Series: Shifter Ops Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
“Tired?” I ask him. His head falls forward in a nod, but then hangs there like his neck can’t hold it up anymore. I stay close, and when he puts an arm around me, I relax. He’s okay.
My hero. My animal is very shy, but she’s peeking out, basking in the thick, feathery scent of Laurie’s owl.
Declan tosses Laurie a blanket, and he wraps it around himself like a toga. “So where are we anyway?” Declan asks.
“The coordinates Mr. F sent us,” Fiona says.
“Then where’s the gift?”
“What is the gift?” I ask again. “A car? A watch? A giant statue of him?”
“Or a giant dildo,” Fiona sniggers, and Parker and Declan look so scandalized that I giggle.
“Selene’d like that,” I say, and both Fiona and I crack up. We’re wired from two days of being chased, not to mention the magical flight. And it’s obvious our friends are too intimidated by Mr. F to think of what he and Selene get up to in the vampire BDSM club.
“It’s this way,” I say when I’ve calmed down. We all head across the fields, Fiona carrying my backpack, so I can support Laurie as best I can. He’s too tall and lanky for me to carry him, but I keep his arm around my shoulders and guide him when he stumbles.
We cross a few dirt roads, but mostly keep to the snowy fields filled with sagebrush. The invasive plant spreads out for miles, a silvery sea. A pungent herbal scent fills the air.
As we get closer to the rocky hills ahead, a long, low building comes into sight, and another scent grows stronger.
“What’s that smell?” Declan sniffs the air. “Cattle? Sheep?”
“Deer,” I say. “This way.”
The sun has sunk lower, turning the metal siding of the barn-like building into a blaze of golden light. We hike towards it, crossing a final gravel road. There’s a bunch of hay bales stacked into a circle.
Declan lopes ahead to investigate and does a double take at what he sees. “Jaysus, Mary and Joseph!”
“What is it?” Parker asks, and we all trot around to see what put that surprised look on Declan’s face.
It’s a creche with person-sized statues for the nativity figures, and real straw in the big wooden manger.
“Jaysus,” Declan points out. “Mary, and Joseph.”
“Oh my god,” Parker shakes his head.
“Exactly.”
“Almost there,” I say, and lead everyone past the creche to the black-painted fence.
Parker helps Laurie climb over it, but once they’re over, Laurie sinks to the ground, his eyes fluttering shut.
I lean over him, noting the pallor in his taut cheeks. “Will he be all right?”
“Aye.” Declan leans down and adjusts the blanket around him. “Don’t worry about him.”
“It took a lot out of him to shift and fly all this way then shift back,” Parker says. “He’ll sleep it off and be good as new.”
“He saved us,” I say, reluctant to leave him.
“He did.” There’s a glimmer of a smile around Parker’s mouth.
“He did it for you, lass,” Declan says.
I hide my own smile deep inside me. The warmth of it is a tiny sun, heating every part of me. Which is good because as the sun drops, it’s getting much colder.
Fiona shivers and wraps her arms around herself. “Come on. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can get back to Tucson.”
Right. That’s my cue. “Stay here.” I walk a few yards away from the group of them towards the herd of deer. They’re smaller than a mule or white-tailed deer. Fully grown, they’re only two or three feet high. A few of them turn their heads, revealing their tiny white fangs, incongruous on their narrow faces.
“What the feck,” Declan sputters.
I raise my arms and call the deer to me. They trot over immediately, surrounding me happily. They stay on the side of me opposite Declan and Parker, though. They can smell the canine in my friends. They don't get too close to Fiona, either.
“What’s with the fangs?” she asks. “Are they shifters?”
“No. Just vampire deer. Selene thinks they’re cute.” One of the deer butts my side, and I run a gentle hand over its head. “Mr. F. found this herd at a zoo that was going out of business. They were set to be sold to the highest bidder or slaughtered. He’s going to find a way to rehabilitate them and set them free.”
“Let me get this straight,” Parker says. “The king of the vampires bought a block of vampire deer–”
“A herd of vampire deer,” I correct. “Or a rangale.”
“A herd… because his mate thinks they’re cute?”
“Yes.”
Parker runs a hand through his thick gray hair, muttering something about “crazy fucking vampires with more money than God.”
“What now?” Fiona asks.
“We need to load them up on the trailer and haul them to Tucson.”
“I’ll go get us a vehicle of some sort,” Declan says.