Kindling The Darkness. Jane Kindred

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ a blend of cardamom and amber, something both earthy and exotic at once. And he didn’t think she was wearing perfume.

      “Now where?”

      Oliver blinked. “What?”

      She glanced over at him, annoyance drawing her ebony brows together. “Where do I turn?”

      They were at the crossroad where Jerome-Perkinsville Road split off in two different directions, one toward the rustic museum of antique mining machinery and the other up into the hills.

      “Oh, sorry. To the right. You can pull over by the gate.”

      Lucy turned a bit too swiftly, tires kicking up dirt and gravel, and drew up in front of the rusted barrier chaining off the private road. “It says No Trespassing.”

      “We’re not going in. We’re just heading up the forest road a bit. We could drive in farther, but I don’t think your car is made for dirt-road driving.” Her expensive convertible two-seater looked like it was designed more for show than for sport.

      He noticed the dress boots with a two-inch block heel under her tailored suit as she stepped out of the car. She was even shorter than she seemed. He could probably pick her up and carry her under one arm like a caveman claiming his mate. Not that he approved of cavemen scooping up and claiming women. Or that he considered her a potential mate.

      Oliver swallowed and reined in his idiotic thoughts. Sometimes it seemed like his brain took pleasure in going off on tangents that would make him uncomfortable. At any rate, how such a slight-looking woman could possibly be one of Smok Consulting’s premier field agents was beyond him. Going after someone small and defenseless like Crystal was one thing. And Lucy obviously had some kind of martial arts training. She’d briefly overpowered him with the element of surprise on her side. But what was she going to do when she tracked one of these things down? Call animal control?

      Lucy was eyeing him with a mixture of impatience and annoyance. “Well?”

      “This way.” Oliver strode past her, hands in his pockets, up the dirt and gravel road, not waiting to see if she’d followed. Her expensive, unscuffed boots crunched on the gravel behind him. They weren’t going to be unscuffed for long. He led her around the bend, where he veered off the road and headed downhill over the remains of old mining spoil, only to realize she was no longer behind him.

      He turned to find her standing at the top of the hill with her arms folded, watching him. “Too steep for you?” he called up to her.

      Lucy uncrossed her arms and rested her fists on her hips. “Mr. Connery, is there a point to this little trek?” Her ability to project was impressive. She must have had stage experience.

      “It’s Oliver,” he yelled back. “And yes.”

      After regarding him with suspicion for a moment longer, she finally headed down the side of the hill with a sigh—extremely sure-footed on the damp earth despite the boots that didn’t look like they were made for hiking. It occurred to him as she came closer that perhaps it looked like he was leading her out into an isolated area for nefarious purposes. He’d forgotten to put himself in her shoes—not that he’d fit them—which was a large part of his meditative practice.

      “Sorry about that,” he said when she reached him. “I should have told you what we were doing. This is where we tracked the creature after it was spotted lurking around the Ghost Town. The lupine tracks disappear here, to be replaced with human footprints.”

      She looked where he was pointing, and Oliver stepped aside and moved off a few paces to let her examine the area without him hovering behind her. Lucy sank into a crouch, perfectly balanced on those thick-heeled boots, and took out her phone to snap some pictures before straightening and walking around the prints to get some shots from another angle. After walking farther down the hill to follow the now-human prints for a ways, she turned and headed back up.

      “I see what you mean. The animal tracks aren’t standard wolves. I’ve never seen any quite like that. Certainly not that size. But those are definitely human prints leading away from them, with no sign that anyone else was out here until they appeared.” She glanced at Oliver’s footwear—a much more utilitarian pair of old brown work boots. “Except you, evidently. And now me, of course.”

      Oliver tilted his head and studied her, amused. “You think I’m the werewolf?”

      “Are you?”

      “Would I tell you if I were?”

      Lucy shrugged and headed back up the hill. Oliver followed, and they walked in silence until they reached her car and got in.

      “I’m not,” he said as she started the engine.

      “Not...?”

      “The werewolf. For whatever my word is worth to you.”

      “Exactly as much as any man’s is worth.”

      He had the distinct impression that meant “zilch.”

      She turned the car around and pulled back out onto the paved road. “Besides, I don’t think we’re dealing with a werewolf.”

      “Oh?”

      “Lycanthropic transformation isn’t instantaneous and smooth. The creature would have struggled and fallen, and the human shape would have been on all fours before the footprints began. There’s no sign of any transition at all with these tracks. It’s as if the creature simply chose to be human at that moment.”

      “What kind of shifter could do that?”

      Lucy was quiet for a moment before she answered. “None that I know of. So where to now?”

      “Haunted Hamburger.”

      She looked over at him. “Haunted...what?”

      “Best burgers in town.” He smiled. “I think I owe you a meal.”

      * * *

      The outdoor seating overlooked the entire Verde Valley—the hundred-mile views the restaurant boasted of along with burgers, brews and “boos.” The distinctive red-rock formations that defined the Sedona landscape, made blue and soft by distance, marked the horizon like the rim of another world. Lucy gazed out across the panorama while they waited for their food, wondering how much of this territory might “belong” to the creatures she was hunting.

      “It’s a pretty great view, huh? The ghosts seem to like it here, anyway.”

      She turned toward Oliver, who was sipping his porter. “Hmm?” Lucy glanced at the valley once more. “Oh. Yeah, it’s nice. I was just thinking about the direction this thing might have gone. The tracks we looked at must have been made within the last few hours since the rain stopped.”

      “That’s right. We got the report of the sighting about an hour after I caught you harassing one of our citizens.”

      Lucy ignored the bait. “And what makes you think the tracks were made by the same creature responsible for the ‘mountain lion’ attacks?”

      “Because similar tracks were seen at the sites of those attacks. And a kid was found close to that spot yesterday СКАЧАТЬ