums, populated by the destitute, criminals, and street kids, and it was huge.
“Can we ask the scout to narrow it down?” I asked.
Robert looked slightly uncomfortable. “Yes. But he’s at an observation post.”
“Where?” Please don’t say in the People’s territory.
“The People’s territory.”
This was not my night.
“Phone line?” I asked.
Robert shook his head.
Of course. The phone probably wouldn’t have worked with the magic up anyway. “I’ll need a small strike team to go in with me to find the observation post.”
“No,” Jim said. “You can’t go.”
“Overruled,” I told him.
“Kate!”
“Last time I checked I was in charge. Would you like to challenge me to settle this?”
Jim scowled at me.
“Very scary, but I’m still in charge. Robert, where is the observation post?”
“On Centennial Drive.”
You’ve got to be kidding me. “On Centennial Drive? Across from the Casino?”
Robert nodded.
Great. Sneak into the People’s territory, while Hugh has every vampire in Atlanta looking for anything with a tail or a saber, find a wererat who wanted to stay hidden, which was pretty much impossible, and then hightail it over to the Warren. Piece of cake. Let me just get my invisibility cloak and a teleportation device . . .
“With all due respect, Consort, you’ll never find the observation post,” Robert said. “And even if you did, my scout won’t speak to you.”
“Will you come with me?”
Robert nodded. “Yes.”
“We have enough people to get you there,” Barabas said. “We could go in force.”
“No. The idea is to sneak in and out. If we go in with a large group, we’ll fail. First, we’ll be more conspicuous. We might as well hook ourselves up with a neon sign that says ‘Target here. Bite to kill.’ Second, if we bring the numbers, they’ll view it as an invasion of their territory. Third, if we do encounter any vampires, the plan will be to run and hide to minimize any damage, not fight them off. No, we go in with a small group and whoever comes with us will keep their human skins on.”
“That bastard planned this whole thing,” Jim said. “He was gloating. There will be a trap at the crime scene.”
“Most likely. Which is why I have to go.” Of all of us, I had the best chances of surviving a meeting with Hugh and getting our people away alive.
“You seem very sure of that,” Jennifer said. “Maybe this whole thing was a coincidence. This d’Ambray came down to inspect the People, looked for the man in charge, couldn’t find him, and discovered the murder.”
Oh shut up. “Whatever his motivations are, we must get to the crime scene. This matter isn’t up for discussion.” I raised my foot and deliberately stomped on the bridge. “This is my foot. I put it down. Deal with it.”
They all looked at me.
“No more objections. Just help me get there and get out alive.”
“I’ll come,” Jim said.
“I need you to initiate the siege protocol.” Under siege protocol, every shapeshifter in the city would be pulled into the Keep. Those in the nearest towns would be advised to evacuate to the Wood, a huge forest up north.
“Barabas can do it.”
Curran was gone, I was gone, and now Jim would be gone. How about no? How about for once in their lives, the Pack just did what I told it to do? “The Pack Council might need someone with direct knowledge of the incident and experience with running things.” And I didn’t want Jennifer to be the sole voice reporting what had happened.