Page 44 of Hellhound AU

“Questions about what? Who are you guys? I haven’t seen you around before.” The sneer was still present, but it looked a little more forced.

I ignored his question about who we were, saying, “We’re here to ask about Betsy Jones, actually.”

Sky’s eyes darted to the side briefly, but he kept his body very still. “What about her?”

“Have you seen her lately?” Rowan asked.

Sky looked down at the desk and shuffled some papers. “I’m not anyone’s babysitter. I don’t know when she was last in the lab to get work done.”

“Yeah, but you’re also a TA in one of her classes, right?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m a TA. I’m sure she’s probably in one of my classes—the art department isn’t that big.”

Another student walked in, and Sky focused in on them, then turned to us. “If you guys don’t mind, I have a job to do here. If you’re not art students here at the university, you aren’t supposed to be in the lab anyway.” He stared defiantly at us. Rowan started to say something, but I took his arm.

“Thanks for your help,” I told Sky, then I guided Rowan out the door.

He stayed quiet until we were out of the building, then he said, “That guy knows something.”

“Yup. He totally does. I’d bet money he has Betsy somewhere or knows where she is, but obviously asking questions isn’t going to get us anywhere. So we wait until his shift is over, and then we follow him. I’ll find out how long his shift is, and I’ll have the crew check and see what his address is and if he has any other property nearby.”

It turned out that his shift was until five in the morning—apparently the art workshop was open twenty-four hours a day. The crew had found his dorm address easily enough, so Rowanand I went by, but there were no signs of anything, and I couldn’t imagine he’d be able to keep Betsy in a dorm anyway. There was no privacy at all. They were working on looking into any other properties he might have, but for the moment, we were at a standstill.

“We should get some sleep, Milo,” Rowan announced. “I know you don't want to stop looking, but he wasn’t a rotten soul. I believe that Betsy is still alive and generally well, or else the mark on his soul would have been much blacker.”

“What if he isn’t even our guy? I mean, everyone has bad vibes from him, but that doesn’t prove anything for sure.”

Rowan hummed thoughtfully. “He’s not a rotten soul, but he’s guilty of something. I think he’s our man. We just have to bide our time.”

So we headed back to my place to take the kids out for a potty break and to catch some sleep. I filled Ethel and the crew in, and she graciously volunteered to take care of the pups during the day tomorrow while we followed the suspicious art student around.

Rowan and I tumbled into bed, and with a sweet kiss goodnight (we were too exhausted for much more), we were both fading into sleep.

The alarm went off while it was still dark out, and Rowan grumbled and growled. I popped out of bed, made coffee, and hopped into the shower, and by the time I got out, a very disgruntled Rowan was sipping some coffee.

“Hey, boo! Good morning! Ready to go kick some ass?” I bounced over and gave him a kiss.

He mumbled something unintelligible, pulled me into a hug, then went into the shower.

Rowan was not a morning person.

That was okay—I was morning person enough for both of us. He was, at least, quick at getting ready. Before long we were sitting in our car in the student parking lot that faced the art building.

“Do you think one of us should go on foot, and one of us should stay in the car? That probably makes the most sense, right?” I commented. After all, we didn’t know if Sky came here on foot or by car.

Rowan grunted.

“I know, I know—never split the party. But listen, there’s college security all over, and it’s not like either of us are helpless. We were both killing people long before we met each other.”

That didn’t seem to make Rowan feel any better, because he was just staring at me.

“How about you take the car, and I’ll follow if he goes on foot,” I suggested.

“Too dangerous. What if he jumps you?” Rowan asked.

I gave him my best death stare. “Boo, I know you’re overprotective, but I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

Rowan grunted again.