Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Elise worked late at the zoo, but this time she wasn't sneaking around or trying to heal any of the wounded animals.
For now, she had put that behind her, and she wasn't going to risk any more helpful break-ins.
It was a minor miracle that she hadn't experienced any consequences after coming back from her alleged illness other than concerned looks from her co-workers and offers to help her while she got back up to speed.
She freaking loved her co-workers. Everyone was dedicated to helping, whether that was animals or staff. Could she really consider quitting to pursue EMT training?
But did she want to be an administrative assistant at the wildlife rehab forever?
Since she had been so lucky, she wasn't going to press that luck any further. At least not now. That night, she was working at the zoo under completely legitimate circumstances, volunteering to help with the monthly cage clean-out that happened after hours.
Saving animal lives was dirty business, and it required so much newspaper and torn up towels.
She got home around nine and found Briana, Delainey, Serena, and Aya drinking wine in the kitchen.
Music was playing on a Bluetooth speaker, and Serena and Delainey were dancing around like they were in the middle of a house party.
Not really strange activity for her coven.
But they usually didn't kill a bottle of wine on a Wednesday night.
"We should do shots." Serena spun toward the counter, grabbing the edge for balance.
That was definitely not a Wednesday night activity. They weren't in college anymore.
Delainey whooped, but Briana held her hands up. "I'm good, thanks."
"Same here." Aya took a step back from the counter.
Briana and Aya exchanged a look and ducked out of the kitchen. Briana at least gave her a wave in greeting, but Aya wouldn't meet her eyes.
That was strange.
"Is something going on?" Elise asked Serena and Delainey, dropping her bag by the doorway. "I know it's not someone's birthday."
"It's just a good day." Serena sipped her wine.
"A successful one," Delainey added.
Elise's stomach dropped. "You guys didn't do something stupid, did you? I know the Iron Runner pack was bothering us the other day, but we can't fight them. They would crush us. Please tell me you didn't go back into their territory."
Delainey made a dismissive sound. "We're not stupid."
"I'm surprised that you don't want vengeance on all of them." Serena leaned in. "I'd be casting revenge spells on every single one of the Iron Runner pack for that gross bullshit they were spreading about you fucking a mangy dog."
Ugh.
He's not mangy, Elise wanted to say but was wise enough to keep her mouth shut.
He was a glorious wolf, though she'd never seen him in that form. She was a little shocked to realize she wanted to.
She had it so bad.
She was supposed to be putting Nico out of her mind now. What had happened to her resolution to get over him and move on with her life? Yeah, it wasn't working. Not even a little bit.
Delainey grabbed the bottle of whiskey they kept in the pantry and held it up tantalizingly at Serena. Then she paused. "I've got a better idea." She set the bottle down with a thunk. "Let's get the fuck out of here and have some real fun." She looked at Elise. "You coming?"
"No, I'm good." Elise fought the urge to cross her arms. Something was up with those two. And she really didn't want in on whatever shenanigans Delainey and Serena were getting into. She'd bailed them out more than once after “some real fun.”
Briana stuck her head back into the kitchen. "You two are really going out, even though …" she trailed off.
Serena rolled her eyes. "It's taken care of, Mom." She waved a hand dismissively. "There's nothing to worry about."
Delainey took a swig from the bottle of whiskey and handed it over to Serena, who took her own drink before they recapped it and left with a "later, losers."
Elise was more than a little relieved that they were gone.
Briana was still standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
Elise turned to face her fully. "Am I missing something?"
Briana shook her head. "You're not missing anything." She left without another word, which was strange.
Everything about this evening was strange.
Elise's gut was screaming at her that something was wrong. Seriously wrong. She was pretty sure that whatever it was, it had to do with werewolves.
Delainey and Serena especially had been beyond pissed since their confrontation with the Iron Runner pack. They'd been scheming and plotting to get back at them, but it had all been fantasy. None of them were stupid enough to actually try and fight the biggest werewolf pack in the Tri-State area.
Elise didn't have the gift of prophecy or clairvoyance or anything that would magically give her insight into what was going on. Most days, she was grateful for that because those were heavy gifts to bear.
But she had good instincts, and something was up.
No one was in the living room, which was another mark in the strange column.
Briana's bedroom door was closed. Strange again, because unless she was asleep, that door was normally open, and it was very common for members of the coven to stick their heads in to ask her questions or shoot the shit whenever they wanted.
And Briana wasn't the type to go to bed at nine-thirty at night.
Aya's door was closed too, but at this point, Elise wasn't going to let that stop her.
If anyone was going to crack, it was going to be Aya.
She placed her hand on the doorknob and turned gently, thankful it opened.
She found her coven sister sitting on her bed, legs crossed, head tilted back, and eyes closed tight as she meditated.
She visibly stiffened as Elise shut the door behind her with a firm hand.
"I'm meditating, please leave me to it." She kept her eyes squeezed shut.
"You're not." Elise positioned herself fully in the room and leaned back against the door. "You're fake meditating because you don't want to talk to me."
Aya made an offended sound, and her eyes snapped open. "That's rude."
"Well, maybe I need to be rude to figure out what the hell is going on.
Why were Delainey and Serena down there acting like the cat that ate the canary?
Everyone is acting weird tonight, and no one's talking to me.
Please just tell me I'm being paranoid and that y'all didn't go out and do something that could get us all killed.
You guys didn't go and challenge the Iron Runner pack, did you? "
Aya bit her lip, and Elise's stomach sank.
"I, uh … it wasn't the Iron Runner pack." She bunched her fingers in her comforter. "We were definitely not in Iron Runner territory. We were very careful about that. I, uh …"
Elise's heart started beating faster as panic set in around the edges. "What did you do? Oh god, did you guys kill anyone? I told you I didn't need revenge for this whole thing. It was fine. Why aren't you listening to me?"
"Because Delainey and Serena—" Aya cut herself off. She scrunched up into a ball and buried her head against her knees. "I knew this was a terrible idea. We never should have done it, but it's done now. So just pretend you don't know anything, and it's all going to be okay. Alright?"
"I don't know anything." Elise leaned in, planting her hands near Aya's feet and staring her down. "And we're changing that right now. What the fuck happened?"
Aya rolled back and forth slightly and groaned into her knees. She mumbled something that Elise couldn't quite make out.
"What did you say?" Elise demanded, leaning forward farther.
Aya groaned again. "There's a werewolf locked up in the basement."