We waited for the sound of Tony's car starting up, then we glanced at each other.
"Do you think Evan has seen this?" Adam asked in a hushed tone.
I shrugged, "We can ask. We can even ask if he knows what it says. I feel like he might not. This strikes me as something Abigail had made." I ran my hand through the ends of my hair. "Though I can't think of why. Why would someone on the run have a list of our pack? How does this other wolf in Abigail's house play into everything?"
"You think the new wolf might be connected to what is chasing Abigail and her son?"
I shook my head slowly. "No, I think that wolf has something to do with Abigail, but I don't think he has anything to do with Evan. Tony said he asked, 'Where is she,' not they. But one wolf can't take down an entire pack, no matter how dominate they are." More than anything I wanted to cling to that thought, but my mind reminded uneasily of Bran. And a story of a dead forest that nothing else lived in but a monstrous wolf. If there was one, there could be another.
"I don't know," Adam told me. Down our mating bond I could feel both man and wolf were in agreement that they didn't like any of this, especially not knowing.
I opened my mouth to tease him when my phone rang. "Maybe Bran decided to call me back with answers."
It wasn't Bran. It was Tad.
"Hey Mercy." Tad's pleasant voice came through my phone. "You've got a package at the shop."
"You called just to tell me I got a package at the shop?" I asked skeptically. Tad knew I be there in another twenty to thirty minutes.
"Nope. I called to tell you, you got a package that has something old and magical in it. Also to ask where you got something magical because there is no return address."
"Is it dangerous?"
I could practically hear him shrug. "I don't know. Dad is trying to figure that out now. He thinks probably not, but it's hard to tell without opening it up, seeing what exactly it is, and getting his hands on it." There was a short pause. "Can we open it?"
I looked at Adam and raised my eyebrows.
"How sure are you that the magic in it won't hurt you or Mercy, Tad?"
"Hey Adam! Given the way magic works around Mercy, our best guess is it wouldn't her. It doesn't seem like it will hurt us either, but I wouldn't necessarily trust it around you though, Adam."
"Why?" My husband asked.
"Whatever it is, it is made of silver and has some hella strong magic worked on it."
"What kind of magic is it?"
"Fae." Tad responded instantly, but then hesitated and amended, "Mostly Fae."
"You're not sure?"
We could hear Zee's grunt and when he made a so-so sound.
"Would you trust Zee to keep whatever magic is in that from harming you guys or others?"
It wasn't hard to hear Zee's gruff response in German, old German. Adam had really insulted him. A wary smile spread across my husband's face.
"I had to ask, Zee."
"You guys can go ahead and open it," I told Tad. Then to Adam I said, " It might be a worth checking security cameras at the shop to see who dropped it off." Then I realized he was already on the laptop doing just that. While on the phone I heard Tad open the box- from the sound of it- and grunt when he finally revealed the contents. Zee murmured something in German that I couldn't quite catch, but it sounded like he was cooing happily.
"There is a knife in here; that's what was enchanted. Dad's thrilled. And there is also a large file." There was a pause where I heard paper shuffle and the pause became longer and more pronounced sending my instincts stirring. "Mercy, who's child do you have?"
I closed my eyes and resisted the urge to rub my temples. "What does it say?"
"There's a note attached that says, 'Please take care of my son, and beware the Shadow.' That's a capital letter S." I heard more papers shuffling. "The file is everything from a birth certificate to report cards and medical records for one Evan Williams." There was a question in Tad's voice.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "We had a werewolf come to us after his mother was attacked. His mom made a mention of the 'shadow' when she spoke to us briefly." If that's what you'd call what happened.
Tad clicked his tongue in thought. "So she left her son in your care and then dropped off a package with all his information, a magical knife, and a note asking you to protect him." There was a note of suspicion in his voice. Before I could even think to respond Zee yelped in what I assumed was surprise.
"Da?"
Zee's response was a far away so I couldn't hear all of it, but it sounded like he said he was fine.
"What happened?" Adam and I asked.
Tad grunted. "Dad said the knife gave him a warning. It's one of his, but he doesn't remember making it." There was a sound of Zee taking the phone from Tad then his gruff voice came across the line.
"Liebling, I remember making this blade just fine. What I said is that I don't remember making it all. Another Fae helped make it, I believe to protect her child. The blade is old and thus has a mind of its own. It warned me that she was meant for 'she who is not me'. So I believe the magic in this will help you as long as you protect the child you have and it might be like the walking stick."
"So why hasn't it appeared in the house?"
"It doesn't know you yet. You haven't touched it."
"So it won't hurt me?"
"Not unless you abandon the child, then it could turn on you or someone close to you. "
"Well I guess there's no problem them." I glanced at Adam who had an almost ironic smile. I wondered which time he was thinking of. The time I went against Bran to save Jess, or the time I went up against a vampire for the bravest little boy ever, or the time I pit our pack against all Fae for a fire-touched boy. I watched as Adam's smile turned to a frown as something happened on his laptop. Then he turned his laptop towards me. It was the view outside my shop during the day. At first I couldn't see what Adam was showing me until it looked like a piece of the ground was sliding towards the fence. Once it moved closer I realized it was a wolf. It's fur was a mixture of pale colors that blended against the desert almost perfectly. Once it reached the fence, it was clear that it was a werewolf. Not only did its size give it away, but also the graceful leap it made over an eight foot metal fence. Then it became clear that it was also carrying a plain brown package wrapped in twine. This, the werewolf deposited on the front door, before glancing up at the camera and bowing.
"Mercy?" Tad asked.
"Sorry, Adam was showing me the wolf who dropped off the package."
"I take it the wolf came right over the fence and up to the front door?"
"Yeah," unease moved through me. "Why?"
"There is a guy outside the shop who is kneeling in the dirt. It looks like he is touching a print."
"Hide those papers." I could hear Tad carefully packing the box away behind the desk. I could hear the bell from the door. But I couldn't quite make out what the person said, but I could hear Tad perfectly.
"I'm sorry sir, I've never seen that woman. If you are looking for someone I can give you directions to the police station."
There was another grumbled reply. Then the bell rang again. After a moment Tad picked the phone back up and said, "Mercy. I can't remember what that man looked like. Da can't either."
Adam was already working through the video feed. He got to the video pulled up and watched it with a frown on his face. I watched over his shoulder as the man stepped into the shop. It was like his face was wreathed in shadow. In the back of my mind I heard Abigail's words in her son's voice, 'Tell the alpha to watch his pack, the shadow comes'. It seemed that the shadow had indeed come.
"It would have been nice if he could have at least shown his face to the camera."
"Who showed their face?"
I winced, and remembered that having heightened senses was only good if I used them. Then I turned to Evan who had just come up the stairs. He looked at the computer between Adam and I. He frowned at the image on the screen.
"Who is that?" There was nothing but truth in his voice.
"Someone who visited my shop." I saw no reason to lie to him, but I also had no proof that the man in the video was the Shadow that Abigail was so worried about. "You wouldn't happen to recognize him, would you?"
Evan gazed at the picture, but shook his head no. "He doesn't look like anyone I've met."
