by Heather Karn
“Yes, boss.” Avery chuckled when his best friend glared at him. He moved to the other side of the room and made himself comfortable in an executive swivel chair near a desk that had seen better days.
“Koda, use the bathroom,” Raven ordered next, and I was all too happy to toss my bag on the ground and lock myself into the tiny space that was just big enough to hold the sink, toilet, and shower. There weren’t nearly enough towels and washcloths for all of us, but I’d worry about a shower later.
“I’m next,” Shannon squealed, barely allowing me to exit before she ran me over to close herself in the bathroom.
One by one the others used the bathroom to relieve themselves or shower. Too exhausted to care how dirty I was, even after the attack, I face planted on the bed and waited for someone to tell me to move. When large hands rolled me over to lift me off the bed and reposition me under the covers, I didn’t fight them, already too far gone into sleep’s hold. Even when the bed dipped beside me a few minutes later, I barely registered the movement. This had been one of the longest days of my life, and it was coming to a close. A light in the corner clicked off, plunging the room into darkness.
Chapter 2
Warmth against my back threatened to drag me back under when my mind wandered from sleep from the sound of voices. It wasn’t how I’d normally wake up in my bed in the mansion, or even at my parents’ house, so my brain fought to focus on the real world instead of the dream world I’d left seconds ago. Lee’s familiar voice mingled with a now familiar baritone voice. Avery.
My eyes popped open as memories came flooding back like a tsunami. The attack at my parents’ house. The letter from my father. Our trip to St. Louis. Climbing into bed…
Lee’s laugh originated from across the room, as did Avery’s voice and Shannon’s light chuckle. That left three others unaccounted for, and one of them was sleeping pressed up against me, not quite spooning, but well within my personal space. Well, there were two options. As much as Jackson joked and teased about me wanting to see him in his skin, he was devoted to Shannon. He’d be by her side no matter where she was, which meant the large frame behind me was Raven. Luella wasn’t quite as tall and bulky.
I nudged him with my elbow until he grunted acknowledgement, still waking up himself. “Your side of the bed wasn’t comfortable?”
“I don’t have a side.” His voice, usually silky smooth, had a husky undertone this morning, which did weird things to my insides, like turn them to goo. I quickly blamed it on lack of food and sleep deprivation. However much sleep I’d gotten hadn’t been enough, and I’d crashed before eating a morsel.
“Then what do you have?”
“The middle.”
“Oh.” I guess there was a reason he was pushed up against me. “Then who’s on the other side?”
“I am,” Luella groaned.
“Weren’t you supposed to be on guard duty?” I asked, rising to lean on my elbow to stare at her over Raven’s body. She lay on the covers while Raven was under them with me. He opened one magenta eye to stare at me.
“I am,” the naiad replied with a smirk. “I can guard from right here. Plus, all the other available spaces were taken, so I made Raven move over. It’s not that easy to guard the room from the middle of the bed.”
My stomach growled when my eyes landed on the fast food bags on the desk. “Is there anything to eat?”
Avery stood, Raven’s truck keys jingling in his hand. “Nope. Sorry. We were just discussing that. Lee and I are going to go grab more food. That all right, boss?”
Sitting up, Raven blinked at his second in command. “Yeah, that’s fine. Be back soon. I want to be out of here in an hour. If no one else wants the bathroom, I’m going to shower.” Like me, Raven still wore his clothes from yesterday. Neither of us had bothered changing into pajamas, though I was now aware that at some point someone had taken my boots off.
Raven eyed me for a moment, and my gut fell when his lips quirked up into a sly grin. When he rolled his body over me to reach the floor and his full weight rested on me, driving the air from my lungs, it was all I could do to suck in oxygen while I attempted not to slug him. Rarely did he show such amusement, and as he grabbed his bag and shut himself away, I rolled to face the middle of the bed. Bad move. Luella stared right at me, a wicked twinkle in her aqua eyes.
“Don’t even tell me you’re reading something into that,” I hissed at her, my words punctuated by the hotel room door clicking shut behind my brother and his trainer.
“Oh, I am,” Luella laughed. “If it was anyone else laying over there, he would’ve literally kicked them out of bed. He’s easy on you.”
“And nice. Don’t you dare forget nice,” Shannon quipped with a giggle.
The shower turned on in the bathroom and I wished I’d beaten Raven to his destination. It was the only place to hide in this room, and I wasn’t nearly brave enough to follow him in and brush my teeth to escape these two. Plus, the teasing would only worsen if I made any move like that, even to hide from the snickering women. A canine chuffing joined them, and my patience snapped. Grabbing Raven’s pillow, I chucked it in Jackson’s general direction. I missed, of course, giving the others more to laugh at.
With nowhere in the room to hide, I slid from the bed and bolted for the door. Safely in the hallway, I breathed a slight sigh until footsteps on the other side of the door drew closer. Not wanting to face anyone, I tore down the hall and around the corner, heading toward the lobby and exit. A little fresh air couldn’t hurt, although I’d certainly looked better than I did this morning.
That was proven when the new guy in the lobby did a double take when I turned the corner and strode toward the door. Either that or it was because I’d forgotten my sunglasses upstairs and he had a full view of my magenta eyes, a sign that I was a vamlure and a blood drinker. He squirmed behind the desk, trying not to show his unease around me. If I was in a better mood, I would’ve stopped to tell him he was safe from me. The musky scent of badger hung in the air, which wasn’t at all appetizing. Not only was I obviously picky about my men because of my species, but I was becoming a blood snob. I couldn’t keep taking it from Raven, but the few times I’d drank blood from shifters, I found it less than satisfying, and certainly less tasty.
The sun was about an hour above the horizon, meaning we hadn’t gotten much sleep, but it was all I’d be getting today. There wasn’t time to go back to sleep, not that I wanted to now that I was awake. St. Louis was an hour away, and as much as I tried not to, I hoped once again that the man my father wanted me to meet up with would still be at the location my dad had listed in the letter he’d given my birth mother to give to me. The chances of that were slim to begin with, and if Gerald wasn’t there, I had no idea where to start searching for him, if he even made it out of the city alive.
Breathing in deep, I closed my eyes and sifted through the scents around me. The city was just waking up and more smells drifted on the slight breeze. Most were shifters, but there were some humans and magic users mixed in. Those made the skin on my arms prickle. Just yesterday I’d been attacked by magic users because of the pendant that was still stuffed into my pants pocket. The mark of the Third House, House Takal. It was supposed to have been destroyed long ago, and this Gerald was supposed to tell me how I ended up with the pendant.
Opening my eyes, I studied the buildings up and down the side street where Raven had found this place. It was off the beaten trail, but still close enough to downtown that the sounds of early commuters could be heard from where I stood. Tall buildings rose above those surrounding us. Upon closer inspection, this area appeared almost deserted. Being so close to St. Louis, it didn’t surprise me that cities nearby would’ve suffered from the magic that destroyed the huge city.
The hotel door opened behind me, but I didn’t bother to turn around. I could recognize Luella’s soft footfalls anywhere, as well as her scent. She stopped beside me, staring out at the run down buildings and crumbling parking
lot with me.
“Are you armed?” she asked without looking at me, still surveying our surroundings, and I wanted to kick myself. Instead, I held back a sigh and rested balled hands on my hips.
“Nope. Why would I do something smart like that?”
My sarcasm wasn’t lost on Luella. She shook her head, but didn’t scold me. We both knew I wasn’t in the mood for a lecture.
“Wanna talk about it?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“None of it?”
“What all are you thinking I want to talk about?”
She shrugged, her voice no longer chipper, but mellow. It was a tone I’d never heard from her, so I paid attention. “Oh, I don’t know, how you were attacked, or that your dad left you a note with a pendant of a House that was supposed to have been destroyed almost two centuries ago, or that this whole search is probably a dead end? Let’s not even get started on how much Shannon and I want you and Raven to get together and how hot your brother is, for a human anyway.”
Luella winked at me when I scoffed. She was trying to cheer me up by the end, but it didn’t last long. Melancholy stole back in soon enough. At least until Raven’s truck came into view and Avery signaled to enter the parking lot. I could almost taste the fast food breakfast, and my stomach growled.
“I’m sure you’ll feel better after you eat. But you should make sure to leave enough time to clean up.” Luella patted my shoulder, heading for the truck as Avery parked. “You know how much of a stickler Raven is for his schedules.”
That I did, so I followed Luella to the truck and took the first bag of food handed to me and picked out a sandwich for myself. Shoving the rest of the bag into Lee’s hands, I opened the wrapper hiding an egg and bagel sandwich and took a large bite. By the time I’d followed the others inside, the sandwich was half gone and the clerk appeared more at ease with me focused on food other than him. He really didn’t have to worry. Another whiff of his scent and I was positive I wouldn’t drink from him even if he was the last person on Earth. No one was that desperate.
Raven was finished with the bathroom by the time we reentered the hotel room, but the door was shut and Jackson was missing. Obviously our canine companion wanted a chance to take care of human business as well. The sight of Raven pulling a shirt over his head, leaving the rest of his torso bare for a brief second as I followed Avery inside nearly made me choke on my last bite of bagel. I’d seen him shirtless before, but I’d forgotten how toned his muscles were, and how powerful. It was almost a shame to hide those ripped abs under any piece of clothing, but then again, they were a distraction, so maybe it was best to hide them.
Gulping down the sandwich in my mouth, I swiped the paper bag from Lee’s hands to snatch another sandwich before anyone caught me ogling Raven. I didn’t need more teasing, or for him to notice my attention anywhere but his face. With another bagel in hand, I strode to my duffle bag, ready to claim the bathroom when Jackson finished.
Raven eyed me waiting beside the closed bathroom door. He studied me for longer than I liked, so I arched an eyebrow at him. A grin lifted one side of his lips. It was times like this I wished for grumpy Raven. I knew what that version of the man was thinking. This hot and cold version confused me.
“Ready to go?” he chuckled, swinging his bag onto his shoulder.
“I haven’t had my turn in the bathroom yet,” I countered. “And it hasn’t been an hour.”
“I’m ready to go. Let’s move it.” Raven pounded on the bathroom door, ordering Jackson to get out. The door opened a minute later and a canine snout finished pushing it open before a wolfie Jackson entered the main room and I raced in after him.
The mirror was still fogged, but I didn’t care. It wasn’t like I could wait for the humidity to clear out of the bathroom. Raven had his schedule, and I wouldn’t make him wait.
After one of the fastest showers of my life, I finished cleaning up and stepped out of the bathroom. The room was empty, except for Raven, who leaned against the wall opposite the bathroom door. Even though his arms were crossed, they were relaxed, and he wasn’t glaring. I halted mid-step to stare at him, unable to come up with any ideas of why he was still here besides to escort me outside, but wouldn’t we have all left at once in case there was trouble? Not that there had been trouble when I’d stepped outside weaponless earlier.
“I asked the others to leave so we could have a moment.” His voice was soft, but I heard his words with ease now that I’d drank blood, one of my many changes. “Apparently, I’m not doing my job and making sure that you’re all right, at least more than physically. Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Who told you that?”
“I hear things,” was all he said in explanation.
Rubbing one of my temples, I let my bag drop to the floor. If he wanted to do this, I’d get it over with so we could be on our way. We were losing time, time we didn’t have, and I was so close to finding some form of an answer I could almost taste it. Whether that answer was that we wouldn’t find Gerald in St. Louis or that we’d miraculously find him alive and well, I wasn’t sure yet, but I’d take either conclusion. We just had to reach the city for me to find out, and this was cutting into our driving time.
“Physically, I’m healed,” I told him, referring to the wounds I’d received during the attack while I was at my parent’s house where an invisible person, chameleon, witch, and cyclops had laid a trap for me. “Mentally, I’m still trying to understand what all of this means and how they even knew the pendant was going to be there. I’m not even sure that has anything to do with what happened, but if it does, we’re wasting time. I need to find Gerald, whether he’s in St. Louis or not.”
“And you realize he could be dead, right? More than half the city perished when the warlocks were ordered to destroy the threat by any means possible.”
“I’m trying to be optimistic and realistic about this, but thank you for the pessimism. I wouldn’t want to leave that one out.”
Raven’s lips twitched in an almost smile. “Yes, I didn’t think you would.”
“Good. Now, let’s go.” Snatching up my bag, I made it one step before Raven’s hand came down on my shoulder and held me in a vise-like grip.
“I’m serious. How are you?”
“Holding it together.” It was the truth. I had no idea how I was supposed to feel. “I’ll be better when I know if he is or isn’t at that address.”
“Then we’ll go, but please, come to me if you need to talk. Or to one of the others if you aren’t comfortable talking about your feelings with me. I know I’m not the easiest person to open up to, but I want you to know you can come to me, and I’ll try to do better with checking on you.”
I stared over my shoulder at him, almost uncomfortable with this conversation. The touchy feely version of my trainer always threw me off and I never knew how to handle him. Shrugging off his hand, I nodded.
“I’ll be fine for now, but if that changes, I’ll come to you or someone else. I promise. Can we go now?”
Raven nodded and led the way from the room, his magenta eyes on alert and a scowl passed toward the desk clerk who appeared ready to pee his pants. If the man thought I was someone to reckon with, he’d just learned there was someone worse residing under this roof. It was his lucky day that another clerk had checked us in.
Shannon and Jackson stood outside the truck, waiting for me to slide in before they climbed inside after me. After buckling up, we were on our way. Someone had refilled our water bottles and handed me a full bottle. I wasn’t sure who’d emptied it the first time since I hadn’t touched a drop last night, but I was too parched to care. Add to that, Lee was my brother and I didn’t care about his germs, I’d drank Raven’s blood, and bit Jackson to drink from him. After that, drinking from a random water bottle was nothing.
For the next hour, the others conversed and laughed, except for Raven and I, but when the car grew eerily quiet, the hairs on my arms stood on e
nd. In the distance were sparse skyscrapers, and barely visible rubble piles. Signs warned civilians to turn around and take another highway around the area. We ignored them and continued until a large fence and guard station came into view.
“We’re here,” Raven announced, setting off a series of explosions in my gut until I was certain I’d puke with nerves. He took my hand and squeezed, slowing the truck as a guard approached to speak to him. “I promise, Koda, if he’s not here, we’ll find him. You have my word. Now, let’s see whose luck it is to guard this graveyard.”
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Sneak Peek of Perfect Scents
The Weregal Chronicles, Book 1
By: Heather Karn
Chapter 1
Growing up the one thing that always made people wary of me was my ability to smell…everything. I could tell them exact spices used in every meal, and how long garbage had been in a trash can just by getting a whiff of it from twenty feet away. That’s why I always sat in the far corner of the high school lunchroom. If you think that milky, ketchup smell is bad from a few feet away, for me, it’s just as bad from the other side of the room. The one smell that could rival it would be the boy’s locker room, and I was more than grateful I never had a reason to go in there. I could deal with the gallons of perfume my female classmates put on after our gym hour.
If I had to have a special talent, time travel would have been preferred over an amazing sense of smell for several reasons. First, it would just be plain fun. A real life Dr. Who? Who wouldn’t want that? Secondly, I’d get out of school and this stinky cafeteria sooner.
The third, and most important reason, would be that I could see my parents again. Dad was killed in a drunk driving accident two years ago coming home from a late night at the office. Gerry wasn’t my real dad, but after marrying my mom, he’d adopted me. My biological father was nowhere in the picture. I didn’t even know his name.
