Dark of Night Page 2

  I couldn’t speak.

  A dracwulf had attacked me.

  Connell hinted at breaking up.

  Somehow my day had managed to suck even worse.

  Chapter Two

  An icy breeze brushed past Connell and I as we started walking.

  My boss, Vasile, ran Romania’s Animal Research Institute, and unfortunately when the police asked him for a favor, he rarely said no. So I was not happy with him for nominating me on this case.

  “Why do I need to attend the crime scene anyway?”

  Connell’s tie hung crookedly around his neck, and frustration masked his handsome face when he looked over at me. “Our victim has severe lacerations to her jugular, carotid and trachea, which points to either a wolf or bear. We’re hoping you can help us figure out which one it is and why it ate the victim in an open street. Apparently no one in the neighborhood heard a sound.”

  “That’s horrible.” I dropped my gaze and remembered the rabbits and deer I’d hunted, along with how the chase pumped the adrenaline in my veins. The greater the fight they put up, the more determined I was to capture them. In comparison, a human was easy prey. It would make sense if there was no food in the woods, but winter was weeks away.

  “Daci, you’re limping?”

  I glanced up at the man whose eyes softened the more he stared my way.

  “It’s nothing, just a bump.” My voice broke.

  “Can I see?” He stopped and placed his hands on my waist, plucking my blouse upward.

  “Knock it off.” I pushed away his arm and tried to sidestep him. “It’s nothing.”

  He took my hand. “Stop being so stubborn. You’d say you were fine if you lost a leg.” He lifted my top slightly at my side and took in a quick breath. “You’ve got a purple bruise the size of a soccer ball.” He ran careful fingers across my skin, and I bit my lower lip, holding back the moan in my chest. I craved his touch more than I wanted to admit.

  Staring into his soft eyes, and at the way his lips parted, I considered leaning over and stealing a kiss.

  “What did you fall onto? A huge boulder?”

  I tugged my top down. “Just the ground. Don’t worry about it.”

  He straightened. “You probably fall over all the time when you’re tracking animals for work. And I’ll always worry about you getting hurt.”

  Sadness weaved through his words, and my chest tightened with anguish. “I love that you care so much.”

  Connell rubbed the stubble on his jaw, and the crease at the bridge of his nose returned. “I’m confused. You keep pushing me away, yet you say you love me.” His head shook. “I adore your strength and independence, Daci, but that doesn’t mean you can’t accept help or let anyone into your life.” His voice grew sharp. He tucked his hands into his pockets and took a step back.

  I reached for him and laid a hand on his arm, uncertain what words might cheer him up. I had spent no time with him over the past few weeks, but time was a precious commodity I couldn’t waste if I wanted a future with him.

  “You know what, forget it.” He gave a slight shake of his head. “I said I didn’t want to talk about this now.” He flicked hair off his face, nudging my hand away in the process. We pushed into a stride, and as much as I wanted to make things better, I couldn’t think of a single word to say.

  Unable to concentrate on anything but the hollow pit growing inside me, I mulled over the victim’s unfortunate end, wondering why the animal struck. I prayed we weren’t dealing with the dracwulf. Why would a wulfkin knowingly mate with a wild wolf and allow such a monster to live, considering the punishment was death?

  “Have there been other similar attacks?” I asked.

  Connell kept silent and avoided eye contact.

  “How many? When did — ”

  “You don’t need those details.”

  “I do if you want me to work out what sort of animal did this. You’re the one that wants my help, remember?”

  I could tell by the way he rolled up his sleeves and held his chin high that my words annoyed him.

  “The police assumed the first two were random, especially since they were months apart and outside Braşov, but then we found the third one this morning. We knew it was the same animal by the claw and teeth marks. Wolf DNA showed up in the tests, but it was soiled with bear and other animal DNA, along with something the lab’s never seen before, and we dismissed it as contaminated evidence. The chief insists it’s just a bear and scavenger dogs or other animals picking at the remains afterwards, which is why we need an outsider’s expert advice.”

  Connell stole a glance my way, his expression pained. I did that to him, and I hated myself for it. The first time I met him was in the police station. I’d been assisting with a case when I sensed his gaze on me from an office in the far corner of the building. His smoldering eyes, and the sexy grin that pulled at the sides of his mouth, had imprinted themselves in my mind, along with the way he kept glancing at me over the folder in his hands. I wished he still looked untroubled and content like he had then, rather than having worry lines scoring his forehead.

  Around the next bend, nosy locals clustered near the police tape blocking off an alleyway, which curved out of sight. Police cars and an ambulance littered the footpaths to make way for passing vehicles. A television news van sat in the adjacent lane. I couldn’t believe a murder happened practically outside my front door.

  “Follow me, and don’t speak to anyone.”

  I ducked under the police strip, slipped past the crowd, and ignored their calls. I was only a few steps onto the cobblestone street when the scent of blood battered my nose. I tasted it on the back of my throat — something I’d never been able to do before outside a full moon. My senses usually matched a human’s, so I didn’t understand why my body kept reacting as if it were a full moon.

  Farther into the street, I spotted a group of men. Ambulance workers wheeled a gurney toward a black cloth spread over something or someone on the ground. A man with a belly like a barrel snapped photographs nearby, while another in business attire gave the officers orders. Each one sported a badge around his neck. Too busy to notice our arrival, the officers continued scribbling in their notepads, chatting into phones, and collecting samples. Beyond the crime scene was a backdrop of cozy terrace houses, and the impressive Carpathian Mountains loomed behind them. Picturesque.

  Except on this street, where the neighbors might never feel safe again.

  An officer with a long moustache drew near. “Who’s this?”

  “She’s with me.” Connell gave a sharp nod to the man, sending him off. Then he retrieved surgical gloves from his pocket. “Put these on.”

  I snatched them out of his hand.

  Connell did that thing with his eyebrow, lifting it in an arch.

  “What?” I said. Two could play the grumpy game.

  He took off to talk to the criminal division chief, a.k.a. his boss — an intense man whom I’d had the pleasure of meeting before. The chief always spoke in a carefully controlled tone, but the reddening of his cheeks gave away his usual annoyance. The smallest things set him off, and a murder case would certainly rate high on his irritation scale. A cool wind swished through the alleyway, bathing me in the same, faint odor I sensed in the woods earlier that day. It was the dracwulf, but I didn’t want to believe it. Wulfkin carried timber flavors, and moonwulf like me reeked of humans. No bear — or other animal for that matter — wore the dracwulf’s putrid scents.

  Connell had said this was the third similar attack. That meant the dracwulf had been living in the nearby woods for months. Surely Sandulf had picked up the scent and tracks of the new resident in the woods.

  I reached the victim.

  The two paramedics lifted the covered body onto the gurney. Blood stained the cobblestone road beneath
the body, collecting in the crevices. I approached one of the medics. “Can I take a quick look at the body, please?”

  “Sure, but be quick.”

  I lifted the fabric with two hands and held my breath, scanning the victim’s body — there were bite marks, scratches, and tears in the flesh. It was horrid. When my gaze rose to her face, I gasped at the familiar, open eyes.

  Catalina.

  My only friend in the city.

  Killed.

  A sudden coldness spread through me. I’d seen her the day before at my work picking up samples for testing. My mouth was parched. The fabric dropped from my hands. The medic adjusted it over Catalina and pushed the gurney away.

  Shivers crawled over my skin, and my stomach threatened to throw up what little I ate that day. I struggled to take air into my lungs. Suffocating on my own nausea, I spun on my heels, searching for Connell. Disoriented, I felt alone and lost — the same feelings Catalina must have had when she sucked in her last breath. My insides crumbled and my knees wobbled.

  The dracwulf was responsible.

  Sandulf had to know the animal was in the woods. Why hadn’t he done something before it killed Catalina? The street ahead blurred behind my tears, and I wiped my nose with the sleeve of my blouse, terrified of what was happening around me.

  In my next breath, I smelled the weak ammonium of urine. Not Catalina’s. Not human. Dizziness challenged my balance, but I followed the scent deeper into the lane, houses away from the police, where the smell strengthened. Heat surged through me. A deep guttural sound rumbled in my chest. Was that my wolf? Couldn’t be.

  On the wooden fence framing a small cottage-style house, I found scratch marks. Something in the dried earth below the pickets caught my attention. Deep brown droplets dotted the ground like water drops. I pinched the soil and smudged it between my fingers. Red smeared the tips of my gloves. Blood, not water. The air was ripe with it, and heat poured through me once again. I ignored it. Hunched over, I followed the rough line of sprinkled evidence along two other lawns, heading toward the far end of the street where the woods lay.

  The dracwulf attacked me on the same day it killed my friend. But why drag her here from the woods? Couldn’t be due to hunger. Perhaps it was marking its territory?

  Connell touched my shoulder.

  I jerked upright to face him. “I found something.” I showed him my fingers. “Catalina was attacked somewhere else, and then the animal carried her here in its mouth to finish eating her.”

  “Catalina?”

  “Catalina Barascu. My friend. You don’t know who the victim is?”

  He glanced upward momentarily. “I remember you mentioning her before. She jogged with you sometimes. Right?”

  I nodded, biting my lower lip, and the memory of her musical laugh wavered in my thoughts.

  “I’m sorry you had to see this, Daci. If I had known who she was, I wouldn’t have called you.” He offered a deep sigh, his eyebrows pulled down in concentration. “When was the last time you saw her?”

  “Yesterday afternoon.” My gaze swept to the ambulance men rounding the curve of the street. She didn’t deserve such a death. “I drove past her in the woods as I headed into the office.” I ripped the gloves off, bunching them into my fist, as I decided I had to pay the alpha a visit.

  Connell took the scrunched gloves out of my fist, tugging his off, too. “Does she live nearby?”

  “Several blocks away.” I turned away, my eyes beginning to sting.

  He pulled me against his shoulder and wiped my tears with his thumb. I melted into him, needing the warmth of his touch. In the same moment, fire engulfed my insides, and I caught a whiff of Connell’s arousing fragrance: sharp and musky. I inhaled, holding utterly still, one hand against his chest, the other sliding down his firm stomach. The undeniable hunger for sex with Connell right in that moment drove my pulse into frenzy.

  What was I doing?

  Alarmed, I shoved myself off him, and left Connell with a quizzical look. Perhaps the craziness of the day had finally got to me. One second I had been crying over Catalina and the next I wanted to jump Connell’s bones. What was wrong with me?

  “Are you okay?” He reached out for me.

  His touch threw my heartbeat into overdrive, so I jerked back.

  “I’m a horrible person.”

  “You’re not horrible, Daci. You’re busy at work, you have no time for me, and it’s probably that time of the month for you.”

  I stiffened. “What!” I pressed hands to my hips. “Why would you even say that?”

  He rubbed his face, and his cheeks blushed. “I … I really don’t know. You’re being affectionate, and then you’re ready to fight me. For weeks you avoided me. You’ve got to see why I’m confused about what’s going on between us.”

  I crossed my arms and let out a long breath. “You really want to do this here.” My voice rose with each word, and several heads turned in our direction.

  His eyes squinted, and he lowered his voice. “I don’t know who you are today.” He marched off toward a couple of plainclothesmen and the chief.

  I didn’t know who I was, either, but something felt wrong, like a boxing match was taking place inside me, with every single emotion fighting inside the arena at the same time.

  Burning heat flushed through my body, and despite the autumn chill, sweat collected at the back of my neck. I wiped my brow and focused on taking slow breaths.

  The chief was coming my way. His hands tucked into pockets, and the badge on his chest gleamed beneath the sun. “Were you and Catalina good friends?”

  His direct question puzzled me. “I guess so. Though we didn’t spend a lot of time together. Just when we both had free time.”

  “Is there any reason you — or anyone — might want to harm Catalina?”

  My shoulders flinched back. “What sort of question is that? Of course not.”

  Connell’s approach diverted my attention. The desire to punch him pulsed through my veins. He brought me here, and then abandoned me to the chief’s interrogation.

  The chief didn’t notice his arrival. “I want to simply understand your relationship with the victim, since you saw her yesterday, and today she’s dead near your apartment.”

  A frown captured Connell’s expression. “Chief, we all agree, an animal was responsible. So how can Daci be involved?”

  I butted in. “I see hundreds of people every day. And if one dies, will you suspect me as well?”

  “Calm down.” The chief’s voice was strained. “Until this case is resolved, please don’t make plans to leave town. We may have more questions. And Inspector Lonescu,” he turned to Connell, “don’t ever challenge me in front of others again.” He called to the officer with the handlebar moustache and asked him to write down my short statement of when I saw Catalina last, along with my contact details. I reviewed it and signed it.

  Connell ran a hand through his hair and folded his arms. He mouthed the word ‘sorry’ when he looked my way.

  The chief’s gaze gestured to the crime scene and back. He studied me, his thick eyebrows lowering, and licked his lips. “So what animal do you think is capable of this?”

  I shrugged. “A wolf.”

  He tilted his head to one side. “You mean a pack of wolves or dogs?”

  “No. The tears on the body are suggestive of a single wolf struggling to rip flesh, as opposed to two or more wolves tearing the carcass in a tug-of-war manner. Plus, the animal who did this was really strong, so it wasn’t a dog.”

  The chief exhaled a long breath. “Why a wolf and not a bear?” He gave me a glare that could scare off a cast of vultures. “Plenty of bears wander down from the woods, rummaging in people’s garbage. We’ve got a dedicated team of park rangers trapping bears every night so people don’t fear
going outside. What if this girl was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she crossed paths with a hungry bear? That seems like a more logical reason to me. Sometimes the obvious reason is the right one.”

  “Bears mark their territory by clawing trees as high as they can reach to show other bears how big they are. They don’t scratch low fences or spray their mark like wolves do.” I pointed to the fence, not holding back the annoyance in my voice. “Can’t you smell it? You don’t need me here to tell you what any moron could see.” A swirl of anger spread through me, and I laced my fingers behind my back to stop them curling into fists.

  Connell coughed and raised an eyebrow.

  I had to calm down before I exploded.

  The chief’s nose made a whistling noise as he breathed. “That could be any local dog.”

  My jaw set tight. “The wounds on Ca … the victim aren’t common and unlikely to be a dog. Anyway, the wolf didn’t attack the girl here. She was dragged from elsewhere. There are blood drops leading in from the woods.”

  “Yes, Inspector Lonescu told me.”

  “Perhaps we should let her see the other files?” Connell suggested.

  After a loud smacking of his lips, the chief responded, “Not yet. Until we find out that she wasn’t the last person to see Catalina, I’d prefer you work with her today on the case. Decipher the animal’s behavior, and where the girl was dragged from.”

  The balding man turned his attention to me for a moment, drilling me with his gaze as if to intimidate me, then called to the forensic team with a wave and turned to Connell. “I want whatever is responsible caught before the end of the week. There’s bound to be a witness, someone who saw or heard something.” The chief inspected the fence and surrounding ground, prodding his chin with a finger.

  I strode angrily away, despite the stabbing pain in my hip. What was I doing anyway? Helping the police catch a demonic wolf that no human should know exists after they accused me of being involved, and in the process I keep pushing away the one person I adore beyond anything? On top of everything, something was happening to me. I was changing, and the idea of my inner wolf freeing itself early mortified me.