The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

Kade stepped over a puddle, then asked, "You get anything useful from inside?"

"Cole thinks it's the same woman and that she's in heat, but the description our other witness gave us doesn't really match the woman Gerard James was apparently last seen with."

"Doesn't mean anything. She could have been wearing a wig, colored contacts, or anything like that. My witness certainly didn't get close enough to pick up those things."

"Mine, neither."

"Did he have small scratches on the side of his neck, like James did?"

I nodded and stepped over another brackish-looking puddle. "Same place, same size."

"Then that's our constant. For whatever reasons, she's marking her victims."

"But is she doing it before, or after? You know, for all the blood in this murder, there didn't seem to be any blood related to those scratches. Yet they were open, un-healed wounds."

"Maybe it's some weird way of testing them before she kills them." He shrugged. "We won't know for sure until we catch the bitch."

"Cats are queens. Only dogs are bitches."

He snorted softly. "She takes female humanoid form, so therefore the bitch tag can apply. Trust me, I live with a household of them."

I grinned. "And here was me having the image of you all being one big happy family."

"Oh, we are. But where a group of females gather, bitching can be found. I'm sure it's part of female DNA, just like the ability to sniff out chocolate wherever it may be hidden."

"You could be right." We reached the end of the shops and moved into the lane behind them. There were several cars crammed into the small space, leaving barely enough room between them and the brickwork to get through. None of the shops had rear entrances, which I would have thought would be against fire regulations. Even heritage-listed shops - which I didn't think these were - had to have a fire exit. Maybe the owner was paying someone under the table to get away with not installing them.

I stopped at the shoe shop window and looked up. The sun hadn't yet hit this wall, and the bricks were still damp from the early-morning dew. Small paw marks were visible, sliding through the wetness partway down the wall before disappearing.

"She definitely came this way," Kade commented, then glanced at me. "You think you can track her?"

"We'll soon see." I stripped off my jacket and sweater, handing them to him before calling to the magic deep in my soul.

Energy swept around me, through me, changing me into the form that had found me at puberty. The form that was a part of me in ways the seagull shape - no matter how comfortable I ended up being with it - never would be.

To my wolf nose, the world came alive with a myriad of scents and sounds. I trotted forward, loving the feel of cold dampness under my paws and the play of sunlight across my fur. The texture of the air was thick and rich, and after sorting through all the different and delicious aromas, I found the one I wanted.

Cat.

But it was mixed with the scents of orange, jasmine, and humanity. She'd fled in human form, not cat. Which was odd, because her feline form would have been less noticeable.

But it made her trail easier to follow.

Nose to the ground and tail held high, I followed, padding between the cars and out into the main lane. With Kade's shadow looming over me and his thick, rich scent teasing my senses, I ran back down the lane, leaping the puddle before moving out onto the main street.

The scent swirled, as if my quarry had waited and watched proceedings for a while before moving on. I ran down the street, following the trail over a road, past several more houses, then left into another street. The scent finally led into one of the houses.

I stopped at the gate and waited for Kade to catch up. The house was a small, brick affair that probably cost a fortune despite the fact it didn't look wide enough to hold anything more than a small bedroom and a hallway. The front yard was almost nonexistent, but nicely kept, filled with sweet-smelling roses and abundant lavender bushes.

I looked around as Kade approached, then hit the gate with my paw. He opened it without comment, and together we headed up the steps to the front door. The scent of cat became stronger, but mingled with it was the metallic tang of blood and new death.

Not again, I thought, and shifted back to human form. Without saying anything, I motioned Kade around to the side of the house, then held up two fingers. He nodded and leapt the side fence, disappearing quickly and quietly. I glanced at my watch, waited the two minutes, then slammed a shoulder against the front door. It might have had locks, but they didn't stand a chance against a determined werewolf. The door crashed back against the wall, denting plaster and sending dust flying.

"Directorate," I yelled, "come out with your hands up."

Chapter 5

No one bothered coming out, but the scramble of tiny claws against polished floors suggested our quarry had most definitely heard me. I ran down the hallway, following the sound of fleeing steps, trying to ignore the growing scent of death to concentrate on the smell of cat.