Page 7 of Wolves Always Bite

“Allright, handsome,” the guy said as he opened the first box. “Iwarned you it was weird, but here you go…”

“Shit…”Mychest tightened at whatIsaw.

“Iknow, right?Weirdass shit.”

Onthe top was aJahaller.Thepoor creature had been so long without a magical infusion he was nearly fixed as a statue.Jahallerswere protectors.Theyoften guarded hearths when the fires died, protecting a home from intruders who might take advantage of the chimney as an undefended gap in a home’s wards.Thecreatures may only be a foot tall, but they were fierce warriors.Smallscythes were their favorite weapon, but they worked with most small blades.Withproper care and a steady supply of magic,Jahallerswalked and talked the same as anyone else.Butif they were denied magic, they slowly turned to stone, trapped in a body that wouldn’t move, until they died.Thatsomeone would let this happen…Ishuddered at the atrocity of it.

ThisJahallerneeded magic.Alot of it.Rightnow.Ipicked up the creature and murmured quietly to it.Simplyacknowledging him wouldn’t be enough to counteract the neglect, but it was a start.

FindingtheJahallermeant this had to be the magical artifacts we’d been tasked with finding.Good.Wecould return the stuff and then get on with a new, more interesting investigation, one that didn’t have me prowling through endless farmers’ markets.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” theJahallerwhispered.Hislips barely moved.

Thehuman didn’t appear to see or hear anything, nor had he tried to hide theJahallerfrom me, which meant he probably didn’t know about the supernatural world.Ifhe’d been exposed, the basic glamour protecting all our kind from humans would fall away and he’d be able to see things that had been hidden before.Iwas relieved;Ididn’t want this human to be at fault.Still,Ididn’t believe theJahaller’sdire situation was an accident.IfBabettewas involved, she knew exactly what she was doing.ButfirstIhad to confirm ifJeremywas as innocent as he appeared.

“Canyou tell me about him?”Iasked, gently turning theJahallersoJeremycould see it.

Jeremy’seyes lingered on my left hand and the spot whereIwas missing two fingers, before he met my eyes again.Hetilted his head in curiosity.Tostave off the inevitable questions,Iraised theJahaller.

“Doyou know anything about him?”Iprodded again.

“Oh, right… you asked me that a second ago, didn’t you?Sorryabout that.Mythoughts got away from me for a minute there.”Heglanced quickly at my left hand again before turning his attention to theJahaller. “Nope.”Heshook his head.Hisbody was relaxed and loose.Hisface was open and friendly.Ididn’t sense any tension or worry. “Idon’t know anything about what’s in this box.Thisis the first timeBabette’sbrought anything like that.Actually, we acquired this box and one other this morning.I’veonly been working with her since the start of summer, but we’ve never done that before.Shehas a place in the city, though.Shemight have more things like that there.Idon’t know.I’venever been inside the place;Ifound out it was hers by a fluke.Shepicks me up from home when we go out to events like this.And… that’s probably way more information than you were looking for.”Heshrugged in anoh, wellgesture.

“Youknow, the moreIhear her name, the moreIwonder if she is someoneIknow.Canyou describe her to me?Ifit’s the same person,Ishould stick around and chat with her.”EverythingIsaid was a lie.Ifit was theBabetteIknew, we couldn’t take her on, not with so many people around, but it’d help us decide how to move forward.

“She’s… uh… a little…”

“Rough?”

“Yeah.”Jeremygrinned. “That’sa good description.ImeanIdon’t want to bad mouth her or whatever, but yeah… she isn’t the most personable person.She’sshort.Kindof… uh… round?Shit…”Heslapped his hand over his mouth and laughed. “That’slike calling her fat, which isn’t much better than calling her grumpy, is it?IswearI’mnot trying to body shame her.It’sjust how she is.”

Thatsounded like the sameBabette.

WhichmeantIneeded to leave here with theJahallerand whatever else was in those boxes as soon as possible.Butwhat about the human?Ididn’t feel comfortable leavingJeremyhere to face a goblin’s wrath, not if he was innocent.Iglanced around but didn’t seeBabettecoming.Wedidn’t have a lot of time to waste though.IfBabettehad been gone for a while,Idoubted she’d stay away from her loot much longer.

Sohow wouldIconvince this human to quit his job and come with me while making sure the guy didn’t get too worried about me grabbing the boxes and running?SinceJeremywas human, he wouldn’t feel the magic.Hewouldn’t knowIwas liberating a dying magical being; he’d just thinkIwas stealing from his boss.

Ihad a feeling this was about to get expensive.

ChapterThree

ADRIAN

“Howmuch for both boxes?”Iasked, deciding it would be better to buy whatIwanted.Itwas the easiest thing to do and shouldn’t kick up any drama.Ihated the idea of giving someone likeBabetteany money, but keeping the human safe was suddenly as important to me as retrieving the magical artifacts.IfIjust took them,Babettewould be angry, and a pissed off goblin was a dangerous creature.

Jeremyeyed me dubiously. “Youactually want that stuff?”

“Yep.It’sperfect.”Ipulled my wallet from my back pocket and opened it to see whatIhad.Idrew out a couple of hundreds.

“Ihave no idea.Babetteusually prices everything.Andwith that…”Hewaved his hand toward the box on the chair. “Ihaven’t got a clue as to what would be reasonable.Imean,Idon’t know what any of it is, let alone the value of it.Andneither of us have even seen inside the second box.”

“Fivehundred?”

“Ireally don’t—"

“Howabout a thousand?”

Jeremy’seyes widened at the number. “That’scrazy.Athousand?Forthat junk?”