by Ann Charles
He laughed. The deep, baritone sound eased the tension from my shoulders.
“You’re as prickly as your aunt today.”
“Did you go see her?”
“No. I called.”
“What did she say?”
“When I asked her what she was up to, she told me to go to hell and then hung up on me.”
I chewed on my lower lip. She’d seemed fine during breakfast this morning. A little withdrawn, but quick to smile.
“That’s why I need your help.”
“I’ve already hidden her shotgun shells, Reid. She just keeps buying more. You should probably buy a bulletproof vest and duck for cover after you knock on her door.”
His forehead creased as he stared out the windshield. “I love that girl’s spunk, but she has one hell of a bite.”
“Well, at least she’s stopped filing her teeth when she knows you’re coming around, so we’re making progress.”
He sighed. “Yeah, about that. I want to introduce her to someone, but I’m worried about how it will go.”
My heart sank. I didn’t want Reid to move on. I’d been rooting for him to win over Aunt Zoe for months, keeping my fingers crossed he’d eventually beat down the walls she’d built.
“If this ‘someone’ comes equipped with mammary glands and a pair of X chromosomes, I recommend you reach out to Aunt Zoe via pen and paper, and then leave town for … I don’t know, maybe six months to a year.”
I had a feeling that in spite of Aunt Zoe’s repeated claims that she wasn’t going to fall for Reid again, she was already halfway to the ground. A solid nudge would send her crashing the rest of the way down.
“It’s my son,” he said quietly.
“Your son?” I’d forgotten Reid had a kid. Well, he wouldn’t be a kid anymore.
He nodded.
“Is that who your out-of-town company is?”
“Yeah. He’s thinking about moving here to be closer to me. He knows a little bit about my recent history with Zo and wants to meet her, but I’m nervous about bringing him around.”
Only the recent stuff? “You think she won’t like him?”
“Yes. No. Who knows?” He gripped the wheel with both hands. “I just want the two people I love to hit it off right out of the gate.”
I could relate to that. Bringing Doc into the kids’ life hadn’t gone near as well as I’d hoped, but time was smoothing out the burrs. If only my kids’ biological sperm donor—the no-good son of a bitch—would take a rocket to the moon and leave us alone so we could finish forming a tight-knit, happy little family.
“What do you need from me?” I asked, checking the time. Jerry’s clients should be showing up in another fifteen minutes or so. I flipped down the visor to have another look at myself after battling with the wind.
“I guess I was hoping that you and I could put our heads together and figure out a way to grease the wheel.”
“I’m game. Do you want me to talk to Aunt Zoe about your son?”
I tipped the visor a bit, trying to get a better look in the mirror at my hair. The wind had done a bang-up job of messing it up after the wrangling I’d done. I leaned down and turned slightly, checking to see what remained of my French coil.
I saw something move in the reflection back near the trees behind the garage.
Crud, was Tiffany coming out to check up on us? She’d probably noticed my SUV and Reid’s pickup by now.
“I think we might have company.” I turned in the seat to get a better look through the back window.
Reid followed my lead, peering out the back along with me. “I thought your clients weren’t here yet.”
“They’re not. I think it’s … ” my voice squeaked in my throat at the sight of a gangly, long-limbed creature loping along on all fours on the far side of the cedar rail fence. “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” I said under my breath.
“What in the hell is that?” Reid’s windpipe sounded strangled.
I faced forward, my breath coming fast, my body tingling with a sudden bolt of energy. I could feel the adrenaline ramping up in me again, shooting through my veins like a fireball. The urge to kill the creature as soon as possible took over my thoughts, followed by a rush of anticipation. I had to go find it. Chop it to pieces. Turn it to dust. Now, before it was too late and someone else saw it.
I reached for the door handle, but out of the blue another cramp gripped me, low and fierce, making me double over. I groaned in pain.
“Violet!” Reid reached out and touched my back. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
Wincing, I looked at him. “I don’t suppose you happen to have one of those heavy-duty fireman axes in your truck that I could borrow.”
He nodded. “Yes. Why? What is that thing in the trees?”
“A Nachzehrer.”
His face paled. “You mean the used-to-be human Zo talked about? The thing we found burnt next to the Mickelson Trail last fall?”
“I saw two arms and two legs, so this isn’t the one you found, but it’s just like it, only not so crispy.” I sat upright as the cramp began to fade.
He swiveled, looking out the back window again. “What the hell is it doing here?”
“Looking for me.” I reached for the door handle again. “Now, where’s that ax?”
Chapter Nine
“What are you going to do with my ax?” Reid asked as he followed me up the drive.
“I’m going to take care of that thing before it kills anyone. Especially you and me.”
As we neared the house, the front door opened and Tiffany rushed out onto the porch. She was dressed to the nines in a shape-hugging pristine white suit. Everything else on her was red, including her stiletto heels, belt, lips, and hair.
Damn it. As usual, Tiffany looked drop-dead sexy, and I just looked dead, or at least recently back from it. Pale and blotchy with wind-whipped hair and a fading black eye, I was no match for her polish and shine today.
“Violet!” she snapped, planting her hands on her tiny, non-child-widened hips. “What are you doing with that ax?”
Oops! I lowered the weapon and pasted on a big, glossy smile, trying my best not to act the part of a psychotic killer rushing off into the trees to decapitate someone—or rather, something.
“What ax?” I played dumb.
Her scoff echoed off the side of the garage. “If you touch my Jeep, I’m going to—”
“I’m not going to touch your stupid Jeep, Tiffany,” I snapped back at her. To Reid, I whispered tersely, “Go take care of that problem.”
“Me? No.” He kept stride with me. “I can’t let you go after that thing alone. It was huge. Easily twice your size.”
“I know,” I said. “I just killed one yesterday.”
He grabbed my coat sleeve, tugging me to a stop. “You what?”
“Violet!” Tiffany hovered at the top of the porch steps shivering in the wind, her arms wrapped around herself. “Don’t make me call the cops on you.”
“Reid.” I stared hard up into his dark blue eyes. “I need you to go distract her now. I can’t have Detective Hawke racing out here and threatening to burn me at the stake in front of everyone.”
“Coop will protect you.”
“He has the day off for his birthday, remember?”
“Shit. That’s right. You guys are doing that murder-mystery thing tonight, right?”
“The escape room, yes.”
“But Zo is staying home with the kids?” At my terse nod, he asked, “Should I bring my son over tonight?”
I shot a glance at the trees and then Tiffany, before leaning closer to him. “Do you think we could bookmark this conversation and get back to it after you go distract Tiffany and I go kill the Nachzehrer?”
“Sure.” When I started to turn away, he grabbed my sleeve again. “What’s your plan?”
I looked down at the ax and then back at him. “I figured I’d start with removing its head, per Masterson’s instructions.”
&nb
sp; “That’s it, Violet! I’m calling your boss,” Tiffany threatened. “And then the cops.”
I held up my index finger in her direction. “Just give me a damned minute, Tiffany! You owe me that for stealing Jeff Wymonds away from me.”
“What does Masterson have to do with this?” Reid asked.
“I’ll explain it to you later. Right now I need to do my job, and you need to charm Jessica Rabbit up there with those big fireman muscles and the red-hot charm you hose-jockeys are famous for.” I tried to pull free, but he held on.
“Sparky, you cannot go hunt that thing alone. Zo will kill me if anything happens to you on my watch.”
“Aunt Zoe will kill me if I let anything happen to you on my Executioner watch.” I pointed the ax toward the porch where Tiffany still hovered, a worried frown on her forehead as she glanced back and forth between the front door and us. “Please, Reid, you have to run interference for me. Take Tiffany back in the house and don’t let anyone follow me into the trees.”
“Christ!” He scrubbed his hand down his face.
“Reid.” I gripped the front of his canvas coat, pulling him down to my level. “This is what I do. Now go play fire captain and put out that fire.” I shoved him toward the house.
A shriek pierced the air, making my shoulders tighten. It came from the hillside, but higher up. The Nachzehrer was either running away from me or luring me into the trees where it might have the advantage.
Tiffany took a step backward, her worried brow now aimed at the hillside behind the house. “What the hell was that?”
“It’s a cougar,” I heard Reid say as he walked toward her, his baritone voice steady and calming. “How about we get you inside, darlin’, before you catch a chill?”
Without a backward glance, I hurried past Tiffany’s Jeep and around the back of the garage, slipping and sliding out of sight. I leaned my back against the wall, taking a couple of deep breaths, focusing on the tree-covered hillside beyond the cedar rail fence.
The Nachzehrer wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but I could smell something rotten in the air. The scent was strong back here. I sniffed again, grimacing. Why couldn’t my enemies smell like fresh-baked cookies?
The prickling of my skin told me the danger was still near.
The tingling throughout my limbs assured me I was ready to fight.
The pounding of my heart warned me to take care during the hunt. I had two kids depending on me to not die this morning.
I scoured the trees, searching for a sign of my enemy while I listened for further sounds of its loping footfalls or ragged breaths. But the weather was working against me, the wind rushing this way and that, making the pines whisper so loudly they were practically humming. The gusts made it hard to catch any telltale movement, what with branches swaying and dropping clumps of snow. The whole forest had come to life, both beautiful and sinister at the same time.
There was no getting out of this—I was going to have to chase the creature down. I cursed under my breath. It turned out that Natalie and Harvey had been right after all—this morning I would be going on a hunt.
With one last check for trouble to my left and right, I eased through the cedar fence rails and started up the hillside, taking shelter under the pine trees from prying eyes and the worst of the wind blasts. The cold wasn’t so biting inside the protection of the trees, nor was the snow as deep, only coming up above my ankles in drifted piles here and there. I quickly learned where to step as I climbed up the hill, using the ax as a makeshift cane now and then. Above me, the crowns of the trees whipped to and fro, dropping snow bombs like aerial missiles.
Thirty feet or so into the forest, I found the creature’s trail. At least I was pretty sure that only a Nachzehrer could take such long strides. The individual tracks themselves were too big for the other animals in the forest, since most of them had hooves.
I continued up the hill, pausing every so often to stop and listen, sniffing the air repeatedly like a bloodhound. Pulsing with energy, my legs wanted to give chase at a sprint rather than a cautious walk. This was the polar opposite of normal, which involved a lot of lazing around on the couch under a blanket while my hand did all the work feeding my face. Maybe this Scharfrichter gig would pay off on the diet front, saving me from having to cut back on carbs once spring came and it was time to drop some of my winter insulation.
Farther up the trail, the creature’s stride shortened. It had moved more slowly through here, or maybe it had been cautious. Another fifty feet ahead of me, I could see a tall outcropping of rocks. The weathered remnant of an ancient peak or solid cliff, maybe. Throughout the outcropping there would be wide cracks and narrow, shallow caves, providing several places to hide. The height difference would offer an excellent ambush opportunity. The higher ground was always preferable in battle.
The tracks in the snow headed in the direction of the rocks. I didn’t follow, listening to my gut instead, which told me I was being led into a trap.
Just how smart were these things? Was there a bounty hunter waiting for me up by those rocks, too? Could the Nachzehrer simply be the bait?
As I stood contemplating my next move, the ax gripped firmly in my hand, I heard the snap of a small branch behind me down the hill. I hid behind a tree, my breath held. A rush of heat under my skin kept the cold at bay as I bided my time and waited to see if the Nachzehrer had managed to sneak around behind me.
A breeze whipped through the trees, carrying a familiar spicy-sweet scent. That was no mythical monster, although Aunt Zoe might disagree depending on the day. I stepped out from behind the tree, spying Reid before his gaze locked onto me. He was moving stealthily, his brown canvas coat and salt-and-pepper hair blending in with the forest far better than my getup today.
I attempted a bird-like whistle. It came out a little too shrill, but it drew his gaze. At the sight of me, I could see the relief spill over his features. He rushed toward me, almost tripping on a broken tree limb partially buried in the snow.
“Sparky,” he whispered when he reached me, pulling me in for a quick, hard hug. Then he pushed me back and patted my shoulders and arms, checking to make sure I was still in one piece, no doubt.
“I’m fine,” I whispered back. Although if this Nachzehrer was like the one from yesterday, it might not be able to hear or see us, so all of this stealthy fun and games was for naught. “What are you doing up here?”
“I told you I wasn’t going to let you hunt alone.”
“What about Tiffany?”
“I convinced her that you and I were going to come up here and scare off that cougar. Told her she didn’t need it hanging around during an open house. The big cat might deter potential buyers.”
“Smart thinking. Tiffany is all about the almighty dollar.”
He scowled down at me. “Sparky, I know you’ve come from a long line of killers and all that jazz Zo talks about, but hunting alone is always dangerous. You should have waited for me.”
I would have liked to, but having him along added a liability. My aunt would kick my ass if anything happened to him, even though she swore she wasn’t starry-eyed for him anymore. Plus, I liked Reid a lot. I didn’t want him to get hurt any more than she did. But truth be known, I was relieved to have company. Maybe that made me a lousy Executioner—and I had no doubt Prudence would call me a big chickenshit for this—but right here and now under these trees with that creepy sucker wandering around, I didn’t give a shit.
“Thanks for following me, Reid.” I squeezed his arm and then pointed toward the rock outcropping. “My gut tells me our troublemaker is prowling around up in those rocks.”
He eyed the towering rocks, shaking his head slowly. “If we go up there, we’re sitting ducks. It could be hiding right above us and drop down on our heads.”
“Right. So how do we get it to show itself?”
A cramp hit me hard, making me gasp and bend partially over. Son of a kraken! What the heck was going … Oh!
I finally
figured it out.
Well, duh!
Reid grabbed my shoulder. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I … uh …” I stood upright, grimacing more at how to explain my realization to my aunt’s not-boyfriend. The truth was slightly embarrassing and exceedingly bizarre, but I was pretty sure I now understood why the Red Army was on the march south a week earlier than usual for me.
“Did you fall and hurt yourself on the way up the hill?” He frowned down at where I was gripping my side. “If you landed on a branch or rock, you could have a fractured rib or done some other internal damage.”
“I didn’t fall.”
His eyes returned to mine. “Then what’s wrong?”
The pain ebbed as a breeze blew up through the trees, rippling past us toward the rocks.
“I suspect that my body is working its own magic and providing an irresistible lure via cramps.”
His frown deepened. “What do you mean?”
Before I could answer, a screaming howl rang out from above us.
I cringed, turning toward the rocky outcropping. As I watched, the creature stepped out from a shadowy crevice up near the top.
“Look!” I pointed at the sneaky bastard.
The Nachzehrer leapt into the air, crashing down on the forest floor, sending snow and rocks scattering.
“Holy shit,” Reid said in a strained voice, sounding like he’d had the wind knocked out of him. “It’s like a daddy-long-legs spider covered with human skin.”
It sniffed the air, its face contorting. Then it took a step toward us. Its jaw unhinged, gaping wide.
And wider.
And even wider.
“Jesus, look at all those teeth,” Reid said, taking a step back and pulling me with him.
The creature let out another screaming shriek that made my neck hairs bristle along with the rest of me. I tightened my grip on the ax handle.
“Should we run?” Reid asked.
I shook my head. “It’s faster than us. We have to stand our ground.” I raised the ax.
The Nachzehrer lowered its head, its dark eyes locked onto me. This one certainly seemed to be able to see us and looked to be preparing to charge.