SavageLust (8 page)

“It’s okay.” Dante spoke softly. “We all know what happened.
Go on.”

“I don’t know if any of you have heard of him,” she continued,
“but my brother has published a number of research books on various legends.
Everything from vampires to famous lost treasures, the fabled city of Atlantis.
He’s traveled all over the world doing his research.”

“I’ve heard of him.” The woman across from Regan smiled at
her. “I’m Chelsea Roland. I was a private investigator before joining the team.
I didn’t connect the name at first but when Dante called to let us know he was
bringing you here, it clicked a switch in my head. He wrote
There Be Dragons
,
right?”

“Yes.” She relaxed infinitesimally. “A lot of people have
used that book as the basis for fantasy novels.”

“It’s a great book,” Chelsea told her. “He was a fabulous
writer. He made everything so exciting.”

“Thank you. So…he decided he wanted to research something a
little closer to home, a legend that he might actually prove was true.” She
pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So he’d been researching the
Chupacabra.”

Dante tensed, waiting for the reaction. His tension loosened
a little when everyone just nodded, as if they’d been expecting it. And maybe
they had, after his phone call and insistence on bringing Regan to the ranch.

“Is that his research?” Ric indicated the boxes.

“Some of the books he bought. Yes. But his notes and theories
are on this flash drive. I’ve read it. All of it. Since this happened, I mean.
I can give you a kind of summary, if you’d like. Then you’re free to go through
everything yourselves.”

“Let’s hear the short version first,” Logan prompted.

“Yes. Well.” She took a sip of her drink. “You know there
have been reported sightings of the Chupacabra in Puerto Rico, as far north as
Maine and as far south as Chile.”

“We definitely know about Maine,” Sophia interjected. “The
devil beast has attacked twice in that state.”

Regan nodded. “It’s also been sighted, supposedly, in
Northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.”

“We’ve dealt with those areas too,” Dakota Grey mentioned.

Regan took another swallow of her drink. “I don’t want to
feel like I’m giving a speech here. Anyway, the animals it attacks are usually
goats or sheep or other farm animals that size. Nowhere in its history is there
mention of larger animals.”

Ben Crater raised his hand. “I’d say that’s right. It
actually showed up at the entrance to my barn but I was grooming Soldier, my
horse, and instead of attacking, it disappeared as if it hadn’t even been
there.”

“I know Reed was frustrated because experts were dismissing
the sightings as simply coyotes with a specific parasite.
Sarcoptes scabies
would leave the animals with little fur, thickened skin and a rank odor.”

“But,” Ric interjected, “that wouldn’t explain the scaly
arms, the ridged spine, the enlarged teeth with extended fangs or the claws
long enough to rip open a body from neck to navel.”

“Reed said the same thing,” she agreed. “He also felt it had
many of the same characteristics ascribed to vampires. You know, draining the
blood from the body, avoiding direct sunlight.” She smoothed back a stray hair
that had escaped her ponytail. “He has all these books, some of them decades
old, that people wrote about personal experiences with the beast. And he
collected drawings, conducted interviews, all the things he usually did in the
research phases of his books. He really immersed himself in it.”

“Okay, so he’s got a lot of material we can dig into,” Jonah
said. “We’re certainly grateful for it and you can bet we’ll examine all of it.
But answer this—why were he and his fiancée at Pedernales Falls State Park,
hiking Wolf Mountain Trail, on that particular day at that particular time? Was
that part of his research?”

She nodded. “He had developed some kind of program on the
computer that he thought helped him predict where and when the beast would
strike again. He was convinced it would be hunting on the mountain.”

Sophia raised her eyebrows. “Even with all the people the
place usually draws? It’s been our experience the beast seeks isolated prey and
strikes when the prey’s most vulnerable. Not in the middle of a crowd.”

Regan spread her hands. “I don’t know what to tell you
except Reed said the parameters all pointed to that area. There were…
reasons
why he felt that way.”

“What reasons?” Dante wanted to know.

“Just—reasons. He didn’t want Lisa to go with him but she
insisted. I know he had a heavy duty handgun with him so I don’t know why he
didn’t use it.”

“He might not have had time,” Logan Tanner told her. “There
are few survivors of a Chupacabra attack, just enough of them so we had an idea
what we were looking for.”

Regan pushed her chair back from the table and grabbed one
of the boxes, digging in it for a book. She leafed through it until she found
what she wanted.

“Here. This is from a writer who interviewed an eyewitness.
It’s enough to scare you to death, if you’ll pardon the pun. Let me read it to
you and you can tell me if it falls in line with what you all know.”

“
The full moon rose above the mountain in the cloudless
night, shining like a pale yellow lantern into the farmer’s bedroom. But that wasn’t
what woke him. It was the chickens. Their panicked cries had awoken him before,
and it meant they were under attack. Wild dogs had gotten into the coop, the
farmer thought, or perhaps a wolf. He leapt from bed, grabbed his shotgun from
the bedroom corner and hurried outside. He checked the gun for cartridges as he
jogged barefoot past the long, soft shadows cast by the moonlight, toward the
chicken coop.

“The predator will die tonight
, he thought, as he pushed
open the small door to the coop. He burst in and took aim. But he didn’t shoot.

“Instead, he froze, his senses overwhelmed by the sight
before him.

“Several chickens lay dead in the dirt around the clawed
feet of a creature the farmer had never seen before. This was no dog, no wolf.
It stood on two legs at about the height of a tall child. It had dark, scaly
skin and a ridge of porcupine-like spines running over its head and down its
back. With short arms ending in sharp, claw-like hands, the creature held a
chicken to its mouth. It was not eating its prey, but seemed to be sucking the
life from it.

“It turned to face the farmer, its red eyes blazing, and
dropped the chicken to the ground. It hissed, baring its large, bloodstained
fangs. Then it screeched—an unearthly, terrifying noise that drove the farmer
backward into the doorway. The creature, with its front claws dangling, hopped
like some mutant kangaroo toward the farmer. Dumbstruck, he stumbled out of the
coop as the creature hopped past him with another deafening shriek. The farmer
was knocked to the ground, and he could feel the rough, scaly skin of the
creature as it passed, and felt the warm, sickening smell of its putrid breath
on his face.”

She glanced around at everyone, noting that Randi was
translating the words into drawings as she listened. “Does that sound like it’s
on track? Because there’s a lot more of that kind of stuff in the rest of the
books. I think most of the passages are stickered and marked.”

“They’ll be helpful,” Ric answered. “The description fits a
lot with the beasts we’ve actually managed to kill. Jonah and Mark discovered
small animals had been destroyed at or near the killing scenes in South Texas.
So did Dante and I when we scouted Pedernales. And Logan checked out a news
report in Alabama that indicated the same thing. Our assumption has been that the
beast feeds on small prey in between its major kills. That’s what momentarily
satisfies it bloodlust.”

“Maybe its habits are changing.” This from Mark.

Ric shook his head. “I think it could be more than that. If
we’re right and scientists are genetically engineering these things, then they
could implant signals that draw it only to human prey.”

“It’s possible that was part of what Reed discovered in his
research,” Regan told them.

Rebecca shuddered. “What scares the crap out of me is that
some insane idiot is actually breeding these things on purpose. Implanting
artificial intelligence…”

“As Reed studied and charted the more recent incidents,”
Regan told them, “he had the same idea.”

“Yes,” Ric told her. “Craig Stafford, our boss, has
scientists who autopsy each carcass we’re able to deliver. In the last few,
they found computer chips in the brains. But the programming is so
sophisticated they haven’t been able to crack them yet.”

Dante felt Regan shiver beneath his fingers, still resting
lightly on her shoulder. “I’ve had nightmares ever since Reed and Lisa
disappeared. Now I probably won’t sleep at all.”

Sophia gave her a sympathetic look. “We’ve all been there, I
promise you. I can’t promise we’ll locate Lisa. We’re still on the hunt for
Chloe’s friend. But we can offer you support and the resources of the team.”
She glanced at Ric. “Right? We
can
help her?”

“We’re going to track this thing anyway,” Dante pointed out.

“We can’t make her a part of the team,” Ric told them. “Not
without Craig’s say-so.” He smiled. “But we can make her an associate member.
That work for everyone?”

There were a lot of nods and murmurs of assent.

“Okay, then. If we’re all finished stuffing our faces, let’s
see what Reed Fortune had on this flash drive and integrate it with what we
already know.” He paused. “I’m going to make an educated guess here that the
next strike won’t be in a place as populated as the state park. So let’s see if
Reed’s work can help us find out where it actually will be.”

Working quickly, they disposed of all the trash and
rearranged things on the table. Dante noticed that Regan still kept the leather
satchel close to her. What in the hell was in there that she couldn’t let the
thing out of her sight?

Then Ric plugged Regan’s flash drive in and threw the information
up on the screen. Everyone’s focus turned to the data scrolling slowly from top
to bottom.

* * * * *

Dan Hammond swallowed the last of the coffee in his mug and
carried it to the sink. His wife, Tina, was just putting the leftovers away.
They had eaten late, giving Dan time to finish riding herd with the others
until all the cattle were moved. In the distance, he heard a sound that caught
his ear—and disturbed him.

“Don’t tell me that yappy little mutt’s hanging around
again,” he growled.

“What mutt?” she asked.

“Some stray got into one of the pastures today and was
barking up a storm at the cattle. Thank god the boys kept the herd calm. Ron
took off chasing the mutt. Apparently it’s scared of horses. Fine by me.”

“You think that’s what you’re hearing now?”

“Yeah. We need to get rid of it before it causes some
trouble.”

“A little dog?” Tina laughed. “Just tell it to shoo.”

“Ha ha ha.” He picked up the landline that connected
directly to the barn. He knew Nate Ferrante, his foreman, would still be out there
finishing up chores from today. “Nate? That dog get into the yard out there?”

“Yeah, boss.” Nate’s gravelly voice came over the line. “I
haven’t the faintest idea how it got in here.”

Dan realized the night was suddenly silent. “You must have
gotten rid of it because I don’t hear it anymore.”

“You know, it’s crazy. It was right in the yard in front of
the barn. I was at the corral leading Bo back to his stall. I left him out
there most of today since no one was riding him. Anyway, as soon as that damn
dog saw the horse he took off past the barn, headed for the trees. And boss? He
just fucking disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Uh-huh. If it was darker I’d say the night swallowed it up,
but it’s still twilight. Damned if I can figure it out.”

Dan sighed. “Okay. If it shows up again we need to find a
way to trap it and call animal control. See you in the morning.”

He hung up the phone and scratched his head.

“Maybe it’s just a stray looking for a home,” Tina ventured.

“I’ll tell you, I’m an animal lover but there’s something
about this one. I wouldn’t give it house room. Not for a minute.”

“Maybe it won’t show up again. How about an after-dinner
drink? You look like you could use one.”

“Now that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.” He chuckled
and put his arm around her. “I knew there was a reason I liked having you
around.”

Everyone on the team was visibly exhausted. Mental
gymnastics were often more tiring than physical labor. Ric had put Reed’s
diagrams and codes up on all the screens so they could each study them. Even to
Regan they were so much gibberish, but somewhere in there was the key to why
Reed and Lisa had been at Wolf Mountain on that particular day, and they were
determined to find it.

But despite using every program Ric had, they still couldn’t
figure it out.

“Bedtime,” he finally told everyone. “We need fresh eyes on
this. Tomorrow I’m going to write a couple of new programs and we’ll see if
that helps.”

“I feel as if it’s right there in front of us,” Mark said,
“and we’re just missing it.”

“That’s why we need to look at it after a good night’s
sleep.” Ric leaned back in his chair and stretched. “There’s something else I
want to do, also.”

“What’s that?” Dante asked.

“I know Craig tried to get the authorities to buy in, coming
at it from the top down by using his contacts. But tomorrow I’m going to call
my old Ranger captain. We had a good relationship. I want to try talking to
him. See if he’ll agree to let us work together.”

“I can understand they don’t want to start a panic,” Logan
said. “But we have resources they don’t. We can help them predict what areas
the beast might invade next and suggest ways to track it.”

“Some of you talked about the beast being able to change
shapes,” Regan said. “You saw in Reed’s notes that he thought so too. Would
that have anything to do with why he thought the mountain would be the
location?”

“I can’t really tell until I actually write a program that
takes all his information,” Ric answered, “sorts it and produces the same
conclusions he did. Let’s let it simmer overnight. We’ll get some rest and hit
it again tomorrow.”

Regan cleared her throat. “I really didn’t think about this
when Dante brought me here, but I have no wheels. Is there some way I can get
home without disrupting anyone?”

“I think you should stay here,” Dante said. “That way we won’t
have to go get you before working on this in the morning.”

”So what, then?”

“He has such class.” Sophia laughed. “We have plenty of
space here, Regan. We’ll fix you up so you’re very comfortable.”

He could tell the offer made her feel somewhat awkward.
After all, she hardly knew anyone except him and
they
barely knew each
other. Except for that explosive moment of intimacy, of course. And he didn’t
intend to stash her at the opposite end of the ever-expanding ranch house
either.

“I’ll help you get settled,” he said, giving her a tiny
squeeze.

He saw a few team members exchange glances. He needed to
figure out how to help Regan relax a little in this situation, and he guessed
he wasn’t doing a great job.

But damn it, he…

He what?

He’d better figure it out in a fucking big hurry.

“The suite next to yours is empty,” Sophia told him, trying
not to grin. “Rebecca’s already moved her stuff into Logan’s.”

“And there’s almost everything you’ll need,” Chloe added.
“We keep the place stocked for when we add new team members.” She let a smile
curve her lips. “Which seems to be happening at a pretty fast pace lately.”

“I don’t want to put anyone out.” Regan lifted a hand and
let it drop. “I don’t even have any clothes with me.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll fix you up. And tomorrow Dante can go to
your house and get whatever you’ll need.”

Ric nodded. “It just makes sense for you to stay here while
we wrestle with this, Regan. We can keep you out of sight and protect you here,
and you can help us figure out Reed’s research.”

Dante felt the strain ease from her muscles. “Okay. I guess
you’re right. And thank you.”

Chloe laughed. “You can thank Craig when you meet him. It’s
his money that keeps us so well supplied.”

“Come on.” Dante took her hand. “I’ll show you the way.”

“I had no idea this place was so big,” she commented as he
led her through the kitchen and the central part of the house to one of the
bedroom wings. “It doesn’t look it from the front.”

“That’s because of the way it’s built. And the way the
architects design the add-ons.” He led her down a hallway and stopped in front
of an oak door. “Here we are. Your royal digs.”

He pushed the door open and waved her inside. Saw her eyes
widen as she took in the suite, with its combined, comfortably decorated
sitting room and bedroom, carefully selected furniture and Texas art on the
walls. He waited while she checked out the bathroom.

“Wow!” Her eyes were shining when she walked back into the
sitting room. “That tub would be big enough for a party, I think. And the gals
were right. The bathroom holds just about anything I could need.”

“And full electronics,” he told her. “Satellite television.
A dedicated T-1 DSL. Internal antenna to boost cell signals. Whatever you need
electronically. You just won’t be able to go on and off the property without
me. Only team members get the codes for the main gate and the surveillance
cameras.”

“No problem, I won’t be going anywhere. But surveillance
cameras?” The look on her face was puzzled. “You’re in the middle of nowhere.
Who would even think of trying to sneak in here?”

“Maybe no one, but Craig insisted on full security. Not
everyone would think we’re the good guys.”

She gave him a tired smile. “In case I forgot, thank you so
much for everything. I can’t say I feel entirely better than I did before we
met today but I feel as if I’m not so alone.”

“That’s what I wanted.” He started to reach for her but
Sophia breezed into the suite.

“This should get you through tonight.” She put a small stack
of clothing on the credenza. “We’re about the same size. I brought jeans and a
sweatshirt, and a nightshirt to sleep in. Hope that’s okay until we can get
your own things.”

Dante looked at Regan and saw tears threatening again.

“You are all so kind.” She swallowed. “I’m a stranger and
yet…”

Sophia reached out and took her hands. “We’re all bound
together by this. We help each other.” She inhaled and let her breath out
slowly. “Just be prepared. There may be other strange things you see; try not
to be freaked out by them.”

Regan wrinkled her brow. “Other strange things?”

“That’s for another time.” She looked at Dante and grinned.
“I’ll let you tuck her in for the night, Solitaire.” She left the room.

Regan gave him a quizzical look. “Solitaire?”

He huffed a laugh. “It means loner in French. Sophia’s
husband is Cajun. She thinks she’s being funny with the nickname.”

“And are you? A loner?”

“I have been ever since Felicia was murdered. I’ve been what
you might call disconnected.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “The team has
been my salvation of sorts, but even with them, although I work my ass off, I’ve
never really made myself a part of it the way the others have.”

“Why not?” She was standing right in front of him now.

“Something died inside me with my wife. I’ve never been able
to bring it to life again.” He stroked her cheek. “Until today, when I met
you.”

“I don’t even know how this happened,” she told him. “Or
where it’s going.”

“Me either.” And that was the truth. “But I can’t seem to
back out of it. And I’m not sure I want to.”

She stepped away from him and picked up the leather satchel
she’d put on a chair. “There’s one more thing.”

He cocked his head. “Yeah? What would that be? And what’s in
that satchel you’ve been hugging like it’s your lifeline?”

She held it out to him. “Go to your own quarters. Read this.
And then, if you still want to have anything to do with me, we’ll talk.”

He looked at it quizzically. “Are your family secrets
stashed in here?”

A strange look washed over her face. “You might say that. In
a way.” She shoved the satchel at him and took a step back. “Anyway, if I’m
going to be here for more than one night, it’s required reading. Then we’ll
talk. Or you’ll toss me out. Your choice.”

He felt as if a fist had reached into his stomach and
grabbed the core of him. What was this all about? What could be so dreadful
that he’d walk away when he’d just found out he could live again?

“All right. I’ll read it now.”

“Don’t rush,” she cautioned. “And don’t come back until you’ve
absorbed it.”

He moved to kiss her before he left but she backed away.

“After,” she told him. “If you still want to.”

Weighed down by dread, he trudged to his own suite, grateful
that it was just next door.

* * * * *

Dante sat in the big armchair in his sitting room, a mass of
conflicting emotions seething inside him. The book from Regan’s leather satchel
lay on his lap, a thin volume bound in leather. From its condition he knew it
was years old. Maybe even centuries. The binding was frayed in places, the
paper and printing from another time. Maybe another world.

He ran a hand lightly over the title printed in gold
letters.

The Legend of the Wolf.

He still recalled in vivid detail his first meeting with
Craig Stafford and his explanation of what Night Seekers would be. What he had
not
expected was the information that several members of the team were shifters.

Werewolves, if you will, although Craig was very specific
that was a term created for useful identification. It came from two words in
the Old German that meant “man” and “wolf.”

At first he thought the billionaire was crazy. But Craig had
left several books with him to read, told him to come to the next meeting armed
with questions and he’d try to answer them. It took more than one additional
meeting for him to even begin to buy into the concept. He’d begun to wonder if
the man had slipped something into his coffee at each meeting.

But then his curiosity got the better of him and he asked to
meet one of them. So at the next meeting, Jonah Grey came along. From his
attitude, Dante knew the man was used to skepticism but, in order to bind them
all to their common purpose, didn’t mind doing what had to be done.

“Besides,” he’d said, “if you believe in the Chupacabra, you
can believe in anything.”

Which, Dante supposed, was true.

Without any indication of self-consciousness, Jonah had
stripped off his clothes, spun in a dramatic circle and what stopped in his
place was a magnificent gray wolf, standing majestically, power radiating from
it in an almost visible aura. Then, seconds later, he changed again; the man
returned and began casually dressing.

With six shifters on the original team, Dante had made it
his business to study as many of the legends and origin stories as possible. He’d
learned that shifters were more powerful in human form than pure humans, that
the wolf blood was a gift and a source of power. That they could communicate
telepathically. They had enhanced speed and strength.

He’d learned that each of the shifters on the team had been
chosen not only for their law enforcement backgrounds and the loss of a loved
one to the devil beasts, but also because they were each orphan shifters.
Either they had been separated from their original packs or the packs had been
destroyed.

It took months, but finally Dante had become comfortable
with the situation.

And as Jonah had pointed out, it wasn’t nearly as extreme as
believing in the Chupacabra.

Now he sat with the thin, ancient volume that appeared to be
the history of a decimated pack with one lone survivor—Regan.

Dante had to assume her brother had also been a shifter. Did
they require special herbs to stem the change, like the Night Seeker wolves? If
so, he would get her together with Dakota. Jonah’s wife had been selling her
special herbs on the internet when they met. Now she tended an open garden and
a greenhouse, growing what they needed to control the impulses to change except
when they chose to. He’d be sure to work that into his conversation with Regan.

Conversation!
He snorted. That ought to be
interesting. Would she even believe him when he told her that he was immersed
in a world of shifters? Would he have to wake one of them to shift in front of
her to convince her? And how had she and Reed survived without pack support of
any kind?

The day had been long and emotionally draining. He knew he
should wait until tomorrow to talk to her about this. But he had visions of her
lying in the next suite in the dark, terrified that on top of everything else,
he’d think she was a lunatic and dump her back at her house in the morning. Be
revolted that he’d had sex with a shifter.

No wonder it was so hot!

Not that the Seekers discussed their sex lives around the
dinner table, but he knew from bits and pieces he’d picked up that the sex
drive for shifters was far more intense and accelerated than for humans.

And what did he think about being with a woman who was half
wolf, half human?

Surprisingly, it didn’t bother him at all. Maybe he’d just
gotten so used to living with shifters, to seeing them strip at night when they
went for their runs and unconsciously accepting the current human/shifter
couples. If
they
could make it work—

Wait. He’d just met the woman today, had one very steamy
encounter with her and he was thinking about the future? Until today, the
future had meant nothing but finding and eliminating the devil beast. He needed
to put the brakes on the suddenly escalating feelings running amok in his body
and mind.

He really should wait until tomorrow, when they’d both had a
chance to get some sleep, before talking to Regan about this. But apparently
his brain and his feet didn’t seem to be connected because he found himself out
of his quarters, turning left and knocking lightly on her door.