He was gazing at her as though she held the answers he’d sought all his life. It made her feel warm and fuzzy all over. Weird. And sort of nice.
“It’s good to meet you.” It came out sounding shy, though she wasn’t typically a shy person at all. This man got to her, and she didn’t understand why.
“You mean good to meet me again.”
“That’s true.” More questions hovered on his lips, she could tell. But he simply waited. “How long have I been here?”
“Since yesterday. You were out all night.”
“Okay. To answer you, I broke camp yesterday morning and left in sort of a hurry because I heard something that frightened me. A screeching sound.”
“Screeching? Like a bird or something?”
She shook her head. “No. Have you seen any of the old Godzilla movies? That awful sound he makes when he’s trashing Tokyo? That kind of noise, exactly. It echoed through the mountains.” This information earned her the dubious look that the revelation of her Psy gift had not.
“It sounded like Godzilla?”
“It did,” she said stiffly. “Every living thing in the forest went still and silent. My job entails working in nature, being alone and isolated for weeks at a time as I study the wolf packs and check their progress. I don’t scare easily, and I wouldn’t exaggerate something like that.”
He held up a hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you would. I just can’t come up with anything that would make a noise like that.”
“Whatever it is, the creature isn’t any type that belongs in this area, I can assure you.”
After a moment, he nodded. “And then?”
“I hurried out of there, but as the morning went on I managed to convince myself it was nothing. Until I found the body.” The memory threatened to make her ill. “I can’t remember what got my attention first, the sight of clothing on the ground, or the smell. I went over to investigate, see if the person was alive, and the body was mutilated. I’ve never seen anything so gruesome. Ever.”
“Me, neither,” he agreed grimly. “We discovered the corpse just before we found you, and we’re pretty sure it was a woman, from parts of her clothing.”
She shuddered. “I didn’t look that closely. I got sick and then fetched my radio, started to call the rangers. That’s when the wolf showed up.”
At that, Ryon tensed. “What did it look like?”
“That’s one of the strange things—it was snow white. Very rare in the wild for an albino of any species to survive.”
“White? Was it a male?” he asked, his expression serious.
“Female, sort of small. But she appeared large enough when she bared her teeth at me and started chasing me away from the scene of the body. I ran, and came to the edge of the ravine. When I turned to face her, she lunged and pushed me over the edge.”
He looked stunned. “Jesus. Maybe the woman was her kill and she didn’t want you near it?”
“Could be, but I have my doubts. Have you ever seen a wolf do that to a human?”
“Not a real one,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing. Anyway, we’ll know more soon, when the medical examiner finishes with the body.” He fell silent for a moment, studying her. “I saw you a couple of nights ago, when I was attacked by some . . . subjects my team and I were chasing.”
“I’d wondered if you knew I was there, or remembered,” she said quietly. “I’m not sure what drew me to you, to be honest. I fell asleep that night and had a vision of you in the alley with your friends, fighting some humanlike creatures that looked like vampires. Crazy, I know.”
A faint smile curved his lips, but he said nothing. The smile wasn’t mocking, and his eyes were devoid of humor.
“I have real-time visions sometimes when I sleep. I’m projected into the scene whether I want to be there or not.”
“Wouldn’t that be Dreamwalking, in that case?”
“No. Dreamwalking requires the person, or both parties if there’s more than one, to be dreaming, and the scene isn’t necessarily real, or happening at all. It’s often a fantasy that disappears when the person wakes. It didn’t actually happen, but the memory can be shared if there’s more than one Dreamwalker involved. A meeting of the minds, if you will, rather than reality.”
“I see. So you really were there, in the alley with me.”
“Yes. Even in my sleep, I projected a form of myself to the actual scene that was taking place.”
“Okay.” So simple, his acceptance.
“Just okay? Where is your attitude, the sarcasm? What did you mean when you said nobody around here would be surprised by my gift?”
“Because nobody will.” He sighed and braced his elbows on his knees. “You asked me where you are. Right now you’re a guest of the Institute of Parapsychology, housed in a secret location in the Shoshone National Forest.”
“The Institute of Parapsychology,” she repeated, turning over the term in her mind. Gradually, it dawned on her. “The study of the paranormal.”
“Yes. As well as the effects of that world on all of us who live here at the compound.”
She digested this. “And just who are you?”
“My team is called Alpha Pack. We each have different Psy abilities and we get called all over the world to handle paranormal predators like the rogue vampires you witnessed us battling.”
“They really were vampires?” she whispered.
His voice was gentle, almost apologetic. “Those fangs weren’t fake, honey. Neither was the silver knife that one bastard buried in my side.”
“Why silver? Wait— How are you even out of your hospital bed two days after being stabbed and having your throat ripped out?” She sat upright, heart beating wildly in her chest. “I saw it! And now there’s nothing but some pink scars on your neck!”
“You’re right, you did see me torn and stabbed. But I heal fast. All of my kind does.”
“What kind is that?” She was almost afraid to know.
“The type that doesn’t react well to silver, so that much of the legends is true.” He gave her a sad smile. “You might as well know . . . we’re wolf shifters, Daria.”
Ben Cantrell fell to his knees in the undergrowth, sick and exhausted.
What had happened? Where had he been this time?
His confused mind finally registered the blood. His hands were coated in the vile stuff. His arms, chest, some splattered on his legs. Reaching up, he felt his face, and recoiled in horror. Blood, on his mouth.
“Oh, no. No.”
Not again. Please, not again.
But to his lawyer’s mind, the evidence was irrefutable. He laughed at that, a mad, hysterical sound. Because he’d never work as an attorney again. Would never be human. His life had been stolen from him and he would never get it back.
Unless he found the ones who could help. He’d set out searching for them, but now struggled to recall who he was supposed to find. But he’d remember. He would. And they would help him.
They had to. Or soon, Benjamin Cantrell would be lost forever.
Four
Ryon’s guts clenched as he studied Daria’s reaction.
The woman paled under her tan, her lips parting in shock. Then she dropped her gaze to the sheets. “I can’t buy that.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but it’s true. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
She looked up. “I believe you think you’re telling the truth, but—”
“You can perform astral projection,” he pointed out. “You know about Psy gifts, and you saw the vampires with your own eyes.”