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Faced with a door that led to answers they needed, Liam, Darcy, and Scott looked at each other, allowing a brief moment of hesitation before they took off down the stairs. Darcy's heartbeat was in her ears as Scott reached out and wrapped a hand around the door's handle. Part of her wanted to tell him to stop, but more than that, the other part of her wanted to see what was behind the door.
Scott pulled down on the handle and led them inside. The three of them had barely stepped inside when they were met with the sound of a gun being cocked and the barrel of a shotgun.
Claws sprung from Darcy's fingers, ready for a fight, but she drew them back in when she recognized the man behind the shotgun.
Christ Argent lowered his gun with a sigh, having realized that the werewolves on the other end weren't there to hurt him. Scott walked forward to greet him but he suddenly stopped.
Darcy stepped further out from behind Liam at the same time another man rounded one of the walls on the other side of the room. He came to stand beside Argent, his old face obviously amused about something.
"You didn't," Scott said. Noticing the agitation in his voice, Darcy subtly sniffed the air. She was surprised when she picked up a surprising amount of hostility coming from him.
"I had to." Argent looked slightly ashamed at the man standing next to him, his blue eyes going to the ground for a moment before settling on Scott.
"Hello, Scott," the newcomer said.
A shiver went down Darcy's spine as she looked over and saw the alpha's signature red in his eyes. He glowered at the man, who only said, "I haven't seen that color on you. It suits you."
"Who's he?" Darcy asked before the tension could get any thicker.
Liam asked at the same time, "Who's the old guy?"
Darcy shot him a look. If Argent and Scott were both obviously uncomfortable with the man's presence, it probably wasn't wise to insult him to his face.
To her surprise, the man just chuckled. "Uh, at the moment, they would call me a necessary evil. But you can call me Gerard."
Darcy frowned. The name was familiar but she couldn't remember where she knew it from right away. She stared at him, running the name over and over in her mind.
"What were you thinking?" Scott asked Argent.
"That we need him."
"He's right. If you want to catch a werewolf like the Beast of Gevaudan, you're going to need more than one Argent." Gerard's voice grated down Darcy's spine and she bristled. Something seemed off about him, something Darcy couldn't pinpoint yet. Then, like a lightbulb lighting up in her head, she recognized the name.
