She stared at him. “I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
“We have some reporters lurking outside the first gate, and they’ve asked to talk to the biologist who found the body in the woods. If you want to speak with them, I’ll set up a place for you to meet.”
Shuddering, she rubbed her arms. “And if I don’t?”
“I’ll make them go away.”
Simple as that. She had no doubt he would follow through, and with pleasure. “I don’t want to relive what I found for the media. Let the authorities talk to them.”
The commander’s expression reflected approval. “I think that’s a wise decision. You will have to talk to Sheriff Deveraux, though. Ryon told him your story, but he wants a statement from you directly.”
“I guess that’s to be expected, but I don’t want to talk to anyone else.”
“Then you won’t. Now, I’ll leave you in Ryon’s capable hands.” He winked, turned and left.
“Nick is an interesting man,” she said to Ryon.
“He’s the best superior I’ve ever had.” His voice told her of his real affection for the man. “He’d do anything for any of us.”
“He strikes me as that kind of boss and friend.”
“Yeah.” He paused. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving.” Her stomach rumbled again.
He helped her into the chair, holding on carefully when she swayed. Perhaps she did need the thing after all, since she wasn’t nearly as steady on her feet as she’d thought she would be. He didn’t say I told you so, just got her situated and rolled her out by an adorable blond male nurse who waved at them as they went past.
“That’s Noah,” Ryon told her. “He’s a fixture around here.”
“Yes, I met him. He came in to check on me from time to time. Very sweet guy. Does he live at the compound, too?”
“All the staff does.”
That was so weird to her. “Why?”
“My team is required to live on base. We get dispatched at a moment’s notice so it would waste valuable time if we had to wait on everyone to get here from town. Living on-site, we can train, plan maneuvers, discuss ongoing cases, and generally be ready for whatever comes our way. We get time off, though. We relax when we aren’t busy.”
“Sort of like the military.”
“Exactly.”
“What about the doctors and other staff? Surely they could live in town.”
“They could, but we’re kind of isolated. It makes more sense to live here rather than driving to and from town.”
“Very logical, but why do I sense there’s more to it than that?”
“There is. All of the traffic coming in and out of our compound would attract too much attention. We definitely don’t want that.”
“Because of what you do here,” she said, unable to mask the doubt in her voice. “You’re out saving the world from paranormal predators like vampires and such.”
“I know you don’t believe me yet, but you will. It’s true.”
They would see about that. Her broken arm was still in a sling—even some sort of new super-healing ability couldn’t fix that overnight—and she examined again the healing pink scratches on her arm. And the two mysterious puncture marks on her wrist. Unbidden, something Ryon had told her before popped into her head.
But I heal fast. All of my kind does.
Staring at the punctures, a question came to her that she wasn’t ready to deal with. She wasn’t ready to know the answer, and so she shut it down. For the moment, anyway. Instead, she busied herself taking in the compound’s interior as her companion rolled her along.
The décor was nothing like she would’ve expected of a place where a military-style team was housed. Instead of being stark and white with serviceable industrial-tiled floors that had no personality, the walls were painted a soft sandy beige, and the hallway was carpeted in a short, smooth weave that allowed the chair to make easy progress. There were nice fixtures on the walls, giving off plenty of light instead of drab fluorescent ones overhead. The place was homey. She was impressed, and that only increased when they arrived at the cafeteria.
The area was really a large dining room. It was filled with several tables that allowed the occupants to sit in groups and chat, which many were presently doing. Food was served in the middle of each table, family-style, and they ate off real dishes and used actual utensils instead of paper plates and plastic forks.
A wide door beyond the dining area gave her a glimpse of the big kitchen beyond, where a number of cooks were busy going about their tasks. The wonderful aroma brought her attention back to the food, which consisted of hamburgers with all the fixings, and fries.
Ryon rolled her to an empty spot, making sure she could reach the table. “How’s this?”
“Fine, thanks.” She noted that some people were watching them with interest, Daria in particular, and she smiled at some of them. Nerves tried to get the best of her, but she pushed them down.
“You okay?” he asked in concern, taking a seat across from her.
“Yes. I’m just not used to being around so many people.”
“I can imagine, being out in the woods so much. Do you miss the interaction, or are you one of those who only comes back to the real world when you have to?”
She looked at him in surprise. “That’s a perceptive question. I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that.” Reaching for a bun, she thought about it. “I do miss being around other people, talking, laughing, and sharing stuff. I love my job, but it’s so isolating that I sometimes miss doing something as fun and simple as meeting the girls for drinks or going to a movie.”
“Stuff other people take for granted. I totally get that.”
He did, and she found it was nice. “Do you miss having a regular job?”
He smiled. “Honey, I wouldn’t even know what that means. I’m happy here, doing what I do.”
Warmth slid over her, her entire body reacting to his calling her honey. Even when her ex-fiancé had used endearments, she hadn’t felt as though she wanted to wrap herself in the man and never emerge. It was a good feeling, and scary.
They piled goodies on their burgers and munched for a while, and she took the opportunity to study him, trying not to appear as though she was doing it. He was so handsome, with those crystal blue eyes. And she had a thing for blonds, always had, maybe in part because she found her own black hair so plain and boring. She found herself wanting to bury her fingers in those sunlight tresses and do delicious things to his mouth.
She almost choked on a bite of burger.
“You okay?”
“Fine,” she said, coughing. In the next instant, she was very glad she’d swallowed that bite of food.
From her seat she had a good view of the entrance, and when she turned her head slightly to the right, something, or someone, strolled in that she’d never forget.
“What the hell?” she whispered, burger plopping to her plate, forgotten.
Just inside the entrance to the dining room stood a tall, breathtakingly beautiful male creature. An otherworldly being, not a man. He stood six feet tall, maybe a little more, and was slender, jeans slung low on his hips. He had a gorgeous face with high cheekbones and large, golden eyes like an eagle’s that almost glowed.
But his most stunning features were his waist-length jewel blue hair that cascaded like ribbons in water, and the magnificent feathery wings of the same color that had brushed the top of the doorframe when he’d stepped through. The wildlife biologist danced in glee at this find. The woman stared, not sure whether to greet him or run and hide.
“Incredible.” She couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“Isn’t he?” Ryon’s voice was wry, tinged with humor. “Sariel tends to suck up most of the air when he’s in the room.”