“It’s frightening,” she protested. “But something that needs to be handled internally.”
“By who?” He took a step closer, his gaze intense. “The Drakkor Council? Is that what you are, Maria Miranda? A Drakkor?”
Frustration eclipsed her terror. “Ryan, please. Leave.” She pointed at the door. “We had a good time together, but it’s time to go back to our regular lives. Mine doesn’t involve you, and yours doesn’t include me, so please go.”
Apparently this finally got through to him. Stone-faced, he shook his head and stalked to the doorway. “Have a good life, Maria. Stay safe.”
As he stepped through the doorway, she braced herself, certain he’d slam the door. But he only closed it behind him. A moment later, she heard the sound of his car starting and listened as he drove off.
Then she hurried to lock the door and check every single window. Once she was certain her home was secured tightly, she called her father.
“Who could it have been?” he exclaimed, once she relayed what had occurred. “Doug Polacek’s the only one crazy enough to do something like that, and he’s in prison.”
“Maybe you’d better check and make sure. He might have broken out.”
“That would be horrible.”
She took a deep breath. “What would be worse is if there’s another insane Drakkor running around. We’d have to explore the possibility that insanity is spreading in our males, sort of like the disease that killed most of our females.”
Silence while her father digested this. When he spoke again, his somber tone told her he understood the ramifications of either scenario. “The council will have to be notified.”
“I would think so.” Oddly enough, this time she used a calm, rational tone to try and soothe him rather than the other way around. “Whoever this is, he’s violating ancient law. If he keeps this up, he’ll destroy our entire way of living.”
“The Council will be made aware. Plus, I think they need to increase the guard on Polacek, especially if this Drakkor is his accomplice. I’m sure they’ll notify the Pack Protectors, as well.”
Thinking of Ryan, she found herself gripping the phone way too tightly. “The Pack Protectors? I know they’re helping keep us safe. Are there any here in Galveston or in the Houston area?”
“I’m sure there are. Houston is a big city. And you know they’ve been working closely with us ever since Polacek captured a few of their women. Only the fact that there are so few Drakkor left has kept them from exterminating him. I think that might be about to change if this sort of nonsense continues.”
Maria shuddered. “I’m going to need some sort of guard.”
“And you’ll have it,” her father promised. “I’ll have the Protectors send some people immediately.”
Though she had her doubts about how werewolves would fare against a magical Drakkor, she kept those to herself. She didn’t want to worry her father any more than she had to.
That night, she tossed and turned, haunted by dream images of a magical battle raging in the sky while in her Drakkor form. Even though she usually didn’t get up until six, after deciding she’d been staring at the ceiling long enough, she went ahead and rose at five.
Antsy and restless, she showered, dressed, ate a healthy breakfast of hardboiled eggs and an avocado, and went in to the office early.
Going through her follow-up folder, she checked out all the messages from the day before. After bringing up her calendar on her computer, she compared it with the day planner she kept on paper. Everything matched. Today promised to be a relatively quiet day, which would enable her to get caught up.
Shortly before nine, Kathleen came in and, after getting her desk ready, appeared in Maria’s doorway.
“Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Maria asked, bracing herself for a barrage of questions about how her trip with Ryan had gone.
Instead, Kathleen appeared really uneasy. Worried, even.
“Well, yes.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “While you were out, you had a visitor.” Kathleen’s voice contained a hint of nervousness, unusual for her. “A man. Nice looking, in a professional sort of way. He wasn’t here to talk about planning a wedding or anything, and when I asked him if I could tell you what his visit was in regard to, he gave me the most chilling smile.”
Strange. “Did he ever answer?”
“Yes.” If anything, Kathleen sounded even more disturbed. “He wrote down one word, which makes no sense. He flat-out refused to elaborate, either. When I did a Google search on it, I learned it meant a mythical beast, like a dragon.”
Maria froze, her blood turning to ice. Though she already knew, she had to ask anyway. “What was the word?”
“Drakkor,” Kathleen answered. “I’m not entirely sure what this guy was getting at, but I didn’t get a good feeling at all.”
Heart sinking, Maria had a sneaking suspicion. “Did he leave his name?”
“No. He said you’d know.”
Maria didn’t, but she had an awful, horrible feeling. Doug Polacek must have somehow escaped captivity. “Thanks, Kathleen. Would you mind closing my door? I need to make a few private phone calls.”
“Okay.” The receptionist hesitated. “Maria, is everything all right?”
“Of course it is.” Maria managed a laugh, though it didn’t sound even slightly amused. “Don’t let that weirdo bother you. If you see him again, call the police.”
“I will. But I have to say I’m worried about you. First you disappear with a famous playboy for a fling, which is not like you at all. Now some strange man shows up with a cryptic message. Do you think the two might be related?”
“You watch too much Dateline and 48 Hours,” Maria teased. “Everything is just fine.”
“Okay. But tell me, do you understand why that man left that message with just that word? You didn’t seem all that surprised.”
“I was. And no, I don’t understand. Not at all,” Maria lied. She had a pretty good idea that her visitor had left her some sort of threat, relating to the Drakkor who’d broken in to her house. What she had to figure out was why.
As soon as Kathleen closed the office door, Maria again dialed her father. Once she relayed what had happened, he cursed.
“What?” she asked. “What do you know about this?”
“You know—” he sounded furious “—I’ve been meaning to tease you since I saw you on television with that rich guy. But now I think that must be how you were located.”
“Located? By who?”
She could actually hear him swallow.
“Polacek,” he said. “I’ve just received a phone call telling me that Polacek escaped.”
A chill went through her. “When?”
“Two days ago. Why on earth no one thought to warn us sooner, I have no idea. Our soldiers are attempting to locate him. The Pack Protectors are amassing a special unit to help us. We’re trying to capture him and bring him in. He’s gone rogue again.”
“Rogue?” While she knew the term, she wasn’t certain how it applied in this instance. “What do you mean?”
Her father sighed. “He no longer cares about our laws or traditions. In fact, we believe he doesn’t give a damn if he lives or dies. That had to have been him who broke into your house.”
Polacek. For the last several years, even hearing the name had sent dread coiling through her. She knew what she’d been told, how he refused to believe he—like all Drakkor men, apparently—was sterile. He’d been on a feverish search to impregnate a woman, any woman, ever since.
“I know what he’s about, but why? What happened to him to make him do this?”
“His story doesn’t matter. He’s an insane serial killer. He captured, raped and murdered several women. Beyond that, I don’t know the details. I get tired of all the attention criminals get.”
She knew this much. Before the Drakkor figured out that the disease that took most of the women had also rendered the men ste
rile, Doug Polacek had convinced himself he would be the savior. Met with repeated failure, he’d begun abducting and imprisoning Shifter women. He’d repeatedly raped and abused them and if they didn’t conceive, he’d killed them.
Maria closed her eyes briefly. “I agree with you. This kind of evil happens too much among humans. I would have hoped the Drakkor wouldn’t be capable of such things.”
“Unfortunately, wickedness exists among all species.”
“How did he escape?”
“That, I don’t know. I believe he had not only a magical spell keeping him bound, but several Pack Protector guards, as well.”
“He must be powerful then.” All Drakkor were gifted with magical ability.
“I fear he is. And there’s more.” Her father’s grim tone made her swallow hard. “The Pack Protectors believe he’s going after the remaining Drakkor females.”
Of which she was one. Which meant she was in danger.
“The other women are in hiding. I think you should consider this, too. He knows where you are, since you’ve been dating such a high-profile man.”
Feeling sick, at first she couldn’t respond. She took a deep breath. “He’s here, in Galveston.” She tried not to panic, on the verge of failing. “He must have seen me on that gossip show.”
“You need to leave. Staying there is no longer safe.”
For one second, she was tempted.
“This is my life,” she argued. “I love my house, my business. I’ve worked hard. How can I let some crazy man take that away?”
“You have no choice. You know that. None of this is about you, but about our people’s future. Come home. At least until Doug Polacek is captured.”
“I’ll think about it,” Maria said, her stomach still churning. “I need a couple of hours to figure things out.”
“Don’t take too long,” her father ordered. “You being there is no longer safe. If I don’t hear from you in half an hour, I’m sending someone to collect you and bring you here to Green Bay.”
After ending the call, Maria covered her face with her hands. Unlike males, female Drakkor weren’t encouraged to develop their magical abilities since it was believed they had a higher purpose. Clearly, she wouldn’t be capable of defending herself against an insane and powerful Drakkor wizard like Polacek. What her father said made sense. She wasn’t safe. Especially since Polacek clearly knew where to find her.
But to leave this? The entire life she’d built and loved. As long as it was only temporary. Because the way it looked right now, she saw no alternative. No matter how much she hated the idea, she would need to go into hiding.
While going home to stay with her father in Wisconsin probably made the most sense, every fiber of her being resisted the idea. She had a healthy savings account. Surely she could come up with something else.
Getting up from her desk, she opened her door and managed to smile at Kathleen. “I’m not feeling well,” she said, only partially lying. “I’m going to go home and lie down. Can you handle anything that comes up the rest of today?”
“Of course I can.” Kathleen peered at her with concern. “You do look a little feverish. Did you get your flu shot this year?”
“Back in November,” Maria answered. Though flu season had ended a few months ago, Kathleen constantly worried about catching it. “Call me if anything comes up that you can’t deal with.”
“Will do.”
Driving home, Maria knew she had to hammer out a quick plan. Since she couldn’t drive and write, she went over a few options out loud, discarding every one of them.
As she pulled into her driveway, her cell phone rang. Ryan. She knew she shouldn’t talk to him. He didn’t need to be involved in any of this craziness. Even though she couldn’t stop thinking about him or wanting him, the time had come to cut him out of her life.
But just like everything else she knew she should do, everything inside her resisted. Talk about foolish.
Ryan Howard, billionaire playboy and sexpot, could be a poster man for being the opposite of what she wanted and needed in a mate. She’d made sure to double-and triple-check her list, just in case there were a few items she could eliminate.
There had been, but even so, Ryan would not be a good fit. Even if he wanted to be. For starters, he was rich and famous and constantly in the spotlight. He wasn’t the type of man who’d ever be content to live under the radar, unnoticed except by those closest to him. Used to being fawned over and catered to, he’d never be able to put anyone else’s needs over his.
Like the kind of husband she wanted. She’d made her list years ago, adding and deleting qualities as time went on. She needed someone quiet, anonymous, someone who had deep ties to the community and his family. Someone who’d be a great dad and a supportive husband. A man who not only would make her laugh and treat her as if she was precious, but a man who’d rock her world in bed.
Okay, she admitted, Ryan did do one of those things.
Uncertain, she let the call go to voice mail, lost in her own thoughts. Due to her destiny, her life hadn’t been easy, but she’d made the best of it, choosing a place to live that made her happy and opening her own business in an industry she loved.
At first, her inability to find the right man hadn’t bothered her. She’d loved her life, and refused to allow her father and the Drakkor Council to ruin that. Then, as she’d celebrated each birthday, still alone, still childless, the knowledge that she was the constant focus of all the remaining Drakkor had begun to feel like a sword hanging over her head. The only thing that made her feel better was that the other females, save one, were also childless. The lone pregnant woman was mentioned with the sort of reverence reserved for deities.
As her thirtieth birthday approached, Maria had asked to meet the other Drakkor women. She’d had the idea that they could support and help each other. Instead, she’d been told that they would not be allowed to occupy the same space and must be kept as far apart as possible.
She hadn’t understood. Until she’d learned of Doug Polacek, the idea that someone might want to hurt, capture or exterminate them had never occurred to her. Even now, knowing he was out there, she still didn’t understand his thought process.
Of course, sane rarely understood crazy.
Even worse, in the middle of all this, she was supposed to locate a man she could love and who would love her in return. Really? Impossible. Yet this mystical, magical union was the only way she could conceive. Which she must do so the Drakkor would not die out.
On top of all that, every single day, sometimes more than once, she fought the urge to pick up the phone and call Ryan. Or worse, show up at his beach house so they could make wild, passionate love.
Spending more time with him had been a mistake. Rather than slaking her appetite for him, she only craved him more.
As if he knew she’d been thinking about him, the phone rang again. Ryan. He wasn’t giving up.
This time, Maria picked up. She figured now would be as good a time as any to end things with him once and for all. The only way she was ever going to be able to focus on another man was to get Ryan out of her life.
Hoping she sounded normal, she answered.
“Maria? Are you all right? I just heard that crazy Drakkor has escaped,” Ryan said, his tone low and urgent. “He may have been the one we saw breaking into your house. My friend who’s a Pack Protector says they’re putting together a Special Forces unit to find him.”
“I already heard.” She decided to fill him in on what her father wanted her to do. He’d wonder why she’d disappeared otherwise. “Even worse, I’ve got to leave town and go into hiding.”
“What?” She’d shocked him. “Maria, what aren’t you telling me? What does this crazy guy want with you?”
Though she knew she should keep her mouth shut, since she’d involved him she figured he had a right to know. “Your guess the other day was correct. I’m Drakkor. If you did your research, you’ll know I’m one of the few
remaining Drakkor females. Doug Polacek wants to rape me and impregnate me or, if that fails, which it will, he will kill me.”
Stunned silence while he digested her words. Then he cursed. “I don’t understand, but I get why you need to go into hiding. I’d like to help. Do you have any idea where you are going to go?”
Grateful for his immediate acceptance of such a bizarre scenario, she swallowed. Good thing he was a Shifter since there was no way a human would have even begun to understand. “That’s the tricky part. I’m not entirely sure. I’m working on coming up with a plan now.”
“Stay put. I’m on my way over there,” he said, his tone brooking no argument.
“Wait—” She started to argue, but he’d ended the call.
If she admitted the truth to herself, she felt relieved to have someone else to share all of this with.
Wandering into her kitchen, she made herself a cup of tea. She knew she should start packing, but couldn’t motivate herself yet. “I don’t think I can do this anymore,” she said out loud, even though no one was there to hear. Needing the comfort of some sort of familiarity, she got out her worn list and began trying to go over the bullet points. But she couldn’t focus. Not now.
The doorbell rang, making her jump. Though she knew Polacek wouldn’t do something as civilized as ring the bell, she still peered through the peephole.
When she realized Ryan stood on her front doorstep, she unlocked the dead bolt and let him inside.
As soon as she closed the door behind him and turned the lock, he pulled her into his arms. Startled, she held herself stiffly. He smelled the same—of sea breezes and spice, and felt just as wonderful, but she didn’t know if her overloaded brain could take one more thing.
“Come stay with me at my beach house,” he said. “I can hire security and make sure you’re protected.”
Shaking her head, she pulled away. “How is that safe? You have paparazzi stalking your every move. It wouldn’t be too long before my picture was on TMZ or something. I’ve already had two friends call because apparently I’ve been on TV. Even my father knew about it. Publicity would make it really easy for Polacek to find me.”
Billionaire Wolf (The Pack 17) (Nocturne) Page 7
