Evershaw wanted to beat Todd into a bloody pulp when he finally found him. His cousin didn’t wait for Evershaw to speak, and instead held his hands up to fend the alpha off. “I’m sorry, man. I’m really sorry. I didn’t even think... Henry was in the living room and said you were watching the witch sleep, and I didn’t think that she was awake and you might be... engaged in something.”

Evershaw scowled and kept striding into his office, though Todd fell in on his heels. “You’re lucky I don’t rip your arms out and beat you to death with them.”

“In my defense, there wasn’t anything in your previous conversations with the witch that would have warned me you intended to roll around on the floor and make out with her.” Todd ducked in time to avoid the elbow Evershaw threw at him, and instead flopped into the comfortable couch a few feet from the heavy desk. “So I’ll knock next time for sure.”

“Good. Don’t ask me any fucking questions. I don’t want to hear it.” Evershaw sat behind the desk and tried to focus on the business at hand. They were dangerously close to losing the building he’d spent months researching and setting up for foreclosure. He didn’t want to miss the purchase. And yet even as he found the paperwork and stared at it, he couldn’t see anything but Deirdre’s face. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk, scowling and wanting to punch himself for being a fool. He couldn’t let her distract him, not when it mattered. Not until he’d figured out how she might fit into his life.

But he couldn’t take it. He couldn’t concentrate on anything. “Have you heard from Smith?”

“Nothing yet,” Todd said. He didn’t look up from his phone, flipping through messages or emails or some bullshit game he’d downloaded. “I left two messages, both of them urgent, and that was in addition to the three from last night when we wanted him to help save the witch’s life. I don’t know where the old man has gotten to. Hopefully that djinn didn’t track him down and beat him up.”

Evershaw scowled, his feet hitting the ground with a thump as he sat up. “What about Chase? Did you call Edgar Chase?”

“For what? To see if they’ve heard from Smith?”

“Yeah.” Even though Evershaw hadn’t really thought that would be a reason to contact Edgar Chase. “And to figure out what the fuck is up with that kid who works for them. The one who probably drugged Deirdre.”

Todd’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you want me to ask him about the kid? Whether he’s ever roofied anyone at work? Whatever went on at that house, it was probably a witch or coven thing, and probably has nothing to do with us. So what difference does it make?”

“A kid like that is dangerous,” Evershaw said.

“And...” Todd said, watching him closely.

Evershaw wanted to punch him. “I swear to God, man, you’d better watch yourself. That kid hurt the witch and I’m not about to let him try again. Okay? Is that what you want to hear?”

“I want to hear that you like the girl,” Todd said. “But it might be a while until you pull your head out of your ass, so we can just go with the kid being a danger to the witch and therefore a danger to your life as well. Since someone might still be trying to kill you.”

“It’s none of your fucking business,” Evershaw said. His wolf side started to get protective. “Don’t you say a damn word to her. Now get your shit together and call Edgar Chase. We’re going down there and I’m going to talk to that kid.”

Todd sat up. “Talk to him about what? That we were surveilling his house and saw him have a party and then let a girl leave who was clearly intoxicated by something? How would that conversation go, man?”

“I’ll figure it out when we get there,” he said. Evershaw pushed to his feet and started for the door. “Call Chase and get the car going.”

Even though his cousin shook his head and dragged his feet, they were still inside Edgar Chase’s office downtown in under an hour. Chase shook their hands and returned to his desk, waiting unblinking as Evershaw figured out what the fuck to say that wouldn’t make it clear he needed to protect Deirdre. “That kid we asked you about earlier, Palmer something. Does he have a record?”

“No disciplinary actions at all,” Chase said. He pressed his fingers together near his chin. “Any reason I should be worried?”

“I have reason to believe he drugged the witch who has been assisting my pack. She knows him and she left a meeting where he was present and ended up drugged with Rohypnol.”

Chase made an irritated noise. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want to have a word with the little shit. Lock him up somewhere and maybe beat him a little beat so I don’t have as much work to do.”

The lion sighed and the sound of a clicking keyboard set Evershaw’s teeth on edge. Then Chase grunted. “He just left. Driving a light blue hybrid two door sedan. Plates are HTG 445. Looks like he headed west on Elm after he pulled out of the garage. Good luck.”

Evershaw growled in response and ended the call, ordering Todd to turn onto Elm so they could track down the little bastard. He enjoyed the chase in general, but with the promise of kicking the kid’s ass after drugging Deirdre… That was a fine day no matter what else was going on in the world. He bared in teeth in what could have been a smile. Time to hunt.