The slim laptop I’d borrowed from Arnold so I could check my e-mail had been turned upside down. The battery was missing, and I didn’t see the carrying case with the power hookup and extra cables anywhere. At least it wasn’t busted like the rest of the stuff in the room. There were coffee grounds spilled all over the floor, the coffeemaker smashed up against, and stuck partway into, the wall. Miraculously, the pot itself had survived, the last dregs of this morning’s brew congealed at the bottom of the glass container.
Moving in a daze, I picked a few shreds of torn clothing and a mangled paperback off the floor. Whoever had done this hadn’t gone through the closet, so our bags were untouched, the few things that hadn’t been unpacked left alone. Chaz was not going to be happy that the only clothes left that hadn’t been torn to bits in the break-in were the ones that would likely get torn to bits when he shifted. Unless he wanted to parade around naked until moonrise.
Interesting thought, that.
Who might have done this? Who hated me or Chaz enough to do something this crappy? Considering moonrise was so close, as soon as he got here, Chaz would likely fly into a rage, shift, and tear off into the woods after whoever had destroyed our stuff. Though I wasn’t sure why, maybe someone was trying to piss him off on purpose so he’d lose it. To make him angry enough to hurt me? Unlikely, but a possibility I couldn’t dismiss outright. Someone was pissed off enough to stir unrest in the ranks of Weres, but it was unclear whether this mess was the result of someone’s trying to get to me, to Chaz, or to both of us.
When I got closer to the bed, I froze, shock stopping me in my tracks. I could see the sheets and blankets had been shredded in a couple of places. There were claw marks on the thin birch logs that made up the headboard, so deep they stopped just shy of cutting right through. It looked like something large and monstrous had jumped up on the bed, put its talons up on the headboard, and raked down it like some giant cat sharpening its claws on a scratching post.
Instantly, my haze of disbelief shifted into anger. I was willing to bet Seth and his band of merry misfits were responsible. It was a wonder they hadn’t marked their territory, I thought savagely, grabbing up what clothes and things could be salvaged and putting them together on the ravaged bed.
I’d been right. It looked like all of my panties and bras were gone, maybe burned to ash with the rest of Chaz’s clothes. Looked like I’d be spending the rest of the time I was here going commando, unless there was a clothing store somewhere in the mix of tiny shops we’d passed on the main boulevard on our way here. People lived here year-round, so there had to be a place where we could pick up some new clothes.
We wouldn’t be able to stay in the cabin tonight, but I wasn’t about to turn tail and run back to the city. This was just a stupid threat; somebody was trying to drive me away. I’d find out who was responsible and find a way to make them pay.
Anger kept me warm as I hurriedly threw our remaining things together, wishing mightily for my silver stakes and guns. I wasn’t usually bloody-minded without the sentient hunter’s belt to urge me on, but for whoever did this, I would make an exception.
Chapter 7
By the time I’d finished repacking what remained of our salvageable stuff, my anger had cooled off enough that I didn’t think it would be a bright idea to stick around. Whoever had done this was still out there somewhere, and he or she might come back when Chaz wasn’t around. Without the belt to give me strength, speed, and stamina, I had no hope of surviving a Were attack. Not a very cheering thought to keep me company on the nice, long walk alone through a wooded path in the dark to get back to the lodge. Chaz was probably still there, drinking and feeling like a shit for letting one of his pack get uppity with me.
All in all, staying here was more dangerous than going back. I looked around the room to see if there