Dark Reign of Forever by S.K. Ryder

Author:S.K. Ryder [S.K. Ryder]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hidden Worlds Press
Published: 2023-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

32

Wilderness

“I am hungry,” Dominique said the moment Jackson got off the phone. “And not for blood.”

Nothing about his demeanor betrayed that he had heard a word of what Cassidy had shared with Jackson or her last request before terminating the call. “Take care of him for me, Jack.”

With a small sigh, Jackson nodded and started the car. It was going to be a long day.

The first place they found serving at this hour was the Lost Moose Café, which was part of a two-hose gas station and had a distinct last-century, lost-in-the-woods feel. They pulled in, along with their armed escort, and parked near a muddy pickup truck and two camper trailers.

Compelled to accept every request from Jackson as if it were their own idea, the officers settled in another booth and ordered heaping plates of breakfast, fortifying themselves for the day’s challenges. They were Jackson’s secret weapon. No one knew about them, not even Cassidy, certainly not Esteban. Less certain was whether Esteban would know to expect Jackson and Dominique during the day or not.

The day-walking vampire laid into a plate of scrambled eggs with all the trimmings as though he hadn’t eaten in a week. For once, he didn’t complain about the taste and only glared at Jackson when he explained what would happen to all that food come sundown.

Jackson knew denial when he saw it. Maybe a touch of fear, too. He wasn’t about to add to it with Cassidy’s suspicion that Geneviève might be in the clutches of Adilla’s minions.

According to the map Dominique had marked up, the entrance to the mine Adilla had converted into a summer lair was only an hour ahead. An hour was too soon, the sun nowhere near high enough. They had to wait.

Jackson drove into the closest town, Banff, and took Dominique shopping. The picturesque resort town nestled at the base of a fog-shrouded Mount Rundle was cluttered with stores catering to outdoor enthusiasts and wealthy tourists. By the time he was done, they both cut dashing figures in sturdy trekking boots, convertible pants, hiking shirts, and utility vests. They were the personification of rugged outdoorsmen—even if one of them looked like he should strut the outfit down a Paris runway rather than a Canadian sidewalk.

“We need to look like we belong here,” Jackson explained. “Their daytime security people will expect city-types or tourists. Dressed like this, we should be able to BS our way past them.”

“You do this often? This BS thing?”

Jackson grimaced and scratched his chin, which was overdue for a shave. “It’s my secret superpower.”

They met their RCMP escorts in the agreed-upon location outside town and followed the 4x4 over the winding roads while the SUV brought up the rear. The passing landscape seemed to hold Dominique transfixed. A granite cliff towered to their right, while a glacier-fed river rushed to their left, and on the far bank, an unbroken blanket of evergreens sloped up to disappear into soggy gray mists. The smooth street snaking through it all and humming with traffic felt like an invader rather than a permanent fixture of infrastructure.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.