Remy paced just outside the double doors leading into the morgue at the back of the police station, his mind an absolute mess. He knew that he should be focused on what was going on right now - finding out more about who had killed another fisherman - but instead, all he could think about was Nadia.
Worrying about her. Wondering if she was okay. Wanting to be with her right now instead of pacing outside the morgue that the town rarely used.
His heart had nearly stopped when he saw her begin to collapse on the dock. He almost wasn't fast enough; almost didn't reach her in time to catch her before she banged her head on the ground. The crowd around her had done nothing, all standing there watching with glares and accusing eyes. He had heard more than one hissed "Good riddance" as he cradled Nadia's unconscious body, shaking her and trying to get her to wake up.
For a moment, his wolf had taken over, baring his teeth and growling in warning. The group had backed up, perturbed by his reaction. If Remy had been in his right mind, he probably would have reined it in. But he had no control, his wolf urging him to take her back to his place and call in Doc to look her over. To care for his mate and nurse her back to health.
And then destroy everyone who stood against her.
Thank the gods that Tate and Chloe had been there. Both rushed up and helped him carry her to her car. Chloe insisted that she would get her home and look after her while Remy and Tate took care of the crowd and the second dead body.
He had whined - actually whined - when Chloe said that, wanting to go with her. But finally, commonsense had taken over and Remy stood back, watching as Chloe had driven away.
Thankfully only Tate had seen that, but Remy was pretty sure he would pull it out against him at some point. It wasn't the place or time as they had to calm the growing crowd, get Roger's body to the morgue, and then somehow appease the Council until Doc had more answers as to what had caused Roger's death.
Remy hoped it was a storm-related accident, but the clearly visible wounds said it was anything but.
Now he was here, waiting for Doc to come out and give him something. An actual autopsy would take longer, but he could at least tell them if he thought the same being had killed Roger Klein and George Lightbody.
It made no sense. Roger was a bear shifter and fairly strong. Remy knew from sparring matches that he was difficult to overcome even though he was older. According to Tate, he hadn't been assigned a patrol last night. For all intents and purposes, Roger should have been hunkered down at home to ride out the storm like everyone else. And as a seasoned fisherman, there was no reason he should have been out on the water. He knew better.
The town had no enemies that Remy could think of. Why would someone attack now?
Unless... it had something to do with Nadia.
His wolf growled in his head, warning him not to go down that route. But honestly, Remy was finding it hard not to see the connection. Everything was fine. Quiet. Boring. Then she arrives and people start showing up dead in the marina. He still didn't think it was Nadia killing them, but it was growing clearer that there had to be some sort of correlation.
Or maybe it had nothing to do with her arrival and this was related to him. There was also a chance that when Remy got revenge for his father's death, he had unknowingly created another enemy. One that had sat in wait for 10 years.
"Hey," Chloe said as she breezed into the lobby.
Remy stopped pacing and stomped over to her, his worry taking over yet again.
"Relax, she's fine. Weirded out as hell, but physically she's okay," Chloe said. "She came to on the drive to her place and I had Tara pick me up and bring me back to town. I told her I'd check on her later."
Remy let out a sigh of relief and ran his fingers through his hair. One disaster averted. Nadia was okay. Well, as okay as one could be after seeing a second dead body in two days.
Fuck, what was going on?
"You left her alone?" Tate asked.
Remy winced. He should be asking the questions, not Tate. Nadia was his mate. Or well, supposed mate. Possible mate? This was a clusterfuck.
"She wanted to be alone and she didn't hit her head, so we know she doesn't have a concussion," Chloe said. She turned to Remy. "Please tell me you don't honestly think she's behind this."
"Why would you think that?" Remy asked, offended.
Yes, he was being cautious, but that didn't mean he thought Nadia was a killer. She was human for Christ's sake. How could she overpower two, full grown shifters on her own?
"I just wanted to make sure. I mean, I stayed with her all night and she never left the house so I know it's not her," Chloe said, running her fingers through her hair. "Even though they could all clearly smell that she's human, even more people think she's doing this. But... it can't be her."
"I don't think it is either, but... folks are talking," Tate stated.
"Then we tell them to stop talking," Chloe retorted. She looked over at Remy giving him a pointed look.
"It's not that-"
"It can be. She's your fucking mate, Remy. You are feeling the bond, right?" she said, nearly breathless.
Remy didn't say anything, his thoughts in a mess. He was feeling it and his wolf was more than ready to accept it. To accept her. But he still held back. They needed to know if Nadia's essence was hidden or taken away, and if there was some way to undo it. They needed to know who had done this to her.
Fuck, he needed Cian here five minutes ago. Where was that damn fae king when you needed him?
"I don't know what I feel," he admitted, though he felt a deep pit form in his stomach as the words left his lips.
Like it was too close to rejecting her than he cared to go. Remy wasn't completely sure what would happen to either of them if he did that - didn't want to consider it, though he suspected it would be painful for both parties. He should probably read up on that.
He should probably read up on a lot of things.
Remy longed to throw caution to the wind and just give in. Tell Nadia everything. Stop fighting the urge to get close to her. Accept that she was his fated mate and all that came with it. If anything, he wouldn't be at odds with his wolf anymore.
But he couldn't. Not until he had more answers.
"You fucking idiot. It was clear as day in the cafe that you're feeling something for her. And vice versa. You guys almost kissed!" Chloe shouted.
Remy groaned and scrubbed his face. That had been a mistake. He thought he had everything under control. And things were going well. Nadia was opening up. They were having a good time. Flirting even. And then in a split second, his wolf had taken the reins and leaned in for a kiss.
A kiss he could see that Nadia wanted as well.
Thank the gods they hadn't. He couldn't move too fast - Nadia still didn't know anything about the supernatural world. Remy wanted her to make an informed decision about anything that happened between the two of them, though he wasn't looking forward to that conversation, still unsure just how to go about it.
Fuck, why had her mother hidden everything from her? This would be so much easier if that hadn't happened. But it wasn't like he could do anything about it now. What's done was done. Mara hadn't told Nadia about their world and now that would fall to him.
On top of everything else currently going on in town. Shit, they still had a murderer on the loose and they had killed again. Remy didn't have time to be worrying about how things would play out with Nadia at the moment.
"Look, we need to know more. But before that, we need to be focusing on the fact that someone got through our borders again," Remy growled, shooting Chloe a glare. "Or did you forget that we have yet another dead body and the Council is fucking breathing down my neck right now?"
Chloe huffed and looked as though she was about to start yelling, but then stopped and mashed her lips together before giving up a sign of defeat.
"Right. Has Doc said anything yet?" she asked.
"Not yet," Tate replied. "Just waiting on him."
"No one saw anything on patrol overnight, granted it wasn't like they could see or smell much with the storm," Remy added.
He couldn't help but feel angry with himself. He should have been out there with the others, watching the borders and protecting the town himself. Because he hadn't, someone had gotten through their defenses. Again. And killed.
Again.
"This isn't your fault, Remy," Chloe said gently.
"Yes, it is. I'm supposed to be protecting the town," he growled. "It's my responsibility and I failed to do that."
Before either Tate or Chloe could say anything, one of the doors to the morgue swung open and an older man in scrubs came to an abrupt stop. He looked around and sighed, then motioned the three to follow him. Remy gulped as he took the lead, following the wolf shifter into the large room that smelled of death and antiseptic.
Normally, Doc spent his days running a clinic and small hospital with other shifters from the community - it wasn't like anyone could go to a human doctor - but doubled as the town coroner when needed. It wasn't often. Most of the town's residents died from natural causes or the occasional accident. Murder hadn't happened in years. Not since Remy's father.
"What did you find?" Remy asked, eying the sheet-covered body lying on the slab.
He glanced around, knowing that George's body was still in one of the coolers that lined the wall.
"Same marks. And I won't know for sure until I cut him open, but pretty sure he drowned too," Doc said with a heavy sigh as he rubbed his tired and lined face.
All shifters aged much slower than humans and lived longer, but they still aged. Unfortunately they didn't have the immortality of the fae, demons, or vampires. Doc was well into his 80s, but still looked as though he was somewhere around his 50s. Granted today he looked a bit closer to his actual age with all the stress two murders brought.
He glanced at Remy and then reached over and pulled the sheet down, revealing Roger's upper body.
Remy winced at the injuries, but didn't look away.
"I hate to say it, but it looks like Havsfru," Doc said. "Found scales in the wounds. And the claw marks match George's."
"But... there aren't... that doesn't make sense," Chloe said with a huff. "There aren't any in town, except... but it can't be her."
Doc glanced over at Chloe and then back at Remy, his expression neutral.
"I'm not saying it's her. I'm well aware that Nadia's human even if I don't understand how," Doc said evenly. "However, that means we've got a rogue merfolk in our waters."
"How the fuck do we catch a rogue merfolk? Go fishing with a giant hook?" Tate groaned.
Both he and Chloe looked at Remy expectantly, but even he wasn't sure how to deal with this. Havsfru were probably the most isolated of all supernatural creatures, choosing to keep to sea and away from others. It wasn't that hard considering not many other creatures could survive underwater for long periods of time, nor dive as deep as Havsfru tended to go in order to evade notice from humans and others.
All this meant that there was very little actually written about them, even among the thousands of books currently sitting in their Archives. All Remy really had to go by were tales and rumors that the townsfolk liked to spread around.
While vicious, Havsfru mostly only attacked when they felt they or their territory was threatened, according to Ms. Ingrid. As far as Remy was aware, no one from town had come across a clan while out fishing and they all generally respected the natural resources around them.
Considering how little experience any of them had had with a real merfolk that had its sea form, Remy wasn't sure just how they would take one down. It wasn't like any of them could fight in water. Or even track in the water. Ms. Ingrid hadn't been all that upfront on those aspects of her former life.
"We should start by checking out the coastline. They had to come up to land at some point. Send some of your guys out to Roger's house, Tate. Maybe we'll find something there," Remy said, running his fingers through his hair. "We'll have another Council meeting to go over everything you've found and the full autopsy reports from both George and Roger."
"What do you need me to do?" Chloe asked.
"Check on Nadia," Remy said, his stomach churning. Chloe started to frown. "Not... not like that. I just... I want to make sure that she's okay. I'll check in with you later. Come over if she's up for it."
Her frown softened as Chloe nodded.
"Got it. I don't know if she's going to want me there, but I'll try," she replied.
With their orders, both turned and left as Remy turned back to Doc.
"Anything else you can tell me?" he asked.
Doc looked down at Roger, a pained expression on his face.
"I'll have more after I complete the post-mortem. I fucking hate doing these," he said with a sigh as he walked over to start prepping.
"I know. I'm sorry," Remy said.
Guilt churned around inside him. Even though he wasn't directly responsible for George and Roger's deaths, he still felt like it was all his fault. That he hadn't done his job as alpha and mayor. Because of him, a killer had slipped into their midst.
How the fuck had he let this happen? It would have never happened under his father. He had been mayor for a couple decades before his death and the town had been safe under his watch.
"Hey, kid. Stop beating yourself up. Shit happens on everyone's watch," Doc grumbled. Remy looked over at him, his brow furrowed. "You'll find whoever did this."
"You don't know that," Remy asked, exasperated.
"You'll figure it out. You always do. Hell, you managed to kill a demon and we all know those are tough motherfuckers. If you can do that, you can handle a merfolk," Doc said matter-of-factly. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to get to work and I doubt you want to stick around for that."
"Right. Call me when you're finished," Remy said with a nod.
He turned and walked out of the morgue before Doc could start cutting into Roger's body. He kept going until he was outside on the sidewalk, looking up at the overcast sky. Remy could feel his phone buzzing and knew he should check in with the Council. Keep them updated on what he knew so far. It wasn't much, but it should get them to hold off until they could meet up later.
But he didn't move to answer his phone. Instead he looked down the street in the direction that headed out of town to Ms. Ingrid's house. He knew that Chloe probably wasn't there yet, but he was tempted to call anyway. Or better yet, go check on Nadia himself.
He took a step in that direction, but then stopped. Shaking his head, Remy reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, seeing that Agatha was calling.
It was time to do his job - watch out for the town. He would deal with Nadia and everything that entailed later.
Author's Note: Look at me. Staying on schedule again. And got this chapter up earlier in the day than last time. Anywho, thanks for reading! If you like the story, give it a vote or feel free to leave a comment.