protective instincts demanded he stay put, and I wasn’t going to convince him otherwise.
After I stepped out of the water, I yanked on my socks and shoes then joined Bonnie.
The smaller woman trembled despite the heat. “Did I do the right thing?”
Unsure if she meant her ill-advised solo recon, which we had already addressed, or calling Midas instead of me or the cleaners, which might land her in hot water if these victims were anything but gwyllgi, I kept my answer as vague as I felt.
“It’s good we got a look at this scene before it was disturbed.” I dragged a damp hand down my face before remembering where it had been. “Ford got a hit on the scent before we had to deal with cross-contamination, and that might make all the difference.”
Tension shot through her spine. “He can track the person who did this?”
“We can hope.”
“Oh.” A frown gathered across her brow. “Can he tell if it’s a warg or another gwyllgi?”
“No,” I admitted. “We’re stumped on that front, but we’ll figure it out.”
Hopefully before another innocent paid the price.
“The cleaners should be here in a minute. I hear vehicles approaching.” She relaxed her rigid posture and inched closer until our hips brushed. “I don’t like them. They smell like death and chemicals.”
Given their line of work, I wasn’t surprised they carried their profession in their scent. “If I can keep you out of it, I will. If I can’t, then I’ll stay while they question you.”
“Okay.”
Once even my weak hearing picked up the sound of approaching footsteps, I rose and went to greet the four men dressed in waders and carrying crime scene kits. They each nodded on their way past, about as much of a hello as you could expect from cleaners, who did their best to avoid on-scene interaction to keep their impartial reputation intact, but the red-faced man who arrived next made a beeline for me.
“You should have followed standard operating procedure. You should have called us immediately, not waited until it was convenient for you.” He stabbed a finger in the direction of his team. “You contaminated the scene, you compromised this investigation, and your superior will hear about this.”
“Don’t raise your voice,” Bonnie whispered. “Please.”
“I don’t take orders from you,” he spat then turned back to me. “Or you.” His cheeks puffed with outrage. “Not yet.” His face kept mottling. “Not ever if I have anything to say about it.”
“Please,” Bonnie said again, barely an exhale.
The man slanted her an annoyed glare that slid toward panic in the next instant. “What is wrong with—?”
Crimson magic splashed up Bonnie’s slight frame, washing away her human form as it crested over her head in a tidal wave of power. As it drained, I got my first look at her other self, and I almost wet my pants.
Bonnie might be submissive, but she was a giant submissive. Frakking gargantuan.
She was also snow white from tip to tail minus her button nose. It, and her eyes, were as pink as the tiny flowers on her dress had been. Her scales were translucent and shimmery like they had been sprayed with glitter, and even her claws were clear to the quick.
All that might have been fine if she hadn’t been the size of a robust pony, easily twice the height of any gwyllgi I had ever seen. In this form, she came off as a lot less timid and a lot more willing to eat people who frightened her.
Bonnie growled at the cleaner until he backed down, then she came to lean against my side, almost knocking me down with her heft.
“I would go if I were you,” I told the man, and I wasn’t being snide about it. “Maybe tell Ford to come? Quickly? Not run, you understand, but to walk swiftly and with purpose?”
After smoothing a hand over his balding pate, the man sauntered off with as much dignity as he could muster. Until Bonnie huffed in his direction. Then he squeaked like a mouse before skittering away to safety.
“You can change back now,” I told her, and I hoped she didn’t notice the faint tremor in my voice.
Don’t get me wrong, I had seen gwyllgi shift, but usually there was a pane of glass between them and me. Never had I stood this close to one on all fours, where all those details I had missed—the sharpness of her teeth, the pinkness of her gums, the brightness of her eyes—were crystal clear.
A soft whine escaped