Dallas had said there were other shifters after her.
But aside from these people being unnaturally tall and ripped, she hadn’t expected something out of an action movie to show up out here.
And what the heck were they after?
“To the point. I like that. Foolish but direct.” Madsen turned away from her to look out toward the dry prairie in front of them, hands clasped behind his back as he surveyed the scene.
Aside from some funny-looking metal posts that were placed a hundred yards or so away, she could see small drones flying around that looked high-tech. In fact, everything about them seemed high-tech.
“What do you know about basilisks?” Madsen appraised her coolly over his shoulder.
“Basilisks?” She’d heard the word thrown around once or twice, along with dragons and wolves and other things.
“The creatures you seek. Fascinating specimens by all accounts. Utterly unheard of in the shifter world at large, though that’s about to change very soon.”
Mel just listened and kept her eyes peeled for any chance at escaping.
“Interesting to think they’ve been hiding out here for so long. That only those peasants at Dragonclaw even knew they existed, keeping their presence hidden. Do you know what makes basilisks rise from the earth, reporter? Or are your deductive skills as poor as your self-preservation instincts?” His eyes were cold as he watched her.
Out in front, people were running up to the funny, ten-foot posts in the ground, fiddling with them before running back to the circle of black vehicles.
“The rain.” At least that had seemed to be the only common thread she’d heard amongst the locals.
He grinned. “Tell me, how much has it rained the past few weeks?”
She thought about it. There hadn’t been a single drop since she’d been in town. And based on her research, only a few summer storms had passed in the recent months leading up to her arrival.
His gaze lit with superiority that made Mel hate this guy even more than she already did. “Precisely. It isn’t rain but the seismic disturbance that brings the basilisks forth. That and something they’re looking for. After all, who first reported these sightings?”
Mel thought back. She’d heard about it from farmers, but the people who’d actually seen them up close or had even been close enough to take a video were all women in their twenties and thirties.
Madsen just continued. “If my research is correct, which it is, basilisks crave one thing more than anything else. A mate. They sense the presence of nearby beings and emerge from their underground solitude to either challenge potential threats or to seek out their mate. And my data shows they’ve been emerging at record rates. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world knows.” He turned to fully face her, and the excitement in his eyes made him look half-crazy. “There are people willing to pay a lot of money for something like that, which is why I’m here. And you’re going to help me.”
“So you’re just hired muscle?”
“Oh, no, we are professionals. We take our work very seriously. In fact, Dallas was one of us a long time ago. He should’ve been here participating as my right-hand man, not wasting all the money I spent on that dragon blood wallowing in cow shit.”
She bristled at that, both protective of the fact that Dallas worked hard and lived an honest life and realizing suddenly that these people must have been the “family” that Dallas had spoken about.
With family like this, who needed enemies?
“What do you want a basilisk for?” After all, they were huge, mindless, dinosaur-size beasts, by all reports.
“Oh, it’s not for me. I’m just being paid to catch one.” He thought for a moment. “Oh well, since you’re about to be eaten or disposed of by my men, either way, it won’t matter if I tell you. The war is coming.”
“War?”
“Between shifters and humans, of course. After all, shifter sightings are becoming more and more frequent these days. Even you have certainly heard about these. And as much as the people who oversee shifter dealings want this all to remain a secret, there are very rich, very powerful people that believe shifters are superior to humans and that we should no longer have to hide ourselves.”
“And you?”
“I only care how good the pay is. But yes, I think humans deserve to be put in their place. So when we catch this basilisk and unleash it on the largest nearby city, just imagine the horror when the world stage witnesses the absolute, destructive dominance of shifters. The humans won’t even know how to respond except with fealty, I imagine.”
“So you were the ones trying to stop my story?” It was all coming together faster than even her thoughts could keep up.
He scoffed. “No, the double dragons did that. Weak. Hoping their manipulation from the shadows can save the humans under their protection from a conflict that’s already reached the boiling point. I did have that cameraman of yours paid off, though it appears his efforts were fruitless. And then yesterday I realized we could use that pesky little reporter as bait. Two birds with one stone. I just knew it was a matter of time before you did something stupid like leaving the tiger’s side, not that we couldn’t have handled him easily.”
Even Madsen, who seemed to be scared of nothing, had a slight rise in his pitch talking about Dallas.
It made sense. Dallas was a beast in every way, though she wasn’t sure what anyone could do against a small army of mercenaries like this.
She’d been a fool to run away in the first place.
The man with the glasses reappeared suddenly at Madsen’s side. “Everything’s ready, sir.”
“Splendid. Start the agitators,” he replied.
“The agi-whats?” Mel asked, more to herself than anything.
In that moment, while Madsen was occupied talking to his assistant, she saw an opening between two guards behind her that were looking away.
Without waiting, she bolted, hoping she could jump into an unoccupied SUV and make
