"The killer is dead and not far from here," Jasper said quietly. "You're invited to take a look and we can haul it to forensics afterward, but it won't be anything we've dealt with before. This race," Jasper, rubbed the back of his neck in an agitated manner, "they don't care who or what they kill. Get in their way and you'll likely end up dead. Unless you’re a vampire or a small pack of wolves."
"Just what I wanted to hear," Matt grumbled, raking a hand through light brown hair, his hazel eyes surveying the crime scene. "Know where we're going?" he asked, noticing the sun was about to set. One usually didn't notice such things unless one was used to working with vampires. The Director was always aware of sunset times and full moons.
"Yeah. I'll drive." Jasper led the way to a Chevy Trailblazer he'd rented at the Oklahoma City airport. Red-haired and blue-eyed, Jasper was unusual among werewolves, with a light sprinkling of freckles across his nose. Other werewolves always recognized his scent, though.
"Where are we going?" Matt asked as Jasper pulled through a gap in the fence, the vehicle bouncing uncomfortably as they crossed a shallow ditch. The Barnett family had allowed Matt's team to cut the barbed wire fence in order to provide easier access to the crime scene. Two of the dead teen's cousins had shamefully admitted to playing the practical joke, by sending their city relative out on a full moon to tip cows. A common myth, as it turned out. Cows were not easily tipped, didn't sleep while standing (although they did doze now and then), and if you managed to get one to stand still long enough, would still require several strong friends to help you push it over.
"We're going down the road just a little way—to Cloud Chief; it isn't easy to see the community entrance from the road," Jasper replied to Matt's question.
"I would never have noticed this," Matt turned in his seat. It looked to be solid brush and fencing when Jasper had driven right through it. Matt heard gravel crunching beneath the vehicle, but that hadn't been visible from the country road running alongside it.
"Meant to be that way," Jasper informed the Director, driving slowly over a rough path consisting of gravel lying across ruts, with weeds and grass growing in the center of the narrow trail.
"This is the back of beyond, isn't it?" Matt, a native of Los Angeles, observed dryly.
"I wouldn't mention that to the residents," Jasper said. "This is protection for them."
"I realize that," Matt nodded absently, looking around. He saw two houses as they drove along and would likely see more, but they didn't appear until the truck was nearly past them.
"We'll get the full story when the sun is completely down," Jasper went on.
"Yeah. I figure we will," Matt agreed.
"Son, stay in the house," Aedan warned. "We don't want them to know who brought that thing here or how it was brought here."
Ashe hadn't slept. The day after a full moon was always bad for anyone who shifted. Now, the whole community was preparing to move and it was because of him. Sali had called three times, asking if he'd heard anything. Ashe figured Sali would know where they'd end up before he would. Sali also asked about the creature Aedan and Nathan had killed, but Ashe had been warned not to talk about it. Sali hung up after a while, completely disappointed.
"They'll come hunting you, Ashe, if they discover you have the talents they want. Misters are extremely rare among their kind. Keep that information secret," William Winkler had warned Ashe and his parents two years earlier. The fertilized egg his parents had gotten from a clinic so paranormal scientists could splice in his mother's and father's DNA had been carefully planted by a race known as the Elemaiya.
At war among themselves, one faction had seeded fertility clinics with donated eggs in an effort to increase their numbers. Their half-Elemaiyan children could turn out almost as talented as the full bloods. The opposing side had learned of it and set about exterminating any children born from those donated eggs. The supernatural community of Cloud Chief had protected Ashe for the past three years, after the first attempt on his life when he was twelve. Now, Ashe sat inside his bedroom, depressed and dejected, a half-packed box of books lying on the floor beside his bed.
"At least we learned where the vampire misters originated," Ashe muttered to himself. If a vampire had the least bit of Elemaiyan blood, he had a very good chance of being able to mist or mindspeak. Ashe could do both, in addition to his shapeshifting ability. Granted he turned into the tiniest mammal in existence—the bumblebee bat—but it had been useful at times. His echolocation skills were the most helpful while he was in bat form.
"Son, the authorities have arrived, so stay inside your room," Aedan poked his head inside Ashe's door. Tall, dark-haired and gray-eyed, Aedan was quite handsome. Ashe had overheard the older girls commenting on it one day after school. Ashe never thought of his parents in those terms—they'd always been his parents. Nothing more. Aedan, as vampire, would always appear young. His mother was still in her prime, but as a shapeshifting falcon, she would age. Shifters normally lived more than two hundred years. Ashe didn't like thinking about a time when his mother wouldn't be alive.
"I will," Ashe told his father, setting a handful of books inside the box.
"This isn't your fault," Aedan sighed. "Keep packing your things. We'll talk later."
"All right." Ashe wanted to be someone else right then. Almost anyone would do. He listened while his father climbed the steps toward the ground floor of their home.
"Nice work," Jasper complimented Aedan and Nathan. The creature's head had been neatly severed, with very few additional wounds. Nathan had distracted the beast, swiping its ribs with lengthy claws while Aedan, moving faster than a blur, had stepped in to remove the head. The body was now stored inside the Evans' garage under a tarp until someone could come and remove it.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Matt shook his head in wonder and confusion. "It's half bear, half bull, with extra horns and long hair."
"We hear they're manipulating their own children to make these things," Aedan muttered in disgust. "I've been informed by important vampires that these are the assassins for the Dark Elemaiyan race. They kill the enemies of their own kind plus anyone else they target."
"Are humans targets?"
"Only if they're in the way," Nathan had shown up as quickly as he could after sunset. Now he was answering questions with Aedan. Marcus DeLuca had come, too, but he wasn't as well versed on the creature as the vampires. He was content to listen.