One Bite Stand

by Nina Bangs

  Ganymede glanced around to make sure no one was near enough to hear them. “He found some rabbits. He’ll be okay. It’s too early in the night for anything dangerous to be out there.” His gaze turned sly. “They’re all still in the parlor.” He glanced at the kitchen. “Gotta go. A bowl of ice cream is calling my name.”

  “But what if—”

  “You’re the night manager. If you think he needs rescuing, take care of it. Oh, and stay away from the old church. There’s something bad there. Might be dangerous even to you. Wouldn’t want to have to scare up a new manager.” With a dismissive wave of his tail, he answered the ice cream’s siren call.

  “That went well.” Daria watched Ganymede disappear into the kitchen before sticking her head out the front door. Not that she cared what happened to the dog. He wasn’t even a real dog. Besides, she had work to do, a victim to choose.

  She allowed herself a moment to wonder about the old church. Dangerous to her? She didn’t think so. Curiosity was an unfortunate harpy weakness. Before she winged her way back to Tartarus, she’d visit the church. Otherwise her need to know would eat at her long after she left the inn. She considered chasing after Ganymede and asking a few pointed questions, but just then the dog’s frantic yelps escalated to terrified cries.

  With a resigned sigh, she stepped onto the porch and let the screen door swing shut behind her. Mist was creeping across the inn’s front lawn and winding in snake-tail tendrils around the trees in the forest beyond. The dog’s cries echoed in the foggy darkness. Totally spooky. Totally her kind of night.

  Once she found the right direction, she ran as fast as she could in the stupid gold sandals. She could move a lot faster in harpy form, but no use taking the chance that a guest might spot her. Besides, it sounded like Trouble was headed her way.

  She wove around trees and leaped over fallen branches. Daria bet the sandals had handmade in hell stamped on their evil soles. To make sure she didn’t trip and go splat, she kept her attention on where she was putting her feet.

  The small clearing with a pond in the middle of it caught her by surprise. She paused as the sound of bodies crashing through the underbrush reached her. Big bodies. Maybe Trouble had run into a bear. Did they have bears in the New Jersey Pine Barrens?

  Just then, Trouble streaked out of the woods. His eyes were wide and panicked as he raced up to her. “Big bunny, big bunny, big big bunny.” And then he hid behind her.

  She blinked. What the…? Daria held that thought as a second animal burst from the forest. “Omigod.” It looked like a pit bull with rabbit ears and a fluffy white tail. The monster bunny snarled at her as it drew closer. Wow, impressive canines. Vampire Bunny?

  No way could she let that thing get Trouble. Ganymede and Sparkle would fire her behind if anything happened to him. And no, she wasn’t doing this because it was the right thing to do. Harpies were heartless. She peeled her lips away from her teeth in her own snarl. Hunting was in her blood, and one oversized cottontail wasn’t enough to intimidate her.

  She gathered herself as Horrible Hare tried to leap around her to reach the terrified dog. Jeez, the ground seemed to shake every time those huge hind legs thumped down. He was in mid-leap when Daria grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hoisted him into the air.

  Shocked, he hung there for a moment. Daria allowed herself a moment of triumph. She might be in human form, but she could still take care of bully bunnies. Not that this was a normal bunny. Normal rabbits didn’t have fangs, and they sure enough didn’t grow to be the size of pit bulls.

  “I’m putting you down now. A smart move would be to leave the dog alone.” She released him, ready to react if he attacked Trouble or her. “I bet you’re an insecure little wuss in human form. Find some other way to affirm your manhood.”

  With a really unbunnylike growl, the rabbit changed.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing, lady?” Mel loomed over her in all his naked glory.

  She did a quick scan. Okay, not so glorious. Daria gulped hard, forcing her stomach out of her throat and back down to where it belonged. “I’m saving the kid here from a jerk who should pick on someone his own size.” The “kid” sat staring at her with hero worship gleaming in his big doggy eyes.

  “Maybe you need to keep your nose out of other people’s business. And the mutt’s as big as I am. Difference is, he’s a coward. So I got a kick from chasing him. What’s the big deal? Don’t see any blood.” His gaze turned assessing. “You got a soft spot for the young and clueless?”

  Something about his expression made her uneasy. “Nope. No soft spots. Except for my job. I’m the night manager. No chasing or intimidating goes on while I’m on duty.”

  His grin told her he’d chase whatever he felt like chasing. “I like turning the tables on things that think because I’m a rabbit, I’m easy prey. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Know what I mean?”

  Yeah, she did. Maybe she’d just scoop him up right now and cart him off to Tartarus. She deserved a few warm, fuzzy moments herself. Mom would be impressed that she’d gotten her man on the first night of the test. Best of all, he was mean and powerful enough to satisfy Hades. How many more chances would she get to catch someone like him alone in the woods? No witnesses except Trouble, and she didn’t think he’d tell anyone what happened.

  She looked around to make sure. And met the amused gaze of Declan Mackenzie. Rats.

  “I saw you rush out the door. Thought you might need help with something. Guess you have everything under control, though.” He moved from the shadows, Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Sinister. His black leather duster was a punctuation mark at the end of the sentence that said, “I’m a sexy, dangerous male animal.”

  Daria just stared at him. How much had he seen and heard? What if he’d caught Mel changing? She took a deep breath. Think. He must’ve missed that part of the show. He wouldn’t be this calm if he’d seen the whole thing.

  Mel’s gaze darted between Declan and her. “Look, I like running naked through the woods. I’m into all that one-with-nature crap. I should’ve been more careful, though. Didn’t think I’d bump into anyone. Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry as he nodded at Declan and then strode into the forest.

  Daria bit her lip as she worried the problem. She’d made two big mistakes. First, she should’ve done some hysterical screaming when Mel went all naked, hairy, middle-aged guy on her. Second, she shouldn’t have picked him up. Maybe she could’ve just stumbled into his path. She hadn’t acted like a human female. Mel had probably already put the pieces together. She wouldn’t get another shot at him. Worse yet, he might blab to someone else. If he did? There went her element of surprise. Great. A blown cover on her first night. Way to go, stupid.

  “Huh. I could’ve sworn Mel didn’t like you.”

  While she’d been calculating her dumbness quotient, Declan had moved into her personal space. Being this close to him was like floating in a lake of steaming water. As long as she was bobbing along on the surface, it was all good. If she started to sink, though, she’d go really deep before hitting bottom. Drowning in all that male yumminess might be fun, but it couldn’t be good for her harpy career. And her career was all that mattered.

  “Guess I was wrong.” Declan went on. “He got naked pretty fast, so he must like you. A lot.” He slid his gaze the length of her body, and his smile was a sensual twist of his lips. “So do I.”

  “What?” She narrowed her eyes as she got his meaning. “Whoa, there. It was just like he said. I was busy looking for the dog when this guy burst from the bushes with all his danglies hoppin’ and boppin’ to their own tune. I mean, my jaw dropped all the way to here.” She waved her hand somewhere in the vicinity of her waist to demonstrate exactly how far said jaw had dropped. “And while I was picking up my jaw, the dog found me. So I can go back to the inn now with my jaw tucked underneath my arm.”

  “Hmm.” His smile said, “Yeah, sure.”

  She opened her mouth to blow him
away with an angry retort. But she closed it again as Ganymede padded out of the forest.

  “Yo. I felt all this guilt about sending you out into the scary woods alone” He’d chosen to explain things in her head.

  Made sense if he didn’t want the human sex god to hear him. It also said something about his power. He went up a notch in her estimation.

  “So I left my ice cream melting while I checked things out” He paused to bat at a bug. “Okay, so I didn’t feel guilty. Sparkle made me come”

  Declan seemed oblivious of Ganymede’s conversation. He wandered over to the edge of the clearing. “I think I’ll walk a little before I go back to the inn. Seems to me the property map by the door showed an old church in this direction.”

  “Um, I think the church is off-limits to guests.” But not off-limits to nosy employees.

  “I know.” His smile was a slash of white in the darkness.

  “So I don’t think you should go there.”

  He stared into the darkness. “Why don’t you go back to the inn with the dog and make believe you don’t know where I’m going, hmm?”

  Daria fought to hold back a gleeful giggle. Yes. “I guess if you’re determined to go there…” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t go with you. The inn has a duty to keep its guests safe.” Gag.

  Declan speared her with a stare that warned of approaching storm clouds. “Maybe it isn’t too smart wandering around alone in the woods with a strange man.”

  She offered him her perkiest smile. “Strange women could be just as dangerous.” More than he’d ever know. Lucky for him he was human and not particularly evil, or else he might be on his way to say hi to Hades.

  He gave in with an irritated grunt. As she walked beside him along the wooded path with Trouble and Ganymede at their heels, she let her imagination run amok. But that would have to be the only thing running amok, because her test was serious business, not to be sidetracked by broad shoulders, a great face, and muscular everythings.

  First, she’d strip slowly with lots of wiggles and wanton intent. Then she’d watch him slip out of that leather coat. He’d pull the T-shirt over his head while she admired how the play of moonlight and shadows defined his bared body. Maybe she’d help him get rid of his jeans and…

  Declan glanced at Daria. She seemed lost in her own thoughts. Good. He reached for Ganymede’s mind, and when he found it, he got right to the point. “Let’s hear the story one more time“ He would rather have had this talk while they were alone, but he’d make do with what he got.

  Ganymede didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Your first guy showed up two weeks ago. Said the council was thinking of relocating here from Scotland because the American Mackenzies were out of control. The council figured they could police the clan better from this side of the Atlantic. He was scoping out the inn as a possible headquarters”

  “They’re a bunch of control freaks “ Declan had defied the council by settling in the States a century ago. And he was the only one on the council who thought clan members should be allowed to live their lives the way they wanted. He drove the other members crazy. But they were afraid to throw him off the council. He allowed himself a grim smile. They had good reason to fear him.

  “Yeah, well, anyway, a few nights after he got here he went into the woods and never came out”

  Declan nodded. Teilo. Not too smart, but tough in a fight. He wouldn’t have gone down easy.

  “We searched. All we found was a finger with the council ring on it.” Ganymede’s eyes gleamed in the darkness. This wasn’t his cute-kitty look. “Whatever took him left the scent of wolf behind. New Jersey doesn’t have any wolves. Sparkle questioned the three weres who were staying with us. None of them did it”

  “Okay, then the council sent Sceolan here to find out what happened” Sceolan was tough and smart. After losing Teilo, he would’ve gone into the woods armed to the teeth. And he could’ve taken out a werewolf without breaking a sweat.

  Declan had told the council to send him, but Sceolan had wanted to go. Teilo had been his close friend for a lot of years. And even though centuries separated him from his Viking roots, Sceolan still believed he should rush in weighted down with weapons and berserker rage to avenge his friend. Great in theory, but it hadn’t worked.

  “He lasted three days, then the same thing. He went into the woods at night, and all we found was his finger with the damn ring.” Fury simmered just beneath the surface of Ganymede’s voice. “We didn’t have any werewolves staying at the inn that night”

  “Why didn’t you shut the place down?”

  Ganymede offered him a cat shrug. “No good excuse. We couldn’t bring in the cops. Whatta we say? There’s a were’ wolf in the woods? He ate someone, but he left the guy’s finger and ring behind. Guess the metal got stuck in his teeth. And you can’t floss after every meal” He glanced away. “Besides, it looks like the victims are all council members”

  “Still…”

  “Look, bloodsucker, after the first killing, I went into the woods every night. No one messes with me. I kept the guests close to the inn where Sparkle could watch them. The second guy decided to go hunting without telling me. By the time I got to the church, it was too late” The long pause was fraught with all kinds of menace. “I’m spending every freakin’ night at that church until I catch whatever’s doing this. And when I’m finished, there won’t even be a finger to mark its end”

  “Cindy and Thrain don’t know about this, do they?”

  Ganymede’s silence was his only answer.

  Declan stared into the forest. There was almost a full moon tonight. Whatever lurked in the darkness had a taste for the Mackenzie council. “You shouldn’t have let Daria go into the woods alone”

  “She’s a harpy. She can take care of herself. Besides, nothing’s happened to anyone but you guys”

  Declan settled into silence while he tried to work up some fear. Nope, didn’t have any. Too bad. Those that had the sense to be afraid lived to have the crap scared out of them another night.

  He’d stopped trying to hang on to his emotions a lot of years ago. What was the use?

  He looked at Daria. “You’ve been quiet for a while. What’re you thinking?”

  “Hmm? Oh, nothing much. Just daydreaming about stuff that’ll never happen.” Her smile was all about secrets.

  Declan returned her smile. She wouldn’t be too happy to know that when she smiled it canceled out the multicolored mane and raccoon eyes.

  Ganymede stopped at the edge of the forest. Smothered by brush and vines, an old ruin of a church stood in a clearing. Yellow crime tape stretched from tree to tree around the edge of the woods. Signs warning that the clearing and church were off-limits were nailed to at least a dozen trees.

  “The fingers were inside the church”

  Declan nodded.

  “Wish the bastard would try to take us on now “ Ganymede’s voice was thick with his need for battle. “He’s never seen what a pissed off cosmic troublemaker can do”

  Daria rubbed her arms. “Something doesn’t feel right here. So what happened?” She leaned across the tape to get a closer look.

  “A crime, I guess.” He felt the wrongness too. It was like a darkness rising from the ground—cold, deadly, with a thick slickness that slid across his skin. He controlled the urge to rub his hands against his jeans. What the hell was it?

  “You know, maybe it’s time for me to go back to the inn. I can’t do my job out here.” She tugged at Declan’s sleeve. “Come on, let’s go.” Trouble leaned against her leg, a low rumbling growl vibrating in his throat.

  Must be a potent threat if it made a harpy jumpy. Declan couldn’t do anything while she was here. He’d come back once he’d made his plans, and then he’d see what the big bad could do against someone who had a little more in his tank than Teilo and Sceolan.

  The voice caught them just as they were turning away. It seemed torn from the earth itself, a deep gr
owl of savage satisfaction. “You came, as I knew you would.”

  Declan swung to face the church. Beside him, Ganymede tensed. Daria sucked in her breath on a startled hiss. Trouble barked, but he didn’t try to crawl under the yellow tape. Maybe his brain would grow into his body after all.

  “Who are you, and which of us are you talking to?” Seemed like reasonable opening questions. Declan’s voice echoed back at him in the thickening fog. His follow-up question would be about funeral arrangements. Did the asshole want to be cremated or should Declan just shove the body parts into a hole?

  The chuckle oozing from the ground was pure evil. “I’ve waited overlong for you, Declan Mackenzie. Come to me now.”

  Ah, Declan finally felt an emotion. This guy was creeping him out. “Why? So you can do to me what you did to Teilo and Sceolan?”

  “No. They were only a means to draw you here. Come to me now.”

  That would be a no. Declan would come back alone and find out what the hell was going on before he destroyed the thing lurking under the church. “It’s been great talking to you, but I have plans to make.” He was counting on whatever was here being bound to this spot. They’d be in a world of shit if it decided to chase them back to the inn.

  “Let’s go.” He turned away from the clearing.

  A roar of fury shook the ground beneath them. De clan’s reaction to the threat was instinctual. He felt the slide of his canines as he spun to face the danger. Peeling his lips back from his fangs, he hissed.

  Daria’s startled gasp reminded him a second too late that he was supposed to be human. Well, hell. He clasped her hand and dragged her away from the church. Trouble gave a frightened yip as he raced toward home.

  When they had almost reached the inn, Declan chanced a glance at Daria. She stared at him from wide eyes.

  “You’re a vampire.”

  He grinned at her. “Yeah. And you’re a harpy.”

  Chapter Three

  “Hey, now that everyone knows everyone else, I can talk out loud. What the hell was that back there?” Ganymede padded ahead of them, tail waving in the air. “Not that it scared me, but it’s my job to know all the monsters in the woods. After I talk things over with Sparkle, I’ll go back to make sure no idiots… er, guests go sightseeing around the church.”