“Do as I command.Imagine how much colder your life would be if I were to leave and never come back.”
As the orgasm mounts inside me, the pressure of needing to come is almost suffocating.Writhing, I gasp and pant.“I’m coming, Master…”
ChapterTen
Shadow
I’m waiting for the riders inside when they reach the clubhouse.
I get straight to the point.
“Before I answer any questions, I need to update you on my decision first.”
“And what decision is that?”Jaecar looks impatient.They all do.They want to know what happened to Tempest.
“I’m becoming Shadow again.Today.Right after this, in fact.”
They say nothing, but their shifting bodies give them away.
Rundas articulates his curiousness first.“Why?We’ve got another year or two left with our current appearance.”
Artim is on the same page as me.Scoffing, he gestures towards his thick beard.“Scruff and long hair can only hide so much, brother.Dante is right.We’ve pushed the old biker image long enough.I heard Celia telling her husband how “well preserved” we were the other day.That is no good.”
I trust Theron’s opinion.As sergeant-at-arms, he’s my right-hand man.“What say you, brother?Are you coming with me?”
Sighing, Theron nods.“Yep.You’re right.It’s time.Is that why you told us to lay low?”
“Sure.The old bikers leave Landslide and their sons return to take their place.That narrative has always worked with the locals.”
“Heh.”Jaecar chuckles.“They swallow the lie hook, line, and sinker.It’s almost as if theywantto be deceived.”
“Remember when we used to ride horses instead of bikes?”Now that the decision has been made, Artim relaxes enough to reminisce.“Back when the mechanic shop was a smithy for the farrier?”
Theron is not sidetracked by any of this.He stays on point.
“We’re going to need fluids.”
Being back on Landslide without Tempest is a disaster on so many levels.The immutable essence inside me churns with vengeful ire when I think of the photographs in William Bryant’s police file.
“You all have my permission to feed tonight.Use tact and stealth.No deaths.Our return to Landslide cannot be associated with exsanguinated cattle… or women.”
Rundas storms, smashing his fists against the bar counter.
“Every woman on the island is too old to experience one of our delightful nightmares!It’s intolerable.We should cross over to Canada to do this.I’ll be damned if I use the fluids from fucking cattle!”
“You want the real thing, I understand.It’s going to be a long winter without Tempest.But my priority is for me to get hernieceto stay here.And my best chance at achieving that is to be Shadow.There is a faint hope that she holds the key.”
She.I cannot say her name out loud in case I jinx it.Luna.My little sacrificial lamb.
“Tell us about Tempest.”Jaecar prompts my memory.
Instinctively, my voice lowers to a growl.
“He killed her.No doubt.She knew he was coming.The treatment did not work.”
“How do you know this?”Artim’s sorrow is tangible.
“I got a look at her file.She must have tried to fix it but failed, because the doctor was on the list of people the police interviewed after her death.The write-up said ‘a recent patient of Dr.de Doorns, but was not accepted as a viable candidate for further treatment.’”
