Chapter 146

Charles

I entered the kitchen to pour some coffee as Grace opened the envelope. She gasped, and the scent of her fear filled the air. I looked up as her fingers started to tremble. As I watched her face, I could see the color drain from her cheeks as she scanned the contents. Things slipped out of the envelope as I rounded the island.

"Grace?"

She shook her head and thrust the letter towards me. I noticed the things that had fallen out were photos of Kelly with Cecil and Richard. I gathered them up and set them on the table before reading the letter.

The game you're playing is going to start having more casualties.

It was a menacing message, constructed with cut-out letters from various sources, but it didn't sit right with me.

The analysis of the bombs that had been placed had age limiters. Seraphina stated that no one under the witch age of majority, twenty-one would have been harmed in the explosion. The buildings would have all been intact, too. Now, knowing that Astarte was Alpha Shadow, it made sense. She would never intentionally harm children. Her own daughter had barely been twenty when she'd been killed.

I took a deep breath and set the letter aside. For now, the letter would have to wait. She looked up at me, her eyes filled with fear and uncertainty.

"Deep breath," I said and set the photos down. "George, could you bring your laptop?"

George hustled out to the office he was using as I took a seat beside her.

"It's going to be okay," I said. "Call the police."

Grace's hands were trembling as she reached for the phone to call the police station. I could see the turmoil in her eyes, the desire to flee from this terrifying situation, but she didn't get up. She just got on the phone as I continued to look at the photos. They weren't taken incredibly close, maybe a block away. It was a terrible camera, too, which only made it more suspicious. No matter how badly Noir could be doing financially, Astarte wouldn't have used a crappy camera. There were spells that could do the same thing in high definition. I listened to Grace talk to the dispatcher as I pondered it. Then, George came back.

"Someone will be here soon," Grace said, hanging up.

"Good," I said and turned the emblem; the mark of a bleeding moon was familiar, if a bit off. I couldn't place what it was that was off, but it was. I slid the envelope towards George. "Is this what I think it is?"

George took the envelope and frowned. "It... looks like it, but it's not."

"That's what I thought."

"What is it?" Grace asked. Curiosity and concern filled her gaze as she looked between me and the envelope. Her voice quivered at the end.

"The emblem on the back is a... rather good knockoff of the seal of the Moonblood Clan," I began, my voice calm and measured. "That's Isolde's clan."

She grew tense. Her expression darkened as she processed it.

"You're sure it's a knockoff, or do you just want to believe it's a knockoff."

I smiled. "I'm sure. One, Isolde hates wax seals. She finds them archaic."

I lifted it and took a sniff, wrinkling my nose. "Two, lycan letters aren't sealed with wax. We use wax for scrolls, and this isn't a lycan wax. It smells like basic candle wax."

She blinked. "There's... a difference?"

"Smells, burns, and adheres differently." I passed it back to George.

"Well, we already know that Alpha Shadow is a witch. What about them?"

"There's no scent of magic on it," I said. "Even if a witch sealed it completely without magic, there would be a trace of it because it would be a part of their scent."

She frowned, her shoulders slumped. "So, what then? By who?"

I shook my head, considering it. "It would have to be someone who knows of Devin's debt to Moonblood--"

She groaned. "Another debt?"

I chuckled. "Don't worry. You won't be hearing about it. I already squared things with Isolde."

The brat. "It would also have to be someone with easy access to Mooncrest recently. George?"

"Kelly was wearing this about two days ago. Eason and Amira hadn't lifted the lockdown by then, so they would have already had to have been in the city to take these photos..." He hummed. "No address and no stamp means it was put in your mailbox directly."

"... not exactly."

I cocked an eyebrow, and Grace fiddled with her coat sleeve.

"If it was dropped off inside of Mooncrest, then it wouldn't need a stamp or an address. The postal service of Mooncrest is more like a courier service inside the city... So long as it passes through the scanner, it can be sent."

"So... someone familiar with that quirk too, hm? Sounds like Alpha Shadow is already here, has been here, or..."

"Is more than one person." I almost groaned. I'd have to figure out how to confirm that for sure, but there's nothing in me that said Astarte was a part of this.

The challenge wouldn't have allowed it.

"There's also the matter of the message itself. There haven't been casualties..."

Unless there have been, and we just don't know about it. They could be referring to Duncan if the attacks were related. It's possible, but not something I believed to be under Astarte's control. Whoever her partner in crime was, whether she knew them personally or not, was to blame for this.

I still wasn't sure how to deal with Astarte's part to play in all of this. We'd have to tread carefully in the days ahead, especially with a growing political battle on the horizon.

As I watched Grace absorb everything, I couldn't help but be proud. She was pale and clearly frightened, but she was present and thinking.

George took photos and scans of everything before sending them to the Enforcers before the Mooncrest Police arrived. They collected the evidence, took Grace's brief statement, and left. She seemed to relax a little now that the investigation process was underway. I couldn't help but feel a growing unease.

Who would know about the debt and think to use Isolde as a cover? It felt like it was directed at me, not Grace.

My eyes widened as I thought about the message.

The game you're playing is going to start having more casualties.

Maybe the message was to me and not Grace, but then who would know that I was here? Would know anything about my involvement with Grace?

Perhaps Tessa was still using her relationships with various members of the Enforcer ranks to keep tabs on me.

It seemed likely and irritating.

If it was Tessa, there was no way she could know how pissed off it would make me. She's always had issues with Isolde, so it was looking more likely by the second.

But that wasn't the whole of it. I was missing a piece of the puzzle.

Nevertheless, I couldn't dismiss the looming threat. It was evident that Blood Moon, or perhaps another faction acting under its guise, was escalating its campaign. Something about the situation didn't add up, leaving me with a sense of unease.

I opened the scans that George had taken and the photos, staring at them as if I could see something, guess something. There was a niggling feeling in the back of my mind, a suspicion that this development was merely a prelude to something larger, or maybe something that's just been ongoing for a long time.

Grace left the table as we heard Cecil's voice and Richard stirring.

"George," I said softly. "Get me a list of everyone Tessa is involved with."

His eyes widened. He glanced at the envelope and nodded. "Give me five minutes."

I nodded. "We'll talk more soon... There have been a few developments."

George nodded. "Of course."

I went to the kitchen and put together breakfast. Soon enough, Eason was hustled back upstairs for more sleep. Kelly had arrived to take the kids up, snarking at George about his over-protectiveness, eating, and half asleep in his seat. George picked him up and carried him upstairs to sleep. I shooed Grace upstairs to get dressed as I fed Cecil and Richard. A little while later, Grace came down, dressed to head to Wolfe Medical.

"I was thinking we could go to the museum," Kelly said. "What do you think? They have that new painting exhibit?"

"Yay!" Cecil cried, getting out of her seat. "I'll put on my messy clothes."

Grace hovered and hesitated in the doorway. I turned her to the door, put her in her coat, and kissed her gently.

"I'm putting a detail on Kelly and the kids. They'll be fine. Get going. I'm sure you've got science stuff to catch up on, hm?"

She worried her lip but nodded and headed out to get into the car with Gregory's replacement.

I turned back to George as he started to dial.

"Make them plainclothes and make sure they're people that Grace and Kelly would recognize." I glanced towards the door. "Something tells me that the letter is part one."