by E A Price
Scared to Death
Supernatural Enforcers Agency
Novella
E A Price
Copyright ©2016 by Elizabeth Ann Price
All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of my imagination or used in a fictitious manner. I cannot stress enough how little this is based on reality – my head is totally in the clouds, I’m barely aware of reality. Any resemblance to actual persons (including all wolf shifters, witches, rhino shifters etcetera, etcetera) living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cutter snarled as pain lanced through his body. His attacker smiled cruelly, but Cutter knew it wasn’t real. Knew all of this was a memory, and now just a dream. He knew it, knew he had to play it out until the end. It was his worst memory, the worst point of his life - being trapped, being tortured, and every so often he suffered nightmares about it. It was easier now. Since mating Lucie, he was more content, his inner wolf more settled – but the memory never truly left. It just meant he could get through it easier, knowing she was waiting for him when he woke up. He smiled, even as the distant pain resurfaced. He could get through this; he could…
“James?”
Startled, his wolf growled, and he whipped his head to the sound of the voice – that beautiful voice that he would know anywhere.
“Lucie?” he croaked.
His sweet, little mate was in a cage just like his. Her small soft body huddled and shaking, as her huge eyes widened in terror.
“James? What’s happening?” Her hands automatically flew to protect the soft swell of her stomach where their pup grew.
“No, no, you can’t be here!” he snarled.
His attacker smirked as he sauntered to Lucie’s cage. “But she is here,” he drawled. The cattle prod in his hand flickered to life.
“No,” he whispered faintly. “No, no, no!”
He stretched his arms through the cage, desperately trying to reach for his mate. She was just out of grasp, so near yet so far. He couldn’t touch her, couldn’t get to her to protect her.
Lucie screamed as the volts flew through her. “James!” she cried in anguish and tears poured from her eyes. Cutter hurled himself against the cage, desperate to get to her and their unborn child.
“No!” he howled as his wolf roared furiously.
It was no good; it was no use. He was powerless. All he could do was watch and listen to her screams of pain.
Something squeezed his shoulder.
“James? Honey, wake up.”
Somebody squeezed his shoulder again, with more force. His eyes shot open, and he had them on their back, his fangs drawn and his hands clutching their arms before they could blink. Lucie’s startled eyes stared up at him.
Still panting and sweating, his gaze flickered around their bedroom, the familiar furniture, photos and collection of decorative hedgehogs edging into his vision. It should have comforted him – it didn’t. His wolf was antsy and searching every shadow for enemies. What had seemed like such a normal nightmare – for him anyway – had become frighteningly real.
A small hand cupped his jaw, and he looked back down at his mate. He was still hovering over her, fingers digging into her flesh, but he did not see pain or recrimination in her expression – there was only concern.
“Another nightmare, honey?” she murmured, stroking his face.
Cutter forced his fingers to slacken, wincing as he saw the slight bruises he had left on her skin. She would wave them away and say they were nothing, but they weren’t nothing. He’d never lost it so hard he actually bruised her.
His hand moved to her stomach – still just a small bump at four months, but it felt reassuringly large at that moment in time. His child was in there; his child was safe.
“Was it like the others?” she asked softly.
“No, it was much worse,” he rasped, forcing the words out.
Lucie’s lips curved down in sadness. Gently, she pulled him down from his hovering position, making him nestle into her body, and resting his head on her chest.
“It’s okay; I’m here.”
Cutter closed his eyes as she smoothed her hands through his hair.
*
Two days ago - Halloween
“Scary, huh?” Susie made woo noises while making the plastic spider dance.
“Not at all,” complained her mate, Wade while giving her a look of disapproval.
“Well, it will be when it’s nighttime, and this along with its fifty brothers is hanging from the ceiling.”
“It won’t fool them for a second,” he growled.
Susie and her inner wolf rolled their eyes as they surveyed the enormous collection of Halloween decorations currently cluttering their house. “Don’t you think this is getting a little out of hand? I mean, I hate to think about how much you spent on all these new decorations when we already have boxes of them in the attic.”
She loved her mate, but Wade had a glaring fault – his frat brothers. They were a bunch of immature assholes who still acted like they were in college and who, for some reason, Wade adored. Even though all they seemed to do was taunt and goad one another. They were constantly in competition with one another over the tiniest thing - like who could drink the most beers without falling over. Or who could eat the most pennies without going blind, and who could create the scariest Halloween party. This year, it was Wade’s turn to host, and he was going all out – by which she meant he was turning their bank account inside out to pay for the damn party. Susie used to love Halloween, but the stress of trying to create a scary party was prematurely aging her mate.
Wade growled and threw the skeleton he was trying to animate to the ground. “All this stuff is crap! It’s not going to work.”
“Expensive crap,” muttered Susie. Her wolf sighed. She never met Wade’s frat buddies before they mated. She wondered if it would have made a difference if she had.
“Last year, two girls actually wet their pants at Derek’s party.”
“Oh!”
“Yeah, it was awesome.”
Susie gaped at him, and her beast huffed. “It sounds embarrassing – those poor girls.”
Wade waved a hand dismissively. “It was just pee. But that’s what I have to beat.”
Where exactly had the sweet wolf that wooed her into staying in Los Lobos disappeared to? She shook her head. Her father had been trying to persuade her to move home to Florida. She suspected her dad didn’t care whether she brought Wade with her or not, but Susie would like for them both to move there. She thought they’d be a lot happier with her pack, and she’d like very much to pry him away from his frat buddies. They called themselves the fratsters. More like the pricksters.
Wade muttered and pulled on his jacket.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To find me an edge for this party.”
*
The party was going great. Wade was happier than she’d ever seen him. People were screaming and enjoying themselves left right and center. Even his frat brothers, Derek and Hank had to admit that this was the best party they’d been to in a while - although Derek seemed to be giving the fake spiders a wide berth. But Susie couldn’t
enjoy it. Everything seemed to be spinning; she felt like her insides were trying to explode.
“Wade…” she mumbled, stumbling through the house.
It was dark and littered with Halloween decorations. She could barely see anything, never mind make out her mate – just her luck he had to dress as Waldo. How on earth was she supposed to pick him out of a crowd?!
Her wolf whined pathetically. She did not feel right at all. The only other time she’d felt like this was when she accidentally ingested some wolfsbane when she was fourteen – she was lucky to survive, and she feared ever doing it again. “Wade!”
“Babe?”
With perfect timing, he appeared at her side, holding her up.
“What’s wrong?”
Through blurry vision, she could make out the concern on his face. “I don’t feel good.”
Wade picked her up and started carrying her to the bedroom – thankfully the one place not covered in decorations. As he laid her on the bed, she fainted.
*
The day after Halloween
Victoria and her inner wolf sighed as her brother started snoring. These weren’t regular snores; they were cats caught in a meat grinder snores that only a wolf shifter could achieve.
She shuffled to the edge of the couch and tried to focus on the news. She shouldn’t complain. Derek offered her a place to stay while she hammered out her divorce and he didn’t even ask for rent. It was partly out of kindness and also out of a need for a maid – Derek lived like a pig. When he wasn’t at work, he seemed to party all night. He’d come home at five that morning stinking of booze after what was undoubtedly a raucous Halloween party. Victoria's wolf sniffed; she spent the evening handing out candy to kids. Wasn’t he getting a little too old to live like this? He only came back to his apartment to sleep – hence the need for a maid. The stuff that had been growing in his kitchen sink when she arrived would haunt her.
Derek twitched and let out a snort. Victoria wondered whether a pillow to the head might quiet him down a little.
Derek twitched again but more violently. Her inner wolf chuffed at her. Maybe she should wake him up. She’d never known her little brother to have nightmares before, but her protective older sister instincts were kicking in, and she didn’t like the idea of him suffering.
“No,” he murmured. “No, get them off me.”
“Derek?”
“No!” he screamed waving his arms around.
“Derek?” Victoria reached out to him just as he jumped to his feet screaming.
“Get the spiders off me! They’re everywhere! Get them off me!”
Half asleep, he ran out of his apartment. The next thing Victoria knew, he was screaming as he plummeted twenty floors to his death.
*
Cutter grunted at Rick – Dr. Rick Powers, the Supernatural Enforcers Agency medical examiner and a lion shifter. Rick gave him a toothy smile in return. His wolf curled his lip. Damn genial, perfect lion shifter. He swigged his eleventh coffee of the day, hoping it would energize him a little. He hadn’t been sleeping well for the past few days - bad dreams from his past. He could handle them; they just meant interrupted sleep, which meant Lucie’s sleep was interrupted and that pissed him off even more. When he was up, she insisted on getting up and keeping him company while he watched reruns of Bonanza at two in the morning. She ought to get her sleep, particularly given that she was now pregnant, but truthfully, he wanted her by his side.
He was just going through a rough patch. They came and went, less so since his mating to Lucie, but what happened to him back in Ursa would never truly leave him. He just prayed he could control himself better when junior came along. He hadn’t been able to handle himself well after it first happened, and he hadn’t been a good father to his son, Dean. Thankfully, Dean was young enough to forget how bad he’d been, though his ex-wife never would. But admittedly, their separation was a long time coming, and both were now much happier.
Wayne gave him a mellow smile, stopped chatting up the female LLPD officer and sauntered over.
They’d been called out to the death of a wolf shifter called Derek, although if it weren’t for the scent, Cutter wasn’t sure he’d be able to tell his species. The wolf had lived and died in an opulent apartment building containing a spacious lobby and a circular staircase that went up to the top floor – the twentieth floor, where the wolf lived and apparently fell from. His body was not in good shape.
“Nice place, huh?” asked Wayne. “Anyone who lives here must be worth a few dollars. Makes my place look like a hole.”
The laconic gator shifter slapped his shoulder. Cutter grunted uninterestedly. He was only someone who could appreciate his surroundings insofar as to the people in them. He could be in Hawaii or Paris, and he wouldn’t give a shit or notice any of the beautiful sights, but if Lucie were with him, he wouldn’t care if they were in a sewer, he’d still enjoy it. Although, one glance at the victim’s broken body and he couldn’t imagine anyone would enjoy living there as much as they used to. Even his own wolf grumbled at the sight.
Cutter stared up at the top floor, where Isis the tiger shifter was interviewing their victim’s sister.
Rick sauntered over to them, as bright and breezy as if he hadn’t been just poking a dead person. “My preliminary examination leads me to believe the fall killed him.”
“No kidding,” grumbled Cutter.
“Some of his neighbors heard him scream on the way down,” said Wayne.
“Do you think he was pushed?” asked Rick.
Wayne shrugged. “His neighbor said he came out of his apartment and saw our wolf just as he fell – he said no one else was there.”
“Maybe he pushed him,” suggested Cutter, always ready to believe the worst of anyone.
In a haze of perfume, Isis clattered down the stairs in four-inch heels and joined them. “Sister says he just went nuts. They were sitting, watching TV, he was dozing, and then he suddenly jumped up and started shouting about spiders and ran out of the apartment. Next thing she knew, she heard him screaming. She ran out the apartment and, well, saw him go splat.”
“Were there any spiders in the apartment?” asked Rick.
“No,” replied Isis. “Or at least, she didn’t see any. She said he jumped up and started waving his arms like he was trying to shake them off.”
“Her story ties in with the next door neighbor,” added Wayne.
“Maybe they killed him together,” said Cutter.
Rick hummed. “Perhaps he was hallucinating. Maybe he ingested some drugs. I’ll do some tests when I get him back to the SEA.”
“Really?” teased Isis. “Not dying to get home to your little witch?”
Rick beamed as he thought of his new mate – a witch called Ariadne. “I am, but she has a coven meeting tonight. I’d much rather have fun with a dead body than sit at home drinking beer and watching TV.”
“Ghoul,” muttered Cutter.
The lion shifter chuckled, completely unfazed by Cutter’s insults as per bloody usual. His wolf sneered. Surely he shouldn’t have to work this hard to insult the man!
“I’ll let you know what I find.”
“Also,” said Isis, “the sister said he had a huge phobia of spiders. Said he was once attacked by a poisonous one while on vacation – almost died. Scared to death of the things.”
“Huh.” Cutter watched as the body was hauled away.
*
A few hours later
Sydney Weathers heard the mutterings around her, but she forced herself to ignore them. It was just like school; she didn’t care what anyone else thought of her or her crazy hair or crazy eyes or crazy clothes or crazy inventions – there was a lot about her that was crazy. The bullies in high school had a lot to work with, and sadly, the SEA seemed to be shaping up just like a school, too.
Where she thought she’d be stepping into a grown-up, adult working place, in truth, everyone seemed to be as hormonally imbalanced as teenagers. Probably bec
ause of the shifters she thought gloomily. As the human daughter of a rhino shifter, and the sister to four rhino shifter brothers, she knew a lot about rampant hormones. The only ray of light in her house was her human mother, but even she sometimes couldn’t be heard over the raging testosterone of five rhinos. Made Sydney glad she was now living on her own, although perhaps she should have kept her address secret. The number of times her dad or brothers popped over on some lame excuse was starting to get tiresome, as were her father’s none too subtle attempts to mate her to an enormous male called Chad from their rhino crash. You need someone to take care of you pixie, he said. Sure.
There were a few chuckles as she dismally tried to fire up her machine again. “Stupid thing, work!” she muttered.
The agents were getting impatient. Any moment, they’d storm over and bully her into getting out of their way.
The SEA agents were mostly shifters and vampires – they were like the jocks and cheerleaders. While the witch agents were the mean girls - the perfect, popular girls who never missed an opportunity to make a bitchy comment or make Sydney feel two inches tall.
The directors of the SEA were like the teachers, disapproving and frowning most of the time. The technical assistants were the nerds – still glued to their computers the way they were in high school. The guys in research and records were the loners and goths. The medical team was filled with preppy people – the type who would have run the fundraisers in high school and raised money for good causes and were liked by everyone because they were pretty harmless. The maintenance, cafeteria and security staff formed their own little friendship groups – impenetrable from the outside, and just like in high school, there was always one who had knocked up a teacher. In this case, it was a bear shifter security guard called Boris with a swan shifter director. At her high school, it was a custodian, also a bear shifter, called Marlo and her human history teacher – she gave birth to twins in Sydney's senior year. Which left, at the bottom of the social pyramid, Sydney’s group – the crime scene technicians were the SEA’s band geeks. Yep, she was right back where she started, except this time she didn’t have to lug around that damn tuba.