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“No,” I said. If I’d known the FBI had a Paranormal Division and a guy who was tracking me, I’d have taken more care at hiding my tracks. I kept my eyes steady on his, not giving any of my thoughts away. He wasn’t afraid to look me in the eyes. He somehow knew I couldn’t read him.
“Coincidentally, these are some of the locations where I’ve gotten word of persons missing and found crime scenes like the one I just left. So I figure you’re one of two things. A: You’re either the killer, which I don’t think you are. I’m not saying you haven’t killed before, but not this time.” He didn’t wait to see if I’d react to him calling me a killer. “Or B: You’re hunting them yourself, and cleaning up their messes behind them to keep local authorities from horning in on your own investigation. I figure this scenario is more likely.”
“Prove it,” I said.
“I wish I could.”
“Then it seems like we’re done here. Have a nice life, Agent Ford.”
“Aren’t you curious to hear what I want? Or do you want to try and read my mind again?”
I growled low in my throat before I could help it. “You’re trying my patience. What do you want?”
“I’m proposing we combine forces and work together. For starters.” His gaze was filled with desire and danger—two things that attracted me like a moth to a flame. “What do you say?”
It was unfortunate someone as sexy as Agent Ford had turned out to be such a pain in the neck. Now I was going to have to worry about stumbling across him when I finally fulfilled the warrant of execution. And with the way he’d protected himself against any mental invasions, it didn’t look like I was going to have a lot of luck erasing his memories either.
“I’ll pass,” I said, holding out my hand once again so he’d get the point and get off my porch. “I don’t think there’s anything I can help you with.”
He took his glove off this time before taking my hand, and when flesh touched flesh, the bottom dropped out of my stomach, my vision turned black, and my breath faltered. It was as if I was trapped in his body’s embrace, and his mind didn’t reveal anything he didn’t want me to see. I knew he was attracted to me, and I knew by his shadows that violence and anger lurked behind his carefully built walls. I felt his touch over my body, whispering through my mind and caressing the deepest part of my soul. The sensation was incredible—addictive.
I remembered to breathe, and gray, hazy flecks floated in front of my eyes before my vision came back. He pulled me closer and rubbed his thumb in circles over the top of my hand.
“Let go of me.” I looked into his eyes, using the strength of my power to get him to release his hold over me. But it was useless.
“You could change your mind,” he said.
I wasn’t sure if he was talking about working together or my request that he let me go. He was right, though. I could change my mind in either case.
“How about dinner?” he asked.
I was starting to think he was trying to compel me even as I was him, but I knew my blocks were just as sturdy as his. “I don’t think so. I think both of us would be better off if we never saw each other again.”
“You might be right. What about breakfast?”
My mouth quirked in a smile before I could stop it. He was persistent, I’d give him that. I tugged my hand away from his and immediately felt an emptiness inside me that he’d somehow filled. Noah Ford was an unknown. And it probably wasn’t wise to let him continue his investigation without keeping tabs on him. He might even be helpful some way.
“Let’s start with dinner,” I said. “We’ll see where it goes.”
Agent Ford smiled at me like he knew what I was thinking and walked back out in the rain to his car. “I’ll pick you up at six,” he called back.
I watched his taillights fade as he drove away. I looked at my watch and tried to estimate how far I could track and still get back in time to get ready for dinner. Far enough to know the next steps I’d need to take at least.
I turned to go back inside but the wind shifted and I stopped in my tracks. There was something in the air—a bitter smell of sweat and blood that clung to the body after a night of hunting. It looked like the killers had found me after all.
ChapterFour
Ilifted my nose a little higher, hoping to get another whiff. The atmosphere was thick with ozone and lightning raced horizontally across the sky. Mist crept in slowly, building in white waves so the ground below it was invisible to the eye. The rain fell harder, almost as if it was a sign of bad things to come. And then the mist grew thicker, taking the shape of a man—a mist dragon. I’d never seen one before, only heard the stories passed down through the generations.
He appeared to my left and wasn’t large, maybe a few inches taller than me, but he was thick across the shoulders and chest—built like a brawler. His jeans were old and torn, his white T-shirt ragged and stained with blood. He gave me a feral grin as he stopped at the edge of the garden path.
I answered his smile with one of my own and leaned against one of the stone arches, enjoying the theatrics. His smile dimmed a little when he saw I wasn’t as afraid of him as he’d hoped I’d be. I held the weapon I’d brought out with me in my left hand so it was hidden behind the railing.
It wasn’t long before the others appeared out of the trees and joined the first. There were five in all. Maybe half of the original group who’d attacked the woman last night. I recognized their scent. There had been others with this group when they’d killed the woman, but those Drakán were no longer near.
I was looking specifically for one of my own clansmen. Each clan had a unique scent—ours smelled of clean rain and damp forest—and I’d recognized it immediately around Jillian’s body. It was the reason I’d been able to see Jillian’s death in my vision, even though she was from a different clan.
There was only one female in this group, but she was the one I focused on. I’d seen a little girl once holding a doll with blond curly hair, blue eyes, and rosy cheeks—the porcelain of her complexion so pale and flawless it seemed as if even the slightest touch would cause her to shatter. That’s what this woman reminded me of.
