The steaming cup felt good in my hand, the coffee my third of the day. I was quickly regretting that I hadn't gone back to bed. Dinner with Kiri had gone off without a hitch, both of us managing to talk about normal, teenage problems and keep the case out of our conversation. But that might have been my drooping eyes that Kiri kept teasing me about. Usually, she would berate me when I tried to drink it in the evening, but she made an exception tonight.

We strolled through one of the nameless parks hand-in-hand, the sun setting a backdrop to the blissful evening. There were few times when my heart felt full, and now it felt like it might burst and nothing could go wrong.

Of course, that meant something had to go wrong.

"Are we going to look at the case file together?" Kiri asked.

I sighed as I found a bench just off the path. "Yeah, one second. I have to pull it up."

Kiri gripped my hand as though she was worried I would try to make a run for it. I would have thought about it, but I had made her a promise, and she would have caught me, no doubt about that.

Despite my layers of clothing, the bench felt cool beneath me. The air was turning colder. I smelled the incoming rain, my arms getting the familiar tingle of goosebumps as I pulled out my phone.

"The witness was an older woman. Her testimony was put online a few hours ago." I offered my phone to Kiri. "I haven't read it yet."

Her lips ticked to a half-smile as she accepted the phone. "Thanks. We can read it together." She held it above our thighs, her shoulder weighing on me. "Can you see?"

I wasn't paying attention to the phone, rather the closeness of the girl next to me, but my eyes jumped to it at her question. "I can see just fine."

The woman's name was absent from the report. Officer Reese may have trusted me enough to let me access the information, but he was smart enough to control the knowledge he was giving me.

I saw it come out of the woods.

The words wobbled in my head, the imaginary aged voice making it worse as the image of a sickly woman clutching an old-fashioned purse flashed in my retinas.

I don't think it saw me, but I knew it wasn't right. There was something wrong about it, like it was too perfect.

What did it look like?

A new voice filled my head, that of Officer Reese.

It was a man, black hair, maybe brown, and tall. He looked like he was wearing nicer clothes. I remember thinking it was strange to go for a walk because he would ruin them. These old eyes don't work well in the dark, but I can still pick out handmade clothing. I worked as a seamstress for a decade. Usually, I could give you a better description, but I only go out that late when Sadie needs to pee, you see. Well, I was walking, and I saw it come out of the bushes, walking behind Grace. I saw her at church a few times, so I know her. I don't go often, so we weren't close. She made baked goods for Easter. I liked her brownies.

I really didn't want the extra information. I didn't need to know the name of her friends, or what Grace baked. It made things too personal. Keep it at arm's length, I chastised myself.

What happened after the man came out of the bushes?

Well, Grace seemed to hear him because she turned around. That's when he hit her. No. He pushed her, I think.

What do you mean by that? Did he push or hit the victim?

It had to be push because Grace flew into the tree a few feet away. Mind you, Grace gained a little weight since her husband died. It was a bad time for her.

So, the victim was pushed into the tree with force?

Yes.

What happened then?

The man went after her. I saw a knife and that's when I grabbed Sadie and ran. I called the police when I got to the nearest house, but it was too late.

Were there any distinguishing features: a scar or birthmark perhaps? Anything that could be used to identify him?

I didn't see him too close. I don't think he was human though. He was so strong and very silent; I remember that now. He was so quiet, I wouldn't have known he was there if I hadn't been behind them.

Well, it sounds like you are very lucky, ma'am. You shouldn't regret anything. We are all lucky you witnessed as much as you did.

That was the last important paragraph, the dialogue cutting off from there. If the witness testimony was reliable, it had to be a Coth. No human, no matter how strong, could throw a fully grown woman that far.

"Can we agree that the attacker is supernatural in some way?" Kiri said. "Humans are too weak to hit someone that hard."

"I was thinking the same thing. I don't think it could be a wolf. They're not as strong as humans and wouldn't need to use a knife."

"Unless they were covering their tracks," Kiri pointed out. "If I was going to attack someone publicly, I would try to throw suspicion off me. If it's a wolf, vamp, banshee, hell even a siren, the type of wounds would be obvious.

"I guess you're right, but where does that leave us?" I tilted my head back, staring at the stars beginning to appear, tracing them like they held the answers.

"I could ask around, see if anyone's heard anything? Someone has to know something." Kiri shifted, her pale eyes unblinking as she stared at me.

"Unless you can find something important by tomorrow morning, it won't make a difference. I won't be in town to do anything about it unless you contact Officer Reese." I sat up, my pulse racing. "I forgot to tell you, I'm heading to the manor with Alpha Daniel for The Gathering. I can ask uncle for his advice."

"It won't be any better than mine. If anything, he'll just insist on coming to fix the problem himself."

"He wants me to prove myself to the council so I can take over. He wouldn't do that."

Kiri cocked her eyebrow, but her brow cocked suspiciously She was being too cynical. Uncle did want me to succeed. She was letting her bias of him get in the way of seeing that.

"If you don't like it, come with me. You can tell him that I can handle it myself and you can act as my backup."

Kiri's fingers slipped out of mine, taking the warmth with it. "You want me to go to The Gathering with you?"

"I don't see why it would be a problem. You're helping both me and Daniel, that counts for something."

"But you want me there, in the room with you?"

"Yeah, unless you don't want to, that is. You don't have to go. It was just a suggestion."

"No." Kiri cut off with a shake of her head and deep laugh."I'll go with you."

"Really?" I couldn't stop the Cheshire grin that spread over my face.

"You haven't asked for my help before. I want to be a part of this with you, your ally."

"Thank you, Kiri." I leaned in for a hug which she returned, her arms holding me close and tight. It was a protective hug, the kind I didn't get enough of in my childhood.

"Thank you for including me, Lexi." Her nose nuzzled into my neck.

The wind sent a particularly long gust of air past us, our hair tangling together as we pulled away. "What time should I be at the school?"

"Alpha Daniel agreed to pick me up at seven, so get there a few minutes before that. I suppose you could drive, save him the trouble."

"I can ride with him. I don't know the way back very well, and the car has been acting up."

That wasn't surprising. Kiri had fallen in love with her twenty-year-old beater car, not knowing what was considered a good vehicle when she bought it. It was barely a thousand dollars, but it would have been worth more as spare parts. Still, she loved the 'growl' of the engine and was too stubborn to change it out now.

"I'll let him know that we'll have a plus one. You'll like him. He's very nice."

Kiri stood, offering me a hand. "I should get you back soon. God knows what the school would do to you if they found you breaking their stupid rules."

"I really don't have to go there anymore. Nick has turned, so the pressure is off. If they want to kick me out, it's their loss. And Nick's, I guess."

"I don't know why anyone would want to stay there."

I dumped my empty coffee cup in the garbage. "Neither do I. But it won't be my problem much longer."

Our fingers intertwined once more as we made our way down the street in the rising moonlight. Although I wished it could have stayed this peaceful and calm forever, I knew that was not my life. It never would be. Once I returned home, there would be a whirlwind of meetings and there was no telling how uncle would take the news of attacks. It was a threat, a risk to all supernatural. This case would put me in the spotlight and any cracks I had would be exposed like gold on a clay pot.