“Yeah, things. Stuff you’ll need to wear gloves for.” He felt the vampire’s glare and shook his head. “Don’t get holier than thou with me right now, Hetheridge. This could be dangerous, for Alexander as well as us. A bite of silver chain and some minor indignity is a hell of a lot better than massacring half a village.”
“Hetheridge-Parker,you insufferable twat. But yes, I suppose you’re right.”
“You know I’m right.” There was a pause while Gethin let the satnav direct him through a tricky one way system, then he said into the silence, “You know I’m only winding you up about your name, right?”
Sorley heaved a dramatic sigh. “I know. I should let it go. It’s not like I could stand out any more than I already do with my red hair and my Christian name.”
Gethin felt his eyebrows raise at the vamp alluding to a Christian name when he’d also intimated he felt his current state of being was due to something distinctly unholy, but he let the dichotomy pass — for now. They had a man to find.
11
SORLEY
“How are you at tracking?”Gethin’s question broke across the rhythmic monotony of the navigation system’s instructions. Sorley sat up and forced himself to mute most of the tabs he had open in his mind.
“Pretty good. Better than average, if I’m honest. Why, because of Alec?”
“Yeah.” Gethin handed his phone over. “Call Justin please. I need to tie in the last spot they can confirm Alexander was at with somewhere I can park.”
A few minutes later, the night enveloped them as they stepped out of the vehicle. Gethin rummaged purposefully in the boot, then held out a rucksack to Sorley.
“We’ll find him quicker if I shift. If you carry this, we’ll be prepared to restrain the poor bastard as soon as we locate him, instead of having to split up and hope we can keep him in sight long enough to collect the gear. All right?”
Sorley nodded automatically, his brain suddenly glitching at the thought of Gethin in his wolf persona. It wasn’t like he wasn’t acutely aware he was a shifter. Why should he care how the bloke presented? They had a job to do. If this was the quickest route to finding Alec, then all was good.
He took the rucksack and held it open while Gethin quickly stripped and added his clothing and shoes to the top, then he clipped it shut and swung it over his shoulders. Gethin handed him his phone and the car keys. Sorley zipped them into a pocket. “We ready?”
“Yep. I presume you’d know this guy by his scent?” Sorley nodded. “Then you’re our lead in the search. I’ll keep my nose attuned for anyone that smells of vamp but who isn’t you. I’ll need you to tell me if you scent anyone else who isn’t Alexander. Okay?”
“Got it.”
“Cool. I’ll shift, then take the lead towards the river. You can take it from there.”
He moved behind the car, which tickled Sorley. Big bad shifter was fine with standing bollock naked in the middle of nowhere, but needed privacy to transform.
A moment later, he sucked in a surprised breath.Fuck.Gethin’s wolf was a beast. Taller at the shoulder than most shifters, his fur was a mix of black and dark grey, shot through with threads of brown and silver. His eyes, the same warm brown as Gethin’s in his human form, were more intense, with an orangey tint to the rims of his irises. He looked capable of tearing Sorley to shreds within seconds.
Reminding himself he was also a fearsome predator and had been holding his own rather damn well for almost three centuries, Sorley jerked his chin in the direction of the river bank. “On you go then. Can’t stand about chatting all night.”
The wolf chuffed, an amused sound. His bright eyes fixed on Sorley for a moment, then he turned and began loping deliberately towards a gap in the trees. Sorley waited a moment, then sprinted after him. “Wait!”
Gethin stopped and swivelled his head a fraction, as if to say, ‘What now?’
Sorley tried not to look apologetic. “What if we meet someone? Nobody sane is going to believe you’re a dog.”
Again, Gethin looked amused. He approached Sorley. Swept his head up, then briskly towards the ground. Sorley frowned. Gethin repeated the action, then crouched.
Oh! Sorley bent down. “You want me on your level. Why?”
He swore the wolf rolled his eyes. Bringing their heads close, Gethin stared at Sorley then jerked away, walking somewhat stiffly, his eyes glazed. When he repeated it for the second time, Sorley groaned.
“Oh, thrall! I swear, I’m better than this. I’m worried about Alec and it’s messing with my head. Let’s go. We’re wasting time.”
The wolf made a throaty noise that sounded suspiciously like the animal equivalent of ‘You think?’ But he led Sorley quickly through the trees to the river bank. He tucked himself under a tree and blended into the foliage. Sorley made his way slowly along the edge of the water, using all his senses for any hint of Alec’s whereabouts. When he could no longer scent the wolf, he retraced his steps.
“I’ll do a sprint along the bank this side for a few hundred yards, then back to let you know if I’ve picked anything up.” Without waiting for an answer, because knowing Gethin, it would only be more sarcasm dressed up as growls, he bounded forwards.
Even though he knew physically it couldn’t change, it felt to Sorley as if his heart beat a little faster with purpose, determination spurring him on. He was at home in the countryside, unhampered by the overwhelming sensations and aromas that were part of city life. It was more like the England he’d been born into, although, he scoffed to himself, he’d have shit a proverbial brick to come across an electricity pylon in the early part of the eighteenth century. Or a car, or a silage tower. The faint hum of the M1 in the distance made him chuckle: the reality of a motorway might very well have finished pre-vampire him off.
