Kara threw her hands up. “I’m busting my ass, trying to keep this quiet, and now I’ve got to stick some of my weres on watch? Just what the hell am I supposed to tell them to watch out for while they’re out there picking their noses?”

“Have them keep an eye out for unusual activity. Anyone new or suspicious in the area.”

She exhaled a loud breath of frustration. “Can I get any more vague? They’ll look at me like I’ve lost it.”

“Tell them whatever you have to,” Danyon said. “With as tight a reign as you have over your pack, I’m sure all you’ll have to do is tell the weres you choose to stay put, and they’d stay put. They don’t have to have a reason.”

Kara sucked on the back of her front teeth and nodded. “True. Good point. Very good point.” Still nodding, she glanced over at Teddy. “You see that? If you had only listened to me. If you hadn’t been so damn weak. How many times did I tell you that you had to toughen up?”

Danyon felt awkward, as if he was eavesdropping on a private conversation. “Want some help moving him?” he asked.

“Nah, I got it.” Shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, she stared up at Danyon and offered nothing more.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Danyon finally said, “So I can tell August you’ll be setting weres at post?”

“Yeah. I’ll set ’em up.”

“Good. I’m sure August will summon everyone together in a couple of days, so we can compare notes. Unless something comes up before then, of course. If you notice anything unusual, no matter how slight, give me a call, would you?”

Kara arched her brow.

“All right, so don’t call me. At least call August. He’ll send reinforcements.”

“I don’t need backup,” Kara said. “If anything, or anyone, is brave enough to come out my way, my best weres will definitely mark it—or him. Trust me, if I have to call August, it’ll be for him to send over a grunt to pick up a body.” With that, she turned away and walked over to Teddy.

Taking that as his exit cue, Danyon left Kara alone with her dead were and headed back to his car, following the trail he had created on his way to the clearing.

Mission accomplished. All of the alphas in south Louisiana had been alerted, and in short order. He should have felt some sense of satisfaction about that. Instead, he felt uneasy. Kara’s obvious anger issues, combined with her my-way-or-the-highway attitude, was a recipe for disaster.

She was an explosion waiting to happen.

And that was the last thing any of them needed.

Chapter 10

Fiona’s idea for the three of them to take some time off yesterday in preparation for the Nuit du Dommage tourist rush had been spot on. So had been her suggestion to pick up additional inventory from Keeno’s. Without those extra supplies, most of the shelves in the shop would have been empty hours ago.

It was mid-afternoon, and Shauna had managed to steal only one bathroom break since they’d opened that morning. So many customers were wandering in and out of the shop, that Caitlin eventually shoved a plastic wedge beneath the front door to keep it open and stop the trio of small bells that hung over the threshold from ringing every other second. Her feet and head throbbed; even her face ached from forcing a smile every time someone came to the register. She needed food, another trip to the bathroom, and sleep. If she had gotten an hour of sleep at Danyon’s, it had been a lot.

She was still standing behind the register, ringing up a large number of items for an elderly man, when a black-haired woman wearing too much perfume and a skintight blouse with a neckline that plunged down to her navel, shoved a bag in Shauna’s face.

“What’s these for?” the woman asked.

Shauna held up a finger, signaling the woman to wait, then finished keying in the last series of numbers from a product code.

With that done, Shauna looked over at the woman, forced smile in place. “I’ll be glad to help you as soon as I’m finished with this gentleman.”

“Aw, c’mon. All I want to know is what they’re for. Look, he don’t mind if you help me. You don’t mind, do you, mister? You don’t care if I get a couple questions answered, huh?” She smiled at him, rested an elbow on the counter and leaned forward, giving him a close up of her cleavage. To Shauna’s surprise, and the woman’s shock, the man completely ignored her.

Good for you, Shauna thought.

Refusing to be deterred, the woman leaned over the counter and shook the bag under Shauna’s nose.

“Puhlease? I just want to know what this is.”

“I’ll help you—in a minute,” Shauna said, keeping her eyes on the elderly man’s purchases. She despised bullies and people who whined and threw tantrums until they got what they wanted.

“I thought y’all were supposed to help people,” the woman said. “I’m staying with a friend at the Bienville House, and he told me to come over here because he’s feeling poorly and said y’all had natural stuff that would make him feel better. He told me to get some kind of shriveled up berry thing…seesaw or sawmill or something stupid like that. I can’t remember what the name of it is, but if I heard it, I’d probably remember.”

“Saw palmetto berries,” Shauna said.

“Oh.” The woman pulled the bag back with a snap, a huge smile on her face.

Shauna was about to total the man’s order, when the woman shoved the bag under her nose again.

“So what are they good for?”

Shauna glanced up at the man apologetically, then said to the black-haired nuisance, “They’re used for colds, hay-fever, bronchitis, mainly upper respiratory problems.”

“Oh.” The woman snapped the bag back again.

Not two seconds later, the bag was in Shauna’s face.

“So what you got to do with ’em? Eat ’em?”

“Ma’am, please. Just give me a minute to finish helping this man, and I’ll answer all of your questions,” Shauna said.

“All I wanna know is what I’ve gotta do—”

A large hand appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the woman’s arm and yanked it down so the bag was no longer in Shauna’s face. Lurnelle Franklin had arrived to save the day, and she had come in style. She wore a plum-colored, V-neck pullover that reached her mid-thigh, tight black pants, and gold, strappy sandals.

“You got a problem with you ears, Miss Thing?” Lurnell snapped. “The lady here said to hol’ up, and she even asked you nice.”

Shauna smiled a thank-you to Lurnell and finished bagging the gentleman’s merchandise. The black-haired woman with the bag of palmetto berries took a couple of steps back to put some distance between herself and Lurnell. “Well, I never—”

“That’s right you never, and you never gonna neither with them titties hangin’ out like that,” Lurnell said. “Go cover that up, girl. Ain’t nobody tryin’ to see them old nasty things anyhow.”

The man Shauna had been waiting on, the one who had refused to be swayed by the display of cleavage earlier, burst out laughing.

Obviously shamed, the black-haired woman threw the bag on the counter, spun around on her heels and stormed out of the store.

Shauna handed the man his bag of goods. “I’m so sorry about all of that.”

“Oh, don’t be,” he said between chuckles. “It’s the best laugh I’ve had all year. I like this place. I do believe I’ll come back.”

“You a smart man,” Lurnell said. She gave him a big grin.

No sooner did he leave the store than Fiona came out of the reading room, where she had been reading tea leaves for an Asian woman, and walked over to the counter.

“I thought I recognized that voice.” Fiona smiled at Lurnell. “How are you doing, honey?”

“Oh, I’m all good,” Lurnell said.

“Glad to hear it.” Fiona turned to Shauna. “And what about you? It sounded like things were getting a little carried away out here.”

“No, it’s all cool,” Lurnell reassured her. “Some old, nasty hussy was shovin’ stuff in my girl’s face here, so I put a little play on her. I be figurin’ that the hussy’s gots to go, you know what I’m sayin’? You feelin’ me?” She shook her head. “I swear, I don’t know what’s wrong wit’ all the people in the world today. They crazy.”

“I hear you,” Shauna said. “I appreciate you stepping in the way you did. That woman would probably still be waving that bag in my face if it hadn’t been for you.”

Lurnell tsked and flapped a hand at her. “Aw, ain’t nothin’ but a thing, girl.”

“Well, I think every good heroine deserves a reward,” Fiona said. “I’ve got fresh baked chocolate cookies back in the office. Think you can handle a few?”

“A few? Sheee, I can handle a lotta few.” Lurnell slapped a hand to her belly.

“You bring ’em, and Lurnell’s gonna eat ’em. I love chocolate!”

Fiona laughed. “You’ve got it. I have to help Caitlin with something first, but as soon as I’m done, I’ll get those cookies for you. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Oh, I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Lurnell said, bright-eyed.

As Fiona headed for Caitlin, four girls who appeared to be in their early teens, came rushing up to the cash register, giggling.

“Can I help you?” Shauna asked.

More giggling. Whispering. Then each girl stretched out a hand. One held a piece of citrine, another hematite, the third, a piece of amethyst, and the fourth, a beautifully cut quartz.

“Are these, like, magical?” the girl holding the citrine asked.

“Yeah,” said the one with the amethyst. “’Cause, like, we have a friend, you know, who told us they were real magic. And, like, we were supposed to come over here and get some, and you’d be able to tell us, like, which ones might bring us boyfriends and stuff.”