Dog with a Bone by Hailey Edwards Page A

smile. “I can’t tell any difference.”
    I made a face at him. “What are the odds the Richardsons have another annuli on patrol?”
    “Zero,” he answered a beat later. “They’re too territorial to even share land with a mate.”
    “Good.” I shuddered. “If I never see another one, it will be too soon.” Shaw turned from his post to study me limping around the tiny room’s edge. “How do you think the Richardsons controlled it?”
    “Annuli minds are small and easily influenced. A simple spell would do the trick.”
    The more I walked, the looser my ankle became and the less it twinged. “How long was I out?”
    “Twenty minutes.” His expression softened. “How do you feel?”
    “Like the worm after the early bird got through with it.” I frowned. “No, that’s not right.”
    His warm chuckle calmed my nerves. He pulled my phone from his jeans. “Mable emailed.”
    “Good news?” I took the cell, thumbed the email icon and grinned. “Very good news.”
    “Anything you want to share with the rest of the class?”
    “Cute.” I snorted. “She sent a scan of a map of the Richardsons’ property.”
    “And?”
    Two blue dots sat inches apart. “There are two locations marked for storm shelter installation.”
    “I thought there were no records?” He folded his arms. “How reliable is her information?”
    “Apparently the Richardsons went all out. They added plumbing in two of them.” I forwarded a copy of the email to him. “They needed permission from the local water company to run the pipes. It looks like the water company has an easement on the property, so they kept a record for future use.”
    His fingers spread over his phone’s screen, enlarging the image. “Which looks more promising to you?”
    “The one on the right is close enough to the main house to have been a storm shelter. Every inch of the foundation was pored over by the investigating team before they started vanishing. Anything unusual would have been found and reported.” After taking the second dot and our relative position into account, I tapped the screen. “The other is positioned several acres from the house and offers more privacy.”
    “With the annuli guarding the property line,” he mused, “they could afford to retreat deeper into their acreage.”
    “Okay.” I slid my phone into my back pocket. “Let’s go.”
    “I’m only going to ask this once.” Blocking the door, Shaw faced me. “Are you sure you’re—?”
    “Don’t make me hurt you.” I walked up and jabbed the center of his chest. “It’ll look bad on my performance evaluation.” Grazing him on my way through the door, I scowled. “Don’t count me out yet.”
    His breath blasted my nape. “You’re like a dog with a—”
    My elbow shot back and sank in his gut. I’m lucky I didn’t break something on those abs of his. While he coughed manfully over my shoulder, I studied the flat, grassy terrain between us and our objective.
    Resisting the urge to rub my elbow, I stepped outside the relative safety of the pump house. “Are we just going to walk up to them?”
    “We don’t have much choice.” He sounded pained. “Last time I checked, neither of us had mastered any covert glamour skills. We can’t mask stationary objects from view, let alone obscure moving ones.”
    The man had a point. “If they see us coming, that gives them more time to prepare.”
    “They’ve already fallen back. They’re in their safe place.” His teeth flashed. “They’re trapped.”
    The predator in me roused, still hyped from the kill. “They’re in a defensive position.”
    “No, they’re in a box in the ground.” That toothy smile grew a tad sharper. “And they’ve got to get air from somewhere.”
    “What does—?” Tempting spice hit my nose, the scent of his skin intoxicating. It backed me up a step, until my shoulders hit his chest. Understanding pierced the fog rousing my libido. “Oh, I like the way you