Erin woke with a start. A quick glance at her watch told her she’d done more than doze just a few minutes. After Jared had closed his eyes to rest, she’d taken time to attend to a few personal matters in the bushes and refreshed herself with the cool spring water before resting herself. She felt almost human now, and a little safe. The forest cocooned them from the outside world, offering her a brief moment before having to sift through the implications of Dr. Cinatas’s Hummer squad. That he’d found her so quickly was chilling.
Two hours had now passed since Jared had fallen into a fevered sleep, darkly mumbling about Aragon, about being damned, and about Chosen blood. His dreams skirted nightmares. Just as her life was doing.
The sky mirrored his troubled thoughts, for gray clouds encroached on the brightness of the day, deepening the shadows beneath the canopy of trees covering them. Jared still felt overly hot to her, and she prayed the burn on his shoulder wasn’t becoming infected. They needed a doctor and medicine for him.
Given her headache and the way her mind was processing information, she needed one, too. Her memory of how fast Jared had run after wrecking her car into the barn had to be wrong. It was humanly impossible to run that fast. Still, even if he had run at a steady pace, the strength he’d shown had been amazing. Add the fact that he was injured and fevered, and it became miraculous. Who was he?
She’d slept propped against a boulder with Jared’s head cradled in her lap. Her back and legs and everything in between had become numb, but she didn’t want to move. She pressed her palm to his forehead, wishing there was more she could do for him. Cupping more of the cool mountain water into her palm, she bathed his face again, feeling the sharp angles of his warrior-like features and the roughness of his scruff darkened jaw. He was a raw, elemental male whose sensual appeal beckoned exploration. His lips were full, chiseled to perfection, yet soft.
As she soothed his brow with more water, she threaded her fingers through the dark strands of his long hair, wondering over the streak of silver that stood in stark contrast to the raven’s wing black. The silver seemed to mark him as being special, different. She shifted her focus to the amulet resting on his chest.
A twelve-point star was stamped into the gold-like metal. Her fingers tingled as she touched it, as if energy seeped into her from it. Sunlight filtering through the forest canopy cast an iridescent light over the amulet’s surface. The metal was as different and unique as the man. But he wasn’t her puzzle to solve. She had to stay on track and bring down Dr. Cinatas. Her very soul hung in the balance. She’d always lived her life in an orderly way. Reason had ruled her actions. She’d stuck to her goals, her budget, and her code of right and honor no matter what her circumstances. To discover she’d been unknowingly complicit in the deaths of at least four people destroyed her. There was no reason in murder. No reason in the deaths of the two young girls and the middle-aged couple. Erin shuddered from the horror of it as yesterday’s tableau played in her mind again.
Suddenly Jared’s eyes sprang open, as if her thoughts had gone directly to him. She pulled her fingers back from the amulet.
“What is wrong?” he asked, leaping up, moving as if he hadn’t been in a dead sleep for hours. After glancing sharply around the area, he set his probing gaze on her. “Why do these predators seek to harm you, and why do you fear them even now in this quiet place?”
He confused her. His strength, purpose, and lucid intelligence were remarkable and at odds from his moments of delusional behavior. She did know that he didn’t need the worry of her problems, but he did have a right to know who was after them and why. He’d put himself at risk to help her.
She met his clear gaze. “I expected them to kill me on sight. To eliminate me before I had a chance to expose the murders that I’m sure the doctor I work for committed.”
“You must tell me more, or I cannot help. Who is this enemy you battle?” he demanded as he sat next to her on the rock. His fierce tone, sharp gaze, and determined manner were warrior-worthy. She could easily see him wielding a sword in battle, fluid, graceful, and powerful. Deadly.
“I work at Sno-Med, a clinic where Dr. Cinatas administers specialized blood transfusions to cancer patients. I was specifically hired to take care of the clinic’s more affluent clients and worked odd hours. This weekend, I was to give four transfusions to Ashodan ben Shashur, the current king of Kassim. But things were different than before, and—”
“What do you mean by different?”
She bit her lip. She didn’t have any real reason why everything had seemed different from the moment she’d entered the clinic yesterday morning. She just knew that it had. “It was my first day back to work after a week off to recover.”
“Recover? Recover what?”
She gave Jared another assessing glance, wondering where his delusions were when she wanted them. He was asking things that were hard to explain.
“Trust me.” He set his hand over hers. Its warmth, the alluring blue of his gaze, and the strength in them both touched her. She hadn’t really told anyone yet. And the need to let it all out surged through her. She wanted to tell a stranger who wouldn’t judge her, or even question her like her family or a friend might. They’d soon go their separate ways, and she’d move forward in her quest to expose Dr. Cinatas.
Still, her hand fisted beneath his. “Last week I nearly died from an allergic reaction, and it’s been difficult getting back to normal ever since. My experience is hard to explain.” She sucked in air and plunged on. “You see, I could see them resuscitating me from above, where I hovered in the cold shadows. Something powerful pulled at me, urging me toward a bright light, and as I drew closer, the light became hotter and . . . and ... it was almost euphoric.”
She glanced at him, looking for disbelief, but only found quiet acceptance in his gaze. “I didn’t want to turn from the warm light, but a sharp pain ripped through me, and I was back on the stretcher being resuscitated, trying to breathe, trying to live.”
“What happened after?” he asked, as if he already knew there was more to come.
“You’re going to think this is strange, but ever since then I’ve gotten these strange feelings, a tingling in my scalp, my spine, a sinking feeling in my stomach. Feelings that make me act without a clear reason. Like leaving my apartment five minutes late because I sensed my mother would call, and she did, or calling the police because a stranger outside my apartment building gave me bad vibes. He ended up being on the FBI’s wanted list.”
“You had strange feelings that urged you to act?” Jared watched her intently. He didn’t show a hint of surprise over her story, but seemingly accepted it as truth. If she’d been listening to this story a week ago, she’d have rationalized everything that had happened.
She nodded, and a sighed as she told him what happened. “I’d been on edge all week, as if something sinister hovered nearby, just out of sight. That sense of doom worsened the minute I walked in to the clinic yesterday morning and grew. I brushed it off at first and tried to settle into my routine but then I met the king of Kassim and immediately sensed something very dark about him. As I prepped him for his blood transfusion, he looked at me, as if I were the last meal on earth. It unnerved me and I had to get away from him. So when I needed another vial of morphine to complete the dose ordered, I went downstairs to the pharmacy/lab to get another vial instead of calling for it. That’s where I found the bodies and where Dr. Cinatas found me trying to call for help.”
Everything flashed before her eyes.
Even before walking across the icy, off-limits lab, she knew they were dead, a man, a woman, and two teenage girls. As she felt for a nonexistent pulse, touching their icy, lifeless skin, her panicked breaths frosted in the air and her gut wrenched with dread. They’d been strapped to stretchers and drained of their blood. The bags still hung on the hooks above them, tagged for Ashodan ben Shashur, the king of Kassim.
She turned from the bodies, her heart beating faster as her mind ra
ced over what to do. Anger churned in her stomach. Grappling with the cold, hard evidence of four murdered people, she dug out her cell phone from her packed pockets, dialing 911.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Dr. Cinatas said, moving toward her like a venomous snake.
She bit back a scream at his sudden appearance and the assault his presence made on her new sensitivity.
Cinatas smiled smoothly, full of charm as usual, but this time she could see darkness in him, as if the devil himself hid beneath his deep blue Armani. He glanced at the bodies behind her.
“Talking to the wrong people can be fatal, you know.” Lashing out, he grabbed her, locking his surgical-gloved hand around her wrist like a vise. Snapping her hand down against the side of the counter, he sent her cell phone flying to the floor. Pain shot up her arm. He ground her phone into pieces beneath the heel of his Italian leather shoe. Then he bent her wrist painfully back, making her gasp. “You don’t want to die, do you, Erin?”
Throat too constricted to speak; she shook her head, trying to think.
“Good. Don’t ever think I won’t kill you, because I will. “His silver eyes glittered with amusement as he smiled gently, almost angelically. “And it would be such a waste to contact the authorities. No one will ever believe you,” he whispered. “Have you thought of that, my little golden Erin?”
He slid a latex-sheathed nail up her arm, making her skin crawl. “The ramblings of a backwoods hick nurse against the word of a respected doctor with a miracle cure for cancer? You’re smarter than that.”
Erin jerked on her wrist, but he tightened his hold.
“What are you doing here? Why kill for blood?” she demanded.
“They didn’t want to do what they were told to do. A shame, isn’t it? Will you be a good girl and serve the Order, or will you die? Either way your blood will benefit me. “
“Do what?” Erin asked, as she inched her other hand into her pocket and uncapped the syringe there. “This?” she said, pulling the morphine from her pocket and aiming for his heart. He feinted to the side. She shifted her direction, stabbing him at the juncture of his neck and shoulder and shoving the plunger home.
“You bitch,” he yelled fisting his hand in her hair.
She jerked against his hold, and he pulled harder. Tears sprang to her eyes. She kicked out, trying to hit his groin as she struggled, but only managing to strike his knee. The blow sent him off balance enough to let her break free.
Cinatas screamed, bringing one of Kassim’s bodyguards dashing into the lab, his gun raised to shoot. Erin grabbed a stretcher and rammed the guard in the groin just as he aimed the muzzle her way.
He fell forward, splattering the wall with bullets on his way down. Glass shattered, a computer screen exploded, and wood splintered as bullets plowed across a desk then ricocheted off the floor. Before the guard could recover, Erin ran. She hit the emergency exit with bullets pinging off the steel door. Blaring alarms followed her dash into the throng of people moving on the street. Within minutes, she reached her navy Tahoe, parked in a metered spot, and punched in her keyless entry code.
“I left the city, but rather than running away and hiding, I’m determined to bring him down. I hoped that by coming immediately to the Sno-Med Research and Development Center, I’d find out what he’s up to. Cinatas said he’d killed them because they didn’t do what they were told to do. He has murdered before and I need to find the proof that will expose him for the monster he is.” During the telling of the story, Jared had slipped his fingers into her fisted hand, loosening her tight grip and pressing his palm against hers.
“You must always trust your instincts, Erin. They have been heightened for a reason. And this predator may be near, but I promise, he won’t reach you. Ever,” Jared vowed. The passion in his voice was what miracles were made of, and it wrapped reassuringly around her. She could almost believe it possible to bring Cinatas down and still live.
Thunder rumbled deep and loud, jerking her attention to the sky. Overhead, a dark, angry storm plowed toward them with the speed and power of a freight train.
Jared leaped to his feet, pulling her up. “Come. We need shelter.”
Before she could speak, the world exploded as a bolt of lightning ripped across the blackening sky and struck a sprawling oak tree just ten feet away. The tree burst into flames, spewing sparks of fire like a fireworks finale.
She felt as if she had taken a direct hit. Her breath caught, and her heart thumped hard, then raced. Goose bumps spread all over her body.
Jared pulled her in the opposite direction. Another bolt of lightning slammed into the ground even closer, this time to the right of them. The ground shook. Static electricity charged the air to an explosive level, lifting her hair and making her scalp tingle. She felt extremely strange, as if more was happening in the world around her than she could see.
“You’ll not harm her!” Jared shouted as he led her to the left. A deadly anger rang in his voice.
With every second, the sky darkened. Black-green clouds roiled like a cauldron of death as they turned the day into night. She’d never seen such a ferocious storm, or one that advanced so quickly.
Wind whipped with a sharp bite, and the sting of heavy rain paled against the bruising hail. The only thing saving them from being pummeled was the thick canopy of tree.
The thunder shook the very marrow of Erin’s blood. She cried out and Jared pulled her close to his side. Suddenly, through the rain and ice, she saw a battle between unbelievable nightmarish creatures, ghoulish dull gray shells of beings with twisted features brutally fighting ethereal warriors of golden light on silver, winged horses. The falling rain was the iridescent blood pouring from the wounded and dead of the golden light beings; the hail was pieces of their beings, shredded in the battle, pelting the ground. The ghoulish warriors evaporated into gray clouds when struck by the golden warriors.
She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t utter a word.
“We must keep moving. It’s not safe,” Jared said, urging her forward. “There’s a cave with warmth just ahead.”
Erin pulled back and blinked. The battling creatures disappeared, leaving only angry clouds, drenching rain, and punishing hail whipped by a roaring wind. Then a bolt of lightning cut across the sky, coming right at her.
“Erin!” Jared shouted.
She imagined it was like staring at a bullet about to hit her right between the eyes. Jared plowed into her, knocking her to the ground, covering her body with his body. The lightning zinged and struck the earth right next to them. She screamed as pain ripped through her, and she shuddered into a dark abyss.
Relieved to escape the confines of Shashur’s inflated ego for at least a few minutes, Cinatas cursed as he stepped from the white-gold Hummer limo into the miserable rain. He turned up his Burberry collar against the draft and adjusted the brim of his hat to see. Storms had delayed his flight from New York to the Tri-City Airport and grounded his helicopter, making the trip an exercise in torture.
Erin Morgan was turning into a thorn in his side, and his men were proving to be incompetent fools. They had so many Hummers and trucks parked on the side of the road that Cinatas had to walk a quarter mile upon the greasy filth of road to reach the gathered men. Carrying a red pocketbook, Manolo, his security chief, parted from the crowd and met him partway.
“Tell me, Manolo. If you see a horde of flies all in one spot, do you pass by without a second look, or do you glance to find out if they’re on a pile of shit or a corpse?”
“Enough said, sir. Forgive me, I got caught up in trying to figure out what is wrong with every bloodhound we called in that I hadn’t realized we’d gathered such a crowd.” He held out the red purse. “Erin Morgan won’t get far without this.”
“Put it in the limo when we’re done,” Cinatas said, after a long stare. He barely restrained himself from wrapping the purse straps around Manolo’s throat. Whether it was prized information or not, walking around
with a handbag killed image. “What’s wrong with the bloodhounds? I expected you’d have her by now. They can’t have gotten far.”
“We’ve two action teams scouting the woods, but haven’t turned up any sign of them so far. By all reports, the man lit out of here at a fast clip, carrying the woman. I’m assuming she was injured in the crash. So he couldn’t have gone far. We think they’ve found a cave to hole up in. But every damned hound that takes a whiff of the car goes whimpering into a corner and won’t budge.”
“Really,” Cinatas said, thinking fast and going with his instinct. He glanced back, assuring himself that Shashur was still out of the way. “Send the hounds home. I don’t want to call attention to the problem. Tell everyone the hounds couldn’t pick up the trail.”
The only time Cinatas had seen dogs behave like that was in Pathos’s wake. Was it possible that another entity just as powerful as Pathos had appeared? Cinatas’s pulse kicked up a notch at the pleasing possibility. “Where’s her car? We need to eliminate it.”
“Up in the hayloft of the barn. You’ll need a crane to get it out. We’re still not sure why the loft hasn’t collapsed. Must be the oak beams supporting it.”
“Remove the license plates. Clear everyone out and torch the barn. As far as the world is concerned, Erin Morgan has disappeared. Call on all resources necessary, I want them found before anyone else sees them. And I want them both alive.”
“Consider it done. We’ve one other problem.”
“What?”
“There’s a dead man on the side of the road where Morgan’s tracking device was knocked off.”
“Does he have anything to do with her or us?”
“Not that we know.”
“Then leave him where he can be easily found, and we’ll see what develops. With a corpse to investigate, the locals aren’t going to be too concerned about an old barn burning down.” Disgusted but pleased, Cinatas returned to the limo. Careful not to contaminate the alabaster interior with his shoes, he shed them on the street. Then, making certain water droplets from his coat splattered Shashur, he ditched his coat and hat on the empty seat across from him.
Touch a Dark Wolf (The Shadowmen Book 1) Page 5
