Page 15 of Night Owl Books

The freezing wind tore at my scarf. I had the short drive to seriously question the advisability of volunteering for this job, but I just kept coming back to someone needing to stop him and my being someone.

I parked on the side of the road, near the Point Pinos Lighthouse, affixed the note to my dashboard, and then used the big knife to stab a hole in the top of the motor oil can. I tipped it, getting oil on my fingers, and dabbed a little behind each ear. That ought to do it.

Facing the wind coming off the ocean, I took off the scarf and unbraided my hair, stuffing both the scarf and hair tie under the driver’s seat. I caught sight of my sunglasses on the dash and grabbed them. I was going to need those when the sun rose.

Okay. Time to lure a killer.

SEVEN

Blue-Eyed Bastard

Hopefully truck man wasn’t watching me yet. It made no sense for me to walk along the ocean, rather than back into town where I could have more easily found some kind of help.

The moon played hide-and-seek behind the clouds. Thankfully I didn’t need to rely on moonlight to keep from stumbling.

It didn’t take long before I was shivering, but that was all right. I needed to stay alert and on edge. Being nocturnal, this was normally the hour when I’d start to droop and long for bed. Instead, I trudged slowly in the cold, following the curves of the ocean.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Nick or how flustered he made me. I’d gone through life on a nice even keel, my emotional highs and lows tied to the books I read. Now, though, I was getting distracted thinking about him and how it felt when he looked at me. I wasn’t sure if I liked it. This fizzy electrical feeling was uncomfortable. He was very handsome, though. And his voice made me want to burrow into his arms. Which was a ridiculous thought that, again, made me uncomfortable.

When a bright ray of light hit my eye, I shook off the daydreaming, embarrassed to have let it go on for so long, and put on my sunglasses.

I scanned my surroundings. Where was I? I’d left the ocean and was in the middle of tall pine trees. There were a few scattered houses in the vicinity, but I was clearly on the edge of a wooded area. Feeling like an idiot, I turned around and headed back. I knew I hadn’t turned a corner. I’d just followed the road I’d been walking on while my mind wandered.

Stupid. I checked my phone. No signal.

Pocketing it, I tried to keep my tired mind focused on the task at hand. That was when I heard the sound of tires on pavement, moving up slowly behind me. It could have been someone leaving early for work, but I didn’t think so. The engine was too quiet, and he was following me too closely.

I reached into my left front pocket and gripped the tracker between my index and middle fingers. When the truck stopped, I’d rest my hand on the side and leave the tracker behind. His approach made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. This was it.

A dark gray truck slid up beside me, stopping when the open passenger window was level with me. I flinched, as though surprised by his appearance, and turned to finally see the man who seemed to have made a profession of hunting women.

Grinning, he gave me a quick nod, his blue eyes dancing in the dawn light. “Good morning.” He paused a moment, his eyes traveling over what he could see of me. “It’s chilly out there. Why don’t you let me give you a lift?” He was gorgeous: tousled sandy brown hair, a chiseled jaw, bright white teeth, and a smile that saidtrust me.

Oh, no. We’d thought I’d be dealing with another shifter. We were wrong. The truck itself had a faint wolf scent, but the man was fae and I was in a world of trouble.

I tried to lift my hand to place the tracker, but my limbs didn’t move.

After a moment of my silence, his brow furrowed. “Hello? Did you hear me, beautiful?”

No longer under my own control, my head jerked up and down, nodding.

“Excellent.” He caressed the passenger seat and then patted it. “Climb on in then. I’ll take you wherever you need to go. I’ve always got time to help a pretty lady.”

The light blue of his eyes now swirled with a deep ocean blue, drawing me in and holding me in its spell. I tried to look away but couldn’t. I was no match for the fae. Leaning across the cab, he pushed down the handle, opening the passenger door. “Honey? Are you still with me?”

After a moment, my head did a jerking nod again. My limbs moved of their own volition, climbing into the cab of his truck. Terror gripped me, but then he smiled his sharp smile and the fear floated away.

He stared at me a moment and then made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat while reaching across me to slam the door shut.

“I’ll ease up soon,” he said, his voice bright. “It’s no fun if you’re comatose.”

I sat mutely, hands in my lap, staring into his kaleidoscopic eyes, wanting nothing more than to be of service to this beautiful man. Unbidden, the image of Nick came to mind, but I pushed it out. He had no place here.

The man held up a finger and slid my sunglasses down my nose so he could see my eyes. “Oh, my, my, my. Those are the prettiest amber eyes I’ve ever seen. The last time I saw anyone with eyes like yours, I was back home, not around here. You’re a special one, aren’t you?”

His gaze moved to the top of my head. “Look at all that long, beautiful hair of yours.” He ran a hand over my head and then pulled my hair forward to look at it in the sunlight.

Staring at it with him, I watched his hand turn over and clutch it in his fist. He gave a sharp tug and then let go. The sudden hurt clouded the euphoria for a moment and then faded. He seemed to be waiting for a reaction but as I didn’t know what he wanted, I just stared blankly into his beautiful eyes. He winked and patted my knee.

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