Fated in Stone, page 12
“Maybe.”
That response startled a laugh from her. This wasn’t a laughing moment. Why was she charmed by his response?
“You look good for you age,” she said. “Very good.” Too good. Especially without a shirt on. Definitely too good. Her cheeks got hotter. Blushing because she found a three hundred year old man sexy. What had her life become?
No wonder he hadn’t blinked at her admission to psychic skills. He had a wolf leap out of his chest occasionally, and he was three hundred years old.
And his family had been created by a god named En to fight monsters.
“There’s more to the mythology about those old gods, isn’t there?” she asked.
“There is. I’ll tell you the whole story when we have more time. But you needed to know this is a…a duty for my Family. It’s what we do. We hunt and destroy monsters, hopefully before they get to humans. It’s my divine duty.”
“Divine duty, huh? Sounds pretty serious.”
“It is.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
There was a beat of silence that carried a lot more weight than Elle thought he meant to convey. Then he said, “You’re curious. After last night, you deserve some explanation. And I want you to know. To know what you’re getting into. And to know that I know what I’m doing and what I’m dealing with.”
He was being honest, to a point. But she got the feeling there was more, things he wasn’t telling her. “You said families. En created families, not just family.”
“There are seven Families.”
“Big families?”
She caught his smile from the corner of her eye again. “Mine is big. The Families are large and extended now. But we live a long time, obviously, so there’s been time to expand.”
“Obviously,” she said dryly.
They pulled onto the main road of the small town where reports of missing pets had hit the morning news. A few stores, an open coffee shop, a gas station, some houses. There were a lot of roads branching off, one leading to a giant hardware store, another to a larger grocery store. Some more houses. A nice small town that looked neat and clean and taken care of. Not run down and abandoned. There weren’t any closed-up stores or wood-covered windows. Some people climbing out of cars they’d parked along the road or in small parking lots. A couple of people obviously heading out to fish walking out of a bait shop. Not a busy morning, but not so early it was empty.
And somewhere around here, there was a monster lurking.
“Will the monster only come out at night or will it not have that kind of sense?” She had this impression that monsters were a nighttime thing. A thing that only came out after the sun set and that’s why the night scared humans so much that they’d invented fire.
Although, if there were old gods who’d created seven whole families to fight the monsters, maybe the gods gave humans fire for the same reason?
Now she was sounding like one of the mystics her mother had loved before becoming an atheist.
She shook off all the deep thoughts. That way lay madness when she had a client’s husband to rescue and a monster to stop. She could contemplate old gods when everyone was safe.
Was anyone ever really safe? a small voice that sounded suspiciously like her as a child whispered. She ignored that voice.
“What was at the house was an amalgamation of experiments and different monsters,” Ben said, his gaze scanning the streets. “I can’t be sure what one of those blobs will do. Most monsters are more active at night. Not all, but most. So chances are good it’s in hiding now.”
“That helpful or not helpful?” She pulled into a parking lot next to the bait store, hoping they’d have some flannels or something that Ben could use as a shirt. Walking around town with him half-dressed was going to draw too much attention. And it was very distracting for her, too. Being distracted by her three-hundred-year-old associate’s impressive chest while hunting a monster seemed like a good way to get eaten by the monster.
She shut off the engine and turned to face him. He was studying the surroundings, a frown tugging down his mouth. The scruff on his cheeks was thicker now, nearly a beard this morning. He looked good with a beard. But she felt an overwhelming desire to see him without one, too. Just to know what he’d look like all cleaned up and clean shaven.
“Helpful in that the monster won’t be hunting humans,” he said, distracted. “But harder to find.”
She used her skills specifically for tracking people most of the time. People were the easiest for her. But they weren’t the only things she could find. She’d been able to track down missing pets, animals when her father forced her to go hunting, occasionally objects, though objects were the hardest for her. She knew there were psychics who could find objects really easily, but she wasn’t one of those. Her skills leaned toward people. Which was funny, maybe even ironic, given her father’s distain for people in general and her mother’s overall indifference toward people not related to or loved by her.
But Elle could find things that weren’t people. So she might be able to do that with a monster.
“I could attempt to track it,” she said, then felt strangely awkward. She didn’t talk about this kind of thing with people. Out loud. Like it was normal.
Then again, they were talking about monsters and the fact that Ben was three hundred years old and his family had been specially created by some old gods to fight monsters, so… Really, what was normal now anyway?
Ben gave her a speculative look. “That could be helpful if you’re able. But…”
“You want to keep me as far away from the monster as possible?”
His shoulders relaxed with his resigned sigh. “How’d you guess?”
He seemed like that kind of man, but she wasn’t sure how to say that without sounding weird. “Your job is to keep monsters from killing humans. I’d assume you wouldn’t want to purposefully get more humans around those monsters.”
“Good assumption,” he muttered, looking out the window again. His slight frown changed. “Why did you park at the bait shop and not at a grocery store or on the street?”
“Thought they might have a shirt for you,” she said with a shrug, trying not to be embarrassed. “Probably draw a lot of attention if you walk around this town without one.”
She ignored the little tick at one corner of his mouth that looked suspiciously like a smile.
“Fair enough. Except I don’t have any money on me.”
She waved that away. “You’ll owe me.” Not that she’d mention collecting that money ever. Buying him a flannel so she was more comfortable didn’t seem like something he should be paying her back for.
Plus, he’d saved her life last night. She was still reeling from that, processing it. Still considering what it meant to her, beyond being alive. Because it did mean something, that he’d taken a bullet for her, almost died for her. She just…wasn’t sure what yet.
The minute they climbed out of the car, Elle was glad they’d decided to dress Ben. He might look scruffy and unshaven, but that did nothing to disguise that he was also magnificent in the full light of day. Like some kind of Viking warrior or something. All he needed was longer hair and braids and the town would start thinking they needed to lock their doors and hide their valuables.
She swallowed when he rounded the car to stand next to her. Gosh, he was big. So big, really he should have been intimidating. Hadn’t she just been thinking of him as a Viking warrior? But she wasn’t feeling scared or intimidated standing next to him. She was feeling…soft, and antsy, and her stomach fluttered like a teenager. And she really wanted to wrap herself around that big body and see where that took them.
He stared down at her, silent, but his gaze intent, and her heartbeat hammered so hard he could probably hear it. This close, she could feel the warmth of his skin radiating toward her through the cool early spring air. And he smelled…well better than he should given everything. She wasn’t sure what it was, just a sort of heady male scent—a ridiculous description but she didn’t know how else to describe it. A bit earthy and musky in a good way. There was a hint of the soap from the hotel. And if warmth could have a smell, his warmth did. The kind of smell that wound around her, made her want to lean close, bury her face against his neck, breathe him in, lick his throat, taste his skin…
Still don’t even know his last name, Elle, she reminded herself with an internal shake. Rein in the hormones.
She knew he was either divinely destined to hunt monsters or he was delusional, and since she’d seen the monsters last night, she was okay with accepting divine destiny. She knew he had a big family, and she knew he was gentle around her. And he’d saved her life, probably more than once, last night. And he was pretty fucking sexy when she stopped to think about it.
But she still didn’t know his last name. Feeling like she knew him, or at the very least she could trust him, went against every ounce of training pounded into her from a young age.
That was as terrifying as the monsters.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The bait shop felt like one of those familiar places from her childhood, before her father had gone full-blown prepper and disappeared into the woods, taking her with him. When things had still felt safe and normal. The smell of earth, salt, and fish. The scuffed hardwood floors and pictures of huge catches on the walls. The shelves of fishing gear, spools of fishing line, racks of poles and nets, boxes of various lures, and hooks in all sizes.
And to Elle’s great relief, a couple of circular racks with flannel shirts and t-shirts near the back of the store, by the wader pants and rubber boots.
She made a beeline for the shirts, because she needed to get Ben dressed for her own sanity.
He’d followed her into the store, prowling behind her like a protective bodyguard, like he was the wolf now instead of in his human body. And again, that knowledge that she should be more intimidated and less turned on by this didn’t stop her from being turned on. Really, the way he kept his attention, his full focus, completely on her should have made her uncomfortable. Why was she comforted instead?
She plucked a few extra-large flannels off the rack and handed them to him without looking. “Anything you like? We should get a few backup t-shirts, too.” She thumbed through the shirts and picked a few that were as plain as possible. She wasn’t sure if he liked giant fish and pithy sayings on his shirts, but since they were going to find and destroy a monster, she felt plain might be more appropriate.
Then again, what did she know?
He took what she handed him without a word. When she finally looked at him with raised brows, he said, “Anything is good.” He wasn’t even holding the clothes up to see if they’d fit.
She sighed. “Is any of that going to fit you? Which ones do you want?”
He glanced at the flannels she’d handed him, at the inner tag with the size on it, and shrugged. “They’ll fit.” Then he looked at her patiently.
That was it. That was the extent of his opinion on the pile of clothing? She shook her head. There was a phrase for this, right? Low maintenance or something? Except the low and high maintenance labels had always sounded judgy to her. But he definitely didn’t seem very fussy about his clothes.
Since there weren’t a lot of choices available, probably a good thing he didn’t care. “Which one do you want?”
He glanced at the pile of material in his arms again. There was a beat when she had no idea what he was thinking. And then he gently hung everything but one blue flannel shirt and a relatively plain black t-shirt back on the rack. “Perfect,” he said.
Okay. “One more t-shirt. Just in case.” She murmured this as she held his gaze. Killing a monster was going to be messy. And yes, they’d go get his gear afterward, but in the meantime… Just in case.
He reluctantly picked up a second black t-shirt.
She wondered at his reluctance, though. Glancing at his stained pants, she sighed. Not a lot to be done about that. The only “pants” in the store were hip waders for river fishing and she figured those would be too awkward for running after monsters. His pants were stained, and the light tan color didn’t hide the dark brown spots, but she could almost pretend they didn’t look like blood. Hopefully, other people would think paint first and not look any closer.
At the register, the man ringing up their purchases kept giving Ben wary glances. The store clerk wasn’t exactly a small man himself, probably six foot and broad enough he didn’t seem like the type of person easily intimidated. His thick beard and mustache hid some of his expression, but the wariness in his quick, fleeting glances at Ben were hard to miss. He wore a ball cap with the name of the bait shop embossed on the front, and he tipped the rim back when he gave her the cost of their purchases.
It occurred to her that the fact that Ben didn’t have a shirt on was probably the thing making the clerk leery. That and Ben’s size. But there weren’t any questions, or comments, and the clerk didn’t impose the “no shirt, no shoes, no service” sign that hung just behind the register.
She paid with cash, as she did with most things even though she had a credit card for emergencies, and waved off a bag. Ben slipped on one of the black t-shirts as they walked out the door, the little bell overhead ringing as they left.
When they were back in the parking lot, she let out a long breath.
“Was something wrong in there?” Ben asked.
She blinked, surprised he’d noticed her tension. “Beyond the clerk paying too much attention to you when we’re here to hunt for a monster and that might draw the attention of the authorities?”
“Besides that,” he said, his mouth ticking up at one corner.
“No, nothing wrong.” She shook her head, then shrugged. “Place just…invoked some childhood memories, I suppose. But mostly, I was hoping we could do that without making an impression on anyone. The clerk will remember us, though. He’ll remember what we looked like, what time we were here.”
“It won’t be a problem,” Ben said, quietly. “I promise. My Family is used to handling these kinds of things.”
She let out a little huff. She supposed they would be, wouldn’t they? Given how old he was, and the fact that she’d gone her whole life never hearing even a whiff of stories about people who had animals leap from them while they turned to stone, she was going to assume his family was pretty adept at keeping secrets.
Elle had mixed feelings about secrets. She liked them—she had many of her own she intended to keep—but secrecy as a verb reminded her too much of those paranoid years with her father. That created a complicated set of emotions around something she generally found useful.
“It’s fine,” she said. “So long as we get to the monster before it gets away.”
Ben stepped closer, and her heart started that pounding thing again. The urge to lean into him a lot stronger than the urge to step away. He’d shrugged on the flannel over his t-shirt on the way to the car. Having his magnificent chest and shoulders covered should have helped. It didn’t. He still looked way too impressive. Comfortable in the ordinary clothes and still somehow magnificent, as if he was wearing more than just a t-shirt and blue flannel.
Yeah, he just wasn’t the sort of man to blend into his surroundings.
For some reason, that left her as edgy and restless as the need to see how flannel felt covering his thick biceps.
When he leaned down, just a little, she caught her breath. Time to step away from him, time to break whatever the hell spell this was.
She couldn’t seem to find the will to move.
But instead of getting even closer, he lowered his voice to say, “I don’t suppose I could talk you into staying here in town. Going into that coffee shop and waiting for me?” He gestured across the street to a little mom-and-pop place with a big neon “coffee” sign over the door.
“You want to go hunting monsters on your own and leave me behind in the town?”
“I…” His frown deepened, creating ridges between his brows. “It’ll be safer here. This isn’t your job. It’s mine.”
“And what if the monster comes wandering through town while you’re somewhere else?” Not likely, she knew, but still. The safest place in this town was right next to the person who actually knew what they were facing and how to kill it. Besides, letting him go off into danger without anyone having his back felt absolutely gut-wrenching. She couldn’t do it, even if she’d wanted to. Which she didn’t. “I’ll go with you.”
A complex play of emotions crossed his expression. Most of them she couldn’t read. But the way his shoulders relaxed a little, the way he let out a quiet breath that brushed her temple, he almost seemed…relieved. Huh. She wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“Okay,” he said. “We need to find a quiet place to leave the car, somewhere no one will think about it but where I can pull the sword out without anyone noticing.”
She’d nearly forgotten about the sword he’d taken from the guard last night, and then shoved under the backseat so no one casually looking into the car would see it.
“There’s probably a quiet street at the outskirts of town. We’ll find something.” There might even be a place by a lake or river, where people would assume the car belonged to someone fishing. She didn’t know this immediate area, so she’d have to check on her phone’s map app. “Anything else?”
“Just…you’re sure you want to come with me? It won’t be pretty. It’ll be dangerous.”
“You’re not going alone,” she said firmly. “Besides, I can find the thing easier, with less obvious poking around.” At least she hoped she could do her thing with the monster. She’d only tracked human monsters in the past.
“Do you need anything to help you?” he asked. “A…way to link to the monster?” He whispered the words, careful of the occasional person passing on the sidewalk only a few yards away.
She forced herself to look away from him, only realizing she’d been staring this whole time when she finally dragged her attention to their surroundings. “I need to get quiet and focus on it,” she said. “Sometimes that’s all it takes, if I’m in the right vicinity. It helps, having something of the person’s I’m trying to track, but not absolutely necessary.”
