Evershaw didn’t find any answers he liked when he spoke with Smith or Edgar Chase. Chase showed up at the pack house after hearing about what happened at the Council building, wanting to discuss the security tapes and possible culprits, so Evershaw called Smith up so they could all talk about it together just the one time. Evershaw hated wasting his time with rehashing the same conversation over and over and over. One and done, that was what he wanted.

Smith joined them in a small dining room off the main kitchen in the shared part of the pack house, not wanting too many other people to go traipsing into his quarters when it already smelled too much like the witch and half a dozen others. The old man looked pleased about something, which made Evershaw very nervous. “What’s the deal with the car? Did the witch look at it?”

“She’s evaluating it as we speak,” the old man said. He sipped his coffee, unperturbed, and even lifted his pinky just a hair as he did so—like he was inviting ridicule. Testing the waters. Checking for anyone aiming at an easy mark. Smith looked as serene as a sphinx. “I did not want to influence anything she might find, so this was an excellent time to step away. I expect she’ll be done by the time we wrap up here.”

“A witch?” Chase frowned slightly and leaned back in his chair. “Interesting. Is this the same one who freed you from wherever you were?”

“Yes,” Smith said. And that was all he said.

Chase looked at Evershaw. “So why is she here?”

“Smith called in a favor and the girl saved my life.” He really didn’t want to try and explain the witch to Chase. Or let Chase see the witch. She was just for Evershaw. She was a secret weapon he couldn’t afford to make known.

“And she’s living here now?” Chase glanced between them, not about to accuse them of anything but still really fucking suspicious.

“Yes,” Evershaw said.

Chase waited for either of them to go on, but when neither spoke, he sighed. “Right. Great. So there’s something else going on. If I go down there to look at that car, am I going to find a pissed-off witch ready to strike anyone who looks like a shifter?”

“Anyone male, I would guess,” Evershaw said. “But it’s a fifty-fifty chance she’d miss.”

Maybe.

Edgar’s eyes narrowed. “Fill me in.”

“It’ll keep,” Smith said. “We have the problem of the person—or persons—who are poisoning Evershaw.”

“The coyotes would make sense,” Chase said after a long pause. “But we couldn’t identify the two people screwing with your car. When you’re ready to release the SUV, we can try and lift fingerprints, but it looks as though they might have worn gloves from what we saw on the video. Anyone else in the running?”

“The new pack,” Evershaw said. “We’re meeting later this afternoon, so that’ll give me a chance to evaluate how surprised they are that I’m still alive. They haven’t called to cancel, but we’ll see.”

Smith rubbed his jaw, his attention drifting. “I did not get a sense of why the person chose to poison you from what was left in the car. They have covered themselves very well.”

Evershaw glanced at his watch and fought back irritation and the urge to get up and pace. He wanted to confront that little shit alpha of the RedCloud pack and have done with things, instead of waiting around and talking about it. Chase checked the time as well and slid his chair back from the table. “Keep me informed when you figure out who it is, and let us know if you need assistance. We would prefer to deal with the perpetrator as a Council, but I understand if you want to keep this under wraps.”

“I’m not interested in everyone knowing that I’ve been poisoned,” Evershaw said, his tone dry. “Since it might give people ideas.”

“More than one person wanting to poison you? Naaaah,” Chase said. He started to grin and clapped Evershaw on the shoulder as he stood. “Hard to believe anyone would want you out of the picture.”

Evershaw waited until the lion had departed to turn his attention to Smith. “What the fuck did you do?”

The old man’s eyebrows rose. “When?”

“With the witch.” Evershaw gestured at the open air between his chest and wherever the witch was in the garage. “You said you bound her to me, but why the fuck am I feeling what she feels?”

“You what?”

“She managed to burn herself,” Evershaw said. He started to get just a bit suspicious that the old man was either hiding something from him or hadn’t anticipated the consequences of what he’d done. “And I woke up from a dead sleep feeling like my legs were on fire. What the hell is that about?”

Smith frowned and his attention went far away. “Well, that is interesting.”

Interesting. Not exactly what Evershaw wanted to hear when it came to weird magical shit between him and a witch who probably wouldn’t shed a tear if he died. “What kind of game are you playing?”

“No game.” Smith’s expression didn’t change, but Evershaw didn’t believe the old man for a second. “I meant only to link her to you so she would have to save your life. I did not expect there to be any reciprocity.”

Evershaw let the silence stretch, waiting for the old man to admit something else, but Smith didn’t even blink. The alpha finally shoved to his feet. “Then let’s see what’s going on with the car, and you can figure out what the fuck is going on with whatever you did to tie that witch to me.”

Smith got slowly to his feet but there was a degree of stiffness to his movements that made Evershaw wary. He’d have to be careful not to push the old man too far, because there was no telling what kind of damage he could do when he put his mind to it.