Edgar woke as something pinched his foot, and cracked an eye open to see Benedict standing beside the hammock. Edgar would have killed him if he woke Ivy, who still slept with her face pressed against his neck, and scowled at Benedict in warning.
But his brother dropped his voice and retreated. "We have the appointment with Smith in an hour. We need to leave soon."
The lion grumbled as Ivy stirred, and Edgar waved Benedict away. "Call Smith to reschedule. We can meet him for lunch."
But Ivy lifted her head, groggy as she looked around with a frown. "What? Why are we rescheduling?"
"So the lazy kitty can take a nap," Benedict crooned, and tried to rub Edgar's stomach.
Edgar kicked at him. "Go away."
But the damage was done — Ivy floundered about, trying to get out of the hammock without falling on her face, and nearly dumped Edgar out in the process. She rubbed at her eyes, lines from his shirt still striating her cheek, and straightened her clothes. "An hour, you said? I need to get some of the files."
"We have time." Edgar scowled as Benedict winked and disappeared into the house, then yawned and eased out of the hammock. Part of him didn't want to take her to see Smith. The investigator would be able to find the guy she was looking for, and once her list was done, she would leave. If it took a little longer to find the guy, he could convince her to stay. Being around her was the most peaceful he'd felt in years.
But he had the car ready to go outside the house an hour later, a breakfast sandwich waiting for her along with more coffee, when Ivy reappeared with an accordion file. Benedict sat in the back and whistled tunelessly, then frowned as he watched Ivy approach. "Hope I'm not ruining your date, Eddie."
"Fuck off, Benedict."
Ivy jumped in the front seat before Benedict could respond or Edgar's mood could improve. He handed her the sandwich and waited for her to buckle up before putting the SUV in drive. She half-turned and gave Benedict the stink eye. "Why are you here?"
"I'm his lawyer," he said, and nodded at Edgar. "I keep him out of prison. For the most part."
"I've never been to prison," Edgar said under his breath.
"You've been to jail a couple of times." Benedict went back to whistling, waggling his eyebrows when Edgar looked at him in the rearview mirror.
Edgar prayed for patience, though the steering wheel creaked in his grip. "When does Eloise go to see Geralyn about violating her parole?"
Benedict made a face. "Next week. The old cougar needed a couple of days to cool off, she said."
Edgar snorted. "That's not a good sign."
"Tell me about it." The lawyer sighed dramatically and picked up his phone. "She likes bears, though. Think I can get Kaiser to take her on a date, charm her a bit so she's less pissed off?"
"You could try, but I'm guessing Kaiser's pretty pissed at Eloise as well, if she was running shifter blood through his gym."
Ivy frowned at him, then back at Benedict. "She was doing what?"
"Allegedly running shifter blood," the lawyer said, holding up his hand. "Allegedly."
Edgar rubbed his forehead and tried not to laugh. "The coyotes run some underground fights. They won't stop, even though they could join the Council if they went straight, but... Anyway. They allow humans in the fights against shifters, but the humans don't realize they're fighting shifters. They just think they're fighting 'roided up meatheads."
"Of which dear Sophia was one, brother. Don't say that in front of Atticus."
"Who was also fighting." Edgar shook his head when Ivy looked about to ask another question. "That's a much longer story. Some of the humans asked about how to get whatever it was the shifter fighters were on, and voila — a new industry springs up overnight. If the humans take a shot of shifter blood, mixed in with something else, they get a momentary boost. Super strength, super speed, super senses. All that."
The color drained from her face. "You can't be serious."
"It gets worse." Edgar took a deep breath. "The effects wear off after the fight and the humans come off the blood, but inevitably they want more. And the coyotes don't know if some of these clowns have taken enough to permanently change, because they're shitty criminals and don't keep records. They can't keep up with demand as some of these guys get hooked, so the coyotes have ... outsourced acquisition and distribution to others in the shifter community."
"And his girlfriend is selling shifter blood to humans?"
"She's my mate," Benedict said. "And these are all unfounded allegations. I object."
"You would." Edgar glanced at his phone as it beeped, silencing it, then turned into the garage near Smith's building. "But that doesn't mean it isn't true. Axel found a duffel bag full of the stuff in her locker at the gym. How more 'founded' can it get, dude?"
Benedict's irritation showed through as he scowled out the window and waved dismissively. "No locks on the lockers, asshole. And shouldn't we be more worried about what your girl has in those files?"
Edgar parked and kicked his door open without a word, going around to open Ivy's door with a tight smile. She eyed him but didn't say anything. It was a tense elevator ride up to Smith's office, Benedict pouting in the corner and Ivy fidgeting with her file folder next to him. Edgar flipped the car keys around his finger, tense and uneasy for no reason that he could understand, and managed a smile for Smith's receptionist.
She knew him by sight and immediately let the trio back to Smith's office. Ivy stumbled and Edgar slowed, took her arm. Felt better immediately as some of the tension eased in his chest. He shook Smith's hand as the older man rose from behind his desk. "Thanks for meeting with us."
"Always a pleasure, Edgar." The investigator studied Ivy closely but hid it well as he pressed her fingers with his, then shook Benedict's hand. "And you brought your lawyer, so I know it's not a social call."
Edgar cleared his throat and nudged Ivy toward one of the chairs closest to the desk, taking the one next to her and leaving Benedict to sit against the wall. "This is my friend Ivy. She's got a project and could use some help."
Smith nodded and arranged some of the papers on his desk so he could take notes. "I'm at your service, young lady."
And he waited. They all waited.
Ivy froze. Her arms tightened around the file folder and her mouth worked soundlessly. Color crept up her throat until her entire face flushed. Edgar sensed her rising panic and tried to head it off before his lion or her wolverine decided to end the meeting before it really began.
Edgar touched her arm to calm her down and leaned back in his chair. "While Ivy gathers her thoughts, can you fill me in on what you've found out so far from the Frasers?"
Smith didn't skip a beat, pulling a manila folder from inside the desk. "Of course. I sent one of my investigators up to Michigan to speak with the Fraziers and the rest of the shifter population that was involved in the incident. They were able to provide a location for the facility where the medical experiments took place, as well as blueprints for the facility itself. We've got more names now, more kids who went missing. We've located a few as simple runaways, but the majority are still ghosts in the wind."
The lion grumbled as Ivy went still and silent, getting small in her chair as she stared at Smith. Edgar stroked the back of her hand, wanting to drag her into his lap and hold her closer, but it was a business meeting, after all. Smith didn't comment, didn't slow or even seem to notice the girl's panicked breathing.
Smith tossed a few papers across the desk so Edgar could pick them up, and he tilted them so Ivy could see the surveillance photos as well. A pained keen escaped from between her teeth, but she only shook her head. Smith waited until Edgar nodded to go on. "We thought we'd narrowed down the main players in the set-up. Humans, all of them. Nine total. The Midwest shifters came closer to capturing at least four of them, but all the men — save one — have died in car wrecks, house fires, and hunting accidents."
Benedict leaned forward to slap Ivy's back. "Good job, champ."
Smith's eyebrows rose but he didn't ask. Edgar gestured for him to continue, and the investigator took a deep breath. "The last piece is still the most difficult. We're still looking for the financier and idea man. We thought there were two, but it turns out to be one man. So far he's beyond us, faceless and nameless. None of the records we were able to dig up identify the man. It may take more time, but we'll find him."
Edgar sighed, rubbing his shoulder, about to tell Smith they needed to turn the heat up when Ivy moved. She opened the file folder, the sound of rustling paper loud as a gunshot in the silent room. She pulled out a much-folded photograph and set it on the desk in front of Smith. She spoke only to him, an intensity in her eyes that almost made Edgar jealous. "His name is Markus Keller. He lives near here, I don't where. He's head of Keller Pharmaceuticals."
Smith took the photograph, grainy and smudged, of a heavy-set man with a dark mustache and empty eyes.
Ivy's fist tightened around a scrap of newspaper, almost tearing it, but she smoothed it carefully and held it out to Smith. "They do a lot of research. They've made great strides in tissue regeneration. For burn victims." Her mouth twisted and her tone twisted with it, grew bitter and hard. "Tissue regeneration based on the shifter kids he stole and cut apart."
For once, Benedict sat speechless. Edgar would have enjoyed the silence if not for the subject matter and Ivy's gaze burning a hole through Smith's head.
The lawyer finally said, "That guy is... really powerful. He's got big friends. I don't think you can just cut the brake lines on his car, Ivy."
"I wasn't planning on it." Her eyes narrowed. "I have other plans for him. I want to take everything from him. Everything. His reputation, his family, his money, his company, everything he owns. And I want him to live long enough to know it's all gone, that I took it from him as partial payment on everything he took from us. I want him to suffer."
A chill ran through Edgar as he watched her, but he understood. If there had been someone to blame for Anna's death, he would have done exactly the same. Maybe worse.
The investigator cleared his throat and leaned his elbows on the desk. "You're one of his victims?"
"I'm a survivor," she said, fierce, and her hands clenched the arms of the chair. For a moment, her features sharpened and Edgar saw a hint of a wolf in her face.
Smith nodded. "Of course." He made a few notes, then picked up the photograph of Keller to study it closely. "Another human."
"There had to be a shifter helping them." Ivy stared at the paper in his hands. "There's no other way he could know where to find us. They hunted us down, killed packs and prides. It couldn't have been just humans."
"Believe me, I had the same thought." Smith ran a hand over his iron-gray hair and Edgar raised an eyebrow; that was the first time he'd ever seen the investigator fidget or groom. Ever. Smith shook his head. "We've found no records, no evidence to link the facility or the experiments to any shifters, either here or in the Midwest. And Sophia's family searched, with rather... draconian measures. If the perpetrator lived among them, the Fraziers would have found him."
"Which means the perpetrators are here," Benedict said slowly, taking a deep breath. "Maybe among us."
"No." Edgar wanted to break something. There couldn't be a traitor among them. "That's not possible."
"Anything is possible," Benedict said, echoing Carter from only the day before, and the urge to punch his brother returned.
Ivy caught Edgar's arm before he could follow through. Her voice sent shivers through him from head to toe. "But if he's here, then you're in charge of justice, right? You get to end it. You hunt him, you finish it. Isn't that worth something?"
Edgar didn't like it, but the possibility of taking his rage out on someone who really deserved it settled the lion. He squeezed her hand, and Ivy turned her attention back to Smith. "Do you know where Keller lives? Where he goes to the gym? Pattern of life?"
"I can get it easily." The man's voice turned grim and his eyes flashed silver, the pupils elongating. "Give me a day or two so we have a complete picture. I don't want to leave it longer. I'll have a packet for you late tomorrow."
"Thank you." Edgar stood, a touch uneasy with the sight of Smith losing his iron control. Edgar wasn't entirely certain what type of shifter Smith was, but he had to be both scary and old, given the way he moved in the world. Edgar stood to shake his hand. "We'll be back tomorrow."
"I'll bring it by the house, if that's acceptable." Smith didn't wait for Edgar to answer, instead gently taking Ivy's hand once more. "And if it is acceptable to you, young lady, I would very much like to be there when you dispose of this man."
She gripped his hand with more force, expression grim. "Of course. If he runs, we might need you to chase him down."
A hint of a smile touched Smith's face and revealed disconcertingly sharp teeth. Benedict raised an eyebrow as he traded looks with Edgar, but recovered enough to grin as he shook Smith's hand. "Always a pleasure."
In the elevator, the lawyer glanced at Edgar. "What the hell kind of shifter is he, anyway?"
Before Edgar had to admit he didn't know, Ivy shook her head. "He's not a shifter. He's fae."
"Fae?" Benedict snorted. "A fairy? You think he's a fairy?"
She didn't bother looking back as they walked into the garage and she strode toward the car. "Call him a fairy to his face and see what happens."
In the car, as Benedict called Eloise and argued about the merits of fleeing to an unnamed Caribbean island, Edgar leaned on the console to ask Ivy, "Why do you think he's fae?"
"The eyes give him away." She glanced at Edgar, about to say more, then just shook her head.
The ride back to the house was silent, and rain fell in a downpour around them. It suited Edgar's mood perfectly.