Jace: #6 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas)

by Madison Stevens

  Rem glanced over at Jace with a raised eyebrow.

  Jace cringed and tried not to look at him. “Yeah, Marcus, and uh, no, I didn’t find him.”

  Veronica looked between him and Rem for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped when her phone chimed.

  “Shit.” She frowned at the phone and then blushed when she looked up. “Sorry,” she said. “I’ve got another report of a missing animal.”

  Rem stepped forward. “Maybe you should take Jace with you to help your search,” he said. “He’s really good at tracking.”

  Veronica stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Okay,” she said slowly. “I guess I could use the help.”

  Jace glanced over to Rem, who only nodded. So that was his plan. To have them work together. With her out there looking for the animal, it was best he was there to make sure nothing happened.

  “And be sure to keep a lookout for Marcus,” Rem said with a wink. “You know what a pain in the ass he can be.”

  Chapter Seven

  With the car barreling down the road, Veronica figured keeping her attention on driving was a convenient excuse to avoid looking at the handsome musclebound man sitting in her passenger’s seat. She only barely resisted a groan.

  Why had she said yes? There was absolutely no reason she needed to have him there with her for her job, and yet there he was, sitting quietly and looking out the window.

  Veronica risked a glance out of the corner of her eye. He took up the whole side of the car, and she couldn’t help wonder just how large he was all over.

  She sucked in a breath, warmth pulsing through her. She needed to concentrate on her job, not lust after some guy she barely knew.

  All she really knew about him was that he was good at tracking, had a dog named Marcus, and was named Jace.

  Jace. The name didn’t really seem to fit him. It was a very nonthreatening sort of name.

  For whatever reason, she expected someone as huge as him to have a name like Thor, Zeus, or Hercules. An imposing man needed an imposing name.

  Although the more she thought about it, the more the name Jace seemed to suit him best. He wasn’t really a talkative sort of guy. In fact, since getting in the car, he hadn’t said more than three words.

  He didn’t seem unpleasant. There was no real menace about him despite his size. Instead, those thick muscles made her want to lick her lips.

  Jace turned his brown eyes her way, and her cheeks heated with the knowledge she’d been caught staring.

  “So you’re with the Department of Fish and Wildlife?” he asked.

  Veronica nodded. “I’m completing a paper on animal and human relations in rural communities in this part of the state,” she said. “Right now I have a part-time intern position, but the data that I collect during this investigation will help me complete a paper that should help me land a permanent position.”

  She was surprised when she turned and found him still staring at her. Most people’s eyes glazed over when she started talking about her research, but Jace seemed genuinely interested. Or at least he was great at faking it.

  “And you think these missing pets will be what you need?” he asked.

  “Partly.” Veronica nodded to the back seat. “Once I confirm the nature of the predator, I can test some stuff. I’ve got some equipment that I think will help,” she said. “One of the biggest problems is the blurred lines between wilderness and civilization. This causes confusion for the big cats and bears in the area who don’t really understand the difference between the two. This is why so many pets are going missing.”

  Jace offered a little grunt she chose to interpret as interest.

  She glanced over to Jace, only remembering too late that he was looking for his dog. Maybe his noise was more about disapproval.

  “But that’s not always the case,” she said.

  Jace nodded. “And what does your equipment do?”

  “Well, if it works like it’s supposed to,” she said and sighed loudly, “the transmitter will send out a sound at a frequency undetectable by humans that will deter wild animals from coming into the populated areas.”

  A sign indicated her desired turn was coming up.

  Jace turned in his seat. “Sort of like those invisible electric fences?”

  Veronica nodded. “Kind of, but this doesn’t involve any actual shocks, so there’s no real physical risk to any animal, regardless of size, domestic or wild.”

  She turned down a small driveway and stopped just outside the house. A police car sat about ten feet away, the officer still inside. He nodded once, his wide-brimmed hat obscuring his face for a moment.

  This home was much closer to the town than the other places with reports of missing pets.

  The increasing closeness to the city center concerned her. Whether an animal or a crazed human, this was a bad situation. The animal seemed unafraid of people, and a human might feel the need to take care of any witnesses.

  She thought back to the tracks. Maybe she was just misinterpreting things. After all, the locals had thoroughly investigated the death of the man on the mountain, and they seemed convinced it was an animal. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t be familiar with what local wildlife could do.

  It could also be that the man’s death and the pets were totally unrelated. That didn’t exactly make her feel good. That meant there might be two predators. It was only a matter of time before someone else got killed.

  Jace didn’t like this one bit. This house was too damn close. The Glycon was getting more daring now.

  He still didn’t understand how it could be so active. Marcus was many things, but he wasn’t weak. He’d delivered serious hurt to the Glycon, and then it’d been submerged in freezing water.

  Given the hybrids had dealt with a dream monster and a stone that had the power to, from what he knew, magically turn people into liquid and take their essence, there was no telling how the Glycon survived.

  Maybe it’d even mutated somehow in the water, regenerated, and become stronger. They just wouldn’t know until they found it.

  Veronica gestured toward the house. “The text I received said that an animal had broken into an empty house. The family is vacationing elsewhere, and the scene was discovered by the teen they had feeding their dogs.” She exited the car.

  He stepped out on the opposite side and breathed in deeply. A wretched stench followed by more than a few hints of copper filled his nose. Glycon and blood. So much for hiding its scent.

  The strong smells suggested this had happened recently and after the most recent snowfall. Likely last night when he was out looking on the other side of the woods.

  Worry filled him. Maybe his being out there had pushed the creature closer to town. He’d have to be more careful from now on.

  The police officer in the wide-brimmed hat stepped out from his patrol car. He glanced over to Jace and then back to Veronica.

  “Glad you could make it,” the man said to her. “Buddy at the department said you were looking into this mess and might be able to help us out. I happened to be driving by when the poor girl flagged me down.”

  As silly as it might seem, Jace couldn’t help the reaction he had to the middle-aged man shaking her hand.

  Mine.

  The word echoed inside his head as he struggled to regain some sort of control. He only barely bit back the growl that wanted to come out.

  “Thanks,” Veronica said. She smiled and then glanced behind her to where Jace stood. “This is my… this is Jace. He lives in the area, and his dog went missing. He’s offered to help with the search.”

  The officer nodded easily enough. As if that confirmation was all he needed to trust Jace.

  It still seemed strange to Jace just how helpful the people of this area could be. When trouble popped up, everyone seemed willing to help. It could prove to either be a blessing or a curse with his people.

  “We’ve already been through and secured the area,” the officer sai
d. “Back door locks automatically. Just close up when you leave. I gotta get a report filed before the next cold front moves in.” He shook his head. “Too much snow this season. Maybe the animals are on the move because of that.”

  He shrugged before stepping over to his car and then stopped just before getting in. This time it was Jace that he looked at directly.

  “You seen a place after an animal attack before, boy?”

  Jace nodded. He’d seen much worse than that.

  “Well, I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “Must have been a lot of shaking. You might want to prepare yourself. Both dogs have been moved outside, but…” He trailed off as if there were no words.

  Jace nodded his understanding. He had seen the horrors of Glycons up close. They were brutal creatures that held back nothing. It was almost as if they enjoyed the pain they caused.

  He shared a glance with the police officer. Both men had seen the horrors of the world, but Veronica couldn’t be used to such things, even if she were used to the aftermath of a bear or mountain lion attack. He would have to brace her for what they would find.

  The officer stepped into his car and pulled away from the home. When he was out of sight, they made their way to the back of the house.

  A tarp covered the two dogs. Before she had even lifted the edge, they could smell them.

  “Shit,” she mumbled and covered her nose.

  He almost gagged, wishing in that moment that he didn’t have such a powerful sense of smell.

  She lifted the edge of the tarp. The remains of two Golden Retrievers lay on the ground. About the only peace he could take from the situation was that their eyes were closed, likely thanks to the police officer.

  Jace watched as Veronica swallowed a few times before squatting down to look more closely at the wounds. The sides of each had been ripped open.

  “It must have attacked one first,” she said quietly. “The other has blood on its mouth. Maybe it attacked to defend the other.”

  She turned to Jace who nodded. It made sense to him. Despite being grim-faced, she seemed to be handling the sight well. Though his nose told him they hadn’t seen the worst part yet.

  He crouched down to where she was and noticed the Glycon hadn’t taken more than a bite or two out of each animal.

  He didn’t understand what the point was. If this was about feeding, why not take more meat? Maybe the creature was just engaging in pointless cruelty.

  “Maybe we should see the house?” he asked. “Find out how it got in?”

  Veronica nodded, and he helped to cover the dogs back up. They walked up the slick back steps, and she steadied herself by holding on to him as she made their way up, her breathing shallow. Apparently, she was more bothered than she had let on at first.

  Jace noticed her hand stayed on him when he opened the back door and stepped inside. She finally let go.

  Blood.

  The overwhelming smell of blood overwhelmed him, practically choking him.

  “What the fuck?” Veronica whispered.

  He had been thinking the exact same thing.

  Blood splattered the walls everywhere. There wasn’t one area of the living room not tainted by the stains.

  Veronica’s breathing sped up. He turned and watched as she swallowed hard and swayed forward.

  He moved forward to catch her, his arms enfolding her body. He lifted her with ease.

  “I’m not feeling so well,” she whispered.

  Jace nodded. It was the blood. The Glycon had been injured, and the vile smell of its blood mingled with that from the dogs.

  He carried her back outside and away from the tarp. Something moved in the woods, and he paused for a moment.

  They both peered out into the woods. He breathed in deeply, but all he could smell was the death around him.

  “Was that it?” she whispered.

  Jace waited a moment longer before looking down at her. He shook his head. “Likely just the trees.”

  He walked her over to the car and placed her in the passenger-side seat.

  “What are we doing?” she mumbled. Her face was pale, and all the color had drained from her lips.

  “I think we should get you where you can lay down.”

  She opened her mouth to protest. “But—”

  “But nothing,” he said firmly. “You heard the police officer. There’s a storm coming anyways. I’ll have Rem meet me at your place. I assume you’re at the motel?”

  She nodded this time and closed her eyes. Jace glanced around one last time before getting in the car. He needed to get her out of the way if he was going to get a closer look at the place.

  Chapter Eight

  Veronica rubbed her temples before she opened her eyes. An idle ceiling fan hung above her, set in a cracked and flaking roof.

  She sat up, taking a moment to glance around and regain her bearings. She was on the bed in the motel room, on top of the comforter. Her keys and pepper spray sat on the night stand, and her coat lay draped over a nearby chair.

  She spotted the hint of orange from the inside of her pocket: her wallet. Apparently, all her things were there. She’d been delivered back to the motel, at least she thought she had.

  She glanced around. Jace was nowhere in sight.

  “Jace?” she called out.

  There was no response.

  Veronica furrowed her brow, a mixture of confusion and embarrassment filling her. She hopped up and headed over to the bathroom to check.

  No one inside.

  She couldn’t even remember all the details as to how she got back to her motel room. The memories hung in her head, fuzzy, indistinct. She’d thought she was simply closing her eyes, but she’d maybe passed in and out of consciousness for a bit.

  She just couldn’t be sure. She didn’t really have a headache or any grogginess that suggested she’d been drugged.

  That filled her with small relief, until the uncomfortable truth came crashing down. The cold reality was the horrible sights and smells in the house just proved too much.

  It certainly wasn’t her first time seeing the aftermath of an animal attack, but like the officer had said, it was so much worse than she expected, easily the worst such scene she’d ever encountered.

  After moving back over to the bed, she sat on the edge. The viciousness went well beyond what she’d expect even from a starving predator. While she hadn’t run into quite so bad a case before, the common factor in many of her most severe cases was diseased animals. Perhaps rabies, or prion infection.

  She was always surprised by how so many people knew about Mad Cow Disease, but didn’t realize how many prion diseases were spreading among the wild animals in many parts of the country. That made work like hers even more important.

  Maybe the dead dogs needed to be tested. She wondered if the locals could run such tests. She could gather some samples and send them back to her university for testing, but she needed information now, not weeks from now.

  She groaned. The truth was, she was going to have to return to the house at some point. There would be no avoiding it, no matter how much it upset her. Though, maybe she could at least delay a trip back inside for a bit.

  She let out a sigh and rubbed her temples again. She was supposed to be a hardened professional helping people and doing an investigation, not passing out and needing a man to catch her.

  Obviously Jace must have driven her car, but he was long gone now. The more she thought about it, the more she could vaguely recall him carrying her to her car.

  Another memory popped into her head. He’d carried her from the car to her room as well. They hadn’t really talked. At least that she could remember. Everything remained so fuzzy and indistinct.

  She wasn’t quite sure if she couldn’t remember or didn’t want to. It didn’t matter. It didn’t change the situation.

  The truth was that she’d been helpless in a strange place alone with a man she barely knew. Not only that, she’d met him under very
suspicious circumstances.

  She still wasn’t convinced there was a dog named Marcus. Who couldn’t remember their dog’s name off the top of their head? It seemed like an obvious lie.

  She shook her head, thinking it over. He might not be what he claimed, but she still couldn’t bring herself to believe that Jace had anything to do with the missing pets.

  There wasn’t a thing about him that she should trust, but when she thought about it, she realized she did. Almost completely, which was nuts.

  There was something about him, something so comfortable and familiar. His movements. His voice. Even his smell. It was like she’d always known him.

  The only thing that seemed off for some reason was his eyes. It was hard to say. They looked normal enough, but just something about his brown eyes didn’t fit him. She wasn’t quite sure what color would fit, but somehow she knew the brown didn’t.

  Her heart told her that she could trust Jace, and he’d never hurt her.

  She wouldn’t bother to pretend that was rational, but she wasn’t going to lie to herself and deny she felt that way.

  Of course, she also couldn’t be sure if all this trust was because he was a gorgeous and ridiculously fit specimen of a man.

  A blush spread across her face. Despite herself, there was even a part of her that was a bit turned on by the fact that he’d been able to carry her with such ease.

  Christ, he was strong.

  Veronica shook her head hard. That wasn’t what she needed to focus on. Whether or not she could trust Jace, she still had a job to get done, and she’d already wasted enough time.

  She was still so fucking embarrassed by losing it over at the house. A little blood and she was swooning like some damsel in distress.

  That wasn’t who she was. She was tough.

  Her toughness gave her the courage to get away from her crazy mother. It was how she’d paid her way through college while working a full-time job. It was also how she’d gotten into one of the best programs in her field for grad school.