Chapter 10 #2
Thinking about hanging out in the dark with Kade, with only the moonlight filtering down between the trees, she said, “We should separate so we can cover more area.”
“Definitely. But how will I let you know if I spot someone?”
“Whistle. You know how to do that, don’t you, Kade?” she said in throaty, come-hither voice. “Just put your lips together and…blow.”
Kade rocked his head back, an agonized expression on his face. “If you can refrain from references to putting your lips together and blowing, especially in that blatantly sexy way, my… shall we say… current predicament would appreciate it..”
“I suppose this hasn’t been fair to you, has it? I’m sorry. In my defense, I didn’t ask you to fondle me.”
He shot her an arrogant smile. “Oh, yeah, you did. Not with those lips but with your hips pressing against mine—”
She pressed her fingers over his mouth, horrified by the truth of that statement. “That was my Dragon, taking over. Let’s just say it’s been a while since it’s been…fed.”
He grinned at that. “How long?” His lips moved against her fingers, warm and soft.
“Let’s go back to communicating.”
“We are communicating, babe.” He took her hand and rubbed it back and forth across his mouth.
She shivered and pulled back. “I meant, about what to do if we encounter a murderous Dragon.”
“I can whistle just fine, but not the Fringe way. You have a language all your own. Like that one you did to let everyone know Smitty was on the loose.”
“Every clan has their own codes. For instance, one long, high-pitched whistle followed by two short ones is a Smitty alert. Other clans would have their own signal, if Smitty were bothering them. Unfortunately, he seems to target us because our property is accessible to him. Anyway, if I shared our codes with you, I’d be cuffed to the barn wall big-time.
But we can come up with another code, just for us.
” Boy, did that sound intimate. “I mean, for alerting each other.”
She hooked her pinky between her lips. “Put your finger like this, and then blow.” She demonstrated with a sound like a whip-poor-will. “If it sounds like a bird, it won’t tip off the son of a bitch.”
He mirrored her movement and blew out a mangled whistle. “I’ve never done it like this before.” He whistled normally, a soft catcall. “Yours sounded natural.” He tried her way again.
She wrapped her fingers around his hand, positioning it, and finding herself too close for comfort.
Her arm brushed against his. “Try again.” She kept moving his hand to change the angle until he got the sound right.
Damn, his mouth did make her think of staying in bed late.
“Whip-poor-wills call repeatedly.” She mimicked the sound.
“They’re calling for a mate, so you’ll hear one call and then a second one answering. ”
He raised an eyebrow. “So we’re going to call to each other like horny birds.”
She let out a breath, backing away because she was way too close. “Birds don’t get horny. Finding a mate and procreating is their instinct, their life’s mission aside from survival.”
He took her in with an amused expression…for a few seconds too long. “Thank you for that nature lesson. Is that how your Dragons are?”
“No, they’re just horny,” she fibbed, then quickly added, “Try the whistle again.” She did not want the word horny to be floating between them.
He tried again and nailed it.
“Excellent. If I were a female whip-poor-will, I’d go for you.”
“Vee, you kill me. You really do.”
She reran her words in her mind. “I meant it as a compliment, not a come on.”
“Honestly, if you recited a grocery list, especially in that sexy Lauren Bacall voice, it’d still be a turn-on.”
“Focus, Kavanaugh.” Violet pulled out her map, and they picked out two points along the property line to stake out.
She grabbed a small cloth bag from behind her seat with a backup set of clothing.
The killer was Dragon. She knew as soon as she saw him, she’d Catalyze.
“If we catch this person, we kill, right?”
“Ideally, we want to incapacitate and then torture for information.”
“Is that how Vegas work?”
“If we need information. Otherwise, we just kill. But we want to know why he’s doing this. And if anyone else is involved.”
“You do the torturing, and I’ll kill, because I really, really want to kill him.” She looked into the darkness beyond the Slades’ front line of trees. “He’s responsible for a lot of deaths. And plans to be responsible for more.”
“Once I find out what we need, he’s all yours.”
Her Dragon clawed, hungry to emerge and exact justice. Usually Crescents’ humanity was strong enough to keep the beasts’ lust and bloodlust in check. The real trouble began if they broke loose. She pushed open her door. “Then let’s go.”
Kade led the way, blending into the night with his dark clothes and silent stride. He’d done this before. Of course, he’d done it on her clan’s property more than once, busting Arlo for his pot farms. The very ones she warned him about having.
Arlo. You were messed up, but you didn’t deserve to die.
No stranger to prowling in the dark herself, she followed. Kade had showered at her house before dinner. Funny how her own soap and shampoo smelled different on him.
As she followed his silhouette into the woods, it was exactly as she imagined with the moonlight sprinkling down onto their path, over Kade, and across his face when he paused and turned to her. He gave her a nod and continued. She remained there as planned, watching him disappear into the shadows.
She settled on the ground against a tree, tuning in to the sounds around her: the rustle of a creature foraging for food and, far off in the distance, music. The Slades were having a party. Occasionally someone hollered with happy excitement. Death hadn’t yet touched them.
An hour passed, and then another. The party continued, making her wish she were there having fun instead of flicking off ants or some other bug she couldn’t see as it crawled over her. A raccoon approached, then skittered off when it spotted her.
Kade’s call jerked her out of her lethargy. She rose, following it while keeping an eye out for sounds and shadows. She called back, two lonely whip-poor-wills in the night.
Horny, indeed.
That Kade was calling meant someone was near, or approaching.
Her Dragon vibrated, ready to Catalyze. She put her hand to her waist as she walked, feeling its heat as it moved against her skin.
Kade wasn’t far, and within minutes, she came up beside him.
At the same moment, she heard the crack of a twig nearby.
Then a high-pitched whistle, clearly a Fringe call. She didn’t know what it meant.
Kade wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her close. Her backside bumped into him. In the near distance, a flashlight blinked through the trees. His hand tightened on her, but otherwise he gave away nothing.
The Violet she used to be clawed at her as insistently as her Dragon did. Kade must have sensed it because he put his cheek next to hers and shook his head.
The man—given his heavy footfalls—cut a zigzag path toward the property line. He gave another whistle, and she thought it might be a check-in signal: All clear.
Then he turned toward them, slashing the light back and forth. In a brief illumination of his face, she thought it might be Paul Slade. He was no doubt doing a security check, having heard about the murders. If he found them, he’d attack.
Kade held out his hand, palm up. What looked like a clear orb formed on his palm and quickly grew larger. It wobbled, like one of those oversized bubbles that big wands made when you put them in a dish of soapy water.
She could now see Paul’s face in the glow of his flashlight. The orb was nearly as tall as they were. Kade pulled her close against the front of his body and brought the bubble over and around them. His hand splayed across her collarbone.
He whispered very softly in her ear, “Stay still. Quiet. He can’t see us but he can hear us.”
She wasn’t familiar with Deuce magick and had never seen an orb like this. The bubble felt cold, which was an odd contrast to the warm, muggy night.
Paul slashed the light closer and closer to the edge of the bubble and then finally across it. The light didn’t penetrate, bouncing off the edge of it. He did pause, looking in their direction for a moment. Then he released another whistle and moved on.
She and Kade remained in their insulated cocoon that muffled the sounds somewhat. When Paul’s flashlight was only a twinkle, Kade said, “I’m going to extinguish the orb.”
“I’ve never heard of an orb like this.”
“It’s a mirror orb. From the outside, the person sees only a reflection of the surroundings. If they look close enough, they could figure it out, but it’s not likely in the dark.”
The orb shattered with a soft zzzt, like a popped bubble. Before she could even wonder if she should return to her post, they heard another sound: flesh hitting flesh. Hard.
They ran, Violet loosening her clothing as she did so.
The sight of two Dragons fighting sent her into Catalyzation.
Now her night vision was crisp, clear, and tinted wine-red.
Paul Slade and a Carnelian Dragon she didn’t recognize slashed at each other.
She smelled blood. The Carnelian’s eyes flared as she saw them. Violet felt feminine energy.
Paul’s Dragon took advantage of her momentary distraction and started to limp away. The female pulled out one of her scales and, with her clawed hand, threw it at him. Even though he ducked, it followed his movement and hit him in the chest, exploding in a flash of white.
No way. No friggin’ way could a Carnelian do that.
Paul hit the ground, and the Carnelian came at her. Kade intercepted, bringing his dagger down with its arc of magick electricity. It cut into the Carnelian’s back but didn’t slow her momentum. Her fangs grazed Violet’s shoulder before the Carnelian let out a scream and jerked back.