“Austin, get up and get to Dana!” shouted the man with the slight accent.
“Uh, trying here. Tripped over a body. Dana, that better not be your body. He’ll rip my head off if it is.”
I hit the thing under me again for good measure.
“It’s not her,” said Accent Man, his voice sounding calm all of a sudden, even though it was evident he was fighting with something. Maybe more than one something. “Walk forward twelve paces. She’s there—and currently beating a ghoul to a bloody pulp.”
“Ghoul?” I echoed as the thing under me quit moving. “You people have got to be joking. Ghouls are real too? Hold up—what exactly is a ghoul, and why does it smell so bad? Ohmygod, am I straddling a zombie?” I scurried off the thing under me and landed unceremoniously on my hip on the ground. I then went to work trying to wipe zombie off me, all while not totally freaking out.
Easier said than done.
“They’re not zombies—exactly.” Austin snickered, and it was cut short as he yelped. “Ouch! I walked into a tree.”
There was a heavy sigh, followed by the man with a slight accent speaking once more. “Austin, step to your left. Then continue forward. She is there, on the ground. Get to her and take her to safety.”
“How can you see in this?” questioned Austin.
I wondered the same thing. I also wanted to know what the heck a ghoul actually was.
“You did not seriously ask him that,” said one of the other men. “I mean, really?”
“Never mind. Stupid question,” said Austin. “Dana?”
“Present,” I returned, pushing to my feet, fairly confident the thing I’d been whaling on wasn’t getting up again anytime soon. I was going to need to shower for a week after this just to get the not-quite-a-zombie off me. “Austin?”
“Here,” he said.
That meant nothing to me since I couldn’t see him.
“I found Harker!” shouted another. “He’s in bad shape!”
There was a commotion not far from me and for a moment, all I heard was a mixture of growls, snarls, and hissing. Then the sound of birds returned a second before someone picked me up and moved me behind them. That was saying something, considering I was hardly petite. But whoever had lifted me didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the fact I enjoyed more than salad in my life and towered over most people. In truth, I got the impression I was short compared to him.
There was a whacking noise that sounded wet, and I was a hundred percent positive I did not want to see what caused it.
“You should not have come here,” the man with the slight accent said.
I sighed. “Yes, I get it now. Running in the woods in a town full of supernaturals wasn’t my smartest move. Neither was running after the black wolf. Can we lecture me later, and can someone explain what, exactly, a ghoul is? And who is Kel? How hurt is he?”
“He was not speaking to you, woman,” said a new voice. It had a creep factor of ten and was decidedly male. It was heavily accented and reminded me of a campy B-movie villain overdoing a Dracula voice.
“‘Move to Grimm Cove,’ they said. ‘It will be a great change of pace,’ they said,” I pushed out in a sarcastic tone. It was a coping mechanism.
“Your issue is with me, not her,” said the man with the slight accent, still standing in front of me from the sound of his voice. “She is not part of this world.”
“She is here. She answered the summons you sent out months ago, for those you commanded to return to the fold,” said B-Movie Guy. “Therefore, she is very much part of this world.”
“She did not answer a summons,” said the man in front of me. “It’s merely a coincidence that her arrival timed with the summons.”
The creepy dude laughed, and it took his villain rating right to eleven. “You are old. You know as well as I that there is no such thing as coincidence. Your summons called to her. She no doubt felt compelled to come here—to Grimm Cove. To you.”
“Ha,” I said without really thinking about it. “I don’t even know him. Well, I don’t think I know him. And I resent the notion that I gave up a great career and my life in New York to run to a man. That is so beneath me.”
The man in front of me chuckled slightly.
“She has your defiant streak, Abraham,” said the creepy dude. “She managed to kill two of my minions, yet my spies tell me she has never been trained as a slayer.”
I tensed. Slayer? “Um, not to spoil the whole evil-villain vibe you have going here, but what are you talking about? And why is it so dark? And what, exactly, is a ghoul? Better yet, if it scratches you, do you become one? Why do they smell so bad?”
“Speak only when spoken to, woman,” said the creepy dude.
I told him exactly what I thought of his statement and where he could stick it in the process.
The next I knew, a bunch of guys were laughing—hard. The man in front of me wasn’t one of them.
“You must be so proud, Abraham,” said creepy dude.
“Actually, I am extraordinarily proud of her,” said the man with a slight accent. “She is a strong young woman who has accomplished much in her short life.”
Short life? I was forty. Not sure how old he was.
“I warned you the time would come when you would rue the day you interfered in a feud not your own,” said creepy dude.
I snorted, finding the statement way funnier than I should. I understood it was more than likely from shock and stress, but it was amusing all the same.
“Backup comes as we speak,” said Abraham. “My wolves tell me other shifters are nearly upon us, Dragos. Call off your demons and let us settle this as men.”
“Never,” said creepy dude.
Something hit me from behind, and I slammed into the man in front of me. It was a lot like running face first into a brick wall. It hurt. A lot.
He twisted around just as whatever had hit me jerked me back. I lost my footing, and so did whatever had me. We went down hard and I rolled.
It followed and ended up on top of me. I went to strike, only to hear growling off to my right. It grew louder—and suddenly the weight of whatever had been on me was gone.
I pushed to my feet quickly and listened to my gut when it told me to move from the spot I was in. I did and felt something brush by me.
Snarls rent the air, and whatever was happening near me sounded vicious. I was kind of glad I couldn’t see it all. Then again, my imagination wasn’t coming up with a scenario that wasn’t horrifying, so it wasn’t a ton of help either.
My hand acted of its own accord, going up just in time to catch what felt like a fist in midair. I had half a second to think about how cool the move had been before I was kneeing someone in the groin. Whoever had been there was ripped away.
There was more snarling and growling.
“Jeffrey! Dana!” yelled Brett, sounding close. “Stratton, do you see them?”
“I can’t see anything!” yelled another man.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the darkness began to recede. It was as if someone had a giant vacuum and was sucking it outward, away from us.
When it was gone, I was left standing there with dead creatures littering the forest floor.
Brett wasn’t more than twenty feet from me, his eyes wide as he looked at the scene. “Are those…?”
An attractive man who was dressed a lot like the men I worked with back in New York stood near him. He nodded. “Ghouls.”
“Shit,” said Brett in a hushed breath.
The other man inclined his head in a way that said he shared Brett’s sentiment. “Have you had issues with them in Grimm Cove before?”
I noticed Austin and the other men I’d heard talking in the darkness were nowhere to be seen. Neither was the creepy dude. And neither was the black wolf. All that was left behind were ghoul bodies and me.
“Not in my lifetime,” said Brett before looking up at me. “Dana! You’re hurt!”
I glanced at my upp
er arm to find it was indeed bleeding. I wasn’t worried about it. I was worried about Jeffrey, though. Brett had called his name only moments before, but I didn’t see him anywhere. “Is he hurt?”
Confused, Brett tipped his head. “Who?”
“Jeffrey,” I said, jumping over one of the dead creatures on the ground, fearing I’d find Jeffrey among them. There was a pile of more than one ghoul, and my heart leapt to my throat as I rushed to it. I bent fast and pushed one off the top. He wasn’t there, and I let out a breath I’d not realized I’d been holding.
“Dana, stop, he’s fine,” said Brett. “I swear to you he’s not among the dead.”
My brain felt as though it were on autopilot as I twisted around, despite Brett’s words of assurance, and checked other bodies on the ground for any sign of Jeffrey.
While I didn’t find him, I did find a huge honey-colored wolf running right at me.
I rose quickly and froze.
Brett was suddenly in front of me. “Farkas, no! Get ahold of your wolf. She’s alive. Banged up but alive.”
I leaned around him to see the honey-colored wolf narrowing its gaze on Brett. It snarled.
Brett tensed. “Don’t do this. I don’t want to fight with you, but I will to keep her safe. You don’t want her hurt. Your emotions are high. Take a beat here. Stratton?”
“Yes, Chief?” asked the attractive man.
“Take Dana back to the house,” said Brett. “I need to get Jeffrey under control.”
I continued to stare at the honey-colored wolf. It had icy blue eyes. The same color as Jeffrey’s when he’d lost control on the porch before my run had started. As I put together the wolf was Jeffrey, I gasped. “Holy crap. You so can totally lick your own butt!”
The wolf’s expression went from dark and dangerous to relaxed. He then crouched partially, and I grabbed Brett’s arm as I watched the wolf change from animal to man.
A very naked man.
Jeffrey stood fully, cupping himself in the process. Looked to be a handful.
It took me a moment to realize Brett’s head was turned and he was staring at me as I stood pressed against his back, clinging to his arm as I peeked around him to gawk at Jeffrey. I lifted a brow. “That was awesome! Can he do it again? Does he know any tricks? Fetch. Is he good at fetch?”
Brett groaned. “You’re going to be just fine.”
I stepped out from behind him, and Jeffrey gasped.
“You’re hurt,” he said, making a move to come toward me. In the process, he stopped cupping himself as he reached for me.
My gaze snapped to his groin.
Never had I wanted to play stuff the cannoli more in my life.
He stopped quickly and reached down again, cupping himself once more. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to apologize for,” I said, my gaze still locked on his groin area.
Brett took me gently by the shoulders and turned me around to face away from Jeffrey.
“Mood killer,” I said with a huff.
Brett snorted. “Sorry about that.”
“No, you’re not,” I returned, wanting very much to turn and see the rest of the show. Instead, I continued to face away from Jeffrey, staring at Stratton in his stead.
Stratton was in the process of removing his dress shirt.
My brows went up. “This slow striptease and Jeffrey’s naked display are gifts for enduring Grimm Cove, aren’t they? Brett, don’t get naked. I won’t be able to look you in the eyes when we’re home, knowing everything you bring to the table.”
He chuckled. “I’ll do my best.”
“Good. But from the way Poppy sounds through the walls at night, you bring a lot to said table,” I returned.
He groaned again.
I soaked in my fill of Stratton as he finished removing his outer shirt. His undershirt pulled up slightly, revealing a chiseled torso.
His gaze snapped to me.
I winked.
He grinned.
There was a growl from behind me.
“Stop putting on a show for her,” snapped Jeffrey, his voice sounding much deeper than normal.
Stratton went even slower with his actions, purposely lifting his undershirt again. I half expected the man to begin to move his hips to an invisible beat and offer the Full Monty.
It was hard not to laugh. I knew I had an excess of adrenaline combined with a hefty dose of shock going for me. Nervous laughing and sexual innuendos were apparently the end result.
Good to know I was maturing in my forties.
Jeffrey’s growl grew louder.
I heard Brett grunting next. “Stop. You’re not allowed to attack my detective.”
“Why not?” demanded Jeffrey.
“Give me a minute while I try to think of a good reason,” said Brett.
Stratton grinned wider. He held the shirt up in a dramatic fashion and then tossed it in the direction of Jeffrey. “Here. No one wants to walk out of here with you naked.”
“Speak for yourself,” I said quickly.
“Oh a wild one,” he returned. “I like it.”
“Put the damn shirt around you, Farkas, and stop trying to go at Stratton,” said Brett, adding his own growl to the mix. “I don’t want to explain to my wife why I let you run around in the buck with her best friend.”
“Poppy won’t mind,” I said with a shrug, knowing my friend well. “She’ll be disappointed she missed it though.”
“That’s it,” snapped Brett. “Put the shirt on, Jeffrey, or I’ll tie it around your neck.”
“I’m alpha here,” warned Jeffrey.
“Fine. Then act like it. Stop getting baited into something by Stratton.” Brett sounded tired. “Your head is screwed on backward right now. Get a grip, brother.”
I locked gazes with Stratton. “Does your boss ever let you have any fun?”
“Occasionally,” he replied with a sexy wink.
Try as I might to pretend there wasn’t a bunch of dead ghouls at our feet, I couldn’t help but glance down. When I did, my stomach knotted. Something had torn one of the ghouls apart. I swallowed hard, glad I hadn’t eaten yet today.
Stratton motioned to the creatures on the ground and then at me. “You killed all of these ghouls? There has to be at least thirty here. Maybe more.” He seemed impressed.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t take credit for it all.
“No. I only killed a couple of them,” I said, becoming acutely aware of how easily that statement had rolled off my tongue. Three days ago, the most I’d killed were spiders and cockroaches (par for the course in the buildings I grew up in). All that had changed upon my arrival in Grimm Cove. I was now racking up a body count that made me wonder if Mafia really was in my blood.
Who knew I’d end up being the most dangerous person to come from the old neighborhood?
“Dana,” said Jeffrey from directly behind me, as Brett stepped around me to get closer to the pile of dead ghouls.
I turned to find Jeffrey had tied the shirt around his waist. It looked a bit like a kilt. Now that certain aspects of his very gifted body weren’t commanding my attention, I noticed just how ripped the guy was. I could have done laundry off his abs.
Jeffrey eased closer, and my breath caught.
He touched just below my chin, directing my gaze to his. “How hurt are you?”
“A little scratched up. That’s all,” I said, lessening the distance between us. I was left pressed to him.
His body was hot to the touch, as if he’d just come from a sauna.
“Do you have a fever?” I blurted, worried for him.
“No, Legs,” he said in a low tone. “My body runs hotter as a shifter, and I’m worked up.”
It took me a second to realize he was shaking slightly. “Jeffrey?”
“I was so worried about you,” he said, his voice barely there.
My hands went to his bare chest. “I’m okay.”
He inhaled deeply and his eyes shifted to icy blue again.
<
br /> This time it didn’t catch me off guard.
Without overthinking it, I wrapped my arms around his waist and put my cheek to his chest. It wasn’t like me to seek comfort from a man. In truth, I saw it as a personal weakness, but I didn’t care. In that moment, I needed what he provided—a sense of security.
His arms shot around me and he squeezed me tight, his lips finding my forehead. “Legs, never scare me like that again.”
I smiled against his chest and I continued to hold him.
The act wasn’t something I was known for.
Surprised even me.
Twelve
Jeffrey
Jeffrey held Dana to him, afraid to let her go. He’d feared he’d arrive too late. That when he found her, she’d be hurt or dead. Then, when he had finally reached her, it was only to find her blanketed in dark magik. The darkness had been so thick and so strong that even his wolf side had issues seeing in it.
But he’d smelled her there, and he’d sensed she’d been injured. Now, seeing he was right, that she had been hurt, he wanted to bring each and every one of the things that hurt her back to life only to kill them himself. He’d tear them limb from limb, much like the ghoul nearest them had been.
As her lips met his bare chest, Jeffrey’s body reacted. The shirt tied around his waist did little to hide his arousal. The smell of mint and citrus assailed him, leaving a low rumble coming deep from within his chest. He tightened his hold on Dana. The thin material of her running clothes only served to make him harder.
Now wasn’t the time or place for any of that. Too bad his lower region hadn’t caught on to that fact.
He tried to will it away.
That didn’t work.
Dana put her forehead to his chest and sighed. “It all happened so fast. Everything was fine and then it was pitch black.”
“You had to be scared,” he said before remembering who he was talking to. She was fierce, and he highly doubted she’d admit to being afraid.
“I was torn between running and making peace with what I was sure was my end,” she confessed, surprising him. “Then I remembered that I’d managed to make it through a vampire attack. Shadow monsters were not going to be how I went out.”
Hexing with a Chance of Tornadoes: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Romance Novel (Grimm Cove Book 2) Page 11
