[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Whether you believe the legend or not, he told the crowd, something is out there
wreaking havoc. Those of you not living in one of the very few towns in this county
need to be on the alert. He looked at the sheriff then back at the crowd again. I don t
103
Desiree Holt
know if Sheriff Torres will agree with me, but you need your guns loaded and ready.
This beast broke down Sherry s back door, so don t think locking yourself up will do
the trick.
There were a lot more question and he and his former boss did their best to answer
them. The best result they got from the meeting was the sense that, whether people
agreed with them or not, they d be taking extra precautions. At least he hoped so.
When everyone had finally filed out of the building, he handed Torres the folder
he d carried into the meeting with him.
What s this?
Some information the group I m with now has pulled together. It shows the travel
patterns of the devil beast and the locations of its three-kill cycles.
All the muscles in the sheriff s face tightened as he looked at the pictures and
skimmed the report.
Maybe it ll be lucky and decide it s had enough of Texas for a while.
We can only hope. Okay, Chloe and I are going to do some nighttime
reconnaissance. What area do you want us to take?
North of Zapata and east. That work for you?
No problem.
You and Chloe come in for coffee in the morning. We ll see what all we ve come
up with tonight, if anything.
Mark nodded. See you then. Pray for a quiet night.
* * * * *
Mark and Chloe wasted no time once they got home. They stripped out of their
clothes and walked out onto the front porch.
Chloe shivered as the breeze rippled over her skin.
Cold? Mark pulled her against him.
I won t be in a minute. She looked up at him. Can I ask you something?
Sure. He hugged her tightly. What s up?
We ve been changing a lot the last couple of days. Is that okay? Will we hurt
ourselves?
His laugh was low and soft. If we kept up the pace it might, but our bodies
demand that we shift as often as we can. Sometimes that s not possible. Did you find
you had problems if you weren t able to shift when you wanted to?
She shrugged. Sort of. It s hard when you live in a city. You have to find places to
go on weekends and things. And I didn t know nearly as much about it as you do.
Dakota Furcal who s married now to Jonah Grey raises herbs, among other things.
Cultivates them. Mixes them from special formulas that help us deal with this.
104
Lust by Moonlight
Oh? I didn t know about any herbs or anything.
When this is all over I ll take you back to Desolation Ranch, you can meet her and
she can show you her herb garden.
He felt her withdraw just the tiniest bit.
Mark, I don t know.
I m not giving up, so forget that. I think once you know what happened to
Melinda we can move forward from there.
You understand that my feelings are all over the place until then, right?
Of course I do. He dropped a kiss on her hair. But that doesn t mean I won t
pursue you with everything I ve got.
She grinned. Okay. I have to say, the sex is great.
He swatted her on the rear end. Hussy. Okay, we need to get going. There s a
bright moon tonight which will help us see but also won t give us much cover. Be
careful and follow me. We ve got a lot of ground to cover.
The air around them swirled momentarily, as if a sudden gust of wind had swept
across the porch, disturbing the currents. When it calmed, two wolves stood poised to
leap, a large black one and a smaller, daintier red one. The black one nuzzled the other
with his snout, gave her mouth one long, slow glide of his tongue, then jumped from
the porch, the smaller wolf right on his tail.
Mark was careful to set a measured stride, not pace himself so swiftly that Chloe
could not keep up. But he was right in what he told her they did have a lot of ground
to cover.
The moon lit up the night as if it was a spotlight hanging from the sky, casting its
brilliant light everywhere. Mark set a path away from highways and road, even the
narrow two-lane ones. Instead he led them across the loamy, rocky ground, using trees
here and there as cover, stopping to catch their breath and get their bearings. Twice
they saw the headlights and heard the roar of an all-terrain vehicle racing across the
landscape. Each time Mark managed to find a place for them to hide.
The trek was long and arduous. During the afternoon they had identified the
houses where the people would be the most likely targets. Now they had to survey
them at night, looking for those that had trees to provide cover for the beast. Those with
outbuildings were scouted even more thoroughly. Mark remembered the barn in Eagle
Pass next to the house where a woman had been killed. The thing that had made him
itchy was the faint aroma of turpentine that had clung to that place. He had no idea
what the connection was yet but he wasn t missing any bets.
It was well past midnight by the time they had scoped out the places on their list
and headed home. As they cleared one rocky rise Mark stopped, so suddenly that Chloe
almost crashed into him. He lifted his snout to the night breeze, scenting for the faint
trace of something he d thought& there& no& for a minute&
Damn!
105
Desiree Holt
For a moment there he thought he d caught the scent of the devil beast.
Chloe pushed at him with her snout until he turned to look at her, saw the question
in his eyes. Slowly he shook his big head.
Nothing.
By the time they reached Mark s house they were both exhausted. There had been
no playful interludes tonight, only the hunt. The strain had taken its toll on both of
them. They shifted on his porch and he opened the door, motioning for Chloe to go in
ahead of him.
You thought you scented something, didn t you. It wasn t a question.
Yes. But it was so faint like& I don t know& Like it almost wasn t there. He
rubbed his face. Maybe I just imagined it. Did you smell anything?
No, but then I m really not attuned to is the way you are. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
Whether you believe the legend or not, he told the crowd, something is out there
wreaking havoc. Those of you not living in one of the very few towns in this county
need to be on the alert. He looked at the sheriff then back at the crowd again. I don t
103
Desiree Holt
know if Sheriff Torres will agree with me, but you need your guns loaded and ready.
This beast broke down Sherry s back door, so don t think locking yourself up will do
the trick.
There were a lot more question and he and his former boss did their best to answer
them. The best result they got from the meeting was the sense that, whether people
agreed with them or not, they d be taking extra precautions. At least he hoped so.
When everyone had finally filed out of the building, he handed Torres the folder
he d carried into the meeting with him.
What s this?
Some information the group I m with now has pulled together. It shows the travel
patterns of the devil beast and the locations of its three-kill cycles.
All the muscles in the sheriff s face tightened as he looked at the pictures and
skimmed the report.
Maybe it ll be lucky and decide it s had enough of Texas for a while.
We can only hope. Okay, Chloe and I are going to do some nighttime
reconnaissance. What area do you want us to take?
North of Zapata and east. That work for you?
No problem.
You and Chloe come in for coffee in the morning. We ll see what all we ve come
up with tonight, if anything.
Mark nodded. See you then. Pray for a quiet night.
* * * * *
Mark and Chloe wasted no time once they got home. They stripped out of their
clothes and walked out onto the front porch.
Chloe shivered as the breeze rippled over her skin.
Cold? Mark pulled her against him.
I won t be in a minute. She looked up at him. Can I ask you something?
Sure. He hugged her tightly. What s up?
We ve been changing a lot the last couple of days. Is that okay? Will we hurt
ourselves?
His laugh was low and soft. If we kept up the pace it might, but our bodies
demand that we shift as often as we can. Sometimes that s not possible. Did you find
you had problems if you weren t able to shift when you wanted to?
She shrugged. Sort of. It s hard when you live in a city. You have to find places to
go on weekends and things. And I didn t know nearly as much about it as you do.
Dakota Furcal who s married now to Jonah Grey raises herbs, among other things.
Cultivates them. Mixes them from special formulas that help us deal with this.
104
Lust by Moonlight
Oh? I didn t know about any herbs or anything.
When this is all over I ll take you back to Desolation Ranch, you can meet her and
she can show you her herb garden.
He felt her withdraw just the tiniest bit.
Mark, I don t know.
I m not giving up, so forget that. I think once you know what happened to
Melinda we can move forward from there.
You understand that my feelings are all over the place until then, right?
Of course I do. He dropped a kiss on her hair. But that doesn t mean I won t
pursue you with everything I ve got.
She grinned. Okay. I have to say, the sex is great.
He swatted her on the rear end. Hussy. Okay, we need to get going. There s a
bright moon tonight which will help us see but also won t give us much cover. Be
careful and follow me. We ve got a lot of ground to cover.
The air around them swirled momentarily, as if a sudden gust of wind had swept
across the porch, disturbing the currents. When it calmed, two wolves stood poised to
leap, a large black one and a smaller, daintier red one. The black one nuzzled the other
with his snout, gave her mouth one long, slow glide of his tongue, then jumped from
the porch, the smaller wolf right on his tail.
Mark was careful to set a measured stride, not pace himself so swiftly that Chloe
could not keep up. But he was right in what he told her they did have a lot of ground
to cover.
The moon lit up the night as if it was a spotlight hanging from the sky, casting its
brilliant light everywhere. Mark set a path away from highways and road, even the
narrow two-lane ones. Instead he led them across the loamy, rocky ground, using trees
here and there as cover, stopping to catch their breath and get their bearings. Twice
they saw the headlights and heard the roar of an all-terrain vehicle racing across the
landscape. Each time Mark managed to find a place for them to hide.
The trek was long and arduous. During the afternoon they had identified the
houses where the people would be the most likely targets. Now they had to survey
them at night, looking for those that had trees to provide cover for the beast. Those with
outbuildings were scouted even more thoroughly. Mark remembered the barn in Eagle
Pass next to the house where a woman had been killed. The thing that had made him
itchy was the faint aroma of turpentine that had clung to that place. He had no idea
what the connection was yet but he wasn t missing any bets.
It was well past midnight by the time they had scoped out the places on their list
and headed home. As they cleared one rocky rise Mark stopped, so suddenly that Chloe
almost crashed into him. He lifted his snout to the night breeze, scenting for the faint
trace of something he d thought& there& no& for a minute&
Damn!
105
Desiree Holt
For a moment there he thought he d caught the scent of the devil beast.
Chloe pushed at him with her snout until he turned to look at her, saw the question
in his eyes. Slowly he shook his big head.
Nothing.
By the time they reached Mark s house they were both exhausted. There had been
no playful interludes tonight, only the hunt. The strain had taken its toll on both of
them. They shifted on his porch and he opened the door, motioning for Chloe to go in
ahead of him.
You thought you scented something, didn t you. It wasn t a question.
Yes. But it was so faint like& I don t know& Like it almost wasn t there. He
rubbed his face. Maybe I just imagined it. Did you smell anything?
No, but then I m really not attuned to is the way you are. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]