Ft. Lauderdale, Florida – December 31, 1999
I followed Dermid and Hendry through the crowds around the clubhouse of some fancy golf resort.
It was closing in on midnight, and the humans were drunk, attempting to dance to “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin while holding glasses of champagne.
The celebration would provide good cover for kidnapping a Wonder.
The luchd-òl fola had never taken a magic carrier, probably because Wonders were naturally more resilient and longer-lived. A magic carrier wouldn’t last being fed from every few days.
Yesterday I’d seen some online chatter about a dryad going missing ten miles or so from here.
I’d developed a technique of scanning my surroundings for teammate-type connections, and tonight I’d been lucky enough to pass Dermid and Hendry on the highway.
It’d been ridiculously easy to make a U-turn and follow them.
They’d parked on the street in a residential area near the resort and just walked between two houses and onto the golf course, easy as you please.
Which meant they’d planned this. They were hunting a specific person.
I saw her right as they did. An alligator shifter.
Long-lived and tough as hell. No wonder they wanted her.
She was standing at the edge of the crowd, talking to three or four humans.
She was dressed in golf clothes, as if she’d been playing a round this afternoon and hadn’t bothered to go home and change.
Dermid and Hendry went up to the bar, apparently trying to blend in so they could approach her.
I scanned the area. The golf course was shrouded in darkness, and there were several stands of trees they could drag their victim into.
The question was how they intended to get her away from the human witnesses.
Hendry faded from view, melting into the shadows around the side of the building.
Dermid chatted with a group of humans to their target’s left.
There. He bumped into her, spilling his drink all over himself—nice touch, not as suspicious as spilling it on her.
She apologized, and, as midnight came and the humans nearby lost interest, he mesmerized her before drawing her away from the others.
I’d lost sight of Hendry, so I kept to the crowd as Dermid walked with the woman, his hands gesturing as if they were talking.
Once they were around the corner, I sped up until I could peek after them.
Yes, now Hendry had joined them. They’d thrown a dark cloth over the woman and were carrying her at high speed to the closest stand of trees. No human would catch a glimpse of them.
I waited to give them time to be far enough in the trees so they wouldn’t see me coming after them, then I went into battle form. Claws and fangs at ready, I ran in a blur across the short grass.
They’d gained a significant amount of distance, so I misted to get ahead of them. I reformed where they could see me, and both of them came to a dead stop. Dermid was carrying the woman, and Hendry told him, “Get her to the van!”
I grinned as Dermid ran off through the trees. I’d put a tracking device on their van. They’d almost caught me doing it in Mexico, but I’d managed to get away in time. That tracking device had led to four luchd-òl fola dying, and I hoped this one would do the same. But first, Hendry.
The fight was over quickly. More and more I was noticing poor techniques and form among them. They weren’t keeping up with their training, even though they all knew I was after them. Whoever was in charge—if anyone—wasn’t doing them any favors, not that I was going to complain.
After beheading Hendry, I left his body where it was.
No one would find it in the trees for a few hours at least. I ran for my car, which I’d parked half a block from Dermid and Hendry’s van, but their van was still in place.
I jogged more slowly back onto the golf course, and then I could hear it.
Thrashing amid the trees near the ninth hole.
Dermid hadn’t been able to maintain his control over the alligator shifter while she was wrapped up and being carried.
When I found them, she’d shifted into her alligator form, a 10-foot beast with wicked teeth and claws.
Dermid was bleeding from his arm, and he hadn’t been smart enough to give up and leave.
His connection would’ve told him Hendry was dead.
I crunched twigs and leaves so the shifter would hear me approach, but I didn’t give Dermid time to react. I didn’t want him shifting to mist form, and even someone who made poor choices like he’d done would know he couldn’t win against me plus an alligator shifter.
I was on him, tearing his throat out with one swipe of my claws.
The shifter went quiet, watching me carefully to see if I would attack.
“Hello, there. My name’s Simon.” I put my foot on Dermid’s upper spine and tore his head from his body.
“I’m no threat to you. I was after these guys.
The other one’s dead too.” I sighed as I looked down at my blood-covered hands and clothes.
“I don’t suppose you know which of the golf course ponds are free of alligators, so I can wash off?
” I grimaced. “After I bury the bodies, of course.”
She turned back into her human form. “I’m Roberta. I can dig holes for you, if you’ll help me find what’s left of my clothes so I can get my car keys.” She glanced down at herself and sighed. “And I might need to borrow your shirt.”
I grinned. “I’ve got clean clothes in my van, no worries.”
We found her clothes, and as she helped me bury the bodies, I explained about vampires and that she should stay with friends for a few days, but the luchd-òl fola had probably already left the area.
We rinsed ourselves off in one of the alligator-free ponds, and then we went to my car where I gave Roberta a pair of my sweatpants and a t-shirt. I put on clean clothes as well.
It was almost dawn when we cut back across the golf course to Roberta’s car in the resort’s parking lot. I made sure no one was hanging around, and she gave me a hug before driving away.
I was exhausted, and I still needed to search Dermid and Hendry’s van. I’d scored the key plus around five hundred dollars from their pockets, but nothing else. I didn’t have high hopes for the van, but I had to look.
I trudged across the parking lot as the first rays of sun came over the horizon.
“Okay, everyone, get ready. We’ll do a sun salutation sequence as the day breaks on the new year.
” The voice came from over by the clubhouse.
A group of about fifteen people were standing on mats facing a man with long blond hair and a serene expression on his face.
He saw me and grinned, waving me over. “You’re just in time. Hurry!”
I spread my hands out. “Thanks, but I don’t know how to do yoga.”
He waved harder. “You don’t have to. Come on and follow along as best you can. There are spare mats right over here. You’ll feel amazing afterwards, I promise.”
When was the last time I’d felt “amazing”?
What the hell. If I didn’t like it, I’d leave. I grabbed a mat, unrolled it, and kicked my shoes off before bemusedly following the man’s instructions to put my feet together and breathe in as the sun rose fully over the horizon.