Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

me.”
    â€œWhat do you know?”
    I glanced at the woman’s expressionless face. “I can’t tell you everything—just that I’ve been told that your seethe knows of visitors to the Tri-Cities who might be the group I’m looking for. If that group doesn’t have any werewolves, then they’re the wrong ones. They might be doing something experimental with medicines or drugs.”
    â€œI’ll inquire,” he said. “Keep your cell phone at hand.”
    â€œI’m not certain that was wise,” said Zee, after I hung up.
    â€œYou said she deals with the werewolves.” The woman curled her upper lip at me. “You didn’t tell me she also deals with the undead.”
    â€œI’m a mechanic,” I told her. “I don’t make enough money to pay off the vampires in cash, so I fix their cars.Stefan has an old bus he’s restoring. He’s the only one I’ve ever dealt with personally.”
    She didn’t look happy, but her lip uncurled.
    â€œI appreciate your time,” I said, narrowly skirting an outright thank you—which can get you in trouble. The wrong kind of fae will take your thanks as an admission that you feel obligated to them. Which means that you must then do whatever they ask. Zee had been very careful to break me of that habit. “The Alpha will also be happy to recover his daughter.”
    â€œIt is always good for the Alpha to be happy,” she said; I couldn’t tell if she was being honest or sarcastic. She stood up abruptly and smoothed down her skirts to give me time to move my chair so she could exit. She stopped by the bar and spoke to the bartender before she left.
    â€œShe smells like you,” Samuel said to Zee. “Is she a metalsmith, too?”
    â€œGremlin, please,” said Zee. “It may be a new name for an old thing, but at least it is not a bad translation. She is a troll—a relative, but not a close one. Trolls like money and extortion, a lot of them go into banking.” He frowned at me. “You don’t go into that nest of vampires alone, Mercy, not even if Stefan is escorting you. He appears better than most, but I have been around a long time. You cannot trust a vampire. The more pleasant they appear, the more dangerous they are.”
    â€œI don’t plan on going anywhere,” I told him. “Samuel is right, the wolves don’t pay tribute here. Likely they are people who have nothing to do with taking Jesse.”
    My phone rang.
    â€œMercy?”
    It was Stefan, but there was something about his voice that troubled me. I heard something else, too, but there were more people in the bar and someone had turned up the music.
    â€œWait a moment,” I said loudly—then lied. “I’m sorry I can’t hear you. I’m going outside.” I waved at Samuel and Zee, then walked outside to the quieter parking lot.
    Samuel came with me. He started to speak but I held up a finger to my lips. I didn’t know how good a vampire’s hearing was, but I didn’t want to risk it.
    â€œMercy, can you hear me now?” Stefan’s voice was overly crisp and even.
    â€œYes,” I said. I could also hear the woman’s voice that said sweetly, “Ask her, Stefan.”
    He sucked in his breath as if the unknown woman had done something that hurt.
    â€œIs there a strange werewolf with you at Uncle Mike’s?” he asked.
    â€œYes,” I said, looking around. I couldn’t smell anything like Stefan nearby, and I was pretty certain I’d have noticed. The vampires must have a contact at Uncle Mike’s, someone who could tell Samuel was a werewolf and who knew Adam’s werewolves.
    â€œMy mistress wonders that she was not informed of a visitor.”
    â€œThe wolves don’t ask permission to travel here, not from your seethe,” I told him. “Adam knows.”
    â€œAdam has disappeared, leaving his pack leaderless.” They spoke together, his words so tight on the end of hers that he sounded like an echo.
    I was relatively certain she didn’t know I could hear her—though Stefan did. He knew what I was because I’d shown him. Apparently he hadn’t seen fit to inform the rest of his seethe. Of course, someone as relatively powerless as I was of little interest to the vampires.
    â€œThe pack is hardly leaderless,” I said.
    â€œThe pack is weak,” they