The buzz of his walkie-talkie knocked him out of his reverie. “Grizzly One, this is Base. Are you there? Over.”
He pulled out the portable radio from the holster on his waist and clicked the call button. “This is Grizzly One. I hear you loud and clear, Base. Over.”
“Grizzly One, we have a lost hiker last seen in sector 8-L. Human female, thirteen years old, red hair, last seen wearing khaki shorts and a green T-shirt. Wandered off from her parents. Over.”
He wasn’t too far from that area, but he doubted a young girl could make it all the way up here. “All right, Base, I’ll keep a lookout for her. Over.”
“Thanks Grizzly One. Over and out.”
Once the crackling of his radio faded, he was again surrounded by silence. He tuned his ears carefully, but there was nothing around him except the chirping of birds and a rustle here and there of small creatures scurrying about, so he continued on his patrol.
His shift seemed so much longer today, and the sun was still high, which meant he had hours to go. As he crossed over to sector 10, he stopped and sat on a rock and unscrewed the top of his water bottle.
A sudden noise from his left made him freeze, the bottle halfway to his lips. Every single hair on his body rose, and his grizzly stood up on its hind legs, paws raised. Blood roared into his ears as he dropped the bottle, shot to his feet and turned toward the source of the sound. “Who—fuck!”
An arm grabbed him from behind and then jabbed something in his throat. Goddammit! The dizziness that passed over him told him what was injected into his system. He managed to pull away, his hands clawing at his skin as if that would stop the bloodsbane from doing its work.
“Finally caught you, animal scum.”
That voice. It was the same one from the night of the attack. Lord Nox, he recalled. “Wha-what do you want?” He fought the bloodsbane working into his system, but he could feel his muscles start to relax, and his head felt light. His grizzly swayed back and forth, confused as to what was happening.
Don’t let it get to you! Fight it.
Injecting bloodsbane had a different effect from digesting it. Being injected into the bloodstream, the drug would take effect much faster. And depending on how much they put into him, it could knock him out cold from a few minutes to a couple of hours.
“Vermin,” Nox sneered. “We’ll exterminate you soon.” Several people dressed in black slipped in through the trees, and formed a semi-circle around him.
“Are you going to kill me?” Daniel slurred. “What—”
A cry cut him off. Swinging his head around, he saw one of Nox’s minions holding something in his arms. Or someone, wearing a green T-shirt and brown shorts. The lost kid! “Goddamn you, let her go! You want me, right? Take me, I won’t fight you. Just leave her alone. What do you want a kid for, you pervert?”
Nox laid his palm on his chest in a mocking, shocked gesture. “Me, hurt a human child? Never!” A slow smiled spread across his mouth. “You, however … well, we all know shifters have a base animal instinct they can’t control. What’s to say you won’t attack her?”
“I’d never hurt a kid!” What the fuck was going on here? Daniel lunged at him, but only staggered forward.
“Maybe not her, but then maybe you’d kill someone to protect her, won’t you, hero?” Nox sneered. “And when the media sees footage of you attacking a poor human trying to defend this girl, and then she ends up dead, well … we’ll let the media decide how to spin the story.”
“Fuck you!” So that was their game. Frame him for an attack against humans. “You’ll never … never …” He dropped to his knees, the edges of his vision growing dark.
“I’ll never what?” Nox laughed. “Get away with it? Of course I will. And what sweet revenge this is. In fact, it’s better than our original plan of assassinating Baker. The world will finally see what truly vile and disgusting creatures you are. Once you wake up, you better be ready for your close-up, hero. You will fire the first shot that starts the war.”
War? What—
But he didn’t have the chance to finish his question as the world blacked out.
Chapter Twelve
Sarah couldn’t concentrate while working from the house that day. Everything about the place reminded her of Daniel, and she found herself missing him. It sounded pathetic, but she couldn’t help herself. He’s going to be back tonight, no need to mope.
“Ugh.” She’d been staring at the same photo for ten minutes and hadn’t done a thing. Burying her face in her hands, she groaned. It would be a couple more hours until he came back. His shift was until nine o’clock, which meant he wouldn’t be home until ten. If only she could contact him. Call him. Hear his low, sexy baritone. They hadn’t even exchanged numbers, so she couldn’t even do any of that.
Ew, stop acting like a teenager in love.
Her heart went pitter-patter at the thought. Love? Was she in love with Daniel? Wasn’t it too early? Did he feel the same? Her stomach fluttered excitedly. Whoah, cowgirl! It’s definitely too early to feel this way.
“Arggh!” She slammed her tablet facedown on top of the kitchen table. “Adam!” she called out to her brother, who was in the living room watching TV. “Get your stuff together!
