Bellona smiled, her mind made up. They would work through this and come out on the other side victorious. Neither the sheriff nor the hunters of the Jägers were going to spoil the beauty and soul-enriching happiness she found in the small northern town. She was here to stay, one way or the other.
In the kitchen, she boiled water for tea and breathed in the lovely scent of the rich, black blend. It reminded her of the tea the servants used to bring her in the pretty little teacups—another sign that this was meant to be. She held the mug in one hand as she opened the refrigerator door and frowned. Little of substance suitable for the pack, especially their newest recruit, graced the glass shelves. Adam was bound to be starving by this time, and a bag of mixed greens and a large carton of yogurt were not going to satisfy his hunger. As much as she hated to leave her sanctuary, she needed to venture into town and to the big grocery store on the main drag. The boy had to be fed.
As if sensing she’d been thinking about him, Little Wolf’s pet walked into the kitchen, his eyes sleepy and his hair standing up pleasingly on his head. He was wearing a pair of jeans that were old and soft, and they hung low on his hips. He had the body of an athlete, with broad shoulders and an impressive six-pack. Apparently, Little Wolf had left his temporary prison unlocked, not that he looked dangerous right now. Hungry, yes. Dangerous? Not so much.
The more she was around him, the more she understood why Little Wolf had been so drawn to him. What was it they liked to say in the entertainment industry? He possessed the it factor. Something indefinable that had the ability to draw others in like flies to honey. Yes, their newest wolf definitely had it. He would be an impressive addition to the pack, though the women in his college were sure to be saddened when he didn’t return.
He ran his hands through his hair, which didn’t make it stand up any less, and leaned against the open doorway. His voice was deep with just a hint of a growl. “Got anything to eat?”
Chapter Thirteen
The gravel drive was well-maintained and lined with aspen and lodgepole pine trees. Three cars were already parked there by the time Lily and Jayne arrived. One had to belong to Deputy Sheriff Landen, who was currently on the phone with Jayne, and another belonged to a second deputy sheriff who happened to live about a quarter mile up the country road. The families were good friends, explained a grim-faced Jayne as they walked up the large covered deck that spanned the entire back of the updated home. She also filled Lily in quickly on Deputy Landen’s call, and Lily’s spirits sank more with each grim word.
The lingering scent of both wolf and blood reached her the moment she opened the car door, and it hit Lily like a slap to the face that reminded her she’d been here less than twenty-four hours and was already a failure. The closer she got to the door of the house, the stronger the smell became. It provided her with a lot of information, like the fact that the wolf had been here, but only a trace of it remained strong enough for her to catch it.
Unlike last night, this time there was nothing about the wolf’s scent that whispered familiar to Lily. It was a stranger’s mark on this place, and that’s exactly what she would expect to encounter. That fact that last night didn’t feel that way still bothered her. Though she’d been searching her memory for hours to try to recall a werewolf she’d hunted and failed to stop, thus far she’d come up with nothing useful. So why, she continued to wonder, did she still feel as though the werewolf they hunted was known to her? She didn’t like not knowing who.
Only now there was even more of a complication than her not being able to place the familiar scent. This one was definitely not known to her, and that bothered her a great deal too because it suggested this hunt wasn’t about a loner. It told her they were up against at least two. A mated pair perhaps? Or was it possible they were about to find themselves up against a pack? It had been at least a hundred years since she’d run across one. The Jägers had become so successful at stopping werewolves, the naturally social creatures had taken to living solitary lives in order to avoid the Jägers and ultimate destruction. The thought of what they could be facing gave her chills. Senn would need to be notified as soon as she was allowed to assess the situation. This was ground the order hadn’t encountered in at least a century.
As she started to enter through the back door right behind Jayne, a tall, white-faced deputy stepped up to block her entrance. “You need to stay out here.” His dark eyes looked haunted. She felt for him, knowing what he’d seen here this morning would never completely leave him.
Empathy for what he was going through didn’t extend to his interference. It would be easy enough to smack him right out of the way, except that wasn’t how she did things. “I’m with the sheriff,” she said calmly.
“You’re not one of us,” he returned, his voice tight. She had the sense he was holding on by a thread. This wasn’t the kind of thing a deputy in this county expected to discover, and there was really no way to prepare for it.
Jayne, who’d gotten almost through the kitchen by this time, backed up and held the door open for her. “It’s okay, Eddie. She’s with me. Let her through.”
Eddie still didn’t move. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Sheriff. She’s not one of us.”
Jayne’s voice grew soft. She put a hand on his shoulder. It was clear to Lily she’d had experience with tense situations like this before. “Let her through, Eddie.”
For a second he hesitated and then stepped aside without another word. He didn’t glance back inside but kept his gaze focused on the fields outside. Lily went past him and through the door. The stench was so strong to her heightened senses it was almost like being physically hit with a bat. She had to take a few deeps breaths through her mouth to not be overwhelmed.
“Eddie,” Jayne added. “I’ve got this. You can head back.”
His eyes glittered. “Copy that.” The order didn’t have to be issued twice.
The sight that greeted them in the living room hurt Lily’s heart. Guilt flooded her as she looked at what was left of the poor girl. There was no helping Tess, for she stared up at the ceiling with sightless eyes. If only she and her team had come to this place sooner, maybe they could have prevented this.
Or maybe not. The scent of the wolf that stole her life was still strong enough to let her know he or she hadn’t been gone long. Probably minutes before the deputy arrived. The wolf hadn’t lingered here or the scent would be stronger. That made her uneasy. Why attack the girl in this way? It wasn’t a hunt for sport. It wasn’t a hunt for food. This girl had been quite simply murdered, albeit by a werewolf, but murdered just the same. That left only one question in Lily’s mind—why?
Jayne had stopped next to the body and squatted as she studied the unfortunate teenager. Lily could feel a muscle jumping in her jaw. Slowly she pushed back up to her feet and drew her gaze away from the body. She turned and met Lily’s eyes. “A werewolf?” she asked so quietly only Lily could hear.
Lily nodded. “Most definitely.”
“Why?”
She’d been asking herself the same question since the second she walked into this room. There was only one answer that came to mind, and it chilled her. “Because she knew them.”
*
Kyle had managed to get a few hours of sleep, not that he felt overly refreshed. His walk with Ava had been great, and by rights he should have been able to rest once they returned to the house. It hadn’t happened quite that way. He’d stretched out on the really nice bed and proceeded to watch the shadows dance across the ceiling for hours. He simply could not turn his mind off. Or maybe it was his spirit. Ava being here was only one piece of it. Something about this hunt had him humming in a way he’d never experienced before.
If he had decades of hunting under his belt like Lily, maybe it would make more sense to him. Or maybe it wasn’t inexperience as much as it was this hunt. It felt different and not different in a good way. This werewolf wasn’t a garden-variety preternatural creature; he could feel that truth all t
he way to the marrow. It made him question whether he was the right guy to be here. Others in the Jägers had far more experience than he and might be better choices for tracking this creature.
Except given that he was the only one, as far as anyone knew, who could do what he could do, he might be exactly the right guy for this job. He just hoped he didn’t let Lily and Ava down. This quest was important in many ways, at least to him. He felt an overpowering need to prove himself to both Lily and Ava. Even more important was the need to bring this hunt to a conclusion soon. The three dead already left him feeling uneasy, as if the danger was growing, and if they didn’t get a handle on the wolf soon, many more were bound to die.
As if his thoughts were a self-fulfilling prophesy, his cell phone rang. The display said it was Lily. When he’d come into the kitchen, two cold mugs had greeted him, and he had the impression they’d been left behind in haste. That didn’t bode well in his book, and the ringing cell phone appeared to confirm his feeling.
“Lily?”
“We need you now,” she said without preamble.
Sometimes he hated it when he was right. “Tell me where.” He found a piece of paper and a pen on the end of the kitchen counter and jotted down the directions as Jayne, who Lily had handed the phone over to, rattled them off. “Got it,” he told her. “I’ll get Ava, and we’ll be there as quickly as possible. Another death?” Stupid question, really. If someone wasn’t dead, he wasn’t the first guy they asked for.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Damn.”
“It’s bad.”
For the first time since they’d gotten here he heard something in Jayne’s voice beyond irritation. She’d been pissed when they got here last night, and it didn’t take a very big brain to figure that one out. It appeared something had changed while they slept because she didn’t sound irritated now. She sounded scared, and that unsettled him. The simple fact she was asking for the necromancer scared him even more.
“We’re on our way.” His eyes met Ava’s as she walked into the kitchen. She looked lovely in jeans and a Yale hoodie. He put his phone back in his pocket. “We gotta go.”
“Don’t tell me.” Shadows crossed her face, and he was pretty certain she was picking up on his vibes. “Another death.”
Ava wasn’t asking him a question so he didn’t bother with an answer. “You ever see anything like this before?” This place had a weird feel to it, and it was the first time he’d ever felt as though he was walking into the middle of an ongoing war. “It feels like we’ve entered a battle zone to me.”
She surprised him when she walked over and put her arms around him. She smelled faintly of cinnamon, and he wondered if it was her shampoo or lotion. He really didn’t care because he could breathe it in all day and let the warmth of it wrap around him. “No,” she said softly as she rested her cheek against his chest. “This is new to me as well, and it doesn’t feel good at all. People, too many people, are going to die. We have to stop her.”
For a second he continued to hold her, and then her words sank in. He held her out at arm’s length and studied her face. Her eyes were deep and mysterious. “Her?”
Chapter Fourteen
Jayne had to breathe through her mouth or she was afraid she’d lose it. Not that this was the first violent crime scene she’d ever been present at. Quite the opposite, actually. She’d been present at plenty of them. No, it was more about the totality of the circumstances. This shit had to stop. It was bad enough with the other three victims, but at least they were adults. When this monster started preying on kids in her town, it took her resolve to stop it to another level.
Tess was on her back, her eyes open and staring at the ceiling. Her long hair was a tangled mess and matted with fresh blood. The T-shirt she wore was likewise splattered with crimson as if she’d squeezed a tomato until it burst. Everything about the way she looked was wrong. The fact that her young life was cut so tragically short was wrong.
Jayne couldn’t help but feel like she didn’t do enough to help Tess. If she’d only gotten someone here a few minutes earlier she’d still be alive. Lily seemed to sense where her mind was going. As she put a hand on Jayne’s arm, she said, “You couldn’t have stopped this.”
She didn’t agree. She really believed there was more she could have done. “I should have gotten a deputy here a little quicker.”
Lily shook her head. “I don’t believe that would have made a difference.”
“Of course it would have.” Lily was missing the point. The only reason Tess was dead was because she was alone.
“I disagree. If the deputy had made it quicker, Tess and the deputy would both be dead.”
Jayne’s head snapped around and she stared at Lily. No, that couldn’t be possible. Her deputies were armed and well-trained. They could, and would, have stopped this. She was shaking her head, but before she could say a word, Lily touched her shoulder.
“Jayne,” she said quietly. “This is really unusual.”
“How?” A trickle of fear whispered up her spine. As much as she’d wanted to discount Lily and her crew, with each passing minute, she was believing in them more and more. She was beginning to think perhaps they could help. Now Lily was telling her their killer was different. Just fucking great.
“This kill is all wrong.”
“Every kill is wrong.”
“True, but I’m just saying that this is different in more ways than one. We need to be very careful.”
No shit. “That’s a given.”
“Of course, but with this set of circumstances…”
Lily needed to get to the point. She didn’t have time to decipher her code. “What circumstances?”
“The nature of the murder.”
“And that is?”
“That this was personal.”
*
Bellona was smiling as she rolled the shopping cart out to the parking lot, stopping next to her car. Undoubtedly she’d caused a stir in the grocery store. The nature of small towns was to buzz when a stranger showed up. Today it was a beautiful stranger who cruised through the store filling her cart with raw beef, liver, chicken, and pork. She’d definitely caught the attention of any self-respecting busybody within her line of sight.
She briefly wondered how many texts went flying about as she’d loaded the bags into the sleek black SUV she’d treated herself with when she left Denver. All of them would fit easily into the back. It was one of the things she admired about the vehicle. Plenty of room for whatever she happened to be doing at the time. Today it was groceries. Other days it was a different kind of cargo.
Though she’d love to know what was going on at that house, driving by wasn’t an option. With the Jägers in town it was wise to keep a low profile. At least until she could spring her trap. It wouldn’t take long to set up the ruse sure to lead them away from here. The pieces were almost ready. Another day, two at the most, and the game would be afoot. Not much of a game really. A little sleight of hand here, a little misdirection there, and the mighty hunters of the Jägers would be off and running in the opposite direction.
“Family dinner?”
Bellona turned and smiled at the pretty brunette who was staring at the cart full of sacks, meat bags prominent in all of them. “Friends and family,” she told her, returning the smile. The woman was alluring with her short dark hair and fascinating green eyes. This tiny town was full of fun surprises.
Twirling a strand of hair around one finger she said, “I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
Typical small-town directness. She liked it because it was something once more that reminded her of the home she’d been forced to leave behind. “That would be true as this is my first time here.”
“You’re staying with family?”
Bellona nodded and thought of Little Wolf and Adam. “Yes.”
“Where?”
My, but she was a curious one. She should be annoyed and tell the nosy girl her to mind her own b
usiness. Instead, she found herself answering—oddly but answering nonetheless. “Well, I’m on my way to my cousin’s house now, and I’m not quite sure how to get there. Can you by any chance”—she rummaged into her bag for the piece of paper she’d written Little Wolf’s address on when they’d met—“help me find this address?”
Bait cast. “Oh, I can do better than that,” she said as she gazed at the handwritten address. “I can take you right there.” Fish on hook. She began to help Bellona load the sacks.
“Oh, that would be fantastic.” Bellona put the last grocery bag into the back. “If you’re not in a hurry, we could ride together. We can grab a coffee afterward. I’m Bellona.” She held her hand out.
“Grace.” She took Bellona’s hand in hers.
Chapter Fifteen
Lily had the urge to just cry. This was awful. Death was a big part of the world she functioned in, and she accepted that as part of her reality. After all these years she normally rolled with whatever crossed her path.
Usually anyway. Sometimes, like right now, it made her want to scream. This beautiful young woman had lost her life for no damn reason. She knew something, which she probably didn’t even realize she knew, and because of that she was dead. The only hope they had for getting closer to the killer’s identity was to see if Kyle could come up with anything. She hoped he could.
Kyle was an interesting young man and so obviously in love with Ava. It almost made her smile, which wasn’t unwelcome in this moment of deep despair. She didn’t smile because it felt so very wrong. Instead she thought of the lovelorn Kyle. Senn spoke with both fondness and praise for the tall, slender man who possessed a talent that defied understanding in the rational world. She’d been around a number of necromancers in her time, but never one who could reach through death without being in the presence of the physical body. What he’d done yesterday was beyond impressive. Senn was not wrong about him. His future was both bright and important.
She Wolf Page 12
