“Alright,” I said brusquely, hating what had to happen next. “Now we need to create the narrative so that the search and rescue teams find what they’re looking for and walk away with a plausible story. We need to make this look like this death happened due to natural causes.”
Lee and Hunter exchanged troubled looks. Daniel seemed vaguely shocked. Lacey just looked grim and unsurprised.
“Hunter, I need you to carry his body to the base of the Palisades. Lacey, help him with that. It needs to look like he fell off the cliff in the dark, and his body was eaten by scavengers.”
The Palisades were steep basalt cliffs a few miles away that plunged straight down, with rocky scree at their base. The hiking trail running along them was known for being both beautiful and highly dangerous. With Lacey and Hunter working together, they’d be able to carry the body there no problem, long before the sun rose. Plenty of time.
“But the wounds are so clean. Hattie said—” Hunter protested, shooting a helpless look at Dr. Langley, who gazed back at him impassively.
“We’ll still have enough moonlight to shift,” Lacey said tonelessly. “We need to make sure they don’t look clean at all.”
My stomach went queasy at the prospect, but it was better than this happening again to innocent folks searching the forest.
“You’re going to need to break his bones, too. The fall needs to look convincing.”
I didn’t look Hunter in the eye, but I didn’t miss the way he went paler at my words.
“Lee, go with them and clear the trail of footprints. We can’t have anyone discovering multiple sets of human prints leadingto the body. Take his backpack—” I pointed at the hiker’s gear. “—to the top of the cliff and leave it there. Create a trail of footprints leading to the cliff edge. Make sure to clean up your own afterward.”
I turned to Daniel. “I need this site spotless, especially of scent—they’ll probably have dogs with them. We can’t have anyone discovering any evidence. Can you cast a spell to make that happen?”
Daniel nodded, his expression somber. “Yeah, I think so.”
“I need to get back,” Dr. Langley said. “Once they find the body, they’ll bring it to me for a death certificate.” She paused, fixing Hunter and Lacey with a dark look. “Unless you two don’t do a good enough job making it look natural. If there’s even a hint that anything’s odd about the body, they’re going to send him to Seattle for examination and then we’ll have investigators here for months.”
I hated it, but she wasn’t wrong. I met their gazes in turn. “She’s right. It needs to look convincing.”
Hunter nodded slowly. “Yeah. It’s for the greater good.”
“What will you be doing?” Lee asked pointedly.
“I’ll take Dr. Langley back to her car. After that, we’re going to need a breadcrumb trail. That means getting Topher to send the deputy and the search party out that way in the morning. It’ll be better if the request comes from the pack alpha directly.” I paused. “With any luck, they’ll have found the body by noon. And then we can focus our efforts on figuring out how to stop this thing.”
Vampires had the ability to influence the minds of humans, even to the point of planting false memories, post-hypnotic suggestions, and making them think or feel things they never would have otherwise. I didn’t like it, but I had no choice.
After all, that’s why Nathaniel Bailey, the vampire king of Seattle, had sent Topher in the first place—to help out the packin exactly these kinds of situations. It was better than calling in an anonymous tip and leaving investigators with lingering questions.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s get to work.”
* * *
After Daniel performed his spells on the clearing, I walked him and Dr. Langley back to the commune, where her car was parked in the gravel lot beyond the fire pit. The trees loomed overhead, dark and thick. Anything could have been out there. And something monstrous was.
After Dr. Langley drove away, I called Topher.
“Hiya, Reed,” he answered, sounding deceptively human. “It’s early. Is everything alright?”
“I need a favor.”
Then, in as few words as I could manage, I told him what was going on. I was eager to get off the phone with him. Vampires might not have been all bad, but I still felt uneasy around them.
“I can make sure the deputy sends out a search party to the base of The Palisades,” Topher said, when I was done. “Anything else?”
“Keep an ear out, I guess. If anyone is suspicious—”
“I can handle them as well,” Topher said. “The important thing is keeping innocent people out of the forest, as much as we’re able to.”
It sounded almost as though he cared. I wondered if he actually did or if it was only because his king had told him to.
