Sunglasses at Night (Claws Clause 3)

Deb cocked her head, watching him with amusement. “Well, no one ever said you couldn’t go back to that short, powerless existence. Just take some elixir, hun, and stop your whining.”

“Elixir? What do you mean, elixir?”

“Some magic witch’s brew that reverses the change. It’s very rare, and obscenely expensive, but it exists.”

He couldn’t believe what she was saying. Six months after the attack left him changed, and he was only now hearing about this?

“What? Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

Another shrug. “You never asked.”

6

There was an elixir.

As Adam walked out of Debbie’s house, strolling along the street of the Bumptown, he couldn’t stop thinking about what she said.

So what if most Paras thought it was a rumor? A hoax? Debbie had been around a long time—the first Dayborn to settle in this area—and if he could trust anyone to know what she was talking about, it was Deb.

If only she could’ve had even more answers for him. Even though she said it was rare, he hoped she might have some kind of idea where he could start his search.

The irony was not lost on him when, with a bubbly laugh, she admitted that his best bet would be to ask a slayer.

Right. As if he hadn’t already been looking for even the flimsiest of excuses to go running back to Tabitha. He remembered where she lived. He could find the place again.

And then… what?

Bite her again? Or have her laugh in his face when he asked her for help finding the elixir?

And that’s if she didn’t just reach for a stake first.

Ugh.

So lost in the sudden, world-altering realization that there might be a way to go back to being human again, Adam made a goof. He forgot for a second where he was. He forgot that, while he was even more dangerous now, he wasn’t the biggest threat in the Bumptown.

“Hey, cop. Long time, no see.”

Adam’s head jerked up.

Leaning against a nearby tree, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for Adam to notice him, stood Colton Wolfe. And, because it was rare that he’d let his mate out of his sight, Adam noticed Shea standing not too far from him. Her thick, glossy black curls were piled high up on her head, the more business-y clothes she wore for her shop swapped for a loose t-shirt and a pair of denim cut-offs.

Something told him that the mated couple wasn’t just out on a honeymoon stroll beneath the moonlight.

“Pretty boy.” Adam whistled under his breath. “I should’ve known. Let me guess. Your ghost pal snitched on me.”

“Dodge?” Colt’s eyebrows rose, a pair of dark slashes in his preternaturally handsome face. “You’ve seen him?”

“Maybe. I saw something. Might’ve been a ghost.”

The flicker out of the corner of his eye, the way he sensed that someone had been watching him approach Deb’s house… yeah. It might’ve been a ghost.

“Sunset Boulevard isn’t too far from Cemetery Row. It could’ve been a phantom, even if it wasn’t Dodge,” Shea murmured to her mate. When he nodded, a begrudging agreement, the pretty witch waved over at Adam. “Hi, Adam.”

“Hey.” He waved back. “You look good, Shea.”

Colt let out a warning growl.

Adam ignored it. Once upon a time, he might have bristled, maybe even squared off against the shifter. Nowadays, to Colt’s annoyance and Adam’s surprise, the two were actually kind of, sort of pals. Colt was a good guy to have in your corner, loyal and smart, even if his temper made him a bit of a hothead. He loved his mate and was devoted to protecting her.