Page 15 of Filthy Fae

Fuck.

Jealousy kicked me in the gut with steel-toed boots. After nearly a month of listening to those two play house, I should be fucking used to it. But knowing that Scarlet and I might never have what she and Darrel found in one another stabbed me like a serrated knife. That feeling should have lessened with time, but it hadn’t.

Of all the people in the world, I didn’t begrudge Darrel happiness. The man lived, day in, day out, to help others. Hell, several people owed him their lives. I owed him my life. He’d killed for me. He’d never once complained that fae carved up his face while he was protecting his pack.

Darrel was the best man I knew, bar none. He deserved Scarlet’s love, and I didn’t. I never would. Maybe they weren’t in love yet, but they were heading there. Anyone with eyes could see it every time they looked at each other. It was the primary reason I stayed away on the days Darrel was here. When Aaron was here, I couldn’t give a fuck. He had a thicker shell than me. But right here and now, hearing the soft whisper of their voices in the other room, it was fucking killing me inside.

“Let’s eat,” Darrel said. “We missed dinner, and you’ve had a long day.”

“You didn’t have to cook for us,” Scarlet said, sounding exhausted. “Or wait for me. Now you missed dinner, too.”

The smell of frying onions wafted in from the kitchen, and my stomach growled, but I wasn’t about to leave my room to feel like shit where they could see me.

Jane’s voice interrupted my dark thoughts. “They’re holding him for ninety-six hours. After the confrontation with Queen Titania, Scarlet and I were considering if it was prudent to wave Dr. Reed’s rights and ask the Sheriff to hold him for longer.”

That had me out of my chair and rushing into the living room.

“Queen Titania?” I demanded as I walked into the kitchen, finding Jane and Scarlet both sitting at our four-person wooden table, combing through their phones while Darrel chopped vegetables.

“Yeah,” Scarlet said. “I got in a verbal showdown with the Spring Queen herself in the police station waiting room. But it looks like she’s going to give me a few days of peace before all hell breaks loose.” She pushed away her phone, let out a heavy sigh, and then raised her head to look at me. “She wants me to hand over Zane the moment he’s released. Like a fucking sacrificial lamb. The police aren’t exactly on our side, either. They think Zane’s guilty.”

“What do you think?” Darrel asked as he transferred peppers over from the cutting board.

“I actually want to hear what Jane thinks first,” Scarlet said, turning her attention to the lawyer.

“It doesn’t matter what I think.” Jane didn’t look up from her phone, and I would have taken it as a sign of disrespect if I didn’t know the woman. She pulled this shit all the time.

I leaned against the wall. “Scarlet wants to know, and when she asks you, you’ll please answer, just as you would have done for me.”

Scarlet raised her hands. “No. If you want to keep your opinions to yourself, that’s fine. They belong to you.”

Jane lifted her gaze slowly, worked her jaw back and forth, and then said, “It’s too early to make any conclusions, but if I had to say now, I would tell you that you should prepare for the possibility that your werewolf is guilty.”

Scarlet’s shoulders sagged. “You saw him. You think that man killed twenty-six people?”

“I did, and I think it’s a possibility.” When Scarlet looked like she was going to argue, Jane whispered, “Alpha, with all due respect, this is why I don’t like to give my impressions early or work with emotionally involved parties in the investigation.”

Scarlet snapped her jaw shut and squeezed closed her eyes. Reaching up, she rubbed her forehead. “You’re right. I apologize. Can we just start over?” She blew out a heavy breath. “Please, tell me what you think. I’ll keep my shit together.”

Without even meaning to, I slipped into the seat beside Scarlet. A moment later, Darrel set down plates of sausage and potatoes, and when Scarlet made to help him, he said, “You, eat.”

She pointed back into his face. “You’re letting me do dishes.”

Hell no, he wasn’t. I would be doing the dishes. Scarlet would be going to bed, or another relaxing activity that wasn’t working.

Jane took the time granted to her by the arrival of the food and didn’t say anything until we had all made it halfway through the hearty meal. Thinking she might try to slip out of it, I gave my lawyer a look. “What were your initial observations, and why are you leaning toward guilty?”

Jane set down her fork and sat straight. “I’m not leaning toward anything yet. All I meant to say is that from an objective perspective—”

“It’s fine, you can be honest,” Scarlet cut in. “And sorry for being an asshole and interrupting you.”

Jane smiled a little at that. “There is no doctor at Arcata Memorial named Stan. Well, there was a Stan that worked there, but according to the website, Stan transferred three weeks ago to Riverside, making it unlikely that he canceled on this party. I am almost certain from the moments he squirmed and the words he let slip that Dr. Zane Reed went to that party with someone, and everyone else at that party is dead, Meaning, he is concealing his relationship with a murdered friend or lover.” She turned around her phone, showing the image of a beautiful woman with dark hair. “Marisa Tyler, a human prenatal nurse at Arcata Memorial, was among the dead at the party.”

Scarlet gripped her fork, but her voice was even when she said, “This is a very small town. Maybe it’s a coincidence.”

“I’m not ruling that out.” Jane nodded. “Dr. Reed and Ms. Tyler worked in different areas of the hospital, so it’s possible they’d never met before.” Judging from her expression, she was humoring Scarlet.

Scarlet shifted in her chair, so her arm brushed mine. I didn’t think she did it consciously, but I could practically feel how uncomfortable she was. “Submissive wolves don’t just go around massacring humans. That would never happen.”