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He kissed her. “We are just getting started.”
She put her arms around his neck. “If you start anymore, it may very well kill me.”
His smile fell when her stomach rumbled. “You need to feed soon, Dannika.”
She placed her head against his. “Honestly, I was hoping to forget about that part.”
“You’re exhausted, but you need to feed before the night is through.”
There was a tentative knock at the front door. Raine pulled the covers over Dannika’s body. “Come in.”
Darren entered the front room but paused at the bedroom door. “I’m sorry to intrude, but there’s been another reaper attack.”
Raine sat up. “I don’t sense a disturbance in the caves.”
Darren glanced at Dannika with sad eyes. “Not here. They attacked the shelter.”
Dannika grabbed her shirt as Darren turned around. “We have to go. We have to go now.”
CHAPTER36
Dannika held onto Raine as they emerged from the shadows. The industrial kitchen in the shelter was scattered with metal bins full of food. Many were tipped over with sauce and vegetables leaking along the brown tile floor, staining the groat. The smell of garlic butter mixed with the acrid odor of iron.
It looked like a hurricane had whipped through the kitchen, yet there wasn’t a soul in sight.
“Where are they?” Dannika asked.
Raine inhaled before pointing to the main eating area. “Over there.”
Dannika put her hand on Raine’s arm as he was about to go. “How can you be sure?”
“I can smell their blood. Whoever is here is no longer alive.”
She followed him through the kitchen, out to the main area. Her gaze fell on the dirty green army jacket that Aaron always wore. She dashed over, kneeling by his side, but his piercing blue eyes were gray and devoid of life. The thick blood pooled beneath his throat and the slashes on his forearms confirmed her suspicions. He had been a Navy Seal, and he hadn’t gone down without a fight.
There were five bodies laying on the ground. The reapers had attacked during the midday meal. The Graydon County Shelter would have been packed. She had seen how quickly the reapers could kill. While Raine had mentioned they liked to play with their food, they wouldn’t have had time in such a busy location.
“Do reapers normally attack this type of venue?”
Raine inspected the wounds on Aaron’s shoulder. “No. This is unusual. Reapers like time with their prey. For the adrenaline, the fear, to lace a human’s bloodstream. This was a massacre.” He pulled back Aaron’s collar. “They did not feed on this man. Let’s check the other bodies. Something feels off.”
Dannika went to a woman with a blue overcoat. She pulled back the hood, and found herself staring at Margo’s lifeless face. “No!”
Raine was at her side. “I’m sorry, Dannika. I know she was a friend.”
A tear rolled down her cheek as she inspected the gash in Margo’s throat. Like Aaron, the wound was gaping and savage, but there were no bite marks.
“It doesn’t look like any of the victims were a food source. This goes against everything we know about reapers. They hunt and kill, but they have always kept their presence a secret. Until now, they have always hidden their kills, or disguise them to look like a human murderer.” He stood, surveying the shelter victims. “This looks like an animal attack, but there are no bite marks in the wounds. The human police force won’t know what to make of this. It will spark an investigation, one we’ve been trying to avoid for hundreds of years.”
Dannika wiped her eyes with her forearm. “Why do you think...”
Something clamped her neck and dragged her backwards along the chipped tile. Ghostly hands held her tight as she fought and kicked an invisible foe.
Panic welled with the anger of her wolf. There was a jolt of power when her wolf and shadow soul combined with the singular purpose: to save herself. Her body refracted the darkness like a crystal with dark light, dissolving in multiple directions before the separated shadows reformed as one on the other end of the room. She enjoyed a moment of triumph before her silent attacker coalesced in front of her.
His familiar red eyes made goosebumps form on her skin.
“You are talented for one so young,” Killian said.
