by Leslie Chase
He held up his hands and took a step back, the smile back on his face. It looked more like the smile of a hunter faced with interesting prey than that of a man giving up. He was about to say something more when the bell on the door rang and Janet hurried inside.
"Hi, Fi," Janet said, oblivious to the tension in the room. "I figured you wouldn't get a chance to catch breakfast on delivery day, so I thought I'd swing by and bring you something. Who's this?"
"I was just leaving," Meallan said, bowing in an oddly formal gesture as he retreated to the door. "But I'm sure we'll meet again, sweet one."
Janet grinned and blushed as he slipped past her out of the door, looking after him admiringly. Whatever it was that put Fiona off him, she could see that it didn't bother her friend.
"Sorry if I interrupted something. Is that the guy who sent you your flowers?" Janet asked, handing Fiona a Tupperware bowl of pasta salad.
I hope not! "I've never met him before," Fiona answered slowly, grabbing hold of the bowl. "I'm not sure what he wanted, but whatever it was, he was being really creepy about it."
"That's a shame," Janet said with a disappointed look out of the shop's door. "He was really hot, and I was hoping you'd had some luck with a guy for a change."
"That would be nice," Fiona admitted. "But not today, I guess. And certainly not him."
The town of Argent Falls itself didn't look like anything special as Cole drove into it. The silver mines that the town grew around had long since run dry, and the industry that had driven the town's economy was dying. These days, the small community made ends meet by catering to the few tourists and hikers who visited the national park around it. Between the forests and the river that ran past the town, it looked like a pleasant enough spot.
In fact, it reminded him a little too much of home. His clan raised him in hills like these, and Argent Falls was a lot like the city he visited whenever he could get away from his folks.
Shaking his head, he drove through the streets trying to get a feel for the layout of the town. There were a few landmarks — a beautiful old church, some views out over the river, and a mall that looked a little too big for the small town. A small smile came to his lips as he saw that. When he'd been a teenager living with his traditionalist clan in the woods, a mall like that would have been a pilgrimage site for him.
Where do I start? That was always the most important question. Often it was also easy, of course. Someone had to report a problem to the Agency before he'd be sent out to investigate, so talking to them would be a natural way to begin. In this case, though, the witch who'd told them about the 'magical storms' had only been passing through town. Her report wasn't much use, either. She'd been camping by the river when it had snowed. The snow tasted of magic. And she swore that it wasn't her magic causing it.
Not much to go on.
He pulled into the mall's parking lot and got out to stretch. Being on foot was better anyway — the air-conditioned comfort of the SUV kept him from using his full senses, for whatever good they might do him here. Keen as his sense of smell was, he couldn't exactly smell magic.
The air did smell a little odd, though. The pleasant smell of a damp forest he'd expected, here on the edge of town, but there was something else. A flowery smell he couldn't place and the sharp ozone scent of a thunderstorm. He frowned at that, taking a deep breath and holding it for a moment, but he couldn't figure anything else out about it. Maybe if I shifted, he thought. My bear has even better senses. But he couldn't exactly do that in the middle of a parking lot. The whole point of this was to stop normal humans finding out about the supernaturals that lived alongside them.
I guess I ought to check in before I go any further. Pulling out his phone, he called the office. A few seconds later, and he was through to his supervisor.
"How're you holding up out there, Cole?" Eric Vern said with a little chuckle, and Cole stifled a growl.
"I've arrived in town," he said as politely as he could. "I think there might actually be something to this one."
"No shit?" Eric sounded as surprised as he had been, and took a moment to recover his professional composure. "I mean, of course. There's a reason we check out everything."
"Yeah, well, I'm not sure that we needed to check out the case of the Haunted Cheesecake last month," Cole said with a sigh. "This time, though, I nearly got struck by lightning on the way into town and there's something odd in the air."
Eric hummed tunelessly, then spoke again. "That sounds suspicious, sure enough. But remember it could still just be a coincidence. You don't want to go tearing the town apart looking for a witch who's gone wild only to find it's a couple of odd events and an overactive imagination."
"Maybe I wouldn't be as keen to find something if you hadn't sent me on the last half-dozen useless cases," Cole pointed out. "I didn't start seeing things that weren't there on those ones, though, did I?"
"True enough," Eric had to admit. "Okay, go investigate and let me know what you find. Do you think you'll need backup?"
Cole laughed at that. "No, if there's someone causing magical trouble out here in Argent Falls, I don't want anyone else to get between me and them. It won't be anything I can't handle, sir."
"Keep in touch then," Eric said, and Cole could hear the other man's smile. "And happy hunting."
With that he hung up, leaving Cole no closer to figuring out where to start. But at least he'd checked that one box off, and his supervisor wouldn't be able to say he hadn't reported yet. That was something.
I'm not getting back in the car, he decided. Even the big SUV was a little small for a man his size and he was feeling decidedly cooped up. Maybe going into the woods for a look around as a bear would be a good idea? Let myself get a good grip on the area, maybe see where the snowstorm was. And see if there are any shifters in the area, too. There weren't supposed to be — he'd checked before he set out, wandering onto some clan's territory without letting them know he was there would just be asking for trouble. But not every clan told the Agency where they were all the time, and it wouldn't be the first time he'd run into someone’s turf by accident.
Maybe there'll be someone in the Mall who can tell me about local sites. Or a guidebook or something. It wasn't likely to tell him much, but there was always a chance that there was a mysterious haunted house or sacred circle or something nearby that was actually magical. And he could pick up something to eat in the food court if nothing else. His bear rumbled awake at the thought of food, and that decided it for him. Time for breakfast.
Stepping into the mall, he noticed the odd flowery smell grew stronger. Pausing to sniff, he frowned at that. The air conditioning should have taken care of that, and certainly the pine smell of the forests faded as he walked deeper. But the flower and lightning smell was still there, still strong. He almost thought it was a scent the mall used, except it was too natural. If it were something they added deliberately, there'd be a chemical smell to it. He could smell the cleaning products clearly enough, after all, and it wasn't anything to do with them.
It wasn't everywhere, either. He made his way to the food court and bought himself a stack of pancakes big enough to satisfy his bear, and the scent wasn't anywhere to be found down there. It was tricky to follow a smell in human form, but at least it gave him somewhere to start.
He finished the pancakes quickly, closed his eyes, and tried to call his bear to the surface. It wasn't easy, not when he'd just eaten and the animal soul wanted to sleep, but Cole knew he'd need all the help he could for this. He'd never been sure if this actually worked. For all he knew, it was all in his mind, but he did feel like he could smell better if he asked first.
Standing, he went back into the main body of the mall, eyes half closed and all his concentration on the one scent he followed. Fortunately the mall wasn't that busy, but even so he'd have walked into people if they hadn't scurried out of his way. That was one advantage he did enjoy from being a big man.
The scent did seem to lead him thr
ough the building once he'd found it again. It was like a trail, and under the clean chemical smell of the mall it was fading quickly, but still, he could follow it to where it was strongest. In fact, it became almost overpoweringly strong as he stopped outside a shop.
Opening his eyes properly he looked up at the sign. Rosewind Books.
It might be nothing, but it's a place to start.
3
Fiona finished the salad with a silent prayer of thanks to Janet for bringing it to her. Eating made her feel far more human, and she was starting to wonder if maybe she'd been over-reacting to the strange man who'd called himself Meallan Lightning. Mr. Jackson's collection of New Age and magical books drew in a lot of strange people, after all. Perhaps he was just one of them trying to be charming and failing badly?
She couldn't know and had decided not to worry about it too much. If he came back, she'd keep an eye on him but that was all. Just as she made that decision, the bell chimed again and she looked up, half-expecting him to be standing in the doorway.
Instead, she saw someone quite different. He was just as tall, but instead of the lean slender grace of Meallan, this man was broad-shouldered and muscular, his arms huge where they left his t-shirt. He looked like he was made of muscle, and made by someone who knew what they were doing too. Fiona couldn't help staring at him, and she felt her cheeks flush as her gaze wandered across him.
His t-shirt was stretched so tight across his chest and abs that she could make out the contours of his muscles clearly. She snapped her eyes up to his face, hoping he hadn't caught her staring. Their eyes met, and the intensity in his deep blue eyes almost knocked her backward. He was looking at her with as much interest as she was looking at him.
Okay, no, not good, she thought. I don't need this, I don't need another guy staring at me today.
Her body had other ideas, though. Her pulse raced and her breathing sped up. She felt her cheeks heating as he took a step towards her, letting the door swing back behind him. For a moment there was nothing else in her world, just him and those powerful blue eyes that looked into hers. She couldn't help wondering what he saw that drew his gaze like that. It wasn't as though he was undressing her with his eyes, they were fixed on hers.
Just the thought of that made her flush brighter, though. The idea of him looking at her, seeing her body naked, made her think of the same thing with him. Oof, he'd look so good undressing, she thought, and then frowned at herself. What am I thinking? Mind out of the gutter, Fi!
Perhaps it was luck that brought the delivery guy in right behind the newcomer. "Hello, Fiona," he said, breaking the spell. "Mr. Jackson not around?"
Fiona blinked a couple of times and then shook her head, as much to clear it as to answer the question.
"He, um, he had to step out," she said, trying to keep her eyes off the big man. For his part, he turned away from her and went to peruse the tourist shelf. She sighed with relief, though she couldn't help sneaking a look at his ass as he turned away. In his tight jeans it looked amazing.
"I can sign for those, though," she said to the delivery man, looking at the pile of heavy boxes on the man's little trolley with a resigned sigh. Putting them away was going to be a lot of heavy lifting.
The man smiled and raised an eyebrow as he handed over the receipt for her signature. Silently, he glanced at the big man and back and then winked, making Fiona blush again. She pushed the signed receipt back at him and made shooing gestures. She wasn't sure that she wanted her distraction gone, but if he was going to make silent innuendo out of it then he wasn't helping!
With a grin and a little salute, the man left with his now empty dolly, and the big man turned back to her again. He cleared his throat and smiled at her, leaning on the counter.
"I don't suppose you have any books on local mythology," he asked. His voice was rough, unpolished, deep. It spoke to Fiona on a level that seemed to go straight past her brain and into her body, and she felt herself melt at the sound of it. Oh god, this is too much.
There was something all too familiar about him. Something that reminded her of her dreams again. The big man in those, the half-beast monster of a man... That's what he reminded her of.
At least he'd asked a question she could answer. "There might be something in the tourist shelves, but honestly I don't think there's much to read about there. The general guidebooks have something about it, usually. There's just not enough to write a whole book about, I don't think."
He grumbled something under his breath and shook his head. Again, he looked down at her with that intense gleam in his eye, and that was more and more like the creature in her dreams. Why can't I meet a normal guy this hot? When Mom said that someday I'd meet the man of my dreams, I didn't think that it would be like this.
To her relief, he straightened up and stepped away from the desk. That took some of the pressure off her. "In that case, I'll take a book showing local hiking trails and scenic spots. Can you recommend one?"
"Sure," Fiona said brightly. It felt good to be able to help him, and that made her suspicious as well. But that was a common enough request that they always had a couple of copies behind the counter. "Those we've got plenty of."
"Thank you," he said, pulling out his wallet and paying for the book. "I'm Cole, by the way. Pleased to meet you."
"Fiona," she replied. As she took the money from his hand, their fingers brushed and it was as though a spark jumped between them. Fiona jumped, jerking her hand back as the electric feeling of contact flashed through her body.
Cole didn't jerk back the way she had, but his breath caught audibly. Fiona calmed her breathing with an effort and handed him his change. This time when they touched there wasn't the same shock, but the powerful heat of his skin still made her bite her lip to try and focus. She could, she thought, get lost in that sensation.
"Do you do any hiking yourself?" he asked her, eyes sparkling. "Maybe you could show me some good spots."
The question he left unspoken burned in the air between them, and Fiona was torn. On the one hand, it was awfully tempting to show him her favorite spots in the woods around town, and to walk with him alone in the forest. On the other hand, what the hell are you thinking Fiona? She'd hardly met the man, he reminded her of a monster from a dream, and she was thinking of wandering off into the woods with him?
I'm not that crazy, she told herself. Janet would kick her for turning down the opportunity, but that was Janet's business.
Shaking her head, she pushed the book across at him. "I'm sure you'll be able to find your way," she said. "There's plenty to see."
She didn't know how she'd expected him to react, but she was satisfied with the slow, respectful nod he gave her. Some men wouldn't have taken being turned down nearly that gracefully, she knew. Ironically, the fact that he could handle it like a gentleman made her almost regret not taking him up on his offer. Come on Fi, what's getting into you? You’re not usually like this at all.
"Thanks for your help, then," he said. "I'm sure I'll see you around."
Looking at the woman behind the counter, Cole could feel the pull towards her. His bear had forgotten about the scent trail they'd been following and was now interested in one thing and one thing only. Her. Fiona.
Not now, okay? He tried to pull his attention back from her but it was difficult. She was breathtaking. Asking her to come with him on a look around the woods was a mistake, he knew that as soon as he said it. If she came along there wasn't much hope that he'd notice a coven of witches if he tripped over their cauldron. The part of his mind that was trying to remain professional was glad that she said no.
That was a pretty small part of him, though, and the rest could think of nothing else.
I'd better get out of here if I'm going to get anything done, he told himself forcefully, turning away with an effort. I can come back for her once I've found the magic and whoever's causing it.
He managed to drag himself away from her and out of the shop, but it took until he
was out of the mall before his mind cleared. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, he turned and walked away from the mall and towards the woods. I need to get some fresh air and some exercise. And I need to be away from her for a bit. This is too strong. Maybe there'll be something out there to distract me.
The guidebook he'd bought was small enough to fold and fit into a pocket of his jeans, and he figured he ought to take it with him. Everything else could stay in the car for now. For his first scout around he didn't want to guess what gear he might need, and he had too much equipment with him to carry all of it. Besides, he didn't want this to be too serious. Just a quick look around, getting a feel for the area and seeing if there were any obvious signs of magic around.
It didn't take long for him to get away from the mall, and the noises of town receded quickly as he walked away from it. The undergrowth was thick here, but there were enough trails that Cole could make his way into the forest easily and it seemed to embrace him as he went. Everything human faded remarkably quickly as he walked away, but there wasn't any sign of anything more than human either.
No markings of a shifter clan, anyway. Other supernaturals were less likely to mark their territories in ways that he could immediately notice, at least in human form. A glance through the guidebook didn't help either. It had lots of scenic hiking advice, and mentioned several local landmarks like the old church he'd noticed on his way through town. Nothing that looked like an obvious spot for a coven to meet or a ghost to haunt. Anything out here would be hidden from human eyes more thoroughly than that.
Good, Cole thought. It might make his job harder, but at least whoever was responsible for the weather nonsense that brought him out here wasn't being so blatant that anyone could just stumble on them. The whole point of his job was to keep the secrets of the supernatural world, after all.
And it also gave him an excuse to run around the woods as a bear for a while. That would help him get over the long journey, and hopefully some exercise would get Fiona out of his mind for a while. Even now, as he walked through the leaf-shaded forest hunting, Cole found it hard to keep his mind off the curvy redhead.