“Actually, we didn’t. We had help.”
Graham blanched. “I thought you weren’t including any outside help. It could ruin me. Ruin!”
“Calm down. He won’t tell anyone because he’s dead. You mentioned before that you’ve heard of the Freeman pride, so I guess you knew King.”
Graham stared, blank-faced. “King?”
“Sambah’s son. Somehow he followed one of us home, and we have a Gravewalker on our team who spoke to him. He knew several victims, and he’s the one who pointed out how many were alphas. More than what we knew. That wasn’t a question we bothered to ask, so it got us thinking.”
Graham’s eyes darted around. “Is he here now?”
Blue chuckled. “How would I know? I doubt it. He’s busy haunting our house.”
Graham shook the ice in his cup. “Have you found anything else I should know about? Every detail matters.”
Blue wasn’t sure there was anything additional she could provide, but she also didn’t want Graham to run off before Raven had a chance to talk to him. So she stalled. “We can talk through the details when Raven gets here.” She reached for her drink to wash down the indigestion.
“I can wait,” he said, studying her closely.
A few minutes rolled by, and she watched young people rushing to and fro. One lady actually carried her dog in a purse, and a man walked by, passing out fliers for a local band. Graham had a small pile of hot dogs and was working on another. She didn’t know how he could eat so many since they were spicy.
“You have the appetite of a hummingbird,” she said.
“Hummingbird? That’s a first.”
“We didn’t have books in my tribe, so everything we learned about animals was passed down from the elders. When I came to the city and learned to read, I found a book on falcons. I wanted to see what people wrote, and then I got caught up reading about all kinds of birds. Hummingbirds eat nearly twice their weight in nectar each day.”
Graham put down his hot dog. “Is that what you think I eat?”
“There’s nothing wrong with a hearty appetite. That’s my point. Hummingbirds are fast and efficient. I bet you’re the same. You mentioned you don’t sleep much, so your mind must always be going.”
He sighed. Relics looked so vulnerable to her. They were closest to humans genetically and even lived as long as them. But their intelligence was unmatched. Keystone was lucky to have Gem, who was born a Relic before becoming a Mage. They didn’t have to worry about her getting old and dying. Even Hunter would live longer according to his deceased mother.
“My clients are so demanding,” he complained. “They don’t appreciate the hours I put into my job. I barely have a social life anymore. Work, work, work.”
“That’s why I was surprised you didn’t have a partner. You don’t look strapped for cash unless you have some gambling addiction on the side. Give yourself a break.”
“Partnering up isn’t as easy as all that. You have to trust them, and that’s not easy to do with a stranger. That’s why most of them are married.”
Blue pulled out her phone when it vibrated. It was a message from Raven. While Graham went on about the dynamics between partners, Blue wrapped up a short exchange with Raven and frowned. Raven wanted her to ask Graham if he’d ever prescribed medication to their victims. Why would she ask that? Then Blue remembered how Andy had given his mate heartburn medication. In fact, several of them had mentioned the same thing. But if they were experiencing heartburn, of course they’d reach for medicine.
“Did you prescribe medicine to any of your clients?” she asked, setting her phone on the table.
Graham blinked. “I sell it on the side. That’s no secret.”
“I meant to the victims.”
He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “If they were sick and I had something for it, yes.”
“For heartburn?” She tried to read him, but he seemed truly baffled.
“Probably. I’d have to think. Sometimes I give people medicine and they don’t take it right away but keep it on hand. I’m not a pharmacy. Nobody gets an entire bottle of medicine. Can you imagine what would happen to my reputation if they overdosed or shared it with others? I only dispense a few pills as needed. Heartburn is a common condition.”
“Even Alisa, Andy’s mate?”
“Sure. Yeah. I gave her a few pills.”
“Why didn’t you mention that before?”
“What’s to mention? There’s nothing unusual about it. All pregnant women have heartburn.”
Blue stiffened. “You knew she was pregnant?”
She remembered Graham specifically saying that Teresa didn’t have kids. One doesn’t skip over the fact that a woman is carrying.
“Nobody knew about her condition except possibly the Packmaster,” he insisted, fidgeting with the wrappers on the table. “Alisa hadn’t told anyone but me and wanted to get tested because she was having stomach troubles.”
So that’s what Raven was hinting at. Blue decided to throw out an accusation and see how he reacted. “That seems like relevant information you should have shared. But you didn’t want anything tracing back to you. Not directly.”
Graham pushed back his chair and stood. “I think we’re done here. Hope you enjoyed the free meal.”
She couldn’t believe her eyes when he turned around and fled. Was he serious? She bolted to her feet and sprinted after him. Halfway across the street, a car nearly struck her before slamming on the brakes. Instead of asking if she was okay, the driver held down his horn. Blue pounded her fists against the hood, but she didn’t have time for this joker. When she looked up, Graham had vanished. Despite his size, he was apparently a quick runner.
She jogged in the direction he’d gone and spotted him far ahead, taking a right. Blue dodged into an alleyway and summoned her animal. But as she spread her arms, an emptiness filled her as if a wall had formed, breaking their connection. Confused, she conveyed the urgency, but again, nothing happened.
“What the hell?”
With no time to spare, Blue shot out of the alley and ran nimbly down the busy sidewalk. She turned right, dodging pockets of young people without breaking stride.
Dammit, I can’t see!
She felt handicapped on the ground. Was he hiding in a bar? Had he parked on this street and driven off? If only she could shift and get an aerial view. Even though she knew what kind of car he drove, she still looked in the window of every vehicle that rolled by. It didn’t seem likely he would have fought his way through crowded doors to hide inside a club—that would only trap him.
Wait a second—this street leads to the subway station.
On a hunch, she headed that way at breakneck speed. She weaved around cars, people, lampposts, every obstacle that blocked her path, all while scanning the street to make sure he wasn’t hiding between buildings or among a group of people.
Finally, she spotted him just ahead. He glanced back, his face red and glistening with sweat. It didn’t take long to catch up, and when she did, she grabbed the back of his shirt with such force that it ripped.
Panting heavily, Graham leaned against a sedan. “You don’t have anything.”