The peace and serenity of the night were shattered just after midnight when a blood-curdling scream reverberated through the darkness.
…
Theo was seated with his back against the headboard of the bed, reading the information Lisa had sent him when a scream from outside had him on his feet, grabbing his gun and rushing out the door in his gym shorts and boots.
He ran towards the sound, not aware that others were following him. At the far end of the row of rooms where it butted up to a wooded area stood a young woman wailing and holding her arm.
He took her by the shoulders and attempted to calm her enough to get an explanation. The two men behind him ducked into the shadows and waited.
“What happened?” He asked as the woman caught her breath and made eye contact with him for the first time.
“It attacked me.” She yelled and showed her arm bleeding with what looked like teeth marks.
“What attacked you, and where did it go?” He needed to get the bare facts so he could give chase before whatever hurt her completely escaped. She pointed behind her in the trees.
“It looked human, but it wasn’t, it was a monster.” She continued to go on about its appearance, but Theo handed her off to the next person who appeared and took off into the woods trailing whatever had bitten her.
The thing had crashed through some bushes, and its direction was pretty clear at first as Theo ran through the trees keeping his gun drawn and his attention focused.
…
Bastian ran from his room as Theo raced towards the young woman who was screaming. Rawl caught Bastian and pulled him back as Theo held the woman and briefly questioned her. They stood back and watched until Theo once again took off, running into the woods and into the unknown. Bastian was behind him in an instant, as was Rawl.
As Theo went deeper into the forest, Bastian went right to circle past him and get ahead while Rawl went left and kept pace with Theo. Bastian could smell cougar shifter and didn’t want his beloved going up against one of those beasts with nothing, but his service issued Glock 9mm. The thing wouldn’t even feel it unless Theo was lucky enough to get it between the eyes.
It was obvious that Rawl did not understand his need to protect and defend but did not question as he moved to try and get ahead of this thing. Unfortunately, he was but two steps away when it attacked.
…
Theo heard it before he saw it and swung to his left, ready to shoot but was too late. The thing was on him in a heartbeat, and his gun was flung far and wide, not that it would have been much good considering the sheer size of this thing. He put up his arms to hold off the teeth that were bearing down on him as the thing held him to the ground with its massive weight.
He felt the tearing of flesh as it bit into his forearm and felt the claws drag along his side, but he couldn’t focus on anything apart from survival. The details would be attended to later. He smelled the rancid stench of death on this beast and knew it had killed before, perhaps many times. Just as his arms were giving, the beast was pulled backward with a mighty force and while doing so struck out at Theo in a final attempt to kill. It backhanded him in the face, and just like that, all went dark.
…
Bastian saw blood as the thing leapt on his beloved. He moved faster than ever in his life as he grabbed the creature and, with one hand, pulled it back and off his beloved, but it took a final swipe at Theo and laid him out cold. In his rage, Bastian threw the beast and heard its bones crack as it struck a tree. He didn’t care; all he cared about was his beloved, who was unconscious and bleeding into the cold dark ground.
Rawl raced by him, pursuing the cougar shifter while Bastian knelt beside the still body of his beloved. Bastian bit his wrist and pressed the wound to Theo’s lips, making sure several drops were ingested before pulling back and licking the wound closed. He felt Theo’s heartbeat and his shallow yet steady breath, and that was all that kept him from tearing the world apart. His injuries were gradually healing, and the bleeding had stopped. Theo was unconscious but alive, and he would recover. Bastian continued to tell himself that as he scooped him into his arms and carried him back to the motel.
Terence had secured the area, clearing minds and healing the wound on the young woman’s arm, making sure the incident was contained. No one would remember the incident, and there would be no evidence of it occurring. Bastian walked with Theo secure in his arms across the parking lot towards Theo’s room. No one noticed or paid them any particular attention. Terence was an expert at control and clean up, so he did not concern himself about the containment.
He walked in and closed the door and carefully placed Theo on the top of the bed, making sure to place a pillow under his head. His beloved looked so helpless and sweet as he lay there asleep and unaware. Bastian just stared for a moment taking in the radiant beauty of his beloved. He wore only a thin pair of gym shorts baggy and hanging slightly off his left hip and a pair of muddy boots.
Bastian removed the boots and set them by the door on a rubber mat. He then went to the bathroom and got a wet cloth and a towel. Carefully and with great reverence, he cleaned his mate removing all dirt and blood from his hands, arms, and torso. Touching him so intimately was making Bastian hard as a rock and giving him the most erotic thoughts.
When he finished, he placated his need by placing a chaste kiss to Theo’s plump lips. Their first kiss. The touch was lovely, just lovely. He straightened and covered him with the blanket tucking him into bed as if he had never left it. Bastian took a look around the room, gathered up the washcloth and towel, and then left locking the door as he closed it.
Both Terence and Rawl were waiting for him outside. He indicated for them to follow him into their room before speaking. They stood by the door, waiting silently as Bastian walked over near the desk before turning back to regard them.
“Agent Theo Hawke is my beloved.” The reaction was a smile from Terence and a nod from Rawl.
“Now, all your behaviors make sense,” Rawl replied. “Congratulations, General.”
“We’ll take good care of him, sir,” Terence spoke up.
“Thank you, both.”
“You couldn’t clear his mind,” Rawl stated. “He’ll have full memory of what took place here tonight.”
“There won’t be anyone to support whatever he may remember. We need to play it off as a dream or hallucination for now. It’s a risk, but he isn’t in a place to understand the truth just yet.” Bastian told them.
“He’s a smart man and may not appreciate being played with like this. I wouldn’t let the deception go on too long, sir. It could affect your relationship.” Terence’s words were the truth.
“I know, but it has to be this way.” He stated and then changed the subject. “How about the cougar? What did you do with him?”
“You broke him in half, sir,” Rawl answered. “I called clean up, and they’re taking the remains to the Palace to see if we can get an identification. He looked and smelled rogue. He suffered a mental break at some point and was stuck halfway into a shift. It was monstrous, to say the least.”
“Killing at random, or was he set loose, I wonder.” Bastian felt a determination about the beast that seemed directed. “Contact Sheriff Keller and make sure there weren’t any other victims in the area. We have to contain from every angle.”
“Yes, General.”
…
Theo came awake with a start and was instantly on his feet, ready for battle, but there was no battle. It was just him alone in his room at the Skyline Motel. He looked down at himself, and there were no wounds, not even the slightest of injury. His forearm was perfect, the skin unmarred, as was his side. He’d been bitten and clawed and nearly killed, so why did he look as if nothing happened?
He walked over to the door and unlocked it and opened it wide, but everything looked unaffected. No authorities swarming the place, no people gawking, just nothing. He stood in the doorway for a few minutes trying to put his thoughts i
n order and trying to remember the previous night. The door opened to his right, and the man he saw yesterday stepped out and headed to his car, much like he had yesterday.
“Did you hear someone scream last night?” He blurted before the man got into his car. He stopped and looked at Theo directly.
“No.” He said, and it sounded thoughtful. Theo paused, absorbing the confusion he was feeling and tried to get his bearings.
“I thought . . . I thought I. . .” His words trailed off as he couldn’t decide how to state what he thought had happened as the man stood there and regarded him with concern.
“What is it?” He asked. Theo finally just shook his head and looked away.
“Nothing, must have been dreaming.” He turned away from the man and went back inside his room and stood there, looking around, trying to find something that would explain his confusion.
He looked at his boots sitting on the mat by the door, and the soles were muddy. He couldn’t recall getting them muddy, but they were. His gun was in its holster, looking as if it had never left it. Everything was as it should be except for his boots, and then he noticed his gym shorts when he looked at himself in the wall mirror across the room.
He never slept in shorts, he always slept in the nude. He remembered his shower and slipping on the shorts and stretching out on the bed to review his notes and then the scream. He needed to find someone who remembers what he remembers, so after a quick shower, he hurriedly got dressed and headed out to question the occupants of the motel.
The fact that he had not a scratch on him confounded him the most. He remembered the pain being so sharp he could taste it and the fear knowing that he probably wasn’t going to survive. Something happened, he just didn’t know what. If it had been a hallucination, what was the cause?
Stepping back outside, he looked around and then started walking in the direction he recalls running after hearing the scream. The memories were blurred, but there was enough for him to follow.
He came to the end of the row of rooms on his side of the one-floor motel and looked around. The tree line was a few feet beyond him with brush and scrubs in between—plenty of opportunities to hide and launch an attack on an unsuspecting person.
There was no sign of blood or even a scuffle. He walked further into the wooded area, trying to remember the route he took when running off after speaking with the woman. The area looked completely undisturbed. There were some broken branches, but they were dry and discolored, having happened long ago and not last night. After searching for well over an hour, he pulled out his notebook and jotted down everything he remembered from the previous evening. He should have done that sooner, but his confusion had gotten the best of him.
He made a sketch and a written description of the thing that he believes attacked him. Somehow the thing was overpowered and disposed of by someone or something. He then went door to door at the motel introducing himself and questioning the occupants about their experiences the previous evening.
He came up empty, not a single person he spoke to remembered the evening the way he remembered it. What bothered him was that the young girl who was injured was nowhere to be found. Yes, there were many explanations that could be made for her absence, but it seemed too convenient. Everything was too convenient for his peace of mind.
CHAPTER FIVE
“He searched the woods and is now canvassing the motel.” Terence contacted Bastian, who had returned to the Palace to follow up on the rogue cougar that had attacked his beloved. “He spoke to Rawl this morning, briefly, and it seems he has some memory of the events, but he’s not convinced of their accuracy.”
“Keep me posted. Let me know when he leaves the motel.”
“I will.”
Bastian entered the morgue and saw that Silas was there with Dr. Evens and a wolf shifter that he did not recognize. He walked over to the three men who were standing over the corpse of the cougar he’d killed last night.
“Bastian.” Silas acknowledged him. “This is Dr. Navarre from the Presque Isle wolf pack up in Presque Isle County. Dr. Evens called him last night to help determine the physiological cause of this shifter’s descent into madness. It appears to have happened in a matter of hours, which is, as you know, unheard of outside magics.”
Bastian stepped forward and shook the Doctor’s hand before giving the corpse his attention. “Do you know who he is?”
“A cougar shifter named Ronald Bore from Ohio. No indications he was here for work or that he was affiliated with any of the cougars in town.” Silas responded. “I tried to get into his mind, but whatever fucked him up fried all his neurons. I just got a jumble of feelings, fear, appetite, rage. There was no sense or continuity to his thoughts.”
Dr. Navarre spoke up and captured Bastian’s attention. “He didn’t go through the process of a neurological breakdown that a rogue goes through, and besides rogues are rare with cougars. They tend to be more solitary and rarely travel in groups, so isolation is not a threat to their state of mind.” Dr. Navarre moved around the table to stand next to Dr. Evens.
“This was brought on suddenly. The breakdown was more like an explosion than a slow rot of the brain. This could have been planned or a very unfortunate accident, and I don’t know what caused it. It could have been ingested or injected, but the breakdown was the outcome.”
“Could it have been magics? A caster or a witch dabbling in mind control?” Bastian threw out the possibilities.
“We couldn’t smell the scent tracers of magics, but it could have dissipated before the body arrived,” Silas responded. “Do you recall anything when you engaged with him either a sharp electrical stench or a heated touch?”
“No, neither. He was just in a rage, and I didn’t engage long enough to really get a read on him. My beloved was injured, and my concentration was on him.” Bastian explained, and Silas nodded his understanding.
“Is your beloved well?” Silas inquired.
“Yes, as well as can be expected.”
“I look forward to meeting him.”
…
Theo considered giving Lisa a call and explaining what he believes took place last night and then today but then decided not to. He had little to support his fading memory apart from mud on his boots and going to sleep with his gym shorts on. Nothing else was out of place. He checked his watch and realized the morning was almost gone, and he had an appointment with Bastian this afternoon.
Bastian had stated he would collect Theo at one-fifteen and drive him to the home of Louis DuCane and DuCane Industries. He was anxious to meet Mr. DuCane and discuss the man’s influence and power over the town of Mt. Pleasant and also his authority over law enforcement in the area.
The primary complaints filed with the Council regarding the previous sheriff and his deputies were filed by Louis DuCane. Also, the current Sheriff Kassius Keller was suggested to the Council by Louis DuCane. After checking the membership of the City Council, only Bastian DuFort had a direct connection to Louis DuCane the others were local citizens and businesspersons.
He decided to head back to his room and do a little further research on the Council and also Louis DuCane. He hoped that his meeting with DuCane would give him some leads to follow or make it clear there was nothing here. The need for clarity and understanding was riding him hard.
At about one-ten, he went outside and sat to wait for Bastian. Something about the man-made him think he would be right on time, and he was. He drove up in a pristine black Lexus that was the perfect frame for a man like Bastian DuFort, strong, sophisticated, and impossible to ignore. He got out and strode over to Theo with a hard look of intense interest. His dark eyes traveled Theo’s body head to toe as if assessing or searching for something, then held his gaze and smiled soft and warm.
His eyes were searing in their intensity so dark and so hot like the darkest embers in the depth of the fire. Theo stood still, just taking it all in enjoying the feelings elicited by his gaze. Bastian was an exciting man, and T
heo looked forward to their drive, hoping to gain some insight into who he was and what he wanted. Could he be the General from the dark ages that Lisa had referred to? It was crazy, but there were times he definitely looked the part.
“If you’re ready, I’ll take you to the Palace DuCane.” He announced and held out his hand, and without thinking about it, Theo took it and nodded. Bastian held it secure and continued the assessment, which wasn’t judgment, but rather tinged with concern, and that confounded Theo. He released Theo’s hand and placed his palm on the small of Theo’s back, directing him to the car and opening the door for him and guiding him inside.
For a moment, Theo wondered if the man was going to buckle him in, but he managed to resist and simply closed the door. Theo watched him closely as he walked with such ease and surety around the car to the driver’s side and slide in. The motion struck him as sensual, and he didn’t know why.
The aroma that filled the car was masculine and fresh, and Theo was sure he’d never smelled anything so amazing. After they pulled away from the motel and were leaving town Theo spoke.
“Are there creatures in these woods?” It was off the wall and unexpected, and he hoped to see a reaction from Bastian. He was an expert at schooling his features, as was made evident yesterday. But today was a new day, and things were beginning to get real.
“What sort of creatures are you expecting?” Bastian answered as impassive as ever, but his eyes swept Theo before returning to the road ahead.
“The unexpected, at least for me,” Theo responded, donning the same tone and demeanor.
“These woods have fox, wolves, bear, a variety of small game and birds. There have been reports of bobcats, but that hasn’t been confirmed as truth.” Bastian told him.
“Bears? Like the bear that killed Deputy Clark?”
“Yes, that was a tragedy. But bear attacks are not uncommon in Isabella County.”
Blood Sacrifice: Vampires of Blood and Bones Page 4