Chapter 54

Julia

I was worried I’d fall asleep on the drive home, but as it turned out, I was full of nervous energy. “I don’t think Desmond broke my windows,” I told Gryph.

“Neither do I,” he agreed. “That makes it even more frustrating. It seems you have two people creating problems for you.”

We parked in the garage, and before Gryph could close the door, a falcon flew in. I was certain it was the same one I’d seen before, so I began to mouth the words to a binding spell, remembering Desmond was a shapeshifter. Before I got to the last word, the falcon transformed and Beatrice stood before us naked.

“What are you doing here, Beatrice?” I asked.

She tried to cover herself as she responded. “Sorry if I scared you. I couldn’t go to the police, and I was hoping you could help me. I wasn’t sure where else to go. If that’s not a sad testament to my lack of social life, I don’t know what is. You were always nice to me in school, Julia. I’ve also heard that your werewolf is a good protector.”

Quickly stripping off my jacket, I tossed it to her.

“Thanks,” she said with a slight smile as she wrapped the jacket around her.

“What exactly do you need help with?” Gryph asked.

“Desmond came to my place to kill me,” she began with a shudder. “I escaped because he didn’t know I could change into any type of animal, let alone a bird.”

“Why couldn’t you go to the police?” Gryph asked suspiciously.

“I’m not sure I understand your reasoning either,” I agreed.

“When he showed up at my house, Desmond was using a different form and claiming to be with the police,” she explained. “He knew what I’d said at the council meeting. I suppose it’s possible he was at the council meeting, but that seems unlikely. If he’d been there, he would have come after me right away. He must have heard after the council went to the police with what I’d said.”

“What did he look like?” Gryph asked, and I knew he expected her to describe either Detective Hardy or Detective Mason. That’s what I was expecting, as well.

“Brown hair and eyes,” she began. “He was about six feet tall. There was nothing remarkable about him.”

“That doesn’t sound like anyone we’ve worked with,” Gryph remarked.

“Since he’s a shapeshifter, I have to assume he could be using another form. Maybe he didn’t want to be seen at your place, Beatrice,” I suggested.

“That’s always possible,” she agreed. “Since he grew up there, he knows the neighbors don’t pay much attention to anything that happens, but he wouldn’t want to risk having someone see him carry me out of there. He had a ready-made sedation spell.”

“Those are hard to come by,” I said thoughtfully. “They’re illegal, but I suppose he wouldn’t have a problem buying one.”

“They are a popular black-market item,” Gryph agreed.

“So, it would be easy to buy one,” I concluded.

“Or steal one from the evidence room at a police station,” Beatrice added. “I recently read an article about how many spelled items simply disappear from evidence rooms. The Council of Witches has been pushing for an investigation.”

“There are times when I wonder if we’d be better off just going to the human police,” I muttered.

Beatrice let out a giggle before covering her mouth and shaking her head. “Sorry. I was just thinking about how funny it would be telling the human police a shapeshifter was impersonating one of their officers.”

“That would be an interesting conversation,” Gryph agreed.

“I think he’s using either Detective Hardy or Detective Mason’s form at least part of the time,” I mused.

Gryph considered what I’d said before responding. “It could be anyone working at the same station. Missing persons case files are shared.”

“That means everyone working there knows what I said about my brother,” Beatrice muttered.

“I still think it’s one of those two detectives,” I insisted. “They’ve both been complete jerks, and neither seems interested in finding out who’s threatening me.”

“I’ll see if I can get some information on both officers without rousing suspicions,” Gryph stated. “If we find out one of them is suddenly acting different, it could mean he’s our man. They may just both be dicks.”

“That’s always possible,” I agreed. “For now, we need to find a safe place for Beatrice.”

Beatrice shivered. “If Desmond finds me, he’ll definitely kill me. There is nowhere on Earth he won’t look for me.”

“I may have a solution. Let me make some calls and see what I can arrange,” I told her. “Until then, Gryph can show you where the shower is and you can borrow some of my clothes.”

“Thanks,” she said a little awkwardly. “I’m really sorry about breaking your windows.”

“You broke my windows?” I gasped.

“Once I realized you wouldn’t be staying at your house, I needed to find a way to get you to come to me. I was really afraid of involving the police, but I didn’t have any other way to contact you. I couldn’t hold that form much longer,” she explained.

“Good thinking,” Gryph praised.

As soon as Gryph left the room with Beatrice, I became the annoying person who wakes people up in the middle of the night. This wasn’t the norm for me. I’d never even drunk dialed someone, so I figured I’d saved up my late-night call credits.