Wicked Wings (Lizzie Grace #5) - Keri Arthur Page 0,73

if we had another situation.”

Byron, I realized after a moment. Aiden flicked the loudspeaker on so I could hear.

“The flesh stripper?” he said.

“Yeah. I’m afraid it’s struck again.”

“Where this time?”

“Up in the Campbell Creek plantation.”

“Which is rather close to where the second victim was found,” I murmured. “They have to be roosting in that area somewhere.”

He glanced at me and nodded. “Who reported the find?”

“Jeni. She was returning home after a night out with one of the Sinclair boys.”

Aiden grunted. “She okay?”

“Not really. I’ve managed to calm her down, but she’s still a bit of a mess.”

“You called in the crew?”

“I will, after this call. I might get Ciara to pick Ashworth up first, as this place is a maze and we don’t want him lost.” Byron hesitated. “Can Liz come out with you? Neither Ashworth nor Ciara are much good at calming hysterics.”

Being a calming influence was certainly a skill I wouldn’t have attributed to myself, although I guess I had become adept at talking down the occasional client who wasn’t happy with the outcome of whatever psychometry search they’d asked me to do.

Aiden glanced at me, an eyebrow raised in question. I nodded, then threw off the sheets and headed into the bathroom. I had no idea what time it was, but the moon’s power was well on the wane, meaning it had to be at least four in the morning.

“We’ll both be there ASAP,” Aiden said.

“Good, because I’m not liking the feel of this area right now.”

Unease prickled down my spine. I stopped and looked around. “Tell them to get into the truck and stay there until we arrive.”

Byron obviously heard me, because he said, “You think the killer could still be in the area?”

“Are you hearing any owls hooting?”

He paused, obviously listening, and then said, “In the distance, but yes.”

“Then get into the truck, lock the doors, and don’t get out for any reason, no matter what you see, even if it’s a distressed, naked female.”

“Will do.”

Aiden hung up, then climbed out of bed and began getting dressed while I quickly jumped into the shower.

“Will they be safe in the truck if the owls he’s hearing are the Empusae?” he asked.

“Maybe. There are a few spirits who don’t like iron, but cars these days are more aluminum and plastic. It really doesn’t have the same effect.”

“Then how likely is it that the Empusae will attack them so soon after feeding?”

“That, I can’t say.”

I quickly dressed and then clattered down the stairs, grabbing my purse off the counter before following him out the door. Once we were on the main road, he hit the siren and lights and pushed the truck as hard as he could. We made it to Castle Rock in record time, the blue-and-red lights washing the empty streets with color as we sped through them.

It took another eight minutes to reach the plantation area. Aiden slowed and turned into a dusty road dividing two orderly rows of pines, and then picked up the radio. “Byron? You out there?”

There was no response. My pulse rate jumped several notches, and fear stirred. And yet, why would the Empusae bother coming back? Despite my earlier warning, it really didn’t make any sense—not when dawn was closing in fast and they’d obviously fed for the night.

Aiden tried the radio again; when that didn’t work, he tried the phone. The response was the same. He swore, pressed some app, and then shoved the phone at me. On the screen was a map of the area with two small flashing dots—the blue was obviously us, as it was the only one moving, and the red one Byron.

“You’ve trackers in your cars?”

He nodded. “Had them installed before Christmas. Thought it might be a good idea, given what you’d said about the shit headed our way.” His expression was grim. “And just as well, given this place is a warren of roads. You can be my guide.”

I nodded, my heart pounding with ever-increasing speed the closer we got to that red dot that was Byron’s SUV.

“He should be just past the next corner,” I said as the two dots were almost on top of each other, “close to the intersection of another two tracks.”

Aiden grunted and slowed down. Dust bloomed around the truck and momentarily cut vision. Then, gradually, an SUV appeared out of the shadows. It was parked sideways, blocking the road. The door was open, but there was no movement, no sign of life, in either the SUV or