Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Nina
Sweetwater Point
Present Day
Nina knew this monster.
She adjusted the hood on her greatcoat. It didn’t help. She was still miserably wet, and the monster was still dead.
Rain beaded on the surface of the waxed fabric, but the coat did nothing against the cold. She was chilled down to her soul and longed for a pair of dry socks. Years of patrolling and she’d yet to be satisfied with a pair of boots that kept her feet truly dry and warm.
Duty called, rain or shine. Such was the burden of the sheriff.
Currently, she stood in the middle of Front Street, the main thoroughfare of Sweetwater Point. There was a body of a beast in the middle of said road, a wailing woman, a soldier clutching his stomach with blood oozing through his fingers, and her newly recruited deputy, Remi.
Poor fellow. He looked as if he were on the verge of passing out.
“Try not to faint, deputy,” she said. “It’s only blood.”
“It’s an awful lot of blood,” Remi replied in a thin voice.
“Hold the lantern steady. You don’t mind waiting, do you, Major Pearson?
” Nina crouched down for a closer inspection of the beast, not waiting for an answer.
The bleeding soldier should have priority but that wouldn’t matter if the beast got a second wind and decided to eviscerate a few more people. Major Pearson could wait.
Rain obscured the stars and the moon. Shaky lantern light allowed her to make out the beast’s features.
Flat on its back, the beast stared up to the rainy night sky with vacant eyes.
Blood and rain soaked the fur, creating a sodden mess.
The white patch of fur on its chin burned as brightly as a flare.
Ben Jollett.
She knew this monster.
It was too cold to be angry, although her anger would be justified.
She felt as she had a decade ago when she first encountered Ben Jollett with his distinctive white chin: a new recruit, clumsy with her weapon and learning to trust her instincts.
Right now, her instincts were howling that this situation—the beast shot dead in the street of her town—should never have occurred.
He should have been dead years ago.
Needing to verify if Jollett was truly deceased, she removed a glove and placed her hand on his neck.
No pulse that she could detect, but all the fur, even slick from the rain, could inhibit an accurate reading.
Iron bands circled both the beast’s wrists. Chain dangled from one, showing where the metal had been twisted until it snapped. The skin under the bands were raw and red, possibly infected.
Nina pressed her lips together in an effort to hold her tongue.
A dangerous beast needed to be restrained but the damaged skin at the wrists spoke to a long captivity.
Of long -endured pain. She didn’t want to feel sympathy—he didn’t deserve her compassion—and grew angry with herself holding those emotions regardless.
Striving to remain neutral, she checked for a pulse at the wrists. Cold rain splattered on her face and rolled down her nose as she worked.
“It’s dead,” a gruff voice said.
Pearson, the soldier with the stomach wound. For him she felt no sympathy. He received the fate he deserved.
“Yes, multiple gunshots to the chest will do that,” Nina muttered, rising to her feet.
She couldn’t do anything about the beast now. The woman had no obvious physical injuries, despite her rather impressive wailing. As much as she’d prefer to let Major Anthony Pearson succumb to his wounds, duty required that she provide care.
He swayed on his feet, perilously close to succumbing.
“Dora, I need you to stay calm,” Nina said, catching Pearson before he collapsed. He was a tall man and she staggered under his weight.
He was pale, ghastly even. Caught in the illumination of the lantern, light and shadow created hollows on his face. His hair was silver, almost luminous, and his eyes were dark pits. His uniform, normally a dark blue, was glossy in the faint light.
Not so handsome now.
“He’s dead! He was going to kill me and now he’s dead!” Dora flung her head back as she cried.
Deputy Hal and Chief Deputy Pierre arrived. Curtains twitched. Doors opened. It was only a matter of time before people flooded the streets, driven by curiosity.
Right. She needed this situation under control. Immediately.
Nina pointed to Hal. Big and green, he had the monstrous affliction as well, but he was not dangerous. Far from it. He was always measured and controlled, even when busting up a brawl. “Keep the street clear. No one is to leave their homes,” she ordered.
He nodded and set to work.
“Pierre, fetch a cart. We need to move the body.”
Now to deal with the singer.
“Remi, please take Miss Dora inside and make her something for her nerves,” Nina said, gesturing to the professional singer currently using all her skills to project her voice to every soul in town. “Tea, Deputy, not whiskey.”
Remi looked pale and shaken, but nodded.
Nina was too cold to feel more than a shred of pity for the new recruit.
As the mayor’s nephew, she hadn’t wanted to hire him but the mayor pressured her.
In the end, she decided it was a lesser evil.
Remi was a spy, clearly, but he was slightly more useful than having an unknown number of corrupt deputies in her office.
This was a mess.
Even though the equinox was still a week away, events always took a dramatic turn in the days leading up to the Nexus surge. Usually, that was limited to bar brawls. A beast hadn’t prowled the town’s streets since she took office.
Bitter resentment filled her. Pearson said he’d handle the problem.
The beast’s murdered corpse in the middle of the street begged to differ.
Not a murder. This was an execution.
Nina pushed aside her bitter feelings and asked Pearson, “How badly are you hurt?”
“I’ll live.”
“Were you bitten?”
“Do I look like I was bitten?”
“Honestly, you look like a dog’s chew toy, so maybe respect my intelligence enough to know there was a reason I asked you that question.”
He pushed away from her. Despite swaying, he managed to remain upright. He continued to clutch his stomach. “I was not. It caught me with its claws.”
Good. One less thing to worry about.
“Let me see,” she said, reaching for his coat.
“Certainly not.” He twisted away.
“Now’s not the time to be modest. I need to ascertain the severity of your injuries.” Then, in a softer tone that she didn’t understand because nothing about her wanted to feel soft about this man, she said, “You know how serious a gut wound can be.”
Pearson lifted his chin and his nostrils flared, as if he were mustering the energy to protest. To her surprise, he said, “Very well. Be quick about it.”
He pushed open the coat, revealing the fabric of his torn waistcoat and undershirt. Nina held up the lantern and leaned in. The creature’s claws had raked across his abdomen, shredding every layering of cloth, and tearing deep into his skin.
She sniffed, searching for the foul odor of perforated bowels, but only detected sweat and blood. “You require stitches. A quick visit to Doc Bell will set you right.”
“I’m afraid a visit to the good doctor will have to wait.” Pearson shoved the tattered remains of his shirt down and buttoned his coat. “Have your man lift the body on my horse. I’ll return to base and see the surgeon there.”
“Absolutely not. That creature is city property and he is going to the morgue and then he’ll be burned properly.”
“That creature is property of Nexus Planetary Forces. It is returning to base with me.”
“Jollett,” Nina said.
“Pardon?”
“That’s Ben Jollett.”
“Don’t be absurd.”
Nina took a step forward, closing the gap between them.
“I know that’s Ben Jollett because I recognize the white chin.
That’s the beast that murdered Lucas.” It had been a decade since Lucas died, eleven years to be precise, and the grief still felt raw.
She was back to being a newly recruited deputy again, having the same argument with the same bullheaded man.
“It bears a striking resemblance,” he said.
“You said you would take care of it,” she snarled.
“The situation was dealt with.”
Every fiber of her being wanted to jab her fingers into his gut, to rake her own fingernails over his wound, to dig in and make him scream.
Nina was, however, a professional.
She spat at his feet. “You lied to me, Pearson. You swore Jollett would be put to death.”
“As I recall, I said there would be consequences but it was not my place to decide.”
“Passing the blame along to someone else. Very noble.” She yanked the scarf from her neck. “Hold your arms up.”
“Pardon—”
“It’s a fair ride back to the fort and I don’t want you dying.”
“How considerate,” he said in a haughty tone, but complied, holding his arms up.
This man infuriated her. She wrapped the scarf around his abdomen.
“I’m not being considerate,” she said, tying the fabric tighter than necessary. “Duty requires that I assist you. As much as I’d like you to bleed out on the ride back, I’m obligated as an officer of the law and as a decent person.”
“No other reason?”
“Arresting you for failing to promptly report a dangerous beast on the loose.” Panicked reports of a monster in the streets a full week before the solstice was how her office got involved.
“I could also arrest you for causing a public disturbance, endangering the general population, and recklessly discharging a firearm in a busy street.”
She finished securing the scarf and stood to look him in the eye.
It seemed unfathomable that she had once thought him distractingly handsome.
Exhaustion drained the color from the face and he looked worn.
She appreciated some wear and tear on a person’s face—it added character—but Pearson looked unwell, which made sense.
Being a lying rotten bastard had that effect on a person’s health.
Don’t go soft on him now. Pearson deserved many things, but her pity wasn’t one.