Chapter Ten
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When Devon arrived home after his meeting, he debated calling Vinea to see what she’d found out at Brother Jacob’s house. She’d promised to call, so why hadn’t she?
Because it was close to ten, he decided not to disturb her. Most likely, Brother Jacob either wasn’t home or he wasn’t divulging any Clan secrets. Devon was sure that if she learned something earth shattering, she would have contacted him.
Tomorrow would be soon enough to speak with her and find out. And while he never doubted her sincerity in trying to convince him she had changed, whether she really had was up for debate.
I believe her, his wolf said. And so do you. Stop being so fucking stubborn and tell her you do. That way she won’t have to put herself in danger.
For once, his wolf might be right.
No sooner had he removed his coat than his cell rang. Thinking it was Vinea, he didn’t bother to check the ID. “Yes?”
“Dev, its Finn. You need to get down to the pub right away.”
Finn was never this serious. Something bad must have happened. “What is it?”
“Vinea is here with John Ernst.”
His heart nearly turned to steel. “Are you sure?”
“Sure, I’m sure. She’s the same woman you came in with a few hours ago.”
Fuck. “I’ll be right there. Call Rye.”
“I already did.”
Devon dragged on his coat but didn’t bother with the buttons. He dashed out to his truck, hopped in, and took off. He might have taken a few of the turns too fast, but that couldn’t be helped. As much as he wanted to rant and rave at Vinea the moment he saw her, approaching her when she was with John Ernst would put her life in danger—and possibly his. Was she there because she believed she could get Ernst to divulge some secret? Shit. She better not be trying to convince the Changeling that she could help them.
He slammed his hand against the wheel. He didn’t know whether he was angrier with himself for believing what she’d told him or royally pissed at her. Mostly likely it was a little of both.
Screeching to a halt in front of the pub, Devon yanked his keys from the ignition and stormed inside. Just before he entered, he forced himself to calm down. He wanted Vinea to think he just happened to stop by for a drink—nothing more. With his vision straight ahead, he strode toward the bar.
She’s not here, his wolf said. I would have sensed her.
Nonsense. How can you say that? She isn’t my mate.
Seriously? You’re in denial, his animal responded.
Finn rushed over to the end of the bar. “She’s gone.”
“What? When?” Finn would have never pranked him.
“She and John Ernst left right after I called. I figured you were on the road already, so I didn’t contact you.” He nodded toward the door. “Here’s Rye now.”
His brother slid onto the seat next to him. “Where is she?”
“Conveniently gone,” Devon answered. “I wonder if she knew Finn had called us.”
Finn shook his head. “I purposely ducked into the storage room before contacting you. She couldn’t have seen or heard me.”
Rye placed a hand on Devon’s arm, probably hoping to calm him down. “Finn, tell us exactly what happened,” Rye said.
“There’s not much more to tell. Vinea came in here with John Ernst, and they sat in one of the back booths.”
“Who waited on them?” Rye asked.
“I did.”
Finn never left the bar. He must have known something was up. “Did you hear anything?” Devon asked.
“Just bits and pieces. When I neared the table, I heard the words thanks for your help. That was all.”
Acid burned in his gut. “How could I have been so stupid?” Devon asked to no one in particular.
Rye faced him. “You need to find her and ask her what she was up to. Maybe she was trying to learn something, and she believed coming here would give her some safety.”
He hadn’t thought of that. “I will ask her, but I don’t expect anything more than a claim of innocence.”
“You won’t know until you try,” Rye said.
His brother seemed to be on her side. “If she fucking conned me yet again, I just might kill her.” Not wanting to listen to either of his brothers tell him not to overreact, he pushed off from the stool and strode out. He just hoped he didn’t implode before he reached her. If Vinea wasn’t home, which he suspected she might not be, he might drive up to the hill and confront John Ernst himself.
By the time he arrived at her place, Devon was having a hard time thinking straight. Nothing made sense. He couldn’t imagine why she would have a meeting with one of the Changeling council members in the family pub. Why not stay on Changeling ground? The only explanation was that she feared for her life, as Rye said. Her plan had been to remain invisible, so what had made her change her mind?
Devon shut off the truck’s engine in front of her trailer and then sat there, trying to come to grips with what he’d found out. He always prided himself in keeping his cool, but this time he wasn’t so sure he could do that.
The lights were on in the trailer, implying she was home. Needing an explanation, he shot out of his truck, strode up to her door, and pounded instead of lightly knocking. “Vinea, I need to talk to you.”
A second later, she pulled open the door dressed in full winter gear—jacket, wool cap, scarf, and gloves. Most likely she’d just beaten him home.
Her eyes widened. “I didn’t expect you.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” He stepped inside, readying for the confrontation. Before he could even form the scathing words, the lack of warmth startled him. “Why is it freezing in here?”
“The heater broke.”
“When?”
She rubbed her arms. “Maybe two hours ago? After you dropped me off, I walked into a freezing trailer. When I couldn’t get the heat to turn on, I called the landlord. He came over a half hour later, checked out the heater, and said it was caput. He promised to have a new one installed by tomorrow—assuming he can get a hold of someone at this late hour.”
His head swam. “Are you saying you’ve been here since I dropped you off? In this cold?”
She glanced to the side. “Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?” He failed to keep the anger from his tone since he knew where she’d been.
“After you left, I made a brief stop at Brother Jacob’s house.”
“And?” It was all he could manage to say.
As she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, she winced. “Things didn’t go quite as I planned.”
“You don’t say.” He wondered if she’d mention that she ended up at McKinnon’s Pub.
Devon needed to discuss a lot of things with her, but he didn’t want to have this conversation here. It was too damn cold. While he was insanely angry, he wasn’t so much of a heel to let her sleep here tonight. She’d freeze.
“We have a lot to talk about, but it’s too cold in here. How about staying at my place tonight? It’ll be warm.” He also could keep an eye on her that way.
“Really?”
She smiled, and his wolf rejoiced. He did not. “Yes.”
“Okay. Let me grab a few things.” Her demeanor quickly changed from sober and a bit frightened to almost happy. “I need to tell you what happened at Brother Jacob’s.”
“What happened?” he called after her, as she high-tailed it down the hallway.
Vinea turned back around. “I’ll tell you when we get to your house.”
That was for the best. “I’ll be in the truck warming it up.”
Vinea practically bounced toward her bedroom. If she had been at the pub, would she have been this cheerful? It was as if she had no clue why he was on the warpath.
It didn’t take her long to grab a small bag. Vinea locked up and dashed to his truck moments later. Once she hopped in, it appeared her good mood had evaporated. As much as Devon wanted to wait until they were at his house, he had to ask. “You mentioned something happened with the Changelings?”
Vinea leaned over and turned up the heat. “Yes. I found out a ton, and then the unthinkable happened.”
She must want to torture him, but Devon wouldn’t cave. “What was that?” He was pleased he was able to keep his voice non-threatening.
“When I arrived—cloaked in my invisibility, of course—Brother Jacob was on the phone to a seller of sardonyx.”
Devon’s fingers tightened on the wheel. Damn fucking Changelings. They sure didn’t waste any time. “Will you be heading out to California again?”
“No. I couldn’t tell if it was the same man, but he didn’t have any stone for sale. I did learn this new man’s name was Archer. I’m guessing it’s his last name.”
That was good intel, but Devon hoped like hell she was telling the truth. As much as he wanted to believe her, things kept cropping up that pointed to her not always being truthful. “Did you learn anything else?” he asked as he put the truck in gear and headed back to his place.
“Yes. I was about to leave when John Ernst came into the office.”
If she saw John Ernst up on the hill, why go to the pub? Devon had to work at holding his tongue. “What did he want?”
“He said he spoke to the owner of the craft store about selling it. But get this, Brother Jacob said the money from the hardware store theft wasn’t even enough for a down payment.” Excitement laced her tone.
Devon whistled. “I wish you’d worn a wire.”
“Me too. I actually thought of it, but only after the fact. Just so you know anything that touches me also disappears, so they wouldn’t have been able to tell.”
A few minutes later, he pulled down his parents’ drive to the guesthouse, cut the engine, slipped out, and came over to her side. “Let’s get inside where it’s warm.” Devon carried her case as he led her up the steps.
Once inside, he escorted her to the bedroom. “You can stay in here.”
“Perfect. Thanks.”
He hoped she didn’t get any ideas. He’d be sleeping on the sofa.
Share the bed, his wolf urged. I can only last so long with my mate this close.
You’ll do as I say, Devon warned.
“Settle in. I’ll make us some coffee to warm you up.”
She smiled, and his libido shot into overdrive. “I’d love that. Then I’ll tell you the rest of what happened.” She slipped off her coat and followed him back to the living room. “I like your place. It fits you.”
That was an odd thing to say, or was she trying to distract him? “It’s my parents’ guesthouse. I’m here too infrequently to have a place of my own.”
“I thought you said you stayed with them in the main house the last time you were here.”
Damn, she had a good memory. “Yes, but my parents are on vacation and their house is too big without them. They’ll be getting home soon, but by then I’ll probably be on my way back to Pittsburgh.”
“Oh.” Devon headed into the kitchen to prepare the coffee and Vinea trailed after him.
“So finish your story about Ernst and Brother Jacob,” he said.
She leaned against the counter, tension creasing her brow. “I was so excited to learn that the Changelings had robbed the hardware store that I…um… kind of materialized.” She winced then looked off to the side.
His body tensed. “You what?” Devon hadn’t meant to yell, but he couldn’t help it.
“The bad part was that they both saw me. I have to say the look of shock on their faces would have been comical had it not been for the fact that they can now identify me. Before I could disappear again, Brother Jacob grabbed me. I thought I was a goner, but the shock enabled me to disappear again.”
“That’s terrible.”
She straightened. “Look, I’m really sorry, but you’re safe. They can’t tie me to you. There’s no way they could know I’m helping you.”
A million thoughts flashed through his head, the most important of which was that it was a red moon. It was possible that when Brother Jacob touched her, he was able to transform into a likeness of her. He could only hope that was the explanation for her—or rather her lookalike—visiting the pub. “Can I see your phone?” he asked.
She handed it to him. “You want to make certain that I spoke with the landlord, don’t you?”
There was no use mincing words. “Yes, but I’ll tell you why in a moment.”
He checked her phone log and noticed two calls to the same number: one after he’d dropped her off and the other forty-five minutes later. While it was possible she could have made it to the pub in time, he had a better explanation.
Devon finished brewing and pouring the coffee. “Let’s sit in the living room, and I’ll tell you what I learned tonight.”
They carried their drinks into the small space and sat. “You looked rather relieved when you saw the calls. Why?”
This was going to be difficult to explain while not coming off as being a total ass. “I am relieved. A short while ago, my brother Finn called me from McKinnon’s Pub and Pool.”
She stilled. “Did I leave something there?”
“No, he called because—” His cell rang. “Hold on for a second.” Devon checked the caller ID. “It’s Rye. I think I know what he’s going to say.” He swiped the phone. “Yeah?”
“Did you speak with Vinea?”
“She’s with me now. Vinea did spy on Brother Jacob, and when she returned home, she had to deal with a dead furnace. At the time of the incident, she was with the repairman.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. Turns out when she visited Brother Jacob she materialized by mistake. He touched her.”
“Oh, shit. That explains it. I was calling to remind you that there’s a red moon tonight and that I wouldn’t put it past them to pull a dirty trick like that. Maybe they wanted to see who responded to John Ernst being with her in order to find out who she was working with.”
“Thankfully, Finn was circumspect.”
“No kidding. How’s it going otherwise?” Rye asked.
Devon didn’t want to discuss this now. “Can we talk tomorrow?”
“Got it. Later.”
Devon pocketed his phone. “Rye came to the same conclusion I did.”
Her brows furrowed. “I’m confused.”
“Right before I came over, Finn called to say you were at the pub with John Ernst.”
He shouldn’t have made that announcement when she had coffee in her mouth, because she almost spit it out, though some did dribble down her chin. She wiped her face with the back of her hand.
“I wasn’t. I swear.”
“I know that now. You were dealing with a broken heater.”
“Why would he lie?”
“He didn’t.”
She held up a hand, set down her mug, and then stood. “Even after all I’ve done for you, your family still thinks I’m working with the Changelings?”
“I’ll admit that I did too at first, until you told me that Brother Jacob had touched you.”
She slowly returned to her seat. “And it’s the red moon. Of course. When Brother Jacob grabbed me, he was able to become me.” Her jaw lowered. “Holy crap. Finn did see me, or rather, a likeness of me.”
Devon was happy that she understood why he’d jump to the wrong conclusion. “Can you see why I overreacted?”
“Yes, but I never, ever would be in cahoots with those scumbags. And if I were—which I’m not—why would I go to the enemy’s camp, so to speak?”
That had bothered him. “They obviously wanted to be seen. What worries me is why they assumed you’re working with us?”
“Small towns talk, though the last few times I’ve interacted with McKinnon and Associates, it wasn’t to help you.”
“That I know.”
“So now what?” she asked then raised a finger. “We need to catch them in an illegal act.”
Devon’s protective nature flared. “You, Miss Goddess, will do nothing of the sort! While your snooping ended more or less without dire consequences, any future actions could ruin everything. They’ll know for sure we’re on to them if you’re caught again.”
She set down her cup with a clank. “And if I had never returned to Silver Lake, would you have been any further ahead?” she shot back.
He liked her spunk. “Probably not.”
And that was the root of the problem. He needed her. Unfortunately, it was in more ways than just her helping him with the case.