It amazed Jadee how easily Lavos manipulated Peggy. His eyes glowed that neon blue and Peggy ate up everything he said as if it were gospel. It left her feeling a little uneasy but it would save the team’s lives. She could live with Lavos messing with their memories.
So far he’d kept his word. He said he’d wipe their minds and that’s what he was doing. He wouldn’t waste his time if he planned to just kill them after all. She gave him more details to help him fill in any gaps she could think of. He was good, coming up with a story to explain how they’d lost their vehicles and the trailer. She cringed a little on the inside. All that money her father had spent would end up at the bottom of the river.
She watched Mark and Brent making extra copies of the videos they must have taken. They put the USB flash drives into their pockets. She’d have to tell Lavos about that. Her father would be disappointed in her for not helping to protect his research, but it had gotten him killed. She didn’t want to see that happen to the rest of his team.
“Can you do me a favor?” She leaned closer to Lavos.
He paused in talking to Peggy. “What?”
“Can you tell her this fiasco was an eye opener and she’s ready to retire? I don’t want them chasing after anything again. She’s talked about buying a cabin in Tennessee forever. Brent is her brother. He wouldn’t do this without her. There’s no changing Mark, since this is who he is, but Peggy loves him. Tell her she’s tired of his bullshit. He doesn’t deserve her anyway. He hasn’t married her in twenty-five years. Can you implant the idea that she’s fed up enough to leave him finally?”
“You’re sure about that?” He turned his head to peer at her.
His eyes were gorgeous. “Yes. Please. She’s like a mother to me. I hate how Mark treats her. She does deserve better. She needs to find a man who cares about her instead of what he can get her to do for him.”
He looked away, staring at Peggy again. She felt relief as he whispered, repeating what she’d said almost word for word. Jadee gave him a little space and approached the trailer to keep the guys distracted. One glance at Kar assured her that he still had a handle on Mitch. She hated that freaky bastard and felt no sympathy for him.
“Make sure you get everything,” Jadee called out. “You’re representing my dad. This was his big find.”
“I know.” Mark sounded annoyed. “It’s our find though. We share the credit.”
She rolled her eyes. “Spare me.”
“We’re going to have to hire tow trucks to locate and pull out our vehicles.” Mark didn’t even bother to look at her as he checked the sample case he opened. “And we have to buy a new rig to pull this trailer. I want your father’s motor home. You sure won’t use it.”
Jadee grit her teeth. “Do you want my bone marrow too, Mark? Maybe a kidney?”
He paused and lifted his head to direct an annoyed look at her. “You know how important this was to your father. Just because he’s dead doesn’t mean this is over. You also know I can’t afford to buy you out. Most of the equipment is owned by your dad.”
“Got it. You could at least try to kiss my ass a little when you want something instead of barking out demands.”
His anger took over. “I told your dad to put me on his accounts and on the titles instead of you so this wouldn’t happen.”
“Always the asshole, aren’t you?”
Brent, the peacemaker, got involved. “He’s just upset. It’s been a traumatic few days. He doesn’t mean to sound so cold, Jadee. You know we loved Vic. We’re all grieving.”
She believed that. Her father’s team was closer to him than she had ever been. It left her feeling a little bitter but she’d swallowed that pill a long time ago, when she’d chosen to live with her grandmother. Her dad could have retired then and stayed with her. He’d kissed her goodbye instead and hit the road. It was little comfort that he’d made sure she was taken care of in case he died by ensuring she had access to his money and putting her name as co-owner on anything he bought.
Lavos approached her side and she looked at him. He gave a slight nod of his head then climbed up inside the trailer. “I need your attention.”
Jadee backed up and turned around. Peggy stood motionless a few feet away, her eyes closed.
Kar came closer, keeping Mitch in a chokehold. “She’s fine. He put her in a kind of sleep trance while he talks to the other two. He’ll bring her out of it when he’s done. She’ll only respond to his voice until then. She can’t hear us.”
She hoped Lavos could do his mind magic on the guys and faced the trailer to see how it went. Lavos stood motionless, talking to Brent. “Is it working?”
Kar hesitated. “It seems to be.”
“Good.”
“Lavos is strong. I’m not good with that shit. I don’t have the experience to mess with planting information into minds but he deals with humans more often.”
She was interested. “He does?”
“I was never allowed to go on missions far from home, but he has. We test our powers when given the chance. You never know when it’s going to come in handy.”
A lot of bad scenarios played through her mind. “So you can have sex with women and then make them forget?”
Kar crinkled his nose. “Hell no. Why would we want to do that?”
“Easy sex. You’re a man.”
“I’m…” He paused, looking uncertain.
“A Werewolf,” she supplied.
“We don’t have sex with humans. It’s frowned upon. We stick to our own kind, and they’re immune to mind control.”
“Why? Can you accidently transmit what you are to others?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s just that…” He hesitated again, glancing down her body.
“What? Will you stop doing that? Spit it out.”
“You’re too damn fragile.” He held her gaze and winked. “I’d break you.”
It was her turn to study him.
“We’re stronger than we look and we’d have to hide what we are. Laws, remember?” He shrugged. “That’s the truth. We don’t mess with humans or hang around them unless we have to. Our contact is very limited.”
“So you just live with other Werewolves in your pack?”
He moved his arm from around Mitch’s throat and grabbed the top of his shirt, forcing the jerk to his knees. He gripped the back of his neck. “Try to move and I’ll break it. Got it? I’m tired of smelling you.” He gave his attention back to Jadee. “Something like that. Are you going to screw us over and tell someone what went down here?”
“No.” She meant it. “I’m going back home and forgetting everything. I’ll never have my face plastered on the cover of some crazy magazine, right next to the guy who swears he has a three-headed love child with an alien chick.”
He chuckled.
“Who’s Kira?”
His amusement faded. “Forget that name. You heard Lavos. He didn’t want me to say anything else.”
“I take it she’s human, and you said she was with his brother.”
He glanced at Lavos, then her. “Look, I like you, so I’ll share this much. Just don’t tell him I said anything. Kira’s father is one of us, but he mated a human. She was born mostly human without many traits. It made her life a living hell, dwelling with our kind, because weakness is looked down upon in our culture. Is that enough info to curb your curiosity?”
Not by a long shot. She held her questions though. So it was possible for Werewolves and humans to have kids, just not popular or sanctioned by others of their kind. That meant they were sexually compatible.
She stared at Lavos. He was one hot guy.
Dangerous too, and totally not someone to get involved with, she reminded herself.
Jadee shivered. It was growing colder. “How many hours until the sun comes up?”
“Not long enough,” Kar muttered. “Summer means the sun isn’t down as long as you’d be used to, living in the lower states. We still have to deal with this mess, get you and them on your way, and then track down the blond soldier. We also have to get details from this one about the Vampire who made him. That’s one bastard who needs to be stopped.”
“Yeah. What went down here? Does this happen often?”
“Never. This is a first. Vampires usually avoid us at all costs. We didn’t even know soldiers could make other ones. Apparently, they can. That’s disturbing as hell.”
She glanced down at Mitch. He seemed paler and a little lethargic. “He’s not looking so hot.”
“He smells worse. He’s been hurt a lot and he’s hungry. The longer they go without blood, the crazier they get.”
“He seems tame at the moment.”
“That’s because he knows I’ll snap his neck. He’ll heal but without a fresh source of blood, it’s weakening him every time. I can smell the rot taking hold.”
“Rot?”
“His body is feeding off itself and he can’t heal fast enough to compensate. His eyes and skin show what he is. His internal organs will look worse. He was made about nine days ago, from what we can figure, by a vampire who’d been part of a nest we took out. And soldiers don’t last long without a master Vampire feeding them just enough of their blood to keep them from decaying from the inside out. This one is on his own. He’s been feeding off humans but still, it’s not enough.”
“So he’d die on his own eventually?”
“Worse. They can last months that way but it isn’t pretty. The mind is gone but the body isn’t. They go after anything living and are totally driven by bloodlust. We call them ghouls at that point. Some human probably saw one once and wrote a zombie story about them. Their skin rots off but they continue to move around. They do get sluggish and slow when they hit that point. It’s horrific. Eventually they’re so weak and messed up that they usually forget to find shelter before the sun rises. It roasts them. They don’t usually turn others though, like in your movies. They take blood, not give it. But this one figured out how to make more of them. That’s bad.”
She’d never watch another zombie movie again without thinking about Mitch and the others. “Fantastic.”
Kar nodded. “Exactly.”
“I’m glad I don’t have your job if you get to track them down.”
Lavos jumped down from the trailer, startling Jadee. She looked at him.
“I put them in a trance until we get them out of here. I’m sorry, but I told them your father tried to save his RV and was washed away down the river. It will explain why they don’t have a body.”
“I can’t bury him, can I?”
He shook his head. “No. Sorry. We’ll have to dispose of his body at first light by exposing him to the sun. He was newly made so there are remains until then.”
That hurt. “I understand.”
Lavos stepped closer, getting in her personal space. His expression softened. “His body will turn to ash in the sun, as if he were cremated. I’m so damn sorry about this, Jadee. You’re taking it well.”
“It still seems a bit unreal,” she confessed. “I’ll let it all sink in later and then I probably won’t be so okay. I foresee heavy drinking in my near future. Don’t worry. I’ll do it when I’m alone. I won’t tell anyone what happened here.”
“You deserve to get drunk. I told them that you came and found them. We’ll return you to the truck and get you on your way.” He reached out and his hand hovered near her shoulder. He didn’t touch her though. He dropped his hand away in the end. “Are you going to keep your word?”
“I will.” She held his gaze. “Check their pockets.”
He turned away, returning to the trailer.
Jadee blinked back tears. It was almost over, and she just had to hold on a little longer. Then she could fall apart. Her father was dead but she and the others were going to live. That was the important part.
“Jadee?”
She turned her head, staring at Kar. “Yeah?”
“He won’t be the one who comes after you if you betray us. Creatures from your worst nightmares will pin a target on your back. You’ll have Vamps, Werewolves, and everything else you never want to meet determined to kill you. You’ll also get him in deep shit. He’s breaking the rules by letting you go with your memory intact. It could mean Lavos being severely punished. He’s risking a lot. Do you understand?”
“I do.”
Kar studied her.
“I do,” she repeated. “I’m never going to tell anyone what happened here. I heard Lavos. My dad called me and I came to visit. I found those three stranded and the river killed my dad. That story won’t ever change.”
“Good.”
Jadee believed Kar and what he said would happen if she ever opened her mouth. She wasn’t that stupid. A single night in close contact with Vampires had assured her she never wanted a repeat experience. Once had been more than enough. It would give her plenty of nightmares.
* * * * *
Lavos knew Kar worried about whether they could trust Jadee. He silently admitted his own doubts about depending on a human to keep silent. Kira had been raised with his clan and was trustworthy. Jadee was an unknown, but he thought highly of her spunk. He was almost sorry to say goodbye. He really did like her.
The truck started when he turned the key after reconnecting the battery, and he climbed out of the cab to stand beside Jadee. “It still works.”
“At least that went our way. I can’t believe those bastards disabled it. Mitch probably did it while my dad was trying to talk his way inside the RV. It will teach me to always lock the doors in the future, even if I’m in the middle of nowhere.”
“Drive down this road until you hit the highway. Don’t stop for anything. There’s a soldier still out there. I doubt he went that way since I found his trail leading toward town. You hit the highway and go right. That will take you in the opposite direction.”
“I don’t plan to stop until I’m out of Alaska unless I need gas. I was going to fly home but you said you need time to clean up this mess. Driving will waste some days. I can’t wait to return to Washington.”
“That’s where you live?”
“Yeah.”
Kar sighed. “I’m getting tired of holding this one. Can we get them on the road? I bet Garson is done with his task and we could use him here. We also have to find the other soldier.”
“I know.” Lavos didn’t look away from Jadee. “Okay. Drive safe and don’t stop until you at least hit a larger town. Don’t talk to strangers.”
She smiled. “Especially pale ones.”
He grinned back. “Yes.”
She licked her lips and he watched her pink little tongue. The urge to kiss her struck, surprising him. He stiffened, every muscle tensing.
It was probably because he’d carried her and her scent had rubbed off on him. It had been a while since he’d been that close to a woman. The hunt always made him a little horny too. He resisted his instinct to reach out and pull her closer. It was a bad idea.
“Thank you.” She glanced at the three still humans. “Too bad I don’t have your power. I wish I could keep them like that for the rest of the trip. They’re going to argue and bitch. Did you leave them their wallets? We have to cross into Canada and then back into the US. The last thing I want is to be held up at the borders. An unplanned road trip with them is going to be bad enough to deal with.”
“Yes.”
“You cleaned out their pockets?”
“I asked them to hand over all evidence. They did.”
“Okay.”
She surprised him when she suddenly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. The hug was unexpected and fast. She released him and backed up before he could react.
“Good luck and be careful. Did you implant them with the suggestion to wait until we were back in the US before they filed any reports?”
“I did. They’re in a sense of shock from your father’s death. The authorities should believe that.”
“All the bases are covered.” She sighed. “Okay. I’m out of here. Thank you.” She turned away, climbing into the front of the truck. “Can you ask Peggy to sit with me in the cab and have the guys climb in the back? I don’t want to hear them rambling on or bitching about how cramped four of us are on a bench seat. Mark annoys the hell out of me.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Thanks.”
She closed the door and he turned away, walking over to the waiting humans. He told the men to climb into the back, that they wanted to sit there. The woman meekly entered the passenger side of the truck.
Lavos backed up and watched Jadee drive away.
Kar shoved the soldier forward and paused at his side. “I hope that wasn’t a mistake. You know how risky it was to let Jadee live.”
“Where is your compassion?”
“Not in my pants.”
He growled, narrowing his eyes at Kar. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Give me a break. You wanted to jump on Jadee. You kept sniffing her and staring at her ass. When’s the last time you got laid if you were interested in that? I admit she was sexy, but you know better. You were thinking with the head below your belt instead of the one above your shoulders. She couldn’t be wiped, Lavos. That makes her dangerous.”
“She wasn’t a typical human.”
“You hope. She was pretty cool and I was impressed by how she handled herself, but she could turn on us.”
“She won’t.”
“I hope not. Our asses would be in deep shit.”
“Nobody has to know what happened here.”
“I’m sure as hell not going to rat you out. I’d be in trouble too. I let it go down.”
“Thanks.”
“You should have at least nailed her. I would have.”
“Shut up.” Lavos turned away, sniffing. “I have a soldier to track. Jadee said he was here. You interrogate that one and get every detail about his maker that you can. I’m tired of dragging him around.”
“You’re not the one with the cramp in his hand from holding on to him. Next time I’m bringing a leash. What happened to just killing them outright? This one has gone into some kind of catatonic state. It’s disturbing.”
“Show a little blood and that should snap him out of it to get answers. We need to find the one who did this and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“I know. That’s why I haven’t killed Mitch here yet. Go track down the blond soldier and I’ll get the information we need. I’m hungry. Grab me something if you can.”
“Live food?”
“Anything. I missed dinner. I didn’t think this was going to be an all-nighter.”
“I want my handcuffs back.” Lavos handed over the key, then walked the perimeter. “We took out the two that went that way. This one headed back toward town.”
“Go.”
The faint smell of death helped him track the soldier. He followed it toward the town…but then the scent indicated it had changed direction. A bad feeling sank in.
It headed toward the highway.
“Shit.”
Lavos snapped his head up and began to run.
What if the soldier decided to attack any cars on the highway? They seemed stupid, but it was possible one of them wasn’t. He and his pals had cleared out the small town of any life. His only blood options had been locked up where he couldn’t get at them. That meant Jadee might be headed right into a trap.
He took a shortcut toward the highway.
One soldier could easily attack and kill four humans. They were fast enough to catch a vehicle if it was traveling slower over old roads before it hit the highway. The fact that she was driving a truck made it worse. The soldier could jump into the back and then go through the glass to take out the driver.
It was tempting to shift but he wanted to keep his clothes on. He came across the winding dirt road and entered the woods again to take a direct path to the highway. He didn’t see or hear any signs of the soldier or the truck—
He heard a crash. It was a loud, echoing crack, as if something had hit a tree hard enough to split a trunk.
A horn sounded next.
Jadee!
He ran faster, tearing at his shirt to get it out of the way. He didn’t care if she saw what he really was, as long as she was alive by the time he reached her. He’d tear the soldier apart if he hurt her.
He opened his mouth, sending out a war cry. It might scare the soldier. Garson and Kar might also hear him and come to his aid, but he doubted it. Garson was too far away and Kar had his hands full with Mitch.
I’m coming, Jadee.