Page 14 of Night Owl Books

Hmm.I didn’t own perfume. Some women used to use vanilla, but I didn’t really bake so I doubted I had any. I didn’t grow roses, so I couldn’t rub a petal on myself. Not to mention I hated the scent of roses.

Oh! I knew. I grabbed my phone, keys, wallet, knife, scarf, and went downstairs. The door to the garage was beside the kitchen. I went in, hit the button to lift the garage door, andflinched, seeing a tall, broad-shouldered man silhouetted in the faint moonlight. Then I recognized him.

“I just showered off bear, wicche, and wolf. Why are you back?”

“I’ll keep my distance,” Nick said, his voice deep and warm in the cool early morning hours. “I came to drop off the tracker and to make sure you didn’t volunteer for this because of what Arthur said.” True to his word, he moved back as I came closer. “You don’t have anything to prove to him or anyone else.”

“I want to try,” I said. “McKenna was lucky. I doubt all the other women Arwyn saw in her vision were as lucky as she was.”

He stared at me a moment and then shook his head. “They weren’t. Arwyn gave us specific descriptions of the women and locations she saw. Arthur and I have already found two of his victims, one in Seattle and the other in Tahoe. They were both sexually assaulted, the bodies left in rough shape. He hid them under leaves and trees.”

“He didn’t bite or maul them?” I thought about it for a moment. “That’s surprising. Maybe he isn’t a wolf.” Considering, I hopped into my Jeep and started it up. It took a couple of tries, but I got it going.

Nick had moved to the side, out of sight, so I threw it into reverse and parked outside the garage, letting the engine run. I didn’t want to break down for real out there. He moved farther away. Supernatural hearing being what it was, we continued speaking in low voices.

“I going to hose it down,” I said, “and then open a can of motor oil and take it with me. That scent should cover whatever owl scent might linger, assuming he is a wolf and has ever met an owl shifter.”

“Now I’m even more concerned,” he said. “If he’s not a wolf, we have no idea what we’re dealing with.”

I went around the side of the house and dragged back the hose.

“Wait,” he said. “Don’t you have a top to this thing? You’re going to get the seats wet.”

I moved up close to the Jeep, pointed the nozzle down, and rinsed off the vehicle frame and tires. “No top helps with scent. You’re a worrier, aren’t you?”

He grumbled something, but I didn’t hear it over the engine and spray. When I finished, I put the hose away and then said, “What was that?”

He sighed and walked closer, stopping about six feet away. “I said I’m not normally a worrier, but something about this whole situation has me twisted up. I don’t want you to get hurt.” He tossed me a plastic evidence bag with a small round black dot in it.

“Thanks,” I said. He was probably too close, but it was nice. Having someone be concerned about me was nice. “I’ll be okay.”

“See that you are.” He gestured to the bag I’d picked up. “The tracker is magnetized. Attach it anywhere to his truck and we can follow him. Then Arthur, Declan, and I will take him down. You’re stronger and faster than the human he’s expecting, but it’s still dangerous. We can’t get too close, but we’ll be able to monitor you until you put the tracker on him.” He blew out a breath and then his gaze traveled over me. “You look really—” He cleared his throat. “You look nice.”

I shrugged. “Jeans. Long hair.”

He stared down, grinning. “Boots. I like your red cowboy boots.”

Embarrassed, I busied myself by taking the tracker out of the bag, placing it in my jeans pocket, and then putting the bag in the garage trash can. “They just seemed like something he might like,” I mumbled. I slipped the sheathed knife down the top of my right boot. “Oh! I forgot.”

I jogged back into the garage, grabbed a can of motor oil, found a Post-it note, and wroteBroke down. I went to find a signal.I came back out and hit the garage door button and then stashed the note in my glovebox for later. I didn’t want a police officer to find my Jeep and ticket me for abandoning it by the side of the road.

“You know where you’re going?” he asked.

“I do.” My fingers quickly got to work, braiding my hair. Since hair was important to this man, I needed to keep it from flying all around in a topless Jeep. Once I was done, I wrapped a scarf around my head. I’d undo all of this when I got to the breakdown road.

“You probably need a coat for the drive,” he suggested.

“I only have a couple of coats and they’re too long. They cover my butt, which is apparently a key factor for this guy. This is a thermal top. It’ll be chilly, but it’ll be fine.”

He took off the flannel shirt he wore over a t-shirt and tried handing it to me. “At least put this on while you’re driving. Leave it in the Jeep when you start to walk.”

“Thanks, but that smells a great deal like you. A bear,” I said.

Frustrated, he shook his head. “Right.” He put the shirt back on, letting it hang open.

“I appreciate you worrying about me, but he sooner I leave the better. For me. So I don’t get too anxious.”

Backing away, he held up a hand in surrender, letting me go. I climbed in, put the Jeep in gear, and headed to Sunset Drive, near Asilomar Beach. Nick and Arthur had said this area would be dark and deserted in the middle of the night and that cell service was spotty at best.

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