Death's Dark Horse

by Ruby Loren

  Her eyes found Ryan’s, and her hand slid around his broad back. He smiled down at her with his crooked grin. January sighed when the reddish-blonde stubble tickled her face and his mouth found hers. She momentarily slipped into a world free from worry, as the taste of cinnamon danced on her tongue, and a fire warmed inside her.

  A howl cut through the silent forest.

  “Typical,” Ryan said, pulling away. “The wolves would be the first to arrive. They’ve probably got another hundred complaints to register.”

  “I don’t know why they don’t just go their own way.”

  January frowned when the first grey wolf appeared on the opposite side of the clearing. She’d told every shifter that had been a member of Luke Bingley’s mixed pack monstrosity that they were under no obligation to stay. Wolves were the only kind of shifter that really liked to be in a pack, and she hadn’t wanted to force anything.

  Surprisingly, many of the shifters had pledged allegiance to her and decided to remain in the pack - even after she’d told them about the potential dangers of hanging around with her. She could understand those who relied on the shifter bar’s income as their means of survival sticking around, but there had been many more who weren’t financially reliant on the pack. She had no clue why they still wanted to be a part of this.

  The grey wolf twisted and writhed and a moment later, a bearded naked man stood in front of them.

  January tried hard to ignore the fact he was just hanging out. For a shape shifter, she wasn’t too comfortable with nudity.

  “Greetings, oh glorious leader… What does Your Royal Pointy-ness command?”

  Ryan’s knuckles cracked next to her.

  January sensed the shifting energy. The tension between animals rose to the surface, exacerbated by the full moon. She shot Ryan a look, warning him not to change, before she walked down the slope towards the rude wolf.

  “All on your own tonight, Adrian?” She said it as pleasantly as she could, but the big man still tensed.

  January allowed the flicker of a smile to pass across her face. She wasn’t afraid of the big bad wolf, but beneath the bravado, he was definitely afraid of her.

  “I’m just here to tell you that the wolves aren’t coming tonight,” he said.

  January noticed he was deliberately keeping his arms fixed by his sides. She thought he’d probably jump ten feet backwards if she made a sudden movement.

  “Are you saying that every single Witchwood wolf is currently sitting at home with a cup of hot cocoa?”

  The bearded wolf’s eyes slid away from hers.

  Apparently not. “You don’t have to be a part of this pack, but you know that you can’t start your own, unless you all leave the area. You know the boundaries of the territory. I don’t want there to be any bloodshed between shifters - and that means no challenges between packs. Tell the other wolves that this is a warning. If I hear so much as a whisper of a wolf pack, it will be stopped.” She stared the werewolf down, hating every second of it.

  She’d never wanted to be pack leader. This was exactly the kind of tough persona, intimidation tactic that had made her stay away from packs in the first place. She was turning into everything she hated most.

  “Noted,” Adrian said.

  He threw her a twisted smile before turning back into a wolf. His lips lifted a little, showing sharp teeth. January felt her own temper fray when she sensed the wolf’s temptation to attack. Instantly, a huge spotted jaguar was between them. The grey wolf yipped in alarm, before turning tail for the trees.

  “Do you buy any of that?” January said to the jaguar, who growled in response.

  It was a definite ‘no’. The wolves were up to something.

  “As if I needed something else to worry about…” She muttered, but had to sweep those worries aside, as the sound of branches snapping in the distance reached their ears.

  I hope there’s no one else out in the woods tonight, she thought, silently despairing at the noise level. That was another problem with all of these tourists - they drew too much attention. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, the supernatural did not exist. January prayed that she wouldn’t be the one responsible for changing that.

  Time to start the show, she thought, with more than a little bitterness. The air around her moved, as she drew in the energy for the change. She emerged from the static air as a black horse with a horn sat square on her forehead. Shifters came in every kind of animal you could think of, but as far as she knew, she was the only unicorn to ever exist.

  That was why the tourists were here.

  She waited another half an hour, standing back up the hill at the edge of the clearing, while the moon rose higher and the forest filled up. It was a strange sight to see such a mix of animals in the same place. From big cats, to bears and lizards, any stranger to the scene would never mistake this meeting for something natural. January’s ears flattened when she tried to estimate the number of shifters in the forest. She could tell there were well over a hundred in the clearing, and from what she could hear, there were even more waiting in the trees for their chance to get a look at the mysterious unicorn shifter they’d all heard about.

  January wished she’d stayed in the closet.

  She waited until the moon was at its highest point and then she changed back, trying not to flinch at being completely nude in front of hundreds of other people. The jaguar walked up beside her and then she was no longer alone. Ryan was by her side again.

  January began by welcoming the visiting shifters, but that was as far as she got with the usual script. When her eyes went around the clearing, alighting on a huge wild boar, a ragged looking coyote, and then a sleek falcon, all she saw were unknown faces. Any of them could be a killer. She was no coward, but it was plain to see how easy it would be for pretty much anyone to walk into the woods and take a shot. From her own experience of being a hunter, she knew how fast things could turn against you when you were being hunted and didn’t even know about it. All someone needed was a single opportunity.

  “This has to stop,” she said, her voice creating quiet over the clearing.

  Ryan shot her a sideways glance but did nothing. They’d both heard what Gregory had said when he’d turned up at her door earlier that evening. Someone was coming to kill her. She couldn’t just wait around for them to do it.

  “The pack already knows this, but for the benefit of the visitors…” Who made up the vast majority of her audience, January realised, “…there’s currently a price on my head. It won’t be long before someone is going to try to kill me. They could even be watching right now.” She paused and looked for any reaction - or a lack of one.

  It was a dumb trick. Any killer worth their salt wouldn’t show their true colours.

  “Anyway, because of this… situation… from now on, no more visitors will be permitted at the full moon meets and any shifter new to the area must report to a pack member.”

  There was much shuffling as the tourists reacted negatively to the news that they were no longer welcome.

  “The show’s over,” January finished and let the energy of the night turn her back into a unicorn, before she slipped away through the trees.

  The tourists would no doubt consider it rude, but all that talk about assassins had really made her ‘spidey senses’ tingle. What are they going to do about it? Leave me a bad review on seetheunicorn.com? She thought, when she galloped across the empty fields on her way back to Hailfield. Home, hot chocolate, and a warm bed with Ryan in it was all she wanted from the rest of the night.

  Gregory Drax clearly had other ideas.

  “I thought you had affairs to get in order,” January said, changing back to human and stalking past the vampire into the house to grab some clothes. Unfortunately, Gregory Drax had seen her without clothing a few too many times already, but she really didn’t want to be thinking about that tonight.

  “My new second in command, Jane, has everything under control. It’s remarkable,
considering it was just a few months ago that half of the vampires around here were plotting my downfall. Of course, her success could also have something to do with everyone having witnessed her crushing the skulls of the traitors with one hand, whilst gouging their eyes out with the other. Who can say?” He raised an eyebrow, but January wasn’t in the mood for Gregory’s charm.

  “Why are you here? I thought we’d said all that needed to be said earlier. We find out where the old vampires are and we go after them. Staying here is a bad idea. Tonight I had to ban all of the tourists. It would be a piece of cake for a killer.” January wrapped her long jersey coat around herself a little more tightly, starting to feel the cold. “I know it won’t stop them, but…”

  “No sense in making it easier,” Gregory agreed.

  January also sensed he was pleased that there weren’t going to be quite so many two-natured waltzing through his area.

  “I just don’t want this to turn into some paranoid siege situation where we batten down the hatches and interrogate every new face. It won’t end well,” she said.

  Gregory nodded, his blonde hair looking almost silver in the moonlight streaming through the open door. “In principle, I completely agree that we should hunt down these vampire elders. They want me dead and I’d like to return the favour. However, in practice, these vampires don’t exist. At least, not that I can find. The whispers I heard on my recent travels have so far proved to be exactly that – whispers. I haven’t found anyone who can point me in the right direction, or even the right country to start the hunt in.”

  “You let me say all of that stuff about taking the fight to them, when you already knew we had no chance?” January glared at Gregory. Was this all a game to him?

  “You were on a roll!” He said, smiling and showing a glimmer of fang.

  January wasn’t amused. “So, we’re stuck here waiting for bounty hunters to beat down the door and then beat our heads in. And everything I said about not wanting to turn into a paranoid recluse is actually going to be exactly what will happen.”

  Gregory paused for a second to think about it. “Yes. That is exactly what I am saying.”

  January didn’t even hear the gravel crunch but suddenly Ryan was standing behind Gregory in the narrow hallway.

  “Please tell me he isn’t moving in with us,” Ryan said, his facial expression not reflecting the joke.

  Ryan and Gregory didn’t see eye to eye. It was partially to do with their vampire vs. shifter loyalties, but mostly to do with them both having a certain level of interest in her. Although, when it came to Gregory, she wouldn’t like to say whether his ‘interest’ went beyond a sort of morbid curiosity.

  “Just a social call,” Gregory said.

  January felt like punching him. That was not what this was!

  “Speaking of moving in… I don’t believe your lease extends to extra occupants. You’ll have to renegotiate with my daytime man.”

  Ryan’s eyes clouded with confusion. “Why would…” He stopped and stared at January, who was studiously avoiding eye contact.

  She’d neglected to mention to Ryan that Gregory was the one who owned the property she rented. That was how he was able to enter the building at will without an invitation. She could have moved, but Gregory had told her he’d buy any property she tried to rent. She could have bought her own property, but she still wasn’t willing to admit that she would be staying in Hailfield for the long haul.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. Can he come in here any time he likes? I don’t know if I can handle this…” Ryan shook his head, his eyebrows knitted together.

  “There are ways we can keep him out,” January informed him.

  Gregory folded his arms. “Excuse me? I’m right here. You needn’t get your whiskers in a twist. I have no wish to walk in on you two.” His eyes opened wide with sincerity.

  As was the vampire way, January knew that what he had just said was the truth… but not all of it.

  “Let’s talk about this later,” she said through gritted teeth.

  Ryan crossed his own arms. Great.

  “Well, it’s getting late! I wouldn’t want to risk catching the sun. Goodnight, January. I’ll let you know if there’s any news at all.” He brushed past Ryan and then turned in the doorway, his large frame blocking the light. “Good luck,” he added and January thought he sounded a little apprehensive.

  That was definitely worrying.

  The next second he was gone, leaving her with a very angry were-jaguar and a lot of questions to answer. The New Year was not off to a great start.

  Chapter Two

  “Good morning, Simon,” January said to the little black cat, who was watching her from the top of the kitchen cupboard. “Will you be taking coffee this morning, or just the usual tin of unidentified meaty bits?”

  The small cat meowed and jumped down to the floor, walking over to his empty bowl and staring up at January, piteously.

  “Meat surprise it is.”

  How January had ended up with a pet cat was a long story. After Lewis, the drummer in her covers band, had bafflingly decided to try and murder her and had wound up dead himself, she’d gone to his house to try and find out his motive for wanting her dead. There’d been a whole lot of crazy in that house. Lewis had been playing with witchcraft. The black cat had been his, but although January had tried to get it to stay at the house to be collected by the authorities when Lewis was reported missing, the cat had decided to follow her home. After that, she’d pretty much had to let it stay. Handing in a missing person’s cat to the local cat rescue might incriminate her.

  January glanced at the clock on the wall and finished her coffee with a sigh. An early start at Madame Rose’s Tearooms was never a fun experience after a full moon night. Unfortunately, Monday was her day to bake the special.

  “See you later, Simon. Try not to start a fight with Ryan. He’s bigger than you.”

  The cat blinked at her. She searched its yellow eyes for a moment, looking for anything more than just a cat. January shook her head and grabbed her bag. She was definitely getting paranoid.

  The frost was still on the ground when she walked out into the winter sunshine. January cast a loving look in the direction of her Lotus car, but decided to leave it on the driveway. Nice days like this one deserved to be appreciated, and she needed the walking time to think.

  So much had changed in the space of one night, and it was all because of Gregory Drax. You shouldn’t shoot the messenger, she thought, while she walked past sparkling fields of white. Knowing that someone was willing to pay for your death was better than remaining ignorant. At least now she could prepare.

  It was just a huge annoyance that that was all she could do. Holing up and hiding made her want to gnash her teeth, but Gregory was right – what more could they do until the old vampires decided to show themselves? They’d hidden their existence from the world, presumably for millennia. She didn’t think it was likely they were going to come out of the woodwork now.

  I’ll just have to survive whatever comes… then they’ll have to come out to play, she thought. A magpie flashed across her vision. January tried to ignore the traditional omen of ill luck. The way her life was going had nothing to do with luck.

  Tired of thinking morbid thoughts, she steered her mind onto the next problem of the day: what was she going to bake? The New Year was supposed to signify a fresh start. January thought that something citrusy could be just the ticket… with an alcoholic twist. After all, it was Monday.

  She opened the back door of the tearooms and was instantly met with the delicious smell of baking. Her nose twitched when she took in the sweet and spicy scent of walnuts and coffee. Then her eyes alighted on the cake itself, bubbling in the oven.

  It was quite a cake.

  There were four tiers of sponge all cooking in separate pans. They were just begging to be sandwiched together with buttercream and topped with some more walnuts.

  Danny - a ne
w addition to the staff at Madame Rose’s - walked into the kitchen.

  “Hey, Jan… what do you think? This time around I think I’ve really got a rise from the mix! Maybe a little too much.” He shot her a guilty grin.

  Danny had started working at the tearooms three months ago, after Matt (the coffee maker) had been found murdered in the forest. Only January and Gregory knew that he had been a horse shifter who had been killing off vampires and trying to frame January for his crimes.

  “It smells amazing… but I thought I was making the special this morning?”

  Danny slapped a hand to his forehead. His dark, slicked back hair flopped forwards. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry! I literally got in a few minutes ago and knocked this up because no one else was here. I forgot all about the rota.”

  January shrugged and smiled.

  The rota was a new thing that had been put in place to stop Lucy (another waitress) from complaining about cake recipe clashes. The idea being that they wrote in advance what they were planning to bake. In practice, January generally wrote down vague ideas and changed them at the last minute, making sure her cakes weren’t the same as Lucy’s.

  “It’s okay. I’ll make a tray bake or something to go with your special. Honestly, your cake looks way more impressive than what I was planning,” she admitted, a little grudgingly.

  Baking was her passion. During rare flights of fancy, January considered using the money she’d saved up from being a bounty hunter to open her own bakery. It was a daydream she always finished by promising herself she’d consider it when life gave her a quiet moment.

  Right now, she wasn’t certain if that moment would ever come.

  “You’re the best, Jan! My slot was on Wednesday. Lucy’s baking tomorrow.” Danny pulled a face and January tried to hide her smile.

  Lucy’s cakes were infamous. They looked amazing, but cut into them and you were met with dry cardboard. She and Danny had been passing out secret copies of the baking rota to all of the regulars who wished to avoid running the gauntlet of Lucy’s cakes.