earth beyond.
And then vanished abruptly.
Marking the very moment of change, foot to paw, body caught midleap.
Nicholas stood motionless. He felt the hand of nature brush him along with the call of something dark and unexplainable. The woods around him fell silent, as if in hushed awareness of a predator stalking nearby.
Nicholas knew exactly who—and what—that predator was. He didn’t like the idea of a savage creature prowling the abbey grounds, but for now his home would be safer for its presence.
So he hoped.
CHAPTER FOUR
WET FERNS COVERED the ground. Broken stems from hard rain left a green smell that marked the passage of a man only hours before.
He followed the track, every sense fully alive. The prints held gravel bits from the coast, car oil, the rancid hint of grease.
More prints dotted the ground beneath the abbey’s stone fence. Here he stopped, gathering the smells like small stones, holding each until its meaning was locked into his mind.
The sun brushed his shoulders and the stirring from the woods called to him, but he waited, gaining a clear impression of the men who had crossed the fence in the night.
Their footprints had the stink of beer about them even now. Spices clung to their shoes. Chemicals. Harsh cigarettes and the smell of seawater.
The mix burned through his blood. All of this he would remember.
Then he caught the softer trace of her—the woman who had come back to save him. His skin tightened in sharp response to the memory. He moved closer, testing the smells. Her footprints carried the clays of high mountains and the pine forests of France. Nothing of the sea marked her smell.
She had no scent connection with the men from the car.
Was there relief in the knowledge?
Either way, his search here was done. The sun had already passed to the far side of the valley.
He turned in a tight circle, hungry to know who the woman was, and what had formed her scent of regret and bitterness, mixed with her tears. She called to him and he had to know why.
There was only one way to find out.
Twilight was gathering as something jumped the stone fence near the road, following the woman’s trail down into the streambed.
KIERA WINCED as she closed her laptop.
Her last e-mail to her sister was done. If Kiera didn’t keep in frequent contact, her sister had vowed to come after her, for backup and moral support. Standing up, she stretched carefully. There were cuts on her arms and legs and her face was scraped in three places. She knew she had come close to serious harm at the hands of her attackers. The responsible thing to do?
Simple.
Call the local police and report everything, including the fact that she had been trespassing at the time.
Right. And how she would explain that? Next would come the questions about her own background and what had drawn her onto Draycott grounds at night.
She shoved a hand through her short, curly hair. The color of a good crème-brûlée topping, her mother always said. Kiera was the only child with hair that wasn’t jet-black, and her father had teased her once with the possibility that she was a changeling.
Hard to believe that she had cried for a week, even after all of her family tried desperately to explain it had been a joke.
But now her mother was gone. Her father, always so hale, had lost his spirit after her mother’s death. Now he lived with full-time care, and a short walk left him at the edge of exhaustion. After two heart attacks, his doctors had warned the children to prepare for the worst.
Kiera couldn’t imagine losing him, not so close on the heels of her mother. But life had taught her that change came whether you liked it or not. She had begun to prepare, hoarding her years of rich memories like a shield.
When she saw that her e-mail had been sent, Kiera shut down her laptop. Maddy was probably curled up by the nearest window, reading some scholarly research text on the properties of sound. The subject put Kiera to sleep, but her sister was an expert on acoustics. The two had always been very close and, despite her mother’s request, Maddy had not wanted Kiera to come on this errand.
But a deathbed promise could not be ignored.
Kiera was to collect an old letter and a box from the abbey’s conservatory. Both had been precious to her mother, left behind during her midnight flight from her home. Her mother had desperately wanted to be assured that they would be restored to her family at her death, and Kiera was determined to honor that wish.
Restless at memories of home, Kiera paced the room, then pulled back the bright chintz curtains. Her hotel was small, only fifteen rooms, but it was the closest place she could find to the abbey. She had already spent three days walking the local streets and driving the quiet lanes while she planned her best point to climb the abbey fence.
For all the good her plans had done.
And now a return trip to Draycott Abbey was the last thing Kiera wanted to do. She hated the memories and emotions being stirred up. On top of that, three men were walking free tonight, though they should have been behind bars for assault and attempted kidnapping. One call would send the police out after them. It was the responsible thing to do.
Kiera stalked to the phone. Picking up the receiver, she dialed the operator.
And then she’d say what?
She happened to be driving by and was attacked?
Too many questions.
Frowning, she held the phone. Maybe she could make an anonymous call. But those were traced, too.
With a sigh, she put down the phone. She would make a call from a pay phone in the next county, choosing a crowded spot where no one was likely to remember her face. At least the crime would be reported. But not until after she was finished and ready to leave.
One decision made.
That left the question of her return visit—and how she would get back out undiscovered.
She spun around at the chime of the cell phone resting on her bed. A quick look at the number had her smiling. “Maddy? I just e-mailed you.”
“I’m not at my computer, and I wanted to be sure you were all right.”
“I’m fine. I should be packing up and heading out tomorrow.”
Kiera’s sister took a quick breath. “You found the things?”
“Not yet. But I’ve been on the grounds, and I know my way now.”
“No problems?”
Trust Maddy to keep probing. “No,” Kiera lied. “Just—”
“Just
