Lily was the one to break the stare-down. She swung her gaze from Jayne’s face to his, her eyes clear and intense. Though he was afraid she’d be pissed at him for interrupting, he didn’t see any anger in her face. Instead of ire, he saw thoughtfulness. “I think you’re up, Kyle. The wolf that did this is gone, though I suspect not far. I’m certain it hasn’t left the area and may even have been returning to the dump sites. I could smell it here, pretty strong, and I’ll lay odds we run into the same thing at the next site. Anyway, give it a shot and see what you come up with. We could use some helpful intel.”
Good. Maybe she had been fully briefed on what he could do, and it was nice that he wouldn’t have to go into detail. His powers had manifested for him when he was a teenager. Fortunately his grandmother had been waiting and watching for the next family member to inherit the gift. He was the lucky soul, and so when it came to pass, she was there to guide him. What none of them had realized at the time was he was some kind of superhero necromancer. All of the necromancers before him had been able to raise the dead just as any good one could. Unlike his predecessors, he’d developed über skills, to put it technically. He could not only raise the dead, but he could get inside the deceased’s head by simply standing on the ground where their body had fallen. Nana had been pretty impressed, though it took him a while to figure out how to make sense of the things he saw and heard. As a young man having to deal with all sorts of other normal guy issues, interacting with the dead was a complication he could have done without. The choice hadn’t been his to make, and so he’d learned how to integrate what he was with his life as best he could.
When the Jägers recruited him, he’d found out they’d been watching him for years because he was the first of his kind. No necromancer before him had commanded the sort of psychic ability he seemed to possess. What he discovered much later was that his grandmother contacted the Jägers as soon as she realized how special he was. She wanted him to do something important in the world and figured out what it needed to be. So, here he was. He tried every day to make Nana proud and was pretty sure he was succeeding.
Nodding to Lily he said, “I’d be happy to give it a shot.” He looked over at Ava and winked. He liked the way her eyes sparkled every time he did that.
Lily stepped away from him and moved to stand next to Jayne. For someone who seemed to be less than warm toward her, Lily was standing awfully close. And for someone who seemed to reciprocate those less-than-warm feelings, Jayne sure didn’t move away. Kind of interesting to watch the dynamic between them, and he’d love to spend more time simply observing, but it was time to get down to business and the reason he was on this hunt.
Kyle moved to the spot Lily had just vacated. Setting his messenger bag on the ground, he took out the bundle of dried sage he’d wrapped with red ribbon before he left California. Red held no special significance other than it was Nana’s favorite color. Each time he made one of these bundles and tied the red ribbon, it made him think of her and smile. With a lighter he pulled from his pocket, he lit the tips of the sage stalks and held the burning bundle up as he turned full circle three times. At the conclusion of the third turn, he dropped the sage to the ground and put out the fire with his boot. For a moment he stood still and breathed in the pungent scent of the burned herb. Yeah, it felt right, and so he slowly lowered himself to the ground, crossed his legs, and put his hands in his lap, fingers interlaced. He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing in the faint, lingering scent of the sage. Easy breaths in and out, slow and even.
The first shock hit him like a hardball right between the shoulder blades, only to be followed by scorching pain throughout his body. The breath was knocked out of him, and he struggled to stay upright. Behind his closed lids it was as if a horror movie began to play in bright, vivid colors. He wasn’t just seeing what happened on this spot; he was inside the victim, looking out through his eyes…his dead eyes. Strangely, it was the jaws of a wolf that filled his body with fiery pain, and yet it was two very human hands that dragged him to this lonely spot in the forest. He couldn’t see her face clearly, only that it was a woman who pulled and heaved the lifeless body until it rested on the ground beneath the spot where he sat.
The man was dropped in this pine-needle-strewn patch of the forest floor without ceremony or care. Her sole intent seemed to simply find a secluded area in which to leave him. As she let go of his body and walked away, the woman didn’t look back. Her posture was erect and regal, and her long, dark hair fell down her back and well past her butt—her naked butt.
His eyes snapped open and he sat still, letting emotion and sensation settle within his body. It always took a minute or two to reground himself in the here and now after being inside a dead person’s mind. After seeing what too often were the horrors of their last minutes of life, he internalized their pain. Tonight was no different. His heart pounded and his eyes teared up. He could still feel the agony that had taken him to his last breath, still feel the terror that was with him as he crossed over. He hated it. Not because it hurt him but because, even with his gift, he could not take away the travesty visited upon the victims. The best he could do was to give light to the evil that tried to keep itself hidden in the dark and to bring those responsible down. The Jägers had a particular brand of justice for monsters like the naked woman he’d seen walk away, and he wanted to be there when it was meted out.
Finally, when his hands stopped trembling and the threat of tears had passed, he brought his head up and stared over at Lily. A werewolf might have killed this unfortunate man, but it was a very human woman who dragged his body to this place. It was more than just the fact she’d dragged him; it was the fact that she could. The murdered man had not been slight of stature, and yet what he’d seen said the killer was more than capable of handling him on her own. How many women of her petite size could pull that off?
Lily’s face tightened as she stared at him. He hadn’t uttered a word, and yet he sensed she understood everything that had gone down here. “Shit.” She blew out a long breath. “Ava, can you lock this place down?”
Kyle knew she could because he’d seen her do it before. She was some kind of wicked-awesome witch, and she would cast a spell that would essentially repel anyone with evil intent. They would never step foot on this ground again. No one else would ever be left here alone and discarded as if their life hadn’t mattered.
Kyle stood and picked up the blackened sage bundle. He tucked it back into his bag as Ava stepped near him and opened her own tote. The first thing she pulled out was a bottle of salt. She used it to draw a wide circle around the area where the body had been discovered. He stepped out of her way so that she could do her work without his big feet disturbing her circle. As she poured the salt, she spoke quietly. He couldn’t make out the words she whispered, though he didn’t need to. Specifics didn’t matter. He knew what those softly uttered words could do, and God help the poor bastard who tried to break her spell once it was in place. Wouldn’t happen, and he took solace in that fact.
When she was done, she put the salt, a single candle, and a bundle of mixed herbs she’d used to cast her spell back into her bag. “It’s safe,” she told Lily as she stepped across the salt and stopped next to him. He liked it when she stood so close he could smell the lingering scent of the herbs on her. He loved the smell.
“Now what?” Jayne’s gaze took in all three of them in a single glance.
“Now we go to site number two,” Lily said as she turned and hurried back toward the car. He followed close on her heels, wondering what the hell they were going to find next and trying to will away the chill coursing through his body.
Chapter Ten
Jayne was all for getting out of here. When she’d driven them out to this place, she’d come here as a full-blown skeptic. She’d never bought into the whole Jägers thing despite insistence from people she admired telling her they could do amazing things. As far as she’d been concerned, it was all smoke and mirrors
.
Witnessing the almost transformative change in Kyle as he’d sat crossed-legged and still as stone on the ground had her rethinking her hardline stance. There were no mirrors and there was definitely no smoke. Damned if it didn’t seem a hundred percent real. It was difficult to put a name to what was making her believe little by little, but it was there.
Watching Lily as she’d stood on the spot where they’d found the first body, and not just near the spot, but the exact spot without being told where it had been, was the first thing that shook her deeply. There was something otherworldly about the way she’d looked, and it couldn’t be faked. Of course, boldly declaring herself to be a werewolf would pretty much explain the otherworld aspect of her appearance.
To try to picture the petite woman with the long dark hair changing into a wolf was hard to do. She was beautiful and, compared to Jayne, tiny. Wrapping her head around the idea that come a full moon she would morph into a wolf-like creature was absurd. The moon didn’t have magical powers to turn humans into animals. Or did she actually need a full moon to become a wolf? She couldn’t keep her folk legends straight.
No. She didn’t envision it at all. The idea that Lily could suddenly transform into a hairy, four-legged dog was out there. Lily, however, had been pretty adamant, so she wasn’t about to argue the point with her at the moment. She’d still have to see it to believe it, though she had her doubts about that ever happening.
Kyle was equally interesting. He was, according to Lily, a necromancer capable of raising the dead. His skills didn’t end there, as apparently he had a talent for seeing through the eyes of the deceased whether they were present or not. Again, she’d have to see him raise the dead before she’d believe it. On the other hand, she’d just seen him do a little mojo out there, and the sight sent chills up her arms as his face changed and the words coming from his mouth sounded as though they came from somewhere far off. It was as if he’d been inside their victim, and again, nothing about what he did appeared to be anything beyond legitimate. Lord knows, she’d seen enough fakes in her time as a law-enforcement officer to be able to spot an imposter a mile away.
Jayne was cognizant of the fact her basic character was that of a true skeptic, and despite that, there had been two instances when she’d opened herself up to the possibility of help from psychics. She’d been up against a brick wall in a couple of cases and finally reached a point where she’d been willing to try anything, even something she truly did not believe in.
The first time she’d opened the door to alternative methods, the case was successful in that the woman, or rather the psychic, who came in actually led them to the body of their missing victim. The peace it brought to the family of the missing was immeasurable, and it was the deciding factor for why she was willing to give it a go with the second case. Lightning did not strike twice. That self-declared psychic in the next investigation had done precisely nothing, and to date the case remained unsolved, the victim still unaccounted for. Even now, she wasn’t able to set that one aside. In her free time, she continued to search, unwilling to leave the case unsolved despite it belonging to another jurisdiction.
Tonight as she drove in silence the five miles to the location where they’d discovered the second body, her mind was whirling. The road into the secluded spot was rutted, the light dusting of snow camouflaging many of the holes that jarred the wheels. She concentrated on the road and tried not to think about the second victim. Pearl Buffet had been a year ahead of her in school and a bully back before they really gave a name to people like her. Jayne didn’t like her, though through the years of training and experience, she’d come to understand what made her the way she was. Unfortunately, Pearl never really grew out of the personality trait that made her an outcast in school. Still, even Pearl didn’t deserve what had happened to her. Nobody deserved it.
Lily put a hand on her arm, and the touch sent a spark racing along her skin. It made her heart pound. “I understand how bizarre this must seem.”
“Really?” Despite Lily’s reassurance, she seriously doubted she understood at all. From every appearance, this seemed to be very matter-of-fact to the three riding in her car and as though it was nothing out of the usual. Like it was a common thing to have a werewolf running through the woods killing people and dragging their bodies around like giant chew toys. Like finding a schoolmate ripped apart was something that happened to people every day. Right, and she was the pope. This kind of shit just didn’t happen, especially not here.
Or so she wanted to believe. A serial killer running around her woods was easier to swallow than a werewolf raising havoc. Even a human serial killer was a stretch, given where they were. In this small county in northeast Washington State, killers were not hanging around in the trees. She’d left that kind of crap behind when she said good-bye to the cities. Here it was beautiful and unspoiled, the people hardworking and kind, the community small and tight-knit. These were not the sort of people who snapped and started running about killing their friends and neighbors.
It all sounded good in her head, but it just wasn’t entirely true. Most of it was. Where it fell down was the part about someone snapping because it was clear by the sheer number of murders that someone had, indeed, gone over the proverbial edge. One of her neighbors was a killer, and no matter what she wanted to believe, the proof was impossible to ignore.
Lily squeezed her arm gently. “Oh yes, really. I promise this will all make sense.”
Something about Lily’s touch and her calm, reassuring words made her want to believe. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“Deal.” Lily’s hand fell away, and irrationally, she wanted to grab it back and hold on.
Jayne pulled off the main park road and onto a service road that had she not been here several times already, she never would have been able to see in the darkness. It was in even worse shape than the first road, the ruts deep and close together. After bumping along for a minute or so, she stopped. They were going to have to hike in the rest of the way. “Come on,” she told them as she opened her door. “Make a believer out of me.”
*
Bellona walked through the French doors smiling, still naked and wet from her shower. She should be worried about the hunters she saw out there tonight but wasn’t. By the time she got back here, her fear had dissipated and she’d figured out why they seemed so familiar: Jägers. They’d arrived a bit quicker than she thought they would, and that was quite inconvenient. It didn’t mean they were a problem. She’d been dodging that group of do-gooders for so long it wasn’t even a challenge anymore. Sometimes it was fun, but other times, it was simply annoying.
Still, the inconvenience and annoyance wasn’t enough to keep her from smiling. Thinking of them out there trying to use their little magic to find her was amusing. Witches and warlocks, psychics and seers, they had all tried to track her down at one point or another, and they had all failed. Time and time again. She was untouchable, and that made her horny as all get-out.
Most of the time when confronted with the pesky Jägers, she simply slipped past them as she moved on to greener pastures. This time around she had a different plan because she wanted to stay here at least for a while. No hunters were going to derail those plans. It might take a little work, but she’d get them on their way posthaste. It was all in the way one played the game.
“Hey, baby. What took you so long?”
“Little Wolf,” she whispered as her smile grew. This was exactly what had drawn her in and made her want to stay. Little Wolf lay stretched out on the rug in front of the fireplace, a roaring fire crackling and sparking, her black lace teddy stunning on her curvy, muscular body. She’d thought she was beautiful the first time she saw her. In the months since, her feelings had grown even deeper. She was so fun and so attractive, not to mention she had a voracious appetite for the life, both human and otherwise. That made her even sexier.
“Did you have a good run? You looked nice and sweaty when you came in earlier.” S
he ran her tongue over her lower lip. “Are you stiff? Sore? Do you need a little massage?” Little Wolf held up her hands and wiggled her fingers.
Bellona stretched her arms over her head and rolled her shoulders. She actually felt wonderful. “Now that you mention it, yes, I am a bit sore,” she lied.
Little Wolf came up to her knees and stretched out her arms. “Well, then, my beautiful wolf. Come here and let me rub all that tension away.”
It wasn’t necessary for her to ask twice. Bellona lowered herself on the rug next to Little Wolf and lay down on her stomach. The rug was warm and rough against her skin, the scent of the burning logs in the fireplace filling the air. Little Wolf leaned close and began to run her hands across her shoulders and down her arms. The feel of her warm hands against her cool flesh was amazing. The soft touch of her hands and the light scent of the lotion Little Wolf liked to rub all over her body did little to soothe her. On the contrary, every nerve ending in her body lit up with a fire that made her blood warm. When Little Wolf’s hands smoothed over her butt, she twitched, and when her fingers smoothed between her cheeks, she nearly lost it.
Little Wolf kissed her between the shoulders and then trailed kisses across the back of her neck. She whispered in her ear as her fingers teased between her legs, “I missed you, my beautiful wolf. I missed running with you.”
She couldn’t stand it. She flipped over to her back and pulled Little Wolf to her. With her hands on either side of her face, she kissed her deeply, pushing her tongue between her lips. Her kiss was met with equal fire. Another thing about this woman that spoke to her soul was that she matched her stroke for stroke.
Undoubtedly the hunters were still out searching every place where bodies had been left. So be it. Let them search. She didn’t care because tonight she was going to glory in the beauty of the woman whose hands made her feel alive and whose lips were sweet. This was what she longed to lose herself in, even if she could never feel and taste the one who stole her heart.
She Wolf Page 9
