Keri Arthur - Circle of Desire

Kat swallowed a lump of suddenly tasteless bacon. "So the lack of intimacy might very well mean — " "He's already given his heart, and all that is left is sex."

Gwen reached across the table and squeezed Kat's hand.

"But don't take that as gospel. Not until you've asked Ethan."

"He doesn't have a girlfriend or wife. I did check that before I got involved." She grimaced slightly. "I'm not a home-wrecker."

Although it sounded as if it didn't really matter if she was, especially if werewolves considered sex and love to be two entirely different things. Though she wasn't sure she would ever understand the differences, it really didn't matter. She wasn't a werewolf. Wouldn't ever be anything more than a means of release.

Which was kind of sad, given the level of intimacy and understanding they'd reached during their lovemaking last night.

"What's in his past?" Gwen asked.

She shrugged. "Something, I'm sure. He certainly views women in a somewhat harsh light, and he certainly doesn't trust us."

"Us? As in you and me, or women in general?"

Kat grinned. "Both."

"Someone's hurt him in the past."

"Obviously." The question was, had he given his heart to that someone?

And why did she even care? It wasn't as if there could ever be anything more between them than there now was.

Because of their jobs. Because his instinctive hate for his werewolf half would undoubtedly extend to shifters like herself. And because he hated kids and, above all else, she wanted them.

Gwen patted her hand again. "Just enjoy your time with him. Werewolves can give you that, if nothing else."

Maybe, but she was getting a little tired of being nothing more than a good time. She wanted something else. But she wasn't going to find that with Ethan. Wasn't likely to find it with anyone in the near future, either.

She finished the rest of her meal, then picked up her coffee and leaned back in the chair. "What's on the agenda for today?"

"I think you should fly around those hills this morning and have a look around. Those zombies didn't spring from nowhere. They must have a nest up there somewhere."

She nodded. "This soul sucker has vampires, werewolves and zombies at its beck and call. That's a little unusual, isn't it? I mean, both vamps and werewolves are fairly strong-willed. I can't imagine them being yoked to the beck and call of another for long."

"That might depend on how old this thing is. And what exactly it can do."

"Well, it can obviously raise the dead."

"And if it's ancient, it might have a lot of dead it can raise, so be very careful out there."

"You tried to scry yet this morning?"

Gwen sighed. "Yes. Couldn't see a damn thing. I get the feeling they're waiting to see what we do next before they decide their next move."

"Which would mean they consider us a threat."

"This thing is not stupid."

"I never thought it was. Anything else?"

"Just be careful when you're up there. This thing knows you're a shifter, so it might have set traps."

She nodded and pushed away from the table. "I'll bring back lunch."

"Do that. And get yourself another box of condoms while you're at it. You must have used most of his supply last night."

Heat touched her cheeks again. She might have grown up in a sexually liberated household, but her grandmother still had the power to embarrass her. Though after thirty years, she really should be used to it. "I thought you said you were deaf?"

"Not that deaf." Gwen's eyes twinkled. "You'd better get going, before your wolf begins to stir."

She left. Clouds crowded the sky, and the breeze was cool and steady. An almost perfect day for flying. She shoved her hands into her pockets and walked down through the trees toward the road. When she was sure she couldn't be seen from any of the cabins, she shifted shape and flew skyward.

She drifted toward the sea, watching the waves roll in and wishing it was summer so she could go for a swim.

Though a good soaking in icy water might be just what her tired muscles needed to revive them. But later, when she had more time. She flicked her wings and soared sideways, flying toward the mountains.

They looked different in daylight. Less threatening. She circled until she found the signpost and looked around.

There were half a dozen small farms in the immediate area. The zombies must have come from one of them, because they'd been on her almost as soon as she'd sensed them. They could run fast, but not that fast.

She dipped her wing and drifted down to inspect the first farmhouse.

An insistent ringing woke Ethan. He glanced at his watch and cursed when he saw it was well after nine, then reached blindly for his cell phone on the nearby coffee table.

"Yeah?" His voice came out little more than a gruff croak.

"Partner, you sound like shit."

"Just tired, that's all." He rubbed a hand across his eyes and glanced around. Kat wasn't in the cabin, though her lingering scent told him she hadn't been gone long.

Perhaps she was next door.

Mark grunted. "Aren't we all. I went to the morgue like you asked. Seems like you weren't as crazy as I thought you were."

"Body gone to mush?"

"Completely. They managed to freeze a couple of fingers so we can get some prints, but other than that, it's gone."

"You searching through the database for a fingerprint match?"

"Yeah, but we both know it's going to take a long time.

And if the guy doesn't have a record, hasn't been in the military or had a government job, or didn't volunteer his fingerprints when he got his driver's license, we'll be out of luck."

Ethan had a suspicion they'd be out of luck anyway.

"Anything else happening with the case?"

Mark hesitated. "Your brother has posted a reward for information that leads to Janie's return."

Ethan closed his eyes. "How's he holding up?"

"Why don't you find out yourself and call him?"

He really should call Luke, but he didn't know what to say to him any more than he knew what to say to Kat. He wasn't comfortable with intimacy of any kind. Hadn't been for a long, long time. Luke understood his reasons, but he had a feeling Kat never would.

No, he wouldn't call his brother. Not until he had something to say. "How's Benton taking my being in Rogue River?"

"Badly. You're dead meat if he catches up with you before he calms down."

Then he'd just have to ensure he wasn't caught. "The autopsy on the second kid come through yet?"

"Yeah. They've estimated the time of death to be between seven and eight yesterday evening."

"So the kid had been kept alive five days before they killed him?" If that was the case, there was still hope for Janie.

"He was drugged and pretty much starved, though."

"No indication of any other abuse?"

"Nothing, other than starvation. They found traces of dirt in his fingernails. They're still analysing that to see if they can discover anything unusual."

He frowned and scratched his chin. Something about this case didn't make sense, though he couldn't exactly put his finger on what was bugging him. But if the beings behind these kidnapping were vampires of one sort or another, why were they snatching these kids and keeping them for nearly a week before killing them? Granted, he didn't know much about vampires, let alone truly believe in them, but if they did exist, that just didn't make sense.

Unless they were taking the kids for something other than feeding…

"Look, just on a hunch, will you check to see if there were other disappearances reported in the same area as each of these kids? Take it a few days either way."

"You suspect this could be bigger than just the kids?"

"I don't know what I suspect. I could be just reaching for straws."

"Even so, given your record with straws, I'll get it checked out immediately."