“So did I.” I unlaced my fingers and folded my shaking arms around myself, still trying to understand something that wasn’t understandable. “I didn’t know they were rogues. I … just …” My lip trembled. “Jayden seemed so normal, nice even, and he told me they were part of the community and that they lived together. That’s not something rogues normally do, right? Isn’t that what you told me? That they live alone? Right?” I was briefly aware that I was sounding hysterical again.
“That’s right.”
I shook my head. “They tricked me, then Jayden texted me tonight, pretending to be you. I fell for it. It’s the only reason I left the bus. I shouldn’t have believed that text. I should have called to make sure it was you. I should have—”
“Shh.” Logan moved closer, his bare chest brushing against my leg for the merest moment.
My light stayed calm in the chest I stored it in, but the dark power rushed upward. I hastily inched back just as something between a sob and a laugh erupted from me. “I’m just like my mom! Our bodies think monsters can be mates!”
A golden glow lit Logan’s eyes. His jaw locked as he retrieved the first aid kit and water from Cecile and Mike. Both Mike and Cecile stood speechless.
Almost absentmindedly, Logan began washing my wound, being careful not to make direct contact with my skin.
Logan moved the rag up and down my leg gently. Warm water trickled down my calf, stinging my wound.
“So Jayden was a rogue, yet you handled him by yourself, and you also killed the second one.” He shook his head. “That’s unheard of. Rogues are notoriously strong. Only the strongest survive outside of the community. They usually fight when they come into contact with another rogue. Those battles only have one victor, yet you killed them both and only have one bite to show for it.” His movements paused, his frown deepening.
“Do all rogues have red eyes? Is that another way to identify them?”
“Red eyes? What are you talking about?”
“They all had glowing red eyes, not gold like yours.”
“Red eyes? Are you sure?”
“Very sure.”
“I’ve never heard of any werewolf having red eyes.” Logan dropped the rag in the water before pulling out antiseptic. I bit back a yelp when he poured it generously over my wound. It bubbled on contact.
He winced. “Sorry, but I need to clean this.”
Mike and Cecile finally sat on the opposite couch, but that fearful look in their eyes remained. Neither of them commented or interrupted Logan, though, as if knowing they were completely out of their element regarding all of this.
Logan opened the first aid kit and pulled out clean gauze. He gently wrapped it around my leg. “Babe, can you tell me what happened? All of it? From the beginning? I imagine it’s hard to talk about, but we’ll need as much information as you can give us to get to the bottom of this.”
I shivered, remembering that strange dormant power that had exploded within me when the thick evil from Jayden had swirled around him. It was as though I’d opened Pandora’s box. I licked my dry lips. “I don’t know exactly, but something … happened to me when they were going to eat me—”
“Eat you?” Cecile shrieked.
Logan growled, the sound deep in his throat. “It’s what rogues do. It’s why I told Daria to run if she ever encountered any.”
“And instead I invited them to dinner,” I said shrilly.
“Well, technically, they invited themselves.” Mike shrugged.
I laughed, thankful for the joke.
“You had dinner with them?” Logan shook himself. “Not important right now. So what happened … in the woods?” he prodded gently.
I leaned back, using the soft feel of the gauze wrapping around my leg as a distraction from the terror that wanted to consume me. I explained the strange power that had risen inside me after Jayden had carried me into the woods, how I’d kicked off Zach, and he’d run away in fear, and how I’d harnessed the new power.
“That power killed them. And when it burst from my fingertips, the color was red, not gold like my healing light, but red like the color of their eyes.”
“Red again.” Logan’s frown grew.
Cecile’s eyebrows knit together. “So what does that mean? Daria’s mother and grandmother never spoke of anything like that happening to them.”
I shivered again and took a deep breath. “Maybe there’s something wrong with me.”
A dark look flashed across Logan’s face. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Whatever that new power is, it kept you alive.”
∞ ∞ ∞
As Logan prowled around inside the bus, keeping an eye out for Zach through the windows, I mulled over everything that had happened.
In a way, I was glad Logan had prodded me to tell him. Already, details of the evening were fading, but talking about it helped keep it clearer in my mind.
“Here, honey. I’ve got some ibuprofen for you.” Cecile handed me two tablets before picking up the discarded first aid supplies.
I swallowed them hastily just as a howl penetrated the night. Her eyes widened, darting to the windows.
“Coyotes,” Logan said, glancing at his watch as he stalked past us for the third time. His heavy footsteps made the bus shake. “Not wolves, and not a werewolf.”
Mike, still sitting on the opposite couch, took his hat off and smoothed his mustache. “You can tell the difference?”
Logan nodded. “To a werewolf, the howl of another werewolf carries a unique cadence. Humans can’t detect it, but we can. It’s how we identify each other in the wild and how we know where our pack is.”
“So if Zach is around here, and he howled, you’d know it was him?” I asked.
“I’d know it was a werewolf howling, but since I don’t know if I’ve ever met Zach, I can’t tell you for sure if I’d recognize his ululate.”
Cecile cocked her head. “Ululate?”
“It’s what we call a werewolf’s unique howl. Jake has a talent for memorizing and storing all ululates he’s encountered, and while I do okay with it, my memory isn’t as good as his. If Jake were here, he could tell you if he’d ever encountered Zach in his lifetime after hearing his howl.”
Cecile scrunched the garbage in her hands. “I had no idea.”
“I imagine most humans have no idea.” Mike winked, getting another smile out of me.
Cecile swatted the trash at him before putting it in the garbage.
“So now what?” she asked while eyeing the park through the window. With the lights on inside the bus, we couldn’t see much outside, mostly just our reflections, and I would have bet money that made Cecile nervous.
“Now we wait for the SF cleanup crew.” Logan checked his watch again. “They should be here any minute, which means this place will be swarming with Supernatural Forces members in no time. It should be safe to spend the night here despite what happened.”
Cecile let out a breath, her shoulders relaxing. “Thank the stars.”
Logan swiveled his chocolate-colored eyes my way. “My boss is coming with them. He’ll want to talk to you about what happened tonight. You’ll have to tell him everything from the beginning.”
Uneasily, I swallowed. “Okay. I can do that, but is that normal? For him to come to a scene when something like this happens?”
That deep groove appeared between Logan’s eyes again. “No. I can’t remember the last time he left our headquarters to partake in a cleanup.”
Chapter 7
Knowing I was going to have to talk to Logan’s boss made anxiety swirl inside me like a buzzing hornet’s nest that had fallen from the rafters.
Seeming to sense my unease, Logan stopped pacing and sat at my side. Just having him close helped, but still…
His boss!
When a sea of people suddenly appeared out of thin air in the clearing, I yelped.
“That’s the SF. They used portal keys.” Logan raised his palm, as if he intended to place it c
omfortingly over mine. At the last moment, he pulled his hand back, his jaw tightening. “They probably would have been here sooner, but the number of portal keys they had to acquire was higher than normal.”
“So you don’t normally travel that way?”
He shook his head. “Portal keys are infused with strong magic. They’re very precious. We use them sparingly, but considering the gravity of this situation, they obviously made an exception.” He rose from the couch. “Do you want to join me?”
I pushed up and swung my leg over the side of the sofa. The throbbing had lessened, thanks to the dose of ibuprofen Cecile had given me, but it still hurt.
I hobbled after Logan down the stairs while Cecile and Mike glued themselves to the windows.
“It’s a good thing this park is quiet,” I said when Logan released the bus door. It hissed open, and cool air washed over my cheeks. “Otherwise, the locals would probably be asking why there are so many people around here.” People wearing dark suits and helmets and appearing from thin air.
“The locals can’t see what’s happening right now.” Logan jogged down the steps and waited for me at the bottom. He held out his hand for me, but I shook my head. “Sorry, habit.”
I smiled sadly, my gaze traveling up his frame. He looked incredibly sexy with the moonlight dipping his chiseled features into shadows. More than anything, I wanted to press myself flush against him and get lost in his kiss, anything to forget what had happened.
As if reading my thoughts, his eyes began to glow. A knowing look crossed his face before he inhaled. No doubt my interest was giving off that scent he loved so much.
Shaking my head, I forced myself to step down the stairs carefully. At the bottom, Logan again shifted closer to me. I doubted he even knew he was doing it.
“Did you really say the locals can’t see any of this?” I asked.
He nodded. “If someone walked by, all they would see is your bus with the lights off and a quiet park empty of people.”
“How is that possible?”
“Holly is already taking care of our coverage. She’s a witch employed by the SF and specializes in cloaking spells.”
I stepped onto the park’s lawn behind Logan, once again realizing how much I had to learn. “I’m guessing cloaking spells hide things? I’ve never learned any cloaking spells. To be honest, I didn’t even know some witches could do that.” That was way beyond my simple spells and incantations. “But how do you know she’s already doing it?”
He pointed upward. “That’s how.”
I gasped when I saw a thin, shimmery dome surrounding the bus and the park. “You can see her cloaking spell?”
“We can. Humans can’t.”
Through the magical cloaking spell, moonlight poured over the Supernatural Forces squad. The strong moonlight along with the lights that shone from the SF’s headlamps made it easy to see everything.
At least two dozen men and women patrolled the park. The SF members were of various shapes and sizes, making me guess the Supernatural Forces employed more than just werewolves and a witch who specialized in cloaking spells.
Some members of the SF team carried high tech equipment, others sniffed the air while following a trail I couldn’t see, and a few huddled together, discussing who knew what.
“Logan,” a woman purred before sidling up to my boyfriend and draping her hands on his shoulders. “I’ve missed you. I haven’t had the pleasure of working with you in a while.”
I froze midstep, watching the woman’s fingers trail down his bicep. She touched him so easily, as if she knew him well. And unlike me, touching others obviously didn’t trigger her magic.
Jealousy coursed through me at lightning speed, but I took comfort in one thing—Logan immediately stepped away from her, breaking any contact they shared.
“Holly.” He nodded curtly.
She gave a rich, throaty laugh. “Logan, so formal!” She continued to smile, but that smile turned to plastic when she looked at me.
I stood up straighter. Holly towered above me by at least six inches, and her willowy figure provoked images of runway lingerie models.
Skintight leather pants covered her shapely legs, three-inch heels graced her feet, and a form-fitting red top accentuated her every curve. Everything about her was designed to draw attention, including the thick bright-red hair draping down her back.
I forced a smile. “Hi. I’m Daria Gresham.”
She put a hand on her hip, her lips curving upward, reminding me of a cat waiting to pounce. “Well, hello, Daria Gresham. I hear you’ve finally become aware of the community.” She tossed her long dyed-red hair over her shoulder. “Mommy isn’t around to keep you away from us anymore, huh?”
Any openness I had felt toward giving Holly a fair chance vanished. As if responding, the dark power swirled up inside me. Just the feel of its sheer power made my eyes widen.
I hastily took a step back as I tried to stuff it into the chest where I stored my healing light, but it wouldn’t budge.
Holly laughed again, apparently interpreting my retreat as a sign of intimidation versus what it actually was—fear that I would kill her, even though at the moment, that seemed rather appealing.
Logan growled and stepped closer to me. “Holly, Daria’s my girlfriend. Try to show some respect. Her mother died last year.”
Holly brought a hand to her throat. “Oh, she did? I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Yeah, right.
Holly’s eyes narrowed. “And did you say girlfriend?” She guffawed. “You can’t be serious, Logan. What about Crystal?”
Crystal again? I frowned. I knew of Crystal. She’d texted Logan while he’d worked as my bodyguard, but he’d told me that she wasn’t his girlfriend but simply a girl from back home.
Logan’s hands clenched into fists. “Watch yourself, Holly.”
She laughed again, that deep, throaty sound that made a few heads turn. “Why? Are you afraid little Daria will learn the truth?”
She winked my way before sauntering off, waving her hand with graceful strokes as her hips swayed provocatively.
The air shimmered around her fingers, iridescent colors glimmering in her wake. The hazy dome above us brightened behind her, as if strengthened by whatever magic she wove.
If my mind hadn’t been reeling from what she’d just said, I would have stepped forward to see if I could feel her magical barrier or to watch what happened when I stepped through it. As it was, I turned toward Logan with my hands on my hips.
“What did she mean by that?” I hated that I sounded jealous, but that was exactly how my sharp tone came across.
Logan opened his mouth, his gaze shifting, but another newcomer interrupted.
“Logan? Is that Daria with you?”
A man marched to Logan’s side. From his size, I guessed werewolf blood flowed in his veins. He stood around Logan’s height and had arms so thick that they reminded me of tree trunks. Given the rigid way the man carried himself, I guessed he was in the SF. But he appeared much older than Logan. Gray hair lined his head, and deep wrinkles cut grooves into the corners of his eyes.
Logan’s shoulders drew back. “Yes, sir. This is Daria Gresham. Daria, this is my boss, Wes McCloy.”
Wes nodded curtly. “Nice to finally meet you, Daria, although I can’t say I’m happy about the circumstances. Logan tells me you had an encounter with several rogues.” A buzz emitted from his pocket. He pulled out a high-tech-looking tablet and typed in a few things before putting it away. “Their cleanup is proving to be more difficult than we anticipated. We’ve tried to pick them up, but they disintegrate into a jellylike substance. I have to say, that’s a first.”
The state that I’d left Jayden and Niles in flew through my mind. My mouth went dry.
“Which brings me to one of many questions,” he continued. “How did they get in that state?”
When I opened my mouth to reply, no words came out. Even though Logan had warned me there would be
questions, my heart still beat erratically.
A rumbling growl filled Logan’s chest. He stepped closer to me. “Do you want to go in the bus and sit down? Will it be easier if you’re in your home while talking about it?”
Wes waved toward the bus. “That’s a good idea.” His tone grew softer, but it wasn’t as soothing as Logan’s. I had a sneaking suspicion my boyfriend had more experience in the field. I probably wasn’t the first trauma victim he’d dealt with.
“We’ll take it slow,” Logan continued when I just stood there. “And remember, you’re safe now. No one’s going to hurt you.”
The way his tone dropped and the deep, protective growl that followed it soothed my frayed nerves. Still, I shivered. “Yeah, that’s fine. Let’s go on the bus, and I’ll answer your questions.”
In the distance, Holly watched us. So did a few other SF members. I didn’t know if they could hear us, but it felt like everyone was trying to listen in.
My legs felt like wooden sticks when we climbed back aboard the bus.
“Has your leg been treated?” Wes asked when I limped up the stairs. “Logan says one of them bit you.”
“Logan cleaned it with antiseptic then wrapped it with gauze.”
Wes nodded curtly. “Good. Make sure it stays clean. Our kind leaves a nasty bite.”
Once the three of us entered the living space, Cecile and Mike jumped up from where they’d been crouched with their noses pressed to the windows like two kids peering into a haunted house.
“Would you like to have a seat?” I waved at the couches after the bus door hissed closed behind us.
Wes eyed the kitchen table. “How about there?”
Cecile straightened her hair, and Mike took his Yankees cap off.
“This is Wes,” I said to them. “Logan’s boss.”
“Ah, how lovely.” A smile plastered on Cecile’s face. “I’ll make some tea for everyone.”
She hurried to the kitchen while Logan, his boss, and I settled around the table—Wes across from Logan and me. I made sure to keep a few inches of distance between Logan’s thigh and mine. Mike hung back and returned his attention to the activity outside.
Power in Darkness Page 6
