14. Wyatt
FOURTEEN
WYATT
The stars shone brightly, far above the lights that criss-crossed over the patio. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, hoping to stop the patio lights from twinkling, their yellow light pulsing in a hazy arc that I knew wasn’t real. Stars twinkled; my damn patio lights did not.
The feeling reminded me of the first and last time I’d trusted Tank’s foraging skills. We’d spent a day shitting our pants and hallucinating.
“Sir, the ruby tea.” Gloria rested her hand on my shoulder and gave me a wink as she set down the pot of tea on the table. Gloria had found our names for the various mosses that we used rather boring, so instead of red tea, it was ruby; the green moss, emerald of course. She had come to our community years ago as a little girl, and was one of the few humans on planet Earth that knew with absolute certainty the legend of Bigfoot was real.
“What’s that?” Connor asked.
Gloria gave Connor a warm smile. “Why, it’s my own blend of hibiscus, ginger, and garlic. Good for the tummy.”
Connor grimaced. Gloria was a smart woman and knew to keep the details of the moss a secret from outsiders.
Atticus poured two cups. Tank remained stationed in the basement with the prisoner, unaffected by whatever was going on with me and Atticus. As soon as the ruby tea hit my throat, the nausea started to wane. Once I’d finished the entire cup, the patio lights stopped pulsing. I inhaled deeply and rubbed my forehead, hoping to massage away the remnants of the headache that had come on like a sucker punch to the face.
Harper held my hand, her eyes studying me. “You’re feeling better.”
It was a statement, not a question. She knew me. “Yeah. I have no idea what happened down there.”
“What about you, Atticus?” Harper squeezed my hand and turned her attention to him.
“Same.” He stretched his arms above his head. “I thought that maybe the beer was bad, but Wyatt didn’t have any.”
“No. And we didn’t eat any of Tank’s foraged blueberry jam either.”
Harper’s brow furrowed and she tilted her head.
“I’ll tell you about that later.” I gave her a smile. The situation was weird as fuck, and now that we’d brought two humans and a goddamn werewolf into the mix, I realized just how stupid we’d been. Making light of the situation might help. We couldn’t risk one of them… well, who was I kidding? We couldn’t risk Savannah freaking out and running to the FBI or the cops.
Atticus laughed and then belched. “There we go.” He rubbed his stomach. “Maybe we just needed some air. That guy was rank.”
“ That guy’s name is Jim. And he’s got a family.” Harper crossed her arms. “What are you guys going to do with him?”
Connor stared at me like he was studying my face to paint it later. “Yeah, what are you going to do? It sounds like Genocorp is responsible for the missing hikers. This has been happening under your watch for way too long.” He crossed his arms.
For the longest time, we’d attributed the missing hikers to the rogue sasquatch, the one that we’d killed in August. I’d justified the killing of one of our own because of Harper, and the fact that he’d been murdering members of the Seattle hiking community. Knowing that I was wrong sent a shiver up my spine. How could this have been happening in our county? “Well, we can’t just release him to his family. Not in his condition.”
Harper seemed to think about it. “So if he was human, you would just… let him go?”
I glanced to Harper. She wasn’t going to like this part. “After giving him a dose of the forgetting serum.”
“You can do that?” Savannah had been curled up in a ball, nestled against Connor, but she sat up straight, her eyes on Harper. “You can decide what he remembers?”
I sighed. It wasn’t the time to explain the way the potion worked. “Kind of. It’s not an exact science, but we can make sure he doesn’t remember anything about us or Genocorp.”
“So then what?” Savannah pursed her lips, like she was trying to do a complex equation in her head. “You’d just drop him somewhere and he wouldn’t know how he got there?”
Atticus set down his tea cup. “It’s best that you don’t know any more than that. But yes. We’d make sure he was safe. And then as far as he, the cops, or anyone else would know, he’d been lost in the woods and come home with amnesia.”
Savannah looked unamused. “Really? This guy’s been missing for who knows how long, and at some point, everyone is just going to accept that he doesn’t know where he’s been this whole time?”
“She’s got a point,” Connor said. Savannah patted Connor’s knee and relaxed back against his body. “And how do you guys even have that kind of power?”
Fuck.
“It’s none of your damn business,” Tank growled.
I turned to face him. He was supposed to be guarding the hiker. “What are you doing out here?”
“That guy isn’t going to try to escape. He’s way too weak. And who cares if his family buys his story or not? Not that it even matters while he’s in this state. Besides, we’ve got a bigger problem to figure out. What the hell is Genocorp doing experimenting on humans, and how are we going to stop them?”
A murmur spread amongst everyone. For once, Tank was the voice of reason. “We checked out the site when we were out there today.” I stroked my chin and closed my eyes, trying to recall all the details I could from the Genocorp building. “They’ve got a helipad and it’s gated. Seems to be mostly underground. We were too far away to see if they have any guards, but it’s likely they have a state of the art security system.”
Harper cleared her throat. “Maybe I could—”
“No.” The three of us sasquatches chimed in together.
“What?” Harper played with the cuticles of her nails. “I could apply for a job there.”
“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Tank sounded surprised.
I was shocked that he would say anything positive about something that came from Harper’s mouth.
“It’s a terrible idea,” I said. “They’re experimenting on humans and they likely experimented on Harper’s father. What if they decide that they want their new intern to help out with an experiment or two? Besides, your name is already flagged with the Carders.”
Harper bit her lip. She knew I was right.
“I’ve got it.” Savannah launched to her feet. “The gala.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Tank muttered behind me.
“No, listen.” Savannah’s eyes sparkled. She spread her arms wide and I got a waft of her perfume in the breeze, nauseating me. “The Carder Corporation is hosting a gala on Halloween. My PR firm is handling the publicity. I have access to the guest list, the seating chart…” She pointed to each of her manicured fingers as she listed all the insider info she’d have. “And I can get more intel leading up to the event. I bet I can even get in a few new hires for the waitstaff.” She pointed to Connor. “They only hire good looking men, so Connor and…” Her voice faltered as she looked at Tank. “Anyone else that hasn’t been on the ‘Sexiest Under Forty’ Billionaire Bachelors list could work at the gala. Atticus, Wyatt, I can get you both on the guest list. That would be easy.”
Both Atticus and I were well-recognized on the Seattle socialite scene. Tank was not. The idea of him pouring champagne was amusing, and I knew wouldn’t go over well with him.
“I think it’s the best option we have.” Atticus looked defeated. “I hate waiting until Halloween, but it does give us time to get our ducks in a row.”
“What about us? The wolves can help.” Connor’s eyes had been glued to Savannah. His admiration of her was obvious.
“What do you think, Boss?” Atticus deferred to me.
I rubbed the scruff on my chin. “Tell Bannon and your higher-ups what’s going on. If it’s as bad as I think it is, we may need to put together a coordinated effort to free the hikers and find out what kind of evil has been transpiring in our backyard.”
Savannah clapped her hands together. “Okay, then. Wyatt, I’m assuming that you’ll be bringing Harper as your date?”
Harper’s cheeks flushed as red as the tea in the glass pot and her heart rate picked up a few BPMs. With Gloria’s ruby tea running through my veins, I could see, feel, hear, and smell Harper intensely. Animalistic urges surged through my body and all I could think about was getting everyone, including that hiker, out of my house so I could bury my face between Harper’s legs. “Of course.” I reached for Harper and she took my hand. I pulled her down to my lap. “On one condition.”
“What’s that?” Her heartbeat thumped like a bass drum and the smell of her desire overpowered Savannah’s floral perfume.
“You have to promise to stay out of the woods.”
Her body sagged. “But I want to find my dad.”
“And we will. But until we know exactly what we’re dealing with, you have to stay out of the woods.”
“Both of you,” Atticus interjected.
“Oh, don’t worry about me.” Savannah held up her hands and laughed. “I hate the forest. But Harper, they’re right. You need to promise to stay out of the woods.”
“Fine,” Harper sighed. “Yes, my love. I will be your date.” Harper kissed my cheek. “And Savannah, you’re going to have to loan me one of your dresses.”
“You got it.” Savannah smiled.
“Before you two continue with the Cinderella garbage, what do you want me to do with the guy downstairs?” Tank interrupted.
Atticus stood. “Let’s put him to sleep and question him again in the morning.”
As everyone stood and got ready to leave, I whispered in Harper’s ear. “No woman of mine is borrowing a dress. Instead of sneaking out to the woods tomorrow, take my credit card and go buy the sexiest fucking dress you can find.”
“I like it when you tell me what to do,” she whispered, her lips brushing against my ear.
“Really?” I pulled back to look her in the eyes.
The mischievous glint was back. “Only when it comes to couture.” A smile spread across her face and she leaned in again, this time pressing her chest against mine. “And maybe in the bedroom.”
That was it. I was rock fucking hard. “Alright everyone, we have a plan.” I didn’t stand. With the red moss in my body, my erection had to be at least ten inches, and if I didn’t undo my pants in the next three seconds, the damn zipper was going to split. “Now get the fuck out.”