Page 145 of Shifter Situations

Or what used to be a silver tin.

York leaned over my vampire’s shoulder, peering at the floor. “What is that?”

“I don’t know,” Novak admitted, turning his head slightly to glance at my druid. “But it used to be those cookies.”

Palmer stood, handing me the note from the container. He joined Novak and York, studying the dingy green sludge as it morphed into a toxic brownish color.

I listened to their conversation as I stared at the paper gripped between my thumbs and index fingers.

“You were wondering what would have prevented you guys from finding Sloane sooner. Here's exhibit A,” York announced in his best game show voice.

“It was the cookies?” Vaughn’s quizzical reply rose in pitch at the end.

“It had to be them…” Palmer trailed off, nodding his head. “We all ate them.”

Briggs shook his head. “Novak never ate them.”

My vampire rubbed at the back of his neck as he grimaced. “I did, but not often. Maybe half a cookie when she’d drop them off.”

“But why?” Stone mumbled.

“Being a vampire doesn’t mean that I have to hate cookies.”

“No.” My demon held his hand up to stop Novak’s grumbling. “Why prevent the bonds? How would she know who our mate was? Or that we all had the same mate?”

“Maybe she didn’t. It’s possible that she knew at least one of us was Sloane’s mate, and she was coverin’ her bases by... I don’t know. Givin’ us all the same potion? I can’t really tell if it’s that or a spell that was meant to be ingested.”

Palmer had turned to face me as he spoke, but I could only shrug at him.

I had no answers for them.

I only had more questions.

I tuned them out as I glared at the letter in my hands, and dread crept up my spine as I flipped it over. Little King was written in sloppy handwriting across the folded page in the same chicken-scratch that I’d seen before.

Time is almost up.

-A. Moore

P.S. Have some cookies.

I snorted, torn between throwing my hands up and walking away from all the bullshit or killing Annette Moore.

The natural course of action was murder, but I was so fucking... Tired. I felt like we were getting closer to solving everything, and it was all within reach.

That was another lie I’d been telling myself.

We were climbing up the downward escalator, its speed tenfold what it should be. That was the picture my mind conjured up.

As the guys continued to work their thoughts out, I had one serious question that was driving me insane…

Why the fuck would I eat cookies from a stranger?

27

Palmer

Monday, June 8th