I can’t. Not really.
But I cannot expose him, or the shifters, or anyone else to that…thing. Whatever it is. It’s fine for Garrett to say they’d stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Dexter to fight it, but what if it can’t be fought?
What if they all uselessly die because of me?
What if kids are put at risk because of me? What if it tracks me to my apartment building and hurts someone there?
I can’t risk it.
I won’t risk it.
Dragging in a shaky breath, I type.
It’s back. I’m so sorry, but I won’t put you or anyone else at risk.
I study it before finally hitting send. I want to add more, but maybe it’s better that I didn’t.
Good-byes hurt enough without adding an I love you to it that he might or might not really feel.
I send Lucius a quick text as well.
I saw it outside the club this morning. Dex was already asleep. I’m so sorry, but I have to leave. I won’t put you all at risk. Thank you and Selene for everything, and for your kindness to me. I’ll miss all of you.
Tears roll down my face as I power off my phone and stick it in my overnight bag. I’m not stupid enough to text Garrett or Amber right now. They’re both awake, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Garrett sent men out looking for me, or phoned ahead to his dad in Phoenix and asked him to send men to Mesa to intercept me when I hit my PO Box. One of his dad’s pack runs the place.
No, messaging them can wait until I’m far enough away from the area that my trail will be cold and slow them down.
Then I pull out of the truck stop and head toward Mesa. Where I’ll go from there…
I don’t know yet.
I wish there was a way to track down my father, if he really is alive. Maybe he has answers to my questions.
All I know is that, right now, I need to put as much distance as I can between me and Tucson before dark, so that thing hopefully leaves Dex and everyone else alone.
Please let it leave them alone.
* * *
Dexter
I am vaguely aware of Eilidh moving around the room when she says she needs to retrieve her things from upstairs. I guess I’m far more exhausted than I thought, because I crash hard and sleep far longer than I usually do anymore.
Except when I awaken a little after six that evening, I stupidly realize I forgot to put my phone on its charger, and it’s dead.
I also realize I am alone in the suite.
Hmm.
Oh, wait, it’s Saturday. Of course. And Eilidh did warn me she might have to get up before me to go to work. The club opens at seven, and she’s management. Obviously, she’s already working.
I use the restroom and then put my phone on its charger. It didn’t receive a full charge yesterday, and I drained it nearly dead while in the closet.
No worries about that today, at least.
At some point this evening, I’ll need to return to my hotel for fresh clothes. Meanwhile, I’ll grab a quick shower and freshen up. I opt for the same jeans I wore, but I don the Henley. I can’t wait to wrap my arms around my girl and hold her, give her a kiss.
I will take her away from having to work like this for a living. If she wants to work, I can help her do whatever it is she wishes to achieve. She can go to school, if she wants. She can learn my business and help me manage the new Tucson casino. She can open her own business. Anything.
The possibilities are literally endless.
A borderline giddiness I haven’t felt in centuries fills me. I feel…alive.
I know, I know.
I’m nearly ready to emerge from the suite when there’s a knock on the door. Looking through the viewfinder shows Lucius standing there, looking grim.
I open the door. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
He rushes in. “You’re not answering your phone.”
“Sorry, it went dead during the day. I’ve got it on the charger now.” Dread fills me. “What’s going on? What happened?”
He swipes into a message and hands me his phone, so I can read it. “I’ve tried calling her several times,” he says as I read, “and left voicemails, sent her texts. She’s not responding. I believe she’s turned her phone off.”
I read it several times, just to make sure. “That…that can’t be right.” I return his phone and check mine, but it still won’t power up.
I resist the urge to crush it in my hand, because that won’t help a damn thing.
Then I see her wig.
It’s still on the dresser, where it ended up earlier.
She never goes to work without a wig.
A mix of terror-filled rage washes through me. “What the hell happened?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out. I just arrived. Come on.”
He blurs, and I follow. Seconds later, we’re upstairs in the office suite and looking over Theophilus’ shoulder as he runs back video surveillance from this morning. He uses alarm logs to find out when the last time the door to the office stairs was opened this morning, and works back from there to isolate the time.
Just before dawn.
We start with the video feed from in front of the nightclub, and then from the parking area in the back. We see when Eilidh left through the front door and start backtracking from there.
All three of us draw back, stunned, at the sight of the gigantic phantom dog walking up to the parking lot and sniffing around the Audi as if it tracked it there.
Theophilus freezes the video on a frame clearly showing the beast looking up at the camera, a faint red glow visible in its eyes. “What in the great muppety fucking Odin is that shit, boss?”
“Gwyllgi,” I whisper, stunned.
Because that’s exactly what it looks like. I’ve never seen one, but of course I’ve heard the old myths.
Lucius glances around and drops his voice. “Do not say a word of this to anyone. I will inform the others.” By “others” I know he means his vampire men.
The beast also faintly shows up in the IR night vision and FLIR views. It’s definitely…real. She wasn’t imagining it.
That relieves me on one level, because it means she’s telling the truth.
But it certainly terrifies me on others, because what the hell is it?
Lucius’ voice sounds calm, yet I can tell he’s anything but. “Can you isolate that entire section of feed in all three views and save it, as well as get me some clear screenshots?”
“Sure thing.”
“E-mail them to me.”
“Send it to me, too, please,” I say.
Lucius nods and pats me on the shoulder. He motions for me to follow him. I do, and we head downstairs and out the back door, to the Audi, where Lucius squats low to the ground and I follow suit.
“I don’t smell anything,” he says. “Nothing unusual, I mean.”
I sniff. “Neither do I.” Although the faint traces of Eilidh’s scent flip my switch into wanting to rage and howl at the sky. I’ve never wanted to be a shifter more than I do right now, so that I can shift and rage and pounce on something and rip it to shreds with teeth and claws in a primal, visceral way to protect my girl.
I need to find her.
Now.
I left my phone and the key fob for the Audi downstairs. Lucius lets me back inside the club, and I blur downstairs to grab my things, including her wig. The scent of her clinging to it makes my heart keen with nearly painful agony.
I need her.
He catches up with me. “If there’s anything you need, please, let me know. Men, resources—anything.”
“Thank you. Maybe she’s still at her apartment.” That’s the only thing I can hope for.
“I doubt it, and she’s got a twelve-hour head start on us. I will call around to others I know she’s had contact with in other areas and see if perhaps she’s reached out for leads on jobs.”
“Thanks.”
“We will find her,” he says.
“Yeah, but will we f
ind her before that…thing finds her?”
“I’ll work on researching that angle as well. Perhaps there is help in old mythology we can glean insight from.”
“Thanks.”
I rush out to the Audi and put my phone on the charger there. It finally has enough juice I can power it up. My first call is to Garrett Green, and I use handsfree mode while racing through Tucson traffic.
“This is Dexter Van Sussex,” I say as soon as he answers. “Have you seen Eilidh today?”
“Who?”
I want to smack myself in the head. “Sorry. Connie. Have you seen Connie? Can you please check her apartment for me? See if she’s there? And keep her there, if she is, until I arrive.”
I don’t blame him for his growly tone. “What happened?”
“She saw the thing that’s been chasing her. It showed up this morning just before dawn. We have video proof. The club’s security system caught it on its cameras.”
“What?”
“Yeah. And she left.”
“What is it?”
“It’s…” My phone dings. I look, and it’s a message from Lucius with attachments. “Better shown than explained. Please, go look. Now.”
“I’m already on my way downstairs. Hang on.” Come to think of it, it does sound like he’s running.
Then I hear the sound of a series of booming knocks, like he’s going to kick the door down. “Connie! Open up! Now!” Another series of knocks. “I don’t think she’s here. I can’t scent her, nothing recent. Nothing warm.” I hear him running again, the sound of a stairwell door slamming open, and more running. Finally, another door opening. “Her ’Yota’s gone, Dexter. Any idea where she headed?”
“No. Lucius will make some calls and see if she reached out to anyone.” I slide to a stop at a light and take a moment to flip to my messages and scan them.
That’s when I find the one from her, sent around the time she sent the one to Lucius.
Fuck.
I resist the urge to fling the phone through my windshield.
“I’ll pull the CCTV films for today in the lobby and find out when she bugged out, exactly. Maybe we can get some clues from that.”
“Thank you. I owe you. It would have been just around sunrise. Not long after.”
“I’ll meet you in the lobby as soon as you get here.”
“Thanks.” I hang up and, minutes later, I’m wheeling the Audi into the parking lot. I grab my charger cord and jump out.
Garrett’s already standing there, holding the door open as I race inside. He leads me down to the management office, where he unlocks the door and I follow him in. “What is this fucking thing?”
I show him the videos and images on my phone and it pulls him up short. His eyes widen. “Fuuuuuck me. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“We think it’s a gwyllgi.”
“A what the fuck?”
I quickly explain the myths.
“Okay. So, we’re looking for a thing that’s never been captured on video before, and supposedly doesn’t exist. Terrific.” He sits at a computer console. “We keep a month’s worth of feed on the hard drive.”
“Can Amber maybe see anything?”
“She’s already working on it. I got the master key and let her into the apartment. She thought maybe being alone there would help.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
He’s scrolling through the video feeds. “What did you call Connie earlier? Hayley?”
“Eilidh. That’s not to be repeated, either. It's her real first name. Connie Doe is an alias. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let it slip like that.”
“We’ll need to know her real name and info, so I can get people looking for her. If she crosses the border anywhere and goes through passport control, we’ll have an idea where she’s heading next. Jackson King’s mate, Kylie, is a hacker extraordinaire. And we’ve got a former CIA spook in our pack, too.”
He turns to me. “We will find her, Dexter. You’ve got the manpower behind you, and you damn sure have the money. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ll closely coordinate directly with Frangelico, so we’re not duplicating efforts.”
“Thanks.” Cold dread fills me. “I really appreciate this.”
“Hey, she’s pack. Sort of.” He looks up at me. “Or is she part of a nest now?”
“I haven’t fed from her yet. If your question is have we had sex, yes, we have. We haven’t yet had discussions about our future. Between you and me, frankly, I don’t want to turn her. I’m terrified of her not surviving the process. But she’s mine. And if she never lets me feed from her, I’m fine with that.”
He turns to me. “How can that be possible?”
“Contrary to popular belief, it’s not required. Just like marking a mate isn’t a requirement among shifters to love them and be with them.”
“Touché.” He focuses on the feed and finds her. Fast-forwarding through the lobby camera feeds, we locate when she finished and drove away. “Looks like maybe she headed west.”
“But that doesn’t mean it’s her final direction.”
“No, but I’ll bet she headed up to Mesa, to close out her box there.” He places a phone call and, moments later, has confirmation. “One of my dad’s pack owns the store. He confirmed she came in this morning and closed it out, but no idea what way she headed. She didn’t leave a forwarding. He’ll keep an eye out for anything coming through from the official USPS system about a change of address or forwarding. We’ve got her license plate, too. If she tries to change that, it’ll ping the system. She’ll have to use her Connie Doe name for that, because that’s the paperwork she has for it.”
“Thanks.” I slump against the wall, my phone in my hand and feeling…
Useless.
I feel like I should be doing something, anything.
“Let’s go see if Amber’s picked up anything.”
We take the stairs, and the only reason I don’t blur and beat him up there is because I don’t want to freak out Amber, or any other residents we might encounter, by racing ahead.
Amber’s sitting on the bed, which is unfolded, with her eyes closed and hands flat on the mattress on either side of her. Eilidh’s furniture is still here, but everything else is gone and it feels empty.
Worse, I can smell the terror Eilidh felt as she hurriedly packed.
We don’t interrupt Amber.
Finally, after several minutes, she opens her eyes and sadly shakes her head. “Nothing. She doesn’t even know where she’s heading yet. All I’m getting is panic. I’ll try again later. Maybe by then she’ll know, and I can see it.”
“How far could she make it in twelve hours?” I ask. “We know what time she left the mailbox store, right? Can we mark an obvious radius and start there?”
Garrett runs a hand through his hair. “Let me call Jackson and Kylie and get that started from our end. You call Lucius and see what he’s learned.”
I plug my phone into the charger and call Lucius to update him.
“I haven’t learned anything yet,” he says. “But I’ve started making calls and will continue to do so. Please, tell Garrett he can give Jackson King my information, so we can coordinate.”
Swallowing the choked terror wanting to rise in my throat, I nod, even though he can’t see me. “Thanks.”
“We will find her, Dexter. I must admit, I owe her an apology.”
“Why?”
“Because I honestly thought perhaps she was imagining things, or overstating her terror. Now…” He sighs. “Let’s just say I can now fully understand why she runs. Were I a human, I probably would do the same.”
“Ditto,” Garrett says from where he’s on the phone. I turn and find he’s looking at me. I realize his sensitive shifter hearing, like my vampire hearing, heard Lucius clearly.
I have no idea what to do now, but Lucius speaks. “Go to your hotel, check in with your men, regroup, then return here. Park in the back again, and use code 1852 to en
ter the back door and the office stairs. We’ll use the office as our war room. Please feel free to share that code with Garrett. That is for the use of him and his mate while this is ongoing. I will inform my people to make sure they both have safe passage. I personally guarantee their safety while in our territory.”
“Yeah, I heard him,” Garrett says to me as he ends the call he was on. “Thanks, Frangelico,” he calls out. I switch the phone to speaker mode.
Lucius chuckles. “Who would have thought it would take a special little human to so utterly unite our two factions with a cooperative and singular purpose of brotherhood?”
“You ain’t kidding,” Garrett says.
“Once she’s safely back with Dexter,” Lucius says, “I shall buy you a drink. Your choice.”
Garrett looks me in the eyes. “We’ll hold off on the toasts until that happens. Then we have another problem to deal with, anyway.”
“The casino project?”
“No,” Garrett says. “I want to know what the fuck that thing is, and how the hell we send it the fuck away, so it doesn’t come back.”
27
Eilidh
I clean out my mailbox and put a hold on my mail. I don’t bother filing a forwarding address because—spoiler alert—not only do I not have one, I’m not stupid.
Dexter or Garrett, or one of their men, would no doubt be sitting there waiting for me the first time I showed up to get my mail.
I’ll have to invest in a mail forwarding service at some point. For now, the only mail I receive there relates to my income taxes, and that’s easily changed by logging in online and doing it myself.
After I clean out the mailbox, I book it away from that area and grab gas and lunch in Scottsdale, as well as a brand-new trucker’s road atlas of North America.
The problem with being from this region is knowing you can’t easily get there from here. Between the desert and the mountains, there aren’t a lot of major arteries out of the area. I know it’d be too easy for the wolves to send their bikers out on the main arteries, looking for me. And they’d likely catch up with me, too, if I stayed on them.
Her Vampire Obsession Page 25