gets back from their search mission tomorrow.”
She thought about that, then nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.”
“Now, why don’t I go back to our place and fetch stuff to make mojitos?” Kira suggested.
Rowan smiled. “Girl, I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
Daria couldn’t agree more.
“Jesse? This is Nick.”
“If this is bad news, I’m hanging up,” the man said gruffly. “I’m up to my dick in piranha.”
“Don’t get testy, I just have a question. You know that missing criminal attorney from Missouri that Daria’s father called you about when he was trying to find her?”
“Yep. The guy’s her ex-fiance.”
“What did you say the man’s name was?”
“Hang on.” A shuffling of papers sounded on the other end. Nick didn’t have to be a PreCog to see the mess. “Here it is. His name is Benjamin Cantrell.”
“Oh,
“Why? What does that mean?”
“It means we’ve got a huge goddamned problem, and now I have to ask a favor. I need something containing Cantrell’s DNA and I need it here yesterday. A strand of hair from his bathtub, his toothbrush, anything.”
“What the hell is going on, Nicky? If you got a body, tell me.”
“Oh, we’ve got something far, far worse than that. And if my information is correct, we’ve got an ID on our beast that’s ripping up campers.”
Human subject 356—a missing human named Benjamin Cantrell.
Ryon suited up, pulling on his fatigues, slamming a clip loaded with silver bullets into his pistol, sheathing a wicked knife in his boot. If those human weapons weren’t enough, he had his wolf. If he couldn’t beat the beast, in wolf form he could hopefully outrun the bastard.
Ryon’s group consisted of Jax, Aric, and Micah. The others had split up as well, covering other quadrants. Ryon’s group focused on the area where the husband had been found, two miles from his wife. They would work their way outward in widening circles, looking for any sign that something large had come that way. Ryon wished his group had Kalen in it, so the Sorcerer could simply do his magical thing and shrivel the creature to nothing like he’d done with Malik’s batlike Sluagh. But Aric could always torch him if things got bad.
Or he could if Nick hadn’t given the order to take the thing alive if at all possible. Nothing worse than searching for the Incredible Hulk of paranormal beasts, except attempting to subdue it with a
He wasn’t holding his breath.
Ryon parked the Range Rover as close as he could to the site of the second body and they walked the rest of the way. Aric carried a heavy net over one shoulder, Jax a coil of rope. “Nothing like having to play rodeo star with an enraged lizard.”
“No fuckin’ shit,” Aric muttered. “It’d be a lot easier if I could just fry his ass. Then we could get on home and get laid.”
“That’s got my vote,” Jax put in.
Micah remained silent, and Ryon studied his friend in concern. He never had much to say these days, and seemed kind of spacey. But he figured Nick knew best, letting him begin to take assignments although he was actually worse off than Phoenix, who still hadn’t been cleared for duty.
A thirty-minute hike later, they came to the area where the man’s body had been found. Crime scene tape was wrapped around the trees to form a rough circle, but if it hadn’t been for that, there wouldn’t have been much to mark where another life had ended so horribly.
Except the odor. Ryon detected old blood, and a more rancid smell that must belong to the beast. It was strong here, more so than at the first scene, for whatever reason. He wanted to gag.
The reminder that Daria had discovered the first body, and could easily have fallen victim to this creature as she went about her job, had him breaking out in a cold sweat. He was glad she was at the magically warded compound, well away from danger. That was about the only point in this day’s favor.
Just to the right of the area marked by the crime scene tape, Ryon saw the glow of a figure seated on the ground. He moved closer and saw that it was the spirit of a man with his arms encircling his legs, staring forlornly into space.
“Whatcha got?” Aric asked. “Another Casper?”
“Yeah. It’s the male victim. He’s confused.”
Ryon was about to try to question the man when another ghost appeared beside him—the woman that Ryon had seen twice before. Looking up, joy bloomed on the man’s face and he bolted to his feet, taking her into his arms. They held on to each other as though they’d never let go, and a lump formed in Ryon’s throat. He never got to see happy endings, and guessed this one was as close as he’d ever seen.
The man spun his wife around, then kissed her soundly. Then, hand in hand, they walked toward the trees . . . and disappeared into thin air.
Ryon cleared his throat. “They’re together now.”
“Well, that’s good,” Micah said quietly. “I guess.”
The others agreed halfheartedly. Ryon contacted his commander.
“Nick said they’ve got a body,” he told the group. “Six miles south of where the woman was found. Said it’s a mess.”
There were several curses and expressions of general disgust. Aric was most likely about to pop off a smartass remark when he stopped and squinted into the trees ahead.
“Man, I think my vision is messed up.”
Ryon looked in the direction his friend was staring. “What is it?”
“Over there.” He pointed. “Do you see a big area where the trees look blurry?”
Micah piped up. “I see it. Looks like a kaleidoscope effect, only clear.”
Ryon’s eyes studied the big area, his brain slow to catch up with what he was seeing. And when he did, a roar shook the entire forest that sounded just as Daria had described.
“Fucking Christ,” Micah shouted as the blur detached itself from the trees.
The
Except the fucker was almost invisible.
No wonder the thing had been able to sneak up on unsuspecting hikers. They couldn’t see the damned beast until it was too late.
