I shook his hand, feeling relieved. Powerful allies were the best. "So how are we going to track down this murderer anyway?"

"Go to the previous crime scenes and hope we can pick up something." He nodded at Icarus. "He will help."

"Phoenix, what if it really is a werewolf?"

"It's not."

"But what if?"

He sighed. "Then Icarus will deal with the traitor himself."

I shivered, wondering what a werewolf's punishment looked like.

He looked over my shoulder and smiled. "There's Icarus's mate. She must have worried when he didn't return to the den."

I looked around to see a relatively small werewolf running toward us. She loosed a pained howl when she saw Icarus's body, but when she reached us, she sniffed him. Rea.s.sured that he was okay, she chuffed happily and lay next to him.

"She'll watch over him until he wakes," Phoenix said. He ran his hand across her back. "I'll be back for him tomorrow."

She acted as though she were alone with Icarus, and Phoenix held his hand out to me. "Come. We'll give them their peace."

He led me away from the werewolves. We wandered toward the campsite of the trucks and grinned at the shouts of dismay and frustration.

"We should probably unlock those trucks," he said, "before the waking werewolves tear them apart getting themselves free."

We ran to the camp. A couple of the hunters tried to stop us, but Phoenix soon put them in their place. "This order has been cancelled. Didn't you get the word?"

"Yes, but we've already loaded five of the animals into the trucks."

"Then I'd advise you to leave the trucks and get out of here before they wake up," Phoenix said in his cold, authoritative tone. "They won't be held responsible for the people they eat."

I hid my smile as the man swallowed hard and nodded. "Come on!" he shouted at the rest of his people. "It's over. Let's get the h.e.l.l out of this s.h.i.thole."

We waited until they'd left then opened all of the trucks. I felt bad for the sleeping werewolves, but at least they would wake up safe.

"And I think we should heed our own advice," Phoenix said wryly. "They won't wake up peacefully from a sleeping agent. In fact, I can't imagine what the Senate were thinking. The wolves would have woken up en route and destroyed everything in sight until they found safety again. Or at the very least, until they woke up properly."

"Maybe they were nudged in a certain direction," I said.

"By whom?"

"The paragon." I seemed to be the only one who could see the truth-there had been no werewolf problems before the paragon arrived.

"You think he led them astray? Gave them bad advice to make a terrible situation worse?"

"I do," I said. "And I don't think he's going to stop there."

"No." He studied me. "He won't stop with the werewolves, either. Have you ever considered the idea that Mac originally held those shifters captive to protect the entire species from the paragon? For the greater good, as it were. A lone shifter can get into trouble, but if the pack as a whole does as it's told"

That made me uncomfortable. Maybe the paragon was an even bigger source of trouble than I had imagined.

Chapter Thirteen.

"Thank you," Phoenix said when he pulled up outside the cul-de-sac after driving me home. "There's n.o.body else I can trust with this. I should have known I'd come back to find you fighting my battles."

The atmosphere grew intense for no other reason than the way he was looking at me. I held his gaze with great difficulty. "It's not like I'm not going to benefit. The werewolves are just the initial target, right? We're all in trouble if we can't save them."

His searching gaze continued for a moment longer, and my cheeks burned. I had missed him, and I couldn't hide how glad I was that he was back.

"You should get inside," he said softly. "Ready yourself for our investigation. It could get rough."

"See you later then."

We both hesitated before I reached for the door handle. I let myself out and waved him off, taking a deep breath to clear my head. Then I caught the stench of ammonia outside the cul-de-sac.

"What the h.e.l.l?" I walked around to take a look. The walls outside were drenched with urine. "Those little s.h.i.ts." Shaking my head, I headed toward my house.

Peter was standing at his gate, waiting for me to pa.s.s. "Was that Phoenix?"

I froze to the spot, suddenly feeling as though I had been caught doing something terrible. "Yeah. He turned up today, got me out of a tight spot, and gave me a lift home."

He stared at me in silence, a suspicious frown marring his features.

"Right, well, I've a lot to catch you all up on. Meet me in my house if you're interested."

"Val's inside. I'll bring her with me."

"And Emmett?"

"He's with Melody."

"Oh." My cheeks burned again. "See you in a few minutes then." I turned and shoved my hands in my pockets. What the h.e.l.l is wrong with me?

Carl and Esther were watching a DVD in my living room.

"Lots to say, waiting for Peter and Val to arrive before saying it," I called out as I hurried past them to the kitchen.

Carl followed me. "You okay? Your voice is all high-pitched and weird."

"I'm fine. It's just been a f.u.c.ked-up day. I'll tell you about it when the others get here. Want some tea?"

"I'll make it," he said, shoving me out of the way. "Your tea could clear drains."

I lightly thumped his side and walked over to the fridge to get milk. "Phoenix is back."

"Is that what's wrong?"

"No. Peter's just acting like-"

The door slammed shut.

"That must be him," I said brightly. "Looks like you're in charge of everyone's tea."

I left before he could ask me any more questions. I couldn't explain why I was feeling so weird. It had occurred to me that I might have a slight crush on Phoenix, and I definitely had a lot of history with Peter, so when one asked about the other, I tended to feel off balance.

Once everyone had their tea and biscuits, I caught them up on the day's events. Talking business helped get my head back in gear.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Peter asked.

"To be honest, I'm not even sure there is. Unless" I tapped my chin. "You could try to find out more about the deaths of Mac and Greg. I promised Phoenix I'd focus on the werewolf problem, but we still need to find a stopgap to the shifter issue until the new alpha turns up and settles things. As long as the shifters are on our backs, we're not going to get a moment's peace. I smelled the whole marking-of-territory thing going on outside the cul-de-sac, and I'm not impressed."

"That was a pack of teenagers messing around," Carl said scornfully. "It was no big deal. Anka chased them off. They took one look at her rolling pin and scarpered."

"I wish I had arrived sooner," Val said. "I would have made them scared to urinate in their own homes, never mind ours."

"They're just kids," Carl said.

"But it's not like they'll stop there," Esther said. "And if they get in Ava's way, they could make the situation worse for the werewolves."

"I just can't believe Lorcan's not coming back," Peter said. He glanced at Val. "At least Lucia's bound to come back soon, eh?"

But the h.e.l.lhound didn't exactly look pleased.

"And I'm just relieved that the werewolves have never killed a human." I c.o.c.ked my head to the side. "That we know about anyway."

"I thought they did weeks ago," Peter said, looking confused.

"Oh, they just covered it up for, um, some other creature that Phoenix was taking care of. But it's out of the country now, so that's are you okay, Peter?"

He nodded, but he had just choked on his drink, and his face turned red as he hacked up a lung. Carl thumped him on the back until the coughing fit pa.s.sed.

"I'm okay," Peter said at last, but his cheeks remained red. I felt a p.r.i.c.kle on the back of my neck at the idea that he was hiding something from me, too.

"I don't get why the paragon is so opposed to the werewolves," Carl said. "He has to be the one committing these murders."

"That's what I thought," I said. "But I don't think he is. I think that he's just using tragedy to suit his agenda. And the thing about the werewolves covering up a death for someone else has me thinking. What if it's happening again, except this time, whatever's doing the killing is trying to make it look like a werewolf attack?"

"What if you're wrong?" Esther said, looking worried. "What if the murderer is really that savage? You're in danger if you look into this, Ava."

"I'll be with Phoenix."

All of them looked doubtful.

"And Icarus."

The room relaxed.

"Besides," I said. "If I do this, then Phoenix has promised to get rid of the shifter annoyance for good."

"How is he going to manage that?" Peter scoffed.

"I don't know, but he said he would, so I trust him," I said.

"Well, I don't," he retorted.

"Well, I have to," I snapped. "He's our best chance."

"But the werewolves aren't your responsibility," he said. "And what's happening to them is s.h.i.tty, but you're throwing yourself in the fire alongside them. When are you ever going to learn?"

"Learn what?" I asked coldly. "To be like you and not give a s.h.i.t about anyone else?"

Peter's face fell.

I rubbed my temples. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," he said. "I should head on anyway." He got up from the chair and left the room.

I followed him outside my house and tugged on his arm. "Peter, wait."

"It's cool," he said. "I understand."

"No, you don't." Keeping my hand on his arm, I sighed. "It's been a rough week, and I took it out on you because you keep voicing the things that I'm scared of. I'm scared that helping the werewolves will bring a fire on us, too. I'm scared that Phoenix can't be trusted, and I'm worried that the shifters will never back off and leave us alone. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"I'm okay."

"Great, but what I said wasn't true."

He hesitated then.

"I know you care about other people," I said. "And I've seen you make changes to your life. Not just for Emmett, but for you, too, and that's healthy. I picked at a scab because I was being a b.i.t.c.h. I just wanted you to know that I noticed, and I think it's great that you're getting your life together."

He heaved out a sigh as though a heavy weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. "I'm trying to give you your s.p.a.ce, Ava, but I'm getting tired of waiting around. Are we ever going to go back to the way it was?"

I gave him a puzzled stare. "But that's impossible, and why would you want to go back to that? Neither of us was in a great place, and we clung on to each other for support in all of the wrong ways."

He swallowed hard. "Are you saying this is it? That there will never be a me and you again?"

I hesitated too long, and pain reared in his eyes.

"I can't see the future," I said at last. "But I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of heavy relationship. Everything we do affects Emmett, and that's a lot of pressure on us when we both care about him so much." I couldn't read his expression. "Stop looking at me like that. I'm not perfect, Peter, and I don't know if I'm ready."

He pressed me against the wall, one hand on my hip and the other on my cheek. He stroked my skin, and my heart rate increased. I did miss him, but being with him had worn me out in a lot of ways. The thought of going back to that filled me with just as much dread as excitement. If I went back, that might mean throwing away the last year of progress I'd made. Was it going back or forward? I just didn't know, and I couldn't tell if my own intentions were good or right.