Chapter Twenty-Seven
Theron
I smell Luna’s scent as she breezes to a halt outside my lavvu.
“Theron. Put on your clothes and come out.”
She doesn’t want a stray ray of sunshine to catch me through the branches. This far into summer can be real problematic with some of the angles the sun rays can reach, especially in the mid- to late afternoon.
“Hang tight.” I start pulling on my outfit, which isn’t easy. I have to tilt my head because of the tent’s height restrictions.
Gloves, bandana, helmet. Done.
Mid-summer, the sun seems to linger in the sky forever. And I will always see it through the filter of a tinted shield.
“Yep?”
Squatting down, Luna motions for me to sit. If any ramblers or joggers come up the track, they will see nothing more than a biker and a beekeeper hunkering down for a chat.
“Aila is awake and feeling better. She drank some tea, and I left her eating supper.”
“Why am I sitting here like a forest troll getting my cheeks pinched by a helmet just so you can tell me that?” I’m in no mood for polite nothings.
For me, falling in love is the same as trying to tame a wild stallion. Like someone is attempting to stick a bridle between my teeth and a saddle on my back. And just when Aila thought she had me tamed, she went and stuck her spurs into me.
Piers—that smooth-talking son of a bitch—really knew how to stir the pot. I’m shrewd enough to deduce that he had a vested interest in being all polite and charming, but it ended with Aila and her mother looking… dubious at best. Sneaky and greedy at worst.
“Aila doesn’t want money, Hunter. She’s happy to sign the NDA with her mother and just get on with her life.
I’m inclined to believe there was never a…
financial angle to her relationship with Piers.
As for all her other emotional baggage, I’m happy to put that down to Aila being a coward and a mindfuck. ”
Luna is wrong. I remember that young woman slogging her ass off at Harry’s Saloon, walking bravely into the night to look for me.
“I don’t need your input or opinion, Luna. Learn to butt out.”
She smirks and shrugs. “Whatever. It’s your funeral.”
It’s my heart.
“Cool. I’m going to go sort it out right now. Then Piers can fuck off back to wherever he came from.” I stop. “Don’t those NDAs need witnesses?”
Luna gestures around her.
“We’re surrounded by upstanding witnesses.” Shooing me away with her hand, Luna smiles. “Go. Get it done. It’s for the best.”
I miss my motorcycle, but Piers was right. Harleys are not heavy terrain bikes. They are designed to eat mile after mile of tarmac without breaking a sweat. Reaching the road, I pause, moving my head around to hear all the noises from the happy holidaymakers.
The sound of a two-stroke engine draws my attention. Strange. It’s not coming from any of the normal spots where visitors like to hang out. The squeal of kids splashing in the water comes from the jetty.
Guess I’ll start there.
I have to use my Harley as camouflage so I can get away with wearing the helmet during the day. The machine purrs and throbs between my thighs when I start the engine; a satisfying sensation for a black-hearted speed demon like me.
There’s a woman sitting on the edge of the jetty with a sunhat on. She’s a mom, for sure, all the way down to the bottle of sunscreen by her side and those water bottles with cartoons on them. In a mellow mood, just chilling, enjoying the late afternoon sun.
She looks up when she hears the motorcycle, swiveling around so she can judge my body language more accurately. I hear her call out to the kids in the water.
“Stay where you are, darlings, and simmer down.”
She doesn’t want them close to me.
Clueless myōp. I don’t like children on my diet. They are strictly in the same category as men. “Ugh” as Aila would say.
I cut the engine, and the stand goes down, but my helmet doesn’t come off as I approach the jetty.
One of the fucking kids was playing too hard in the water and didn’t listen to what their mother said. Emerging from underneath the water surface, they see me coming closer and scream.
“Mommy! Mommy! It’s a monster!”
Flopping around in the water, their shrill screams break the peaceful nature surrounding us.
The myōp gets embarrassed, but she’s not too apologetic on behalf of her kids. I’m infringing on her space. I get it.
“Er… hello? Can I help you? Are you lost? My boyfriend’s around. He’ll be back just now.”
“It’s a spaceman monster!” one of the kids shouts from the creek, sounding pretty damn chuffed with himself for coming up with that description.
The mom looks annoyed. “Hello? Can you remove your helmet please? You’re scaring my children.”
“Where’s Piers?”
The woman stands up, which makes her feel less intimidated by my height. She spends a lot of time pulling the hem of her flimsy poolside garment down over her thighs and then pushing her feet into some slippers.
“You know Piers?”
Biting back a growl of frustration, I nod. I’m all out of polite fucking affirmatives.
“He’s gone exploring.” She looks back to check that her two kids are still okay in the water before pointing down the road. “He went that way.”
Tilting my head to one side, I am curious.
That way is towards the Farmers’ house. Definitely not a holiday destination.
Mikey Farmer, like his dad before him, is one of those preppers.
He makes his money selling prep kits at gun shows around the country.
Plus, he’s got a nice little side hustle in illegal arms sales.
All standard Midnight Rider approved activities.
“On the quadbike?”
The way the woman shakes her head tells me she’s tired of pretending she’s not shit scared of me. I gotta take into account those “family friendly” online reviews that bring all the spigots here for my brothers to feed on.
“Of course he’s on the ATV. He wanted to do some off-roading.”
“You’re Kelly, right? Piers told me about you last night. Really romantic the way you guys hooked up. He sure sounds smitten.”
Instantly, she’s all smiles. Flicking back her blonde curls, she blinks her eyes while her body language relaxes.
“He said that? Yes, I suppose it was. My boyfriend and I broke up. Left me and the kids with no one to keep us company during the vacation, so…”
I swear if it were possible for me to fall asleep while standing up that’s what I would be doing right now. Modern humans can be so boring sometimes with their tendency to overshare.
Keep nodding. Show that you’re listening with your body. Zzzzz…
Maybe I was too quick to judge Aila for not sharing every little detail about her past with me.
“Well, please let us know if there is anything we can do to make your stay more enjoyable, Kelly. And I’m sorry about the interruption.”
Back away while you can. Give a sweet wave goodbye.
And I’m free.
I may as well make a pass at Mikey’s and Fallon’s house while I’m here. It might be the fastest way of finding Piers. Revving down the shady lane leading to their house, I see tire tracks in the sand. Good. I’m on the right scent.
Mikey comes out onto the porch when he hears me cut the engine. He knows the Riders never remove our helmets.
“Who do… Hunter.” Mikey smiles and waves. I turned my back to him so that he could see which Rider he was dealing with. “You guys sure caught a live one.”
“He come by here?”
“Sure thing. It weren’t sneaky or anything. Could hear that quadbike of his from a mile off. Did Piers find Miss Aila and Miss Amelia? I gave him directions to Ben’s farm.”
Shit. I’m back on my bike as fast as humanly possible. I thought Mister Moneybags Future Politician picked up what I was laying down. I’m arranging the NDA signatures, not him. If Aila and Piers are going to have a reunion, I want to be there when it happens.
“Thanks, Mikey.” Touching my hand to my helmet, I back my bike around and away.
I’m a little late to the party, but I have no trouble cutting across the island, using the backtracks to reach Ben’s farm first. It’s about time I brought Amelia up to speed anyway.
On the crest of the hill, I idle the Harley’s engine as I think things through.
Should I wait until nightfall? I can’t go into Ben’s house with my helmet on and start demanding that Amelia pull the drapes closed. A quick glance to the west tells me the sun has about an hour before it sinks beneath the tree line.
But I must know what Piers Jordan is doing riding his flashy quadbike all over Landslide. Fuck that shit about him doing some off-roading. Guys like Piers don’t ride rough.
It must have looked so innocent for him to carry his new girlfriend and her two brats to the jetty and then tell her he’s off to explore the interior.
Only he wasn’t. He stopped at the first house he came to and asked where he could find Aila…
I’ll leave my Harley in the forest and go down to Ben’s farm on foot. It’ll be quieter and more discrete. Sidling through the trees, I feel my fangs slide out.
The hunter has come out to play. I’m not hungry or sexually stimulated, but sometimes the monster in me just likes to show itself. Here, all alone in the forest, I am free to let the feral side of me run wild.
Approaching the boundary fence, there’s a sign.
“Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted.”
Ben put that sign up five years ago after Luna went all in with opening up the chalet inn to tourists. Old bear traps are strategically set all over Ben’s farm from when his daddy tried to catch whatever was drinking his cattle dry so long ago.
No truck in the driveway. Have Amelia and Ben already headed down to the inn for a drink?
Back door or front? Best to knock on the front door. Ben’s animals always make a racket if any of the vampires lurk around the stables. We used to feed on them a lot before Tempest created the recipe for our fluids.
The ATV tracks come straight to the stairs leading up to the porch.
Stomping loudly on the wooden floorboards, I clear my throat. “Hey, Amelia? You at home?”
I smell Amelia before I hear her. I can smell her blood. And it’s not inside her body.
Quietly opening the front door a crack, I inhale. I can detect no other scent. Ben’s odor is around, but not strong enough for him to be present.
Stepping inside, I lope over to the copper perfume of blood coming from the kitchen.
Next to the spilled tray and smashed porcelain teacups, lying with her face in a pool of blood, is Amelia. I know everything there is to know about the human anatomy. Studying how the human body works makes me a more efficient bloodsucker.
Running my fingers over her neck, I check for any dislocation. If she’s got a broken neck and I randomly turn her over, I could sever her spinal cord. Her spine is intact, so I lift her face out of the blood and start clearing her airways after removing my helmet.
I exhale into Amelia’s mouth. Chest compressions. Breathe out into her mouth again. Ignore the enticing scent of her blood.
I’m starting to understand the convenience of cell phones.
I don’t need to feel for a pulse. I can feel Amelia’s heart fluttering weakly as it tries to compensate for the blood that’s leaking out all over the kitchen linoleum.
It came from a gash in her skull. The blood flow from the wound has slowed to a sluggish trickle now that I have her torso elevated.
Ben’s truck is coming up the driveway. Soon I can pass this resuscitation over to him. He’s a sensible guy, he can handle it. The window curtains on the west wall have been drawn to block out the summer heat.
I should be good to leave off my helmet and keep up the life-saving maneuvers.
I hear two truck doors slamming. Someone is with Ben. It’s Aila.
Shit. This is not how I want her to see Amelia.
Ben bumbles inside, calling to Aila over his shoulder.
“She’ll be around here somewhere. Let’s get some tea going. You gotta be hot after walking that road.”
A single red sunbeam from the sinking sun penetrates the curtain blowing in the breeze coming from the front door.
I can’t stop myself. Dropping Amelia’s bloody head back onto the kitchen floor, I open my red-stained mouth and hiss.
Ahhhhhsssssss!
My human front falls away as my eyes turn red and my fangs extend.
And then everything goes black.