The door to the flat was shielded by some sort of enchantment. My awareness skipped past it each time I tried to inspect it closer. No one searching for it would find it. If I hadn't tracked the person Aurie left the hotel with, I wouldn't have found it, either.

The woman who opened at my knock was a Supernatural. I didn't bother guessing what type. My gaze went straight to Aurie Edison. Long, curly hair. A face that was mostly gorgeous eyes and plush lips. The crown of her head barely reached my chin, and she was petite but shapely. I tried not noticing she wore no more than an oversized t-shirt, exposing toned, flawless legs.

Something crashed in the kitchen.

"Coffee, anyone?" asked the woman in blue pajamas.

"Yes, thank you, ma'am," I remembered my manners. Not to mention the reason I was here. I led Aurie to the couch. "What can you tell me about last night, Ms. Edison?" I asked, taking notes.

"Please, call me Aurie. I've had memory problems since it happened. All I can recall is that I was out with my sister. Do you know where she is?"

"Your sister Haley Edison is with your family. We've spoken with her, but let's try to fill in the blanks from your perspective. Think a surveillance clip might jog things?" I pressed play on a video on my phone, and Aurie leaned in to see.

"This is surreal," she said. "I never imagined I'd be helping a Supernatural investigator solve my murder."

"Murder? I'd rather you focus on what you remember, and we'll see where the evidence takes us," I explained, pointing at the clip. "This is how I realized your, erm, Soul was out here. Luckily, Supers can see Overlay City even on surveillance. I used traffic cameras after you left the hotel, and I tracked your companion's scent the rest of the way."

"That's so cool. I lowkey wish I could tell Haley about this. She's totally into the occult."

"Is she?" I asked, feeling uncomfortably warm as she scooted closer to me on the couch. Her bare thigh next to mine distracted me with desire. It was the moon wreaking latent havoc with my—

Thump! A coffee mug was plunked in front of me, and Blue Pajamas disappeared into the bathroom with a rustle of silk. I glared after her. What was her problem?

"I remember that!" Aurie said suddenly.

My attention ricocheted back to her. "Remember what?"

"From this camera angle, you can't see it, but there was a display placard for the event. It was right outside this door."

"The door to the penthouse suite of Century Luxe."

"Uh-huh. It was in some foreign language. Haley figured swanky internationals wouldn't mind us mixing and mingling. We snuck into the event but, if I'm not mistaken, we spent most of our time there outside on the balcony."

Now, we were getting somewhere. She began describing the night in increasing detail, as if talking about it unlocked things she had forgotten. "Did you have a drink, perhaps to loosen up?" I asked.

Aurie curtly tossed her head. "I never drink. I hate hangovers. In fact, that's what being a ghost feels like...Wait, I did have one shot. This guy said he wanted to drink to us crashing his party. I left right after that, though. Something about him didn't feel right."

"So, one drink. You also told a passerby you might've been drugged?"

Her eyes bugged. "Jeez, I forgot that part. I think I came to that conclusion because..." She hesitated, trying to remember. "When I called to get Haley to leave with me, I started seeing and hearing things." Aurie hung her head over her hands twisting in the hem of her shirt. "I mean, I watched the bartender pour it up. I thought it was safe," she said in a small voice.

"Don't blame yourself. It's depressingly easy to add something to a drink without anyone noticing," I said quietly.

"Yeah. You know, you try to play it safe, but—" The smile she was forcing threatened to collapse, and she swiped her face and turned her head so I wouldn't see tears falling. She continued in a shaky voice, "I didn't feel drunk. I felt worse off than that if that makes sense."

The bathroom door creaked, giving us a reprieve from the heavy details. We gazed up as the scent of cedarwood and thunderstorms flooded the flat, and I openly stared. The woman who had let me in had transformed into...a man?

Dude looks like a lady. I checked my bias.

My body's reaction was harder to control. The hair on my neck stiffened as my wolf nosed to the surface. I struggled to keep it kenneled—a struggle which only happened when I was in danger or thoroughly aroused. What were the odds the Supernatural was dangerous?

"Did you see anything?" I asked as the person prepared to leave.

Vampires. With that, they walked out the door.

Aurie composed herself once we were alone again. She explained, "Mys is genderqueer, meaning neither male nor female or—like—both. But don't call them 'ma'am.'" I was glad the distraction helped take her mind off the rough memories.

"Got it," I acknowledged. "There's something else I want to show you if you're up for it. I saw vampires that night, too, and I have surveillance stills. Recognize anyone?" I pulled up the pictures on my phone with her permissive nod.

Aurie's face hardened as she pointed at the second image in the lineup. "Him. That's the guy who claimed to host the event."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She bobbed her head empathically.

"Cyprian." I spat the name, and an expletive in my mother's native tongue rolled after it.

"Come again?" Aurie looked puzzled.

"Apologies, I lapse into Punjabi without realizing it sometimes. This is a photo of Darcy Cyprian."

"He's the one who gave me the drink. You're telling me he's a vampire?"

I confirmed it. "Not to mention a rich, powerful asshole. Since he's very well-connected in both Overlay City and New Orleans, it'll be difficult convincing Captain Mayfield he had anything to do with this. Mayfield already thinks I'm crazy."

"You don't seem crazy to me," she said with another forced smile. She was being polite.

"That's nice of you to say, but what do you know?" I couldn't hide a dissolute grin, and she visibly swallowed.

"I don't, actually."

"I'm not crazy, Aurie. I'm a werewolf."

"Wow! Okay, then!"

"We're stronger, faster, and more physically capable than humans. We never suffer your diseases. We heal abnormally fast, and we live almost double your lifespan, but we're still closer to mankind than the undying. Mortality breeds a desire for preservation and respect for the natural order of things.

"I think the vampire Darcy Cyprian tried to date rape you," I went on with my case theory. "Perhaps he realized who you were at the last minute, or he was alerted to the fact your mother is the famous Nannette Baudelaire. I think he followed you to make sure you didn't tell anyone because an important girl like you can bring a man like him down."

"What did he do to me?"

"You truly don't remember anything, do you? There was a hit-and-run."

"Oh, my god!" She covered her face.

Belatedly, I realized I should have eased her into it. I reached to console her, but my phone rang, and I had to take the call. Reluctantly excusing myself, I stepped outside to answer.

"Tell me something good, Stoney."

"We've been on the clock more than twelve hours. Our shift is over, Ravani," my partner greeted me.

"Something better than that." I smiled.

"Alright, per the hotel guest list, the floor was booked by the CEO of Corporate Investor Empire, Mr. Darcy Cyprian. I'm guessing it wasn't a company party."

"Imagine that," I feigned surprise. "When I saw him on surveillance, I was hoping he wasn't mixed up in this."

"Har-de-har. I know you like him for every crime involving a rich pervert, but Cyprian parties with A-listers, not girls like our victim. I'm clocking out after I follow up on this tipster, Paul Jameson. Oh, by the way, I got the expedited tox report. Want a copy sent?"

"Absolutely. Shoot it to my phone," I said, "and I'll send over the tire impressions CSU photographed on the body. It's a wonder we got such clear treads."

"Yep. Mayfield just asked where you are. I told him you're following a lead."

My nose twitched. I lifted my gaze to a man across the street taking photos of the cathedral. He looked like a tourist, but he smelled like vampires. That could only mean one thing. Someone's pet was way too interested in Aurie's hideout. Shit. He had to have followed me.

"Are you on a lead?" Tegan pressed.

"You'd have to see it to believe it."

"Damn it, Ravani. Don't have me defending your sanity again," she whined.

Funny, how worried she sounded. "I promise no psychics this time."

"Good! Well, I'm here if you need me."

"Thanks, let me call you back. I'm in the middle of something."

I hit the end call button and searched for the fake tourist again. There he was, squinting in my direction with a confused frown. Several times he swept my location but didn't seem to see me. Was it possible the enchanted flat was keeping me hidden, as well?

In case he continued following, I pretended to canvass the area. There was no going back to Aurie. I crept from the cathedral alley to the next block. Perhaps I was being paranoid, but I needed to make sure Cyprian wasn't aware of her Soul's presence in Overlay City.

As I concluded the subterfuge and finally headed to my truck to end the workday, my phone dinged with the tox report. I glanced at it with tired, gritty eyes and stopped in my tracks in the middle of the crowded sidewalk.

"I knew it," I whispered. Exhausted as I was, the thing keeping me going was the evidence falling in place. My theory was right. Darcy Cyprian had to be behind this.

There was no GHB or Rohypnol in Aurie's system. She was loaded with Substance Unknown (to humans). The tell-tale molecular structure was Obliviscor, a drug Supernaturals used to get high and forget. No wonder she had memory loss and felt hungover.

What was he planning to do to you, Aurie? I would petition the Council of Overlay Affairs to find out. Aurelia Edison was the game-changer. Because of her relatively high profile, her victimhood necessitated an official investigation into Cyprian's activities.

I couldn't rest until my star witness was secured. Could I convince Mys to keep Aurie in protective custody in the enchanted flat? Just until I had the vampire menace under enough scrutiny. Inhaling deeply, I left my truck parked a block from the cathedral and went on foot in search of the smell of woods and rain. Mys. We also needed to talk about how my wolf had reacted to them.

Because if they weren't a threat, then...