by Gina LaManna
“Wait—” Dani stopped. “We should get Dillon to make good on the map to his drop spot.”
“We don’t have time for that now,” Matthew said. “I’ll send Nash over to get the map, and we’ll follow up on it tomorrow.”
“What if we start there? If everything is interconnected, that’s as good a place as any. We’re not going to get anywhere wandering the forest blindly. It’s a death wish with the full moon happening in a few hours.”
Matthew raised his wrist to his mouth, turned slightly away as he Commed the station and requested the information. The officer at dispatch promised to get in touch with Dillon and transmit the results to the captain at once.
While Matthew waited, his eyes scanning the darkness around them, he noted Dani’s tense posture. The tremor of concern in her voice when she’d mentioned the moon. The quickening beat of her heart. He realized that despite her bravado, she was worried.
Good, Matthew thought with the slightest of smiles—at least she wasn’t stupid.
Finally, the department buzzed him back and passed along the information. “Dillon’s drawing up a map at the station now,” Nash said, “but I can give you a quick rundown to get started.”
“Ask about Willa,” Dani murmured. “Did she make it home okay?”
Matthew relayed the question, and Nash barked with laughter. “No, she didn’t go home. She’s still at the pizzeria! Already claimed a chef hat and is firing away at the oven. If you guys get back before closing, you’ll find her there. Jack’s drooling over her like a wolf pup.”
Dani snarled at the mention of her brother, but Matthew pulled the Comm higher to listen, and smiled.
“Nash said that Willa can handle herself,” Matthew relayed the Comm to Dani. “Apparently Jack tried to flirt with her and is missing part of his eyebrow. Not sure how that happened, and I don’t have time to find out. Come on, we’re heading this way.”
Matthew brushed past Dani. The instructions from Nash had been clear enough: Enter The Depth and follow the jagged rock trail until it stops. Veer to the right under the weeping willow. Pass a log that looks like the jaws of an alligator. Climb over that to find a small cave.
The exchange supposedly happened in a small crevice on the right wall inside of the cave. Dillon had, as per his agreement with the mayor, put in the request for more of the PowerPax, but he’d not yet received a sign it was ready. Dillon had warned Nash it was likely his supplier was aware the NYPD were onto him.
Matthew wasn’t worried for himself. The moon might be full and The Depth overrun with werewolves, but the vampire was as good as created from stone. Matthew was fast and strong, and he knew the forest well. Good luck to any werewolf trying to kill him.
The only fear he had was for the warm body next to him, her heart beating, breath coming in near silent drags as she walked. Dani had too much confidence to be considered safe in the forest at night—and he was only one man. A vampire, but a single one. However, revealing the fear he kept for her would only frustrate Dani, so he remained silent and brushed on ahead, leaving her to keep up the pace.
The mouth of The Depth opened like a gaping hole. Trees lifted high to either side while mosses and branches swung down at all angles, leaving dramatic shadows on every surface. The canopy above them knitted solidly together, and glimpses of moonlight between the heavy green leaves were slim.
The forest floor had been washed by pine needles and bramble, and at times, the underbrush was so thick it was impossible to move forward. Following the stone path was the easiest part, and as they walked, their footsteps crunched against the uneven path. By the time they reached the turnoff for the weeping willow, Dani was slightly out of breath.
“Shall I slow?” Matthew asked.
“Don’t even think about it.”
He continued as promised, stopping only once to help Dani over a particularly gnarly bunch of ThornThistle. They were painful when implanted in human skin, though Matthew was immune. He reached for her, put his hands on her waist, and ignored the flinch and sigh of frustration from Dani as he lifted her gently, then put her down on the other side of the thistle.
They didn’t speak. That would only make her mood worse. She was already frustrated at needing assistance, and Matthew knew her well enough to keep his mouth shut. If anything, he resumed his march faster, making Dani jog to keep up with him. That way, she didn’t have enough breath to argue.
They brushed underneath the weeping willow and continued until they found the log that looked uncannily like the jaws of an alligator. Maybe an hour had passed, though they hadn’t been going deep into the forest—much of it had been a lateral movement along the edge. Matthew kept an escape route to civilization within view at all times. Just in case.
“Not long now,” he muttered. “Should be just—”
He stopped abruptly. Dani was moving at such a clip she couldn’t stop, and she bowled straight into him. It didn’t hurt Matthew, but for Dani, it felt like running head first into a brick wall.
Dani bounced off Matthew, scowling, and rubbed her collarbone where it had collided with his arm. If she’d been going any faster, she just might have cracked it. “What was—”
Matthew’s hand came up, pressed over her mouth. Dani knew enough not to argue. She waited, patiently straining to hear the same things he did. Since there was no chance of that, she concentrated on ignoring the electric tingles Matthew’s finger created on her lips.
When Matthew was satisfied, he lowered his fingers, positioned himself into a semi crouch, and drew her near. “Are you armed?”
“Of course I’m armed,” she said. “We went into The Depth on a full moon. I’ve got my Stunner, and—what is it?”
He frowned. “You’ll need a lot more than a Stunner to take down a fully transformed wolf.”
Matthew noted the mild look of surprise on Dani’s face, but she recovered quickly. “I’m a witch. You’re a vamp. I think we’re good.”
Normally, Matthew would agree, but Dani couldn’t hear the light pitter patter of paws, the harder thuds when the beasts landed on stone instead of grass. They were out—many of them. Most of them had turned into animals. They no longer had the ability to differentiate between human and animal, friend or foe, hunter or hunted.
Standing, Matthew forced himself to keep an impassive expression. His ears strained on high alert. If Dillon’s map was correct, they needed to go just a few more paces to arrive at the cave.
“We do a quick scope of the cave,” Matthew murmured. “If the Residuals and scents come up free of Lorraine, we’re out of here. We can cover the rest of The Depth in the morning.”
Dani agreed with a nod.
At this point, Lorraine was either hiding somewhere safe, or she was already dead. Either option didn’t call for the losing of another life—especially when that life belonged to Matthew’s one true love.
Matthew had known he and Dani were fated mates from the day they’d met: It’d been a visceral, gut reaction, something in the flair of her scent and the sound of her laugh. He’d known it like a fact—like the sky was blue and grass was green. It’d exhilarated and terrified him all at once, so thoroughly that he’d pushed her far away—so far that she’d thought he’d disliked her. But the reality couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Then they’d dated and, while there were normal ebbs and flows within their relationship, Matthew had been whole. Content. Matthew had been the one to break things off, but not by choice. The circumstances had called for it the moment his fang had pierced her neck—if he couldn’t control himself around her, he needed to step back. At least she’d be alive.
Months had passed, and Matthew had made it his life’s goal to keep away from her. It was futile. He was drawn to her, and found himself circling, protective even when she dated another. The least he could do for someone he loved so dearly was keep her safe. Allow her to be happy, and through that, he’d derive at least some joy.
Until he’d failed her.
He’d known that Dani had never truly loved Trenton. He’d seen her pain, her suffering, and her attempt to fill a void. Matthew should have stepped in sooner. He should have warned her. He should have taken care of Trenton himself when he had the chance, but he hadn’t. Matthew had been so busy trying to stay away that he’d missed what was right in front of him, and Danielle had suffered.
He watched her now, crouched in the bushes as they moved together through the thick, twisted weeds. Yes, he thought. He could spend a lifetime with her—and his lifetime lasted forever.
She was all he’d need... but he couldn’t have her.
Not just yet, at least.
“There it is,” Dani said. “Matthew, are you paying attention?”
He’d been torn between listening to the rhythmic beat of paws in the distance and the tune of his own reveries. And just like that, he’d missed it. That was the problem with his being around Dani—he got distracted. And that was a dangerous thing.
Holding back a hiss of disapproval at himself, he stepped in front of Dani and, keeping their bodies close, edged toward the black yawn.
The cave was in an interesting location—one Matthew had never seen before, despite his extensive study of the area. For an entire quarter century from 1802-1827, he’d decided to attempt living completely off the land and away from human or paranormal civilization. During those twenty-five years, he’d explored many miles of this forest and knew it as well as the wolves.
“I can see why this would be a good spot for a drop-off,” Dani said. “Distinctive.”
Matthew nodded, surveyed the landscape. A stream wound through the area, and on either side sat white sandy shores, as if hundreds of plain seashells had been trampled and pounded for years to make such fine dust. A few frogs sung into the night, hidden in grasses that reached as tall as Dani’s shoulder. The moon shone bright and unobstructed over it all, which concerned Matthew. Wolves drank the moonlight; they’d be drawn here.
“We cannot linger,” he said. “Anything in the way of Residuals?”
Dani’s eyes squinted as she studied the mouth of the cave, the edging around it, the ground before it. “Not really, but I think I see...”
She inched forward. Matthew reached out to stop her but retracted his hand at her scathing glare. He moved alongside her, crouched, listening to the rapidly increasing rate of her heartbeat.
“I’m going to need to step inside,” she said. “I feel like there’s a shimmer just beyond my realm of vision.”
“No,” Matthew said. “Let me.”
“But—”
He brought himself up to his full height, towering almost a foot over Dani. His suit gleamed under the moonlight and his skin turned the softest of pales. Like werewolves, Matthew was strongest at night.
The sun didn’t burn him, but the moon fed him—he was a lunar being, like his four-footed natural enemies. It had taken Matthew years of civilization and training before he could tolerate the smell, the nature, the very nearness of their kind, and years more before he’d been ready to embark on a career as an officer. Every species was equal in the eyes of the law—wolves included.
Dani studied him, her eyes flashing to a shade of violet that stunned Matthew for a moment. The violet combined with the moonlight—it was an ethereal, erotic combination that just about sent his fangs descending, his hands reaching for her. His desire to uphold his promise slipped like silvery drops of mercury from his grasp.
That’s when he heard it. The faintest of sounds. Dani didn’t notice, so Matthew feigned disinterest. A creature prowled behind him through the forest, hiding, waiting, predatory. Still, Matthew was unsure of the species—it didn’t smell like a wolf, but he couldn’t think of another creature who’d brave the forest tonight of all nights, aside from a vampire.
As Matthew inclined his head to listen, keeping his eyes focused on the cave before him, Dani turned to face him. She clearly wanted to ask what he’d heard, when suddenly, her hand snaked out and gripped his arm.
“Oh, God, Matthew—” Dani’s voice cracked. “Look.”
Matthew followed her gaze slightly away from the cave, over to the stream they’d seen upon arrival to the drop location. He saw the body at the same moment the creature attacked. Pale skin, red stains on the white sandy shore, trails of blood picked up and carried away by the stream.
Lorraine, he thought—just as he spun and sent a fist into his attacker’s face.
Chapter 23
“Matthew!” I yelled, but I was too late.
He’d heard the noise lightyears before me, which was why he’d prepared for the attack. All in one go, Matthew had sized up the sight of Lorraine’s still corpse, processed it, and turned to face the creature from the forest. Matthew shifted to fight the wolf, and I used the distraction to hurry to Lorraine’s side.
While Matthew launched his counterattack on the growling blur of fur, I rested a hand against Lorraine’s pale white wrist, feeling for a pulse.
There was never a hope for one.
She had claw marks slashed across her face, her chest, and most of her body. The life had gone out of her hours ago, and her blood had drained into the stream, soaked into the sugar-white sand beneath her. I felt a wave of sympathy for her, but it’d been years since I’d seen my first dead body, and I’d come a long, long way with processing my emotions in a high-pressure situation.
These days, taking in the sight of the dead was mechanical—a short, essential human wave of sympathy, and then back to business. The rest of the emotions were locked away in a closet labeled WORK, and that was the end of it. It had to be, or I would’ve broken long before I finally did.
“She’s gone,” I said softly.
I knew Matthew heard me, but he didn’t stop to acknowledge it as I stood to join the fight. His training had combined with his very nature to give him laser focus on the task at hand: survival.
I felt fear for the first time in a long while as my gaze landed on the scene. Matthew stood with his back to the mouth of the cave, retreating, while a wolf the size of a tank moved toward him.
This werewolf was huge—the largest I’d ever seen, even in training videos and simulations during my early years on the force. Those videos were supposed to have trained us for the worst, but obviously they’d failed. Unless somehow this was a new species of wolf we were dealing with—a new breed, something never seen before.
The wolf snarled as I pulled my Stunner and shot it from behind. The electrical blue strike of lightening hit just above his back haunches, and he reared up with an ear-splitting cry. The wolf landed on all fours and spun to face me. His eyes were bloodshot and wide, feral in their thirst for death.
My mind registered blood on his front claws—it stood out bright in the light of the moon and against the white sand beneath him. There was a good chance the wolf had taken Lorraine here, killed her, and then waited to finish us off. But who could he be? And how had he known we’d come?
As the wolf leapt toward me, I fired again, my Stunner hitting him between the eyes. At the same time, I rolled to the right and up the hill, closer to Matthew. When my shoulder hit dirt, my Stunner broke contact at the impact and stopped firing. The creature stopped, gave a dazed shake of his head, and then faced us.
“Nothing in the cave at the drop spot,” Matthew said as we stood shoulder to shoulder. “We must get out of here. Someone leaked our location. I’m going to go for him, and I need you to run. Show the others where to find us.”
“I’m staying,” I mumbled. “Use your freaking Comm.”
“Already did. They won’t get here in time.”
I glanced at Matthew, saw worry in his gaze. He knew, too, that this was no ordinary werewolf. “What is it?”
Matthew didn’t get the chance to answer because the creature lunged toward us. Matthew and I split, spiraling in opposite directions with the practiced movements of a synchronized swim crew or a well-trained team of gymnasts. The wolf crashed into the edge
of the cave. The force of it rocked the ground. It should have broken the wolf some, but a mere cry and yelp of discomfort, and he was back on his feet—this time, headed for me.
While the wolf had recovered, I’d taken a moment to study his Residuals. Oddly enough, there were some. Wolves didn’t have magic, save for that of their transformation, which meant someone had put a spell on the wolf. That was the only explanation for the unfamiliar dance of dust around the gray fur. It reflected under the starlight in bright, psychedelic shades of greens and pinks and yellows and blues. I’d never seen anything like it.
“Residuals on him,” I called to Matthew. “Who the hell enchanted the wolf? Wolves burn through spells in a second when they’re transformed.”
“Look out!” Matthew was by my side in a flash, having left all remnants of humanity elsewhere as he crouched before me.
I had half a mind to tell him I could do this myself, but the fact was—I couldn’t. I had no clue what I was dealing with, and my Stunner had proved twice ineffective with its pre-programmed Stunning Spell. It was supposed to work briefly on a fully transformed wolf. For some reason, the charm had held no impact on him whatsoever.
If the wolf slammed me with half the force of which he’d crashed into the wall, I’d be dead before I hit the ground. At least Matthew stood a chance with his stone-like build and the lethal nature of his fangs. One good bite, a solid hit to the wolf’s belly, and the nature of the fight would change in a heartbeat.
I raised my Stunner again, shot and fired. I hit him and held the button down on maximum force, but even the max setting wasn’t enough to faze the beast. He leapt, dodged Matthew’s outstretched arm, and landed at my feet. Its jaws opened, and he came down toward my arm. I continued Stunning him with the gun, flinching only when Matthew let out a roar that echoed for miles.
Matthew lowered his shoulder and rushed the wolf, hitting him square in the midsection. The two somersaulted together, locked in a supernatural wrestle that flashed far too quickly before my eyes. I’d barely turned to the sound of a splash by the time the two had leapt to their feet.