The lights flicked down to low beam as the car drew nearer. I pulled over to the edge of the road, allowing the other car plenty of room. He repeated the action and we passed each other quickly and without incident. I had a brief glimpse of a white face, dark hair, and sharp, arrogant nose and knew, without a doubt, who it was.
“Shit,” Evin said. “That was Mike West.”
“There was another murder in town tonight,” I said, voice grim. “I wonder why he’s here and not helping Harris.”
“Maybe someone told them about Denny’s plans.”
“Maybe.” But West would have had to have left Dunedan not long after me to get here this soon. And while I had no doubt that someone had been watching our villa, I very much doubted whether they’d have gone running to either Harris or West the minute I’d disappeared.
So why was West out here?
Was this the reason he hadn’t been answering Harris’s calls?
Maybe I was being suspicious for no reason; maybe he really did have a good reason for being here. But whoever was behind my kidnapping had to have someone else other than Evin here in Dunedan—and what better backup could there be than one of the town cops?
And it might just explain why Harris had been getting no responses to his queries to the Directorate. West could have easily either not sent them or intercepted them.
I glanced in the rearview mirror, watching his tail-lights, half expecting him to turn around and chase us. But he didn’t, and I wasn’t entirely sure whether that was a good thing or bad.
One thing was sure, though—I needed to talk to Harris, and as soon as possible.
I glanced at Evin. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“I think they have someone else on the ground here. They seem to know stuff that I haven’t mentioned.” He hesitated, and glanced at me sharply. “You don’t think it could be West, do you?”
I smiled. “Sometimes you’re so like me it’s almost like you are my brother.”
“But West is a cop.”
“A cop who is desperate to get out of this town and into some ‘real policing,’ as he puts it.”
“I don’t know—”
“Neither do I,” I cut in. “But I sure as hell intend to find out.”
“But how?”
“By talking to the man in charge.”
“Harris? He works with West. He’s not going to believe the worst of a workmate.”
“Harris is a good cop. He’ll listen, he’ll consider the evidence, and he’ll make his own decision.”
Evin grunted. And it wasn’t a convinced-sounding grunt, either. “There is one thing they did tell me.”
When he didn’t go on, I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “What?”
He hesitated. “It sounds kind of silly, but they told me to make sure you never took the earrings off.”
Something inside me twisted. The earrings. I knew there was something odd about them. “Did they say why?”
“No.” Again he hesitated. “Not exactly. They just said you needed them on so that controlling you was easier.”
Controlling me? Or controlling my wolf and other gifts?
I swerved over to the side of the road and stopped the truck. Dust flew around us as the tires skidded on the uneven shoulder. “Open the glove compartment and see if there’s a knife in there.”
He didn’t move. “Get the wire off my neck, Hanna. Fair is fair.”
He was right. I motioned him to turn around. He did so, and lifted his hair so I could get to the knot at the back easier. His neck was raw and weeping, and guilt spun through me. I really should have taken it off earlier.
I reached for the wire, but the minute my fingertips touched it, blue sparks erupted. I jerked my hand away and glanced at my fingertips. They were burned.
“What’s wrong?” Evin said, voice sharp.
“It would appear I’m extremely sensitive to silver. Wait here.”
I climbed out of the cab and into the bed at the back, quickly flipping open the tool box. There was a wire cutter sitting on the top, but that was next to useless—the silver was sitting too tightly against Evin’s neck to risk using it. I pushed the tools around and found not only a pair of gloves but also a switchblade. I grabbed them both, then jumped back into the truck.
I pulled on the gloves then cautiously touched the wire. Even through the gloves I could feel the heat of the silver, but it wasn’t hot enough to stop me from undoing the wire.
Evin jerked away the minute the wire was loose enough and quickly rubbed his raw neck. “Fuck, that stuff burns.”
I chucked the wire out the door then slammed it shut. “I gather you’ve never had an encounter with silver before?”
“No. But I take it you have?”
“I’ve been shot by the stuff so many times I’m now super-sensitive to it.” I flicked open the switchblade and studied the point. It was certainly sharp enough to do the job. After a moment, I became aware of Evin’s heated stare. “What?”
“Did you even hear what you just said?”
I smiled. “Yes. And no, I can’t explain it, beyond the fact that I’m involved on some level with the Directorate.”
“Then whoever is behind all this is playing a mighty dangerous game. Even I know you don’t fuck around with Directorate people. Not if you value your life.”
“Which is probably why he gave me another identity. Then he could kill me without raising any alarms.”
“As I said before, this whole situation is fucked.” He gave the knife point a somewhat dubious look. “I take it you want me to take the earrings out of your ears.”
“I tried taking them off the first time I had a shower. They wouldn’t budge. Cutting them out seems to be my only option.”
He took the knife somewhat gingerly. “It’ll hurt.”
I shrugged. “I’m tough.”
“I’m beginning to realize that,” he muttered, then motioned me to turn around.
I did so, reaching across with one hand and sweeping the short strands of my hair out of the way. His touch on my ear was light and firm.
“It does feel like they’re embedded,” he commented. “Don’t jerk away when I cut or I might just tear your lobe off.”
“I won’t.”
Cold metal touched my ear, slicing into my flesh. Evin’s touch was surprisingly delicate, and the cut didn’t hurt all that much. After a few seconds, the blade was gone and his fingers were pulling at my ear. Something dropped onto the seat between us and bounced onto the floor of the truck.
“Other one,” Evin said.
I resisted the impulse to reach down and grab whatever had fallen out and twisted around on the seat, so that he could reach my right ear. He repeated the process, but this time, he had to pry the thing out of my ear. It felt like it was being pulled out of my ear canal rather than my lobe, a sensation that had my stomach rising and my head spinning.
“Fuck,” I said, jerking away the minute it was free and rubbing my ear fiercely. “That one hurt.”
And other than the pain, I didn’t really feel any different with the earrings gone. For some reason, I thought I would.
But maybe I needed to do something—like shape-shift—to see if removing them had actually improved my situation. Right now, we didn’t have that time. West would be close to the whaling station by now. We really needed to get moving, just in case he came back. I took the brake off and hit the gas. Dirt and stones sprayed the underneath of the truck as the tires skidded then gripped, and the big truck surged forward once more.
“It looks like a battery,” Evin said, examining the earring. “Only it’s got a tail.”
I held out a hand and he dropped it into my palm. It was small and round, and the silk-fine tail was about two and a half inches long.
Evin reached down and picked up the remains of the other earring. It was also small, but without the tail.
“I have no idea what they are,” he said. “Do you?”
I shook my head. “But when I tried to shift shape, I was hit by an intense pain—it felt like my brain was on fire. Maybe this is the reason why.”