Chapter 1 #2
Priya, still bundled up in her favourite purple scarf in May, was the only one who seemed genuinely happy to see me, beaming as she budged up on the sofa, pressing herself into a scowling Felix.
Just as I sat down, something small and grey dropped from the ceiling with a soft thud, landing directly in my lap.
Freddy, my zombie ferret, chittered excitedly, his eerie yellow eyes glowing in the dim light of the room.
Patches of bone showed through his matted fur as he twisted around, sniffing the air.
“There you are, you little monster,” I murmured, scratching behind what remained of his ear. Freddy responded by nipping affectionately at my fingers, his yellowed teeth catching the light.
He’d been dead for a month before Issac had used necromancy to bring him back as a prank.
Not everyone appreciated his particular brand of undead charm, but Freddy was the most loyal pet a wolf could ask for—even if he did have a habit of stealing food and occasionally shedding entire clumps of fur.
“Where is he?” I whispered to Priya as I stroked Freddy’s tail.
“He stepped into Felix’s lair to make a call. Ah—” She elbowed me. “Here he comes. Be nice.”
Detective Theodore Maxwell emerged from Felix’s cupboard like he owned the place, his expensive shoes clicking against the hardwood floor. The sight of him in that charcoal suit made me grind my teeth together.
Fuck, why did the dickhead have to be so goddamn attractive?
Six foot tall, with those broad shoulders stretching the fabric of his jacket, that strong jawline with just the right amount of stubble, and his thighs—they were exactly the kind I’d love to climb if I didn’t want to punch him so badly.
Even the way his coils were perfectly faded at the sides looked like he’d just stepped from a barber’s chair rather than a crime scene.
His steps faltered when he saw me. Just a tiny hesitation, but I caught it. Our eyes met across the room, and his expression darkened into a frown that made his glasses slip down his nose. I frowned back at him… or had I frowned first? Whatever, there was serious frowning involved.
His gaze dropped to Freddy, who was now sprawled across my lap, and his frown deepened into outright disgust. Not that I could blame him entirely—the last time Maxwell had visited, Freddy had pissed on his expensive leather shoes. I considered it one of Freddy’s finest moments.
I stroked Freddy’s back protectively, drawing comfort from his cold little body.
The tension in the room cranked up several notches. Everyone held their breath, probably waiting for me to call him Detective Dickface to his face… for the hundredth time.
But I was being mature today. Super mature. The most mature wolf who ever matured.
Hey, asshole. Get out of my head, I thought as loudly as possible, just in case he was listening in. He usually was, because he had zero respect for privacy or personal boundaries. I know you’re probably reading my thoughts right now, like the creepy telepathic dickhead you are.
His left hand twitched toward his temple—his tell—before he caught himself and lowered it. Ha. Caught you, you nosy bastard.
I was being ridiculous. I knew that, really. But is there anything worse than having your mind, the most private part of you, invaded without your consent?
Smiling sweetly, I channelled all my rage into screaming obscenities inside my head. Here’s a thought for you: go fuck yourself with that stick up your ass.
The muscle in his jaw ticced. Good.
Priya elbowed me in the ribs. “Behave,” she hissed.
Seb cleared his throat, adjusting his cuffs in that way he did when he was about to be all official. “First, I’d like to thank Detective Maxwell for joining us this evening on such short notice.”
Maxwell nodded, his expression carefully blank. “Happy to help.”
“So we’re all on the same page,” Seb said, “Rory is going to begin the meeting by explaining to you all what he relayed to me on the phone.”
All eyes locked onto me like laser sights, making my skin prickle. The sofa creaked as I shifted, suddenly hyper-aware of every tiny sound in the room—Kit’s heavy breathing, the tick of that ancient grandfather clock Seb refused to get rid of.
My throat went dry. God, I hated that feeling. It yanked me straight back to being fourteen, standing in front of my class while the teacher tapped their foot, waiting for an answer I didn’t have. The same hot flush crept up my neck, and my leg started bouncing before I could stop it.
“Um…” I cleared my throat. “So a few days ago, I started getting worried about my ex-boyfriend Dev. He’s gone radio silent on social media, which is weird for him.”
“Perhaps he’s taking a mental health break.” Maxwell’s deep voice cut through the room like a knife through butter. “Not everyone needs to document their every move online all the time.”
The condescension in his tone made my teeth ache, and I swallowed down a retort about Maxwell being too boring to have anything interesting to post online.
“Yeah, you don’t know Dev. He’s even more addicted to his phone than I am. The man goes live just to document his morning coffee routine. He once did a thirty-minute story about choosing between two nearly identical pairs of shoes.”
“So he hasn’t posted in over a week now?” Felix asked, fiddling with the cuff of his hoodie.
“Seven days, thirteen hours.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them. “Not even a story. Or a like. Nothing.”
Maxwell’s eyebrows shot up. “Do you check your ex’s profile every single day?”
“Umm… yes?” A completely, totally normal thing to do. “He posts good recommendations of new places to go around London,” I said, but it sounded weak to my own ears. Like explaining why you still had your ex’s spare toothbrush under your sink. Just in case.
“That part isn’t important, Maxwell,” said Priya, and I felt a rush of affection for my best friend.
Yeah, Maxwell.
“I’m just trying to get all the facts.” Maxwell’s words sliced through the air. “It is important if Rory is overreacting.”
My muscles coiled tight, ready to spring. The wolf inside me bristled, hackles raised. How dare he? Like I was some hysterical ex who couldn’t let go.
“Detective, I’m confident Rory isn’t overreacting,” said Seb. “Listen to what he has to say.”
Priya’s hand squeezed my knee, grounding me. The gentle pressure reminded me to breathe, to focus on the warmth of her palm rather than the urge to launch myself across the room and wipe that look off Maxwell’s face.
“Actually,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “I think this might be connected to what happened at Meridian Medical Research Centre.”
The temperature in the room plummeted. Maxwell’s expression darkened like storm clouds rolling in.
Freddy, sensing my rising anxiety, pressed himself closer against my stomach, his tiny claws digging into my shirt.
“If you remember that,” I added, unable to stop myself.
“Do I remember the break-in where you acted without obtaining Sebastián’s permission, got caught on CCTV, assaulted two security guards, and compromised any chance of obtaining the evidence you were seeking?”
There was a horrible silence while Maxwell’s words stabbed themselves into me. Not tiny pinpricks, but jagged shards of truth I couldn’t deny, causing the kind of wound that bleeds internally.
“Yes, Maxwell,” I snarled back at him. “The same night when you locked me up in a cell during a full moon!”
I pushed all the painful memories of that horrible event to the forefront of my mind, playing them like a movie in my head while staring directly at Maxwell.
His lips pressed together, and his shoulders went rigid.
Good. Let him feel my anger. Let him consider how it felt to be trapped, desperate, fighting against the change while concrete walls closed in.
Kit groaned loudly. “Rory, can we please not go over all that—”
“But it’s linked!” I practically shouted. “I just know it is! Dev was looking into Meridian. That’s how we met in the first place, remember—he was sniffing around for leads about missing shifters. Even after our investigation hit a dead end, after… that night, Dev still kept poking around things.”
The day after we were caught there, Seb managed to persuade Maxwell to search it properly, but by that point, it was too late. They’d cleared the place out of anything remotely suspicious.
Seb nodded slowly. “We did investigate thoroughly at the time. The reports of missing shifters were concerning—still are.”
The trail had gone cold, and Seb had moved me on to other cases. I got it—we couldn’t chase dead ends forever when London was bursting with supernatural crime. But Dev… Dev was like a dog with a bone when he caught the scent of a story. There was no way he wasn’t keeping tabs on it this whole time.
“Just before we broke up,” I said, picking at a loose thread on my jeans. “He had this anonymous letter come through the door, asking to meet him. They said they worked for Meridian. Dev went to the meeting spot at the specified time, but the person never showed. I told you about it, at the time.”
Kit’s eyebrows drew together, creating that little furrow that meant he was thinking. “I remember. And did that person ever get back in contact?”
My stomach twisted. Dev and I broke up shortly after that, and our communication broke down as well.
If Dev had been gathering intelligence this whole time—if he’d uncovered something important—Killigrew Street might have missed out on the information because of our messy breakup.
It would be just like Dev to decide he could handle it all on his own.
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “He didn’t want to talk to me after we broke up.”
Maxwell sighed deeply. “So you’re saying your ex-boyfriend has been conducting his own investigation into Meridian for nine months, without backup, following anonymous tips?”