SHADOWLOVE--STALKERS

by Claudy Conn

  A short laugh escaped Shawna. Apparently Mrs. Carver was the town gossip as well as the leading real estate agent. “Don’t worry about me, Mrs. Carver. I’m not interested in the young squire.”

  “Good girl. I have always thought the quiet ones like him are the dangerous ones. Don’t want him turning your head and then hurting you in the end, which is what that sort tend to do.”

  Shawna smiled at the phone. Apparently, Mrs. Carver had adopted her. “I can’t thank you enough for everything, Mrs. Carver. The groceries…meeting me here—bringing me up to date on everything…” And before she could stop herself, she added, “You’ll have to come to dinner one night.”

  “Do you cook, love?”

  “Hmm, and I’m not half bad.”

  Mrs. Carver let go a hearty laugh. “I’ll leave you to yourself now. Get some rest.”

  Shawna put down the phone, returned to the tray of tea and biscuits, picked up one of the little shortbread cookies, and sank onto the sofa.

  She popped the cookie in her mouth and looked around. She should be jet-lagged and tired, but she wasn’t. She was, instead, hyped and anxious. She wanted to know her surroundings—who lived where, and who was who.

  Her initial investigation while she had still been in New York had led her to believe that Stockton was devoid of vamps. The town was too small—not enough pickings, and everyone knew everyone, making it dangerous for a vamp to dine.

  She got up and locked the door, turning towards the kitchen just as her cell phone rang. What the hell was going on?

  She hadn’t had a phone ring in her apartment in New York, or on her person, for ages, and now phones were ringing everywhere! She reached for her bag at the foot of the couch and took the cell phone out and proceeded to stare at it as it rang. No one knew the number. She had only used it once at the airport to call her grandparents…

  She flipped it open, and half believing it would be a wrong number, she said, “Y-es?”

  “Do you miss me?”

  She held the phone away and stared at it. It was him! It was that devil Chad MacFare. “How did you get my number?”

  “Ah, have you been careless, Shawna?”

  His voice was a low Scottish drawl, and the sound of him made her eyelids lazy. She could picture him standing there…

  Snap out of it, girl. “No—I have not missed you. Now tell me, since I picked this phone up at the airport in New York, and I know that no one has this number, how did you get this number?”

  “Shawna, there are many things I can do—can have—if I want. The question is—how can you protect yourself without me?”

  “Why do you care?”

  “Because I want to sever Pentim Rawley’s head from the rest of his body and watch him disintegrate.”

  She didn’t know why, but this reason irritated her. Chad MacFare had said he would protect her, but he wanted to set her up as bait. Conflict there! He wanted Pentim to find her after all this time of evading the super vamp! How could she trust MacFare?

  Her body did things to her mind when he was near—even as she heard his soft, oh so tantalizing voice on the phone, her thighs started to quiver and she felt herself curve towards his voice. He was no knight in shining armor. She probably would never find or, even if she did, be able to have her knight—she was a dangerous to be around. She shrugged the wayward thoughts off.

  “Shawna—Shawna…”

  “What?”

  “You have only one choice—draw him to you…and let me be there when he comes.”

  “Go to hell!” Shawna shut the phone down and tossed it on the sofa. She moved towards the kitchen. She was going to get some more cookies, and then she was going to crash.

  * * *

  Shawna awoke during the night and frowned. It wasn’t a pitch-black sky—in fact, it was lit up bright with both moon and stars. She could see the moon from a corner of her window, and it was a mellow hue with pockets of darkness, eerie, she thought suddenly as a shiver meandered down her spine.

  Shawna stared through the darkness with her exceptional eyesight. The shiver exploded into many that rushed her body in a wave. Wrong, her mind whispered. Something is wrong.

  She got up and went to look out of the lead-paned glass, half afraid of what she would see. At first, all she could make out was the velvet sky dotted throughout with twinkling lights and the moon that looked like it belonged to the harvest fall…

  Someone—something was out there.

  She could feel it move and slither from tree to tree as it approached the cottage. Was it coming towards the cottage? No—it was leaving. It had already been! She went rigid. It didn’t move like a vamp. She got a sense of its shape—dark and hunched over. It suddenly stopped and backed away, as though it knew she watched its movements. It turned, stopped; it seemed as though it were looking right at her. She gasped and planted herself against the wall adjacent to the window.

  What was it? What had she seen? Eyes—had those blue firelights been eyes? It wasn’t an animal—of that she was certain. It wasn’t human—but what? She had to steel herself to look again.

  The thing no longer looked her way. Its movements were erratic and unnatural, but it was moving further into the woods that bordered her backyard.

  She felt an electric sizzle in the atmosphere all around the creature. What was that? She saw it blend with the air in a blue neon light. Then, suddenly, it was gone.

  Had it been at her bedroom window? Was that why she woke up? Her hearing was exceptional. Had it seen her rise from her bed and move towards the window? All her instincts told her yes. However, none of those instincts told her what the thing was.

  Acquaintances in the past had told her to get a dog when they heard she lived alone. She wanted a dog. She had a German Sheppard growing up, Dixie. When she lost her sweet Dix to old age, it had hurt, but she knew now that it would have hurt so much more if a vamp sent by Pentim had torn out her dog’s throat. No—she couldn’t have a dog, because that was precisely what one of Pentim’s vamps would do, just for fun.

  No dog for her, and suddenly Shawna wanted to cry. She was so tired of living alone—not being able to see her grandparents, not being able to have a life.

  Maybe she should offer herself up as bait like Chad MacFare wanted her to do? Get the whole damn thing over with? Maybe it would work? What did she have to lose? Her life—no, it wasn’t her life she would lose. Pentim wanted her alive. He wanted her to become one of them, but she would lose her soul.

  That was a big chance to take. Chad MacFare was asking a great deal of her. She wasn’t quite ready to do that yet. For now, she was going to have to go into town and buy a few things. She needed to booby-trap the place.

  * * *

  Shawna stuffed her shopping bags into her Jeep and blew her bangs away from her eyes. She looked around at the charming and busy little village of Stockton. It had taken her awhile, but she had finally collected all the things she would need to set up her alarm system and her traps. That wasn’t all she needed though: she needed an escape route.

  “Hello, dear…” Mrs. Carver waved as she rushed towards her.

  “Hi, Mrs. Carver—how’s it going?” Shawna set the last bag inside her Jeep and turned to smile at the woman; however, Mrs. Carver stopped abruptly and gave her a hasty smile before veering off the avenue. “Call me when you have a moment.”

  Shawna looked around in surprise but could see nothing out of the ordinary. What had suddenly changed the woman’s mind and direction? She shrugged to herself and got into her car.

  Her thoughts were bouncing into one another. She needed an escape route from the cottage. Before she could set that up, she needed to get a lay of the land that surrounded her present home. It was time she did a reconnaissance of the area.

  Ten minutes later she was setting her purchases down on the kitchen floor. She took a tour of all the windows in the place, finally settling in the backroom, presently arranged as a modern laundry room.

  There w
ere both a door and a window leading to a beautifully landscaped backyard. She tested the window first and discovered that it was jammed tight by fresh paint, but the door opened easily. Hmmm, too easily—she would have to do something about that.

  She stepped out onto a small, bluestone-covered patio. It displayed a set of wrought iron garden furniture and was flanked on two sides by trimmed evergreens. She wondered if it was the squire who sent a gardener over to take care of the prettily maintained lawn and shrubbery.

  The backyard was small and fenced in with very tall evergreens trees. The entire scene looked as though it had been painted right out of a fairytale story. Bright yellow daffodils and tulips had begun to open and caught the eye. The scent of lavender from the huge lavender bushes was delicious, and Shawna breathed in deeply, smiling. The total effect was charming.

  She reached out to touch the pretty blooms as she passed, bent and breathed in their aromatic scent, and for a moment, just a moment, she was able to forget about the entity she had seen the night before—forget about the vampire stalkers searching for her—until she remembered and sighed heavily.

  She walked towards the tall, thick hemlocks and discovered that just behind them was a narrow path that forked in two directions. One led to the open pastures and the other to a deep, dark wood.

  Time to explore. She screwed up her courage and forged towards the forest path with firm, long strides. It was daylight, so she had nothing to fear from vampires. Even so, she felt for her special switchblade in her back pocket and gave it a pat.

  Shawna had always believed the human in her was fit, but the woods undulated in a rolling pattern. After she had walked for at least a mile, she stopped and sucked in some air, complaining to herself out loud, “Hills—I hate hills.”

  She didn’t want to switch into vampire mode. She had always told herself that she had to behave like a human to be one; she believed in saving the vamp part of her energy for ‘life ’n’ death’ situations.

  The path ahead seemed to veer off and level off, so she started forward once more. She had been following along a well-used deer path when she came across a wider trail, probably the bridle path. She stopped and looked around, taking in all her surroundings, since she still had to find her way back.

  What was left of the sun was being obscured by swiftly rolling clouds. It was getting late, and she had things to set up at the cottage. Time to turn back, but as she brushed her long blonde hair away from her face, something flew into her eye. She rubbed at it, dislodging the dust, and her eye began to tear. Without warning, a tingle of fear sprinted up her back. Shawna stopped all movement as she stood like a statue.

  A sudden rustle, a flash of activity, indicated something larger than a squirrel was on the move. She instinctively dove for cover behind a cluster of evergreen trees. Her sharp vampire gaze scanned the woods.

  However, this time she heard, but did not see, the sound of shuffling as though something were dragging its feet—large feet. Again, she caught the haze of something dark as it flashed by, but she couldn’t quite make out the shape…

  Something was watching her—but what, and why? Did it have something to do with what she had seen last night? Did Pentim have something to do with this? Had he already discovered who and where she was?

  She stood her ground—she had two weapons with her, both in her pockets. One was the deadly vampire killer, and the other was a white witch’s helper.

  She had to keep her head and use her skill if attacked—there was nothing else she could do. She had to face it head on.

  She had packed and sent a small arsenal of various weapons via air to the cottage some weeks ago but stupidly had not equipped herself with any of those weapons before she went on this excursion. She had listed them for customs as collectors’ items, and indeed, so they appeared—but they were much more.

  She continued to wait, dropping into a crouch and listening. Nothing moved, not even the birds. It was as though the air was charged with an electric force, and every living creature in the forest around her was intuitively hiding.

  She unbent and warily started out of the woods towards the open pasture that bordered the wide stretch of forest. Nervously she watched over her shoulder as she tramped through the tall grass and found another deer path. This—whatever it might be—was stalking her.

  It wasn’t a vampire of any kind. She would have known if it had been a vamp, as they gave off an unmistakable aroma—not exactly bad, or good, but distinct.

  She counted the things she knew. It wasn’t human. It wasn’t a vamp, and like a demon it exuded evil. Was it a demon, and if so, what did it want with her?

  The land rolled and curved and traveled with the open pasture.. Her deer path took her up over a steep hill and away from the woods. However, as she reached the peak of the hill, she saw someone coming out of the forest’s darkness. His light brown hair blew around his pleasant face, and as he saw her, he put up his walking stick and waved.

  Shawna knew him at once even though he was at quite a distance. She had vamp sight, but how had he known her from so far? She was always wary but gave him the benefit of the doubt, telling herself that no doubt he simply assumed it had to be her, so close to the cottage grounds.

  His smile grew as he approached and called out to her, “I thought it must be you! Hello.”

  Again, she found that she liked the look of him. Tall, just a bit lanky, he exuded a healthy, outdoorsy glow. He wore the same navy wool jacket she had seen him in the other day, and a cream-colored turtleneck sweater peeked out at the neckline. He looked exceptionally pleased to see her. “You’ve walked quite a distance, Ms. MacBay.”

  She put up her hand and gave him a hearty wave, pleased to have company and dispel the sensation of being watched. “Shawna—remember?” As soon as she said this she wanted to kick herself. She had to keep things standoffish. However, she supposed that first name basis didn’t mean it had to go any further, right?

  He inclined his head. “Very well, I do.” He looked up at the sky and then back at her with a happy grin. “What a glorious day for a hike.”

  “It is, and these rolling hills have given me just the workout I needed.”

  The squire used his walking stick and brushed away some of the tall grass as she fell into step with him.

  It occurred to her that when they met at the cottage he didn’t have a walking stick with him. Perhaps he used it only when he went hiking? A quick glance told her it was definitely an antique, and the carvings sketched throughout its length were, she thought, intriguing—no doubt a family heirloom.

  He looked her over without reserve, which surprised her. She remembered what Mrs. Carver had told her about the ‘playboy’ squire. Here was a quiet-styled bad boy? It was hard to believe. Her instincts weren’t on the alert, and she usually had a good sense for that sort of guy—she would not have thought it about him.

  His voice was soft, and his smile was charming. “You don’t look like you need a workout.”

  She laughed and waved this off. “I will after I get back to the cottage and devour every speck of food in the fridge. This wonderful Highland air has me famished.”

  He smiled and looked around. “Aye, the air will do that to you.”

  Shawna realized she was being friendlier than was her norm since she’d gone on the run six months ago. She hadn’t been in a position to extend herself in friendship to anyone and had even had to blow off some of the friends she had made during her university life. She shifted into retreat, and he noticed at once.

  “What? What have I said?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “All of a sudden, you vanished on me. There you were, bright and shiny, and then gone into somewhere dark and obscure.”

  “Obscure, is it? I can’t remember anyone ever calling me that.” She laughed and shook her head.

  A smile transformed his serious expression. “Ah Shawna, I have used the wrong adjective, haven’t I? Obscure indeed! You stand out like a
single blue rose in a field of yellow…”

  “Oh boy—both ends of the spectrum here.” She laughed. “A simple hello, you are looking well, Shawna MacBay, would have done just fine, sir.”

  “Forgive me—and hello, you are looking so very well, Shawna MacBay.” He smiled widely. “Better?”

  “Hmmm, getting there,” she returned. Still wanting to keep the conversation light, she immediately interjected, “Taking a hike yourself, Kenneth—your manor house must be quite a distance from here?”

  “Oh, less than you would think. I have only to cross through the woods to my place.” He eyed her. “I should take you back with me and feed you. I am certain we can come up with something to satisfy your…er…hunger.”

  She saw the flirt in his hazel eyes and allowed him a slight smirk. “I am sure we could, but home I must go.”

  “Then I will take a promise from you to have tea with me soon.”

  “Tea—I would like that.” After a pause she regarded him seriously for a moment and asked, “Do you walk these trails alone every day?”

  “I do when in residence, yes, but today I got out earlier than usual.” He shrugged and then grinned conspiratorially. “Escaped you see.”

  “Escaped?”

  “I was having a hellish day with my attorney. He wanted me to attend to matters I haven’t any patience for today, so I excused myself and left him to fidget through the papers himself.” He regarded her meaningfully. “I am sure his mood is now worse, but I on the other hand am better—much better.”

  Shawna laughed. “Naughty boy.”

  “Hmmm. Don’t like paperwork.”

  “Yup—I feel that,” Shawna remarked absently as she scanned the edge of the woods. Whatever had been following her was presently gone.

  “Not just paperwork, but there were phone calls he wished me to make—appointments he wanted me to arrange. Not today.” He grinned like a boy. “Playing hooky, and damn glad that I am, for it led me to you.”