Beast in Me (The Divination Falls Trilogy) (9 page)

Trace grabbed his hand and stilled it. ‘Not this time. I’m good. I’m fine.’

‘But –’

‘But nothing. You were injured, you’ve been Sleeping Beauty for several days. I just wanted … that.
I
wanted to touch
you.
I expect nothing back and I want you to put your hand down.’ He cocked a grin at Cameron and Cam obeyed. There it was again, that bend-flex-bang of his heart.

‘Then … what?’

‘Let’s take a walk. You up to that?’

‘I am. I’ve been lying around for days,’ Cam said and laughed.

Outside, the humidity had dropped a bit and there was a slight breeze. They got beyond the building and walked toward a set of benches. The further they walked, the louder the falls got.

‘Are there any people who go to the falls regularly?’ Cameron asked, not quite understanding where he was going with his question. He was flying on gut instinct and he’d learned long ago to listen to it.

Trace looked up, seemingly studying the treetops. ‘I don’t … think … so.’ He sounded unsure but levelled his quirky periwinkle eyes at Cam and said, ‘Why?’

‘I keep coming back to the falls. It’s the hub of this town.’

‘Yep. That’s where they took the empath – Luke – when his throat was slit. They take really sick folks there sometimes. There’s quartz in the falls. Then again, there’s quartz everywhere here.

That
something
itched deep in Cam’s brain again. ‘You didn’t sound so positive when you said no one went to the falls regularly. It’s a town full of shifters, don’t – um – don’t animals gather at the watering hole?’ he asked, feeling sort of stupid. Nevertheless, the question had to be asked.

Trace leant forward and planted his hands on his knees. His shoulders shook with the force of his laughter. ‘Yes, animals do,’ he finally managed. ‘But in case you didn’t notice, Cameron, the town is riddled with
people
who just happen to be able to turn into animals at will. We don’t run around in our animal form – well, mostly. So we kind of prefer showers and tubs and sinks like everyone else, for the most part,’ he said, winking.

Cameron felt his face colour but he smiled anyway. Because it was OK. He could smile and Trace wouldn’t make fun of him. ‘Oh. Sorry.’

‘Don’t be.’ Trace grabbed his wrist and led him along, presumably toward the falls. ‘But now that you mention it, there is one person who adores the falls and comes almost every day. Batts Dunn.’

Cameron groaned. ‘Bats? Do I even need to ask what he is?’

Trace gave him a smirk. ‘It’s Batts – B-A-T-T-S – and he’s an otter.’

‘Of course he is.’ Cameron sighed. ‘This place … It’s weird.’

‘But awesome.’ Trace chuckled.

‘But awesome,’ Cam agreed. Especially since Trace was there. Any place would be awesome with Trace there.

‘So I reckon you want to see Batts?’

‘Have you seen him lately?’ Cam asked. The falls were a heavy presence now. A constant rushing hiss in the back of their conversation that could not be ignored.

‘Come to think of it … No.’

Chapter Seventeen

On the way back through the centre of town, Cameron watched Trace pull aside several residents to ask about Batts. The worry became clear as one after another of them denied having seen him for days.

‘Days,’ Trace growled. ‘We usually keep better track of our own than that.’

‘What should we do?’

The sky had grown cloudy, but Cameron didn’t think it had anything to do with him. Not at all. It was just dark and murky overhead. ‘I don’t know. Go to the falls or to his house?’

‘Let’s go to his house. If that doesn’t work we can go to the falls.’ Trace took Cam’s hand and tugged him along. ‘I really should get a fucking scooter or something for this kind of walking. It’s nice to live in a town where everything is within walking distance, but damn, sometimes it just doesn’t seem fast enough.’

‘You’d probably be there in a heartbeat if you shifted and ran.’ Cameron watched the wolf’s face.

Trace’s stark profile looked grim for a minute and he shook his head. ‘No. I’m not leaving you. We’ll go together.’

‘What about the cab?’

Trace snorted. ‘My god, the cab is mostly for off-site. For going places away from here. Into town. The city. Certainly not for going about here. Sometimes, once in a great while, due to illness or injury, yes. And the sheriff drives to save time because time could be lives. Not very often around here, but still.’ Trace let go of Cameron’s wrist and slid his hand over Cam’s. Cameron gladly held his hand, his heart twisting wildly for a split second.

‘I see.’

‘So we’ll walk. No one’s noticed Batts being gone for this long, why rush now?’ He started to whistle and swing his hand with Cam’s. ‘Yes, I know I look silly, but I’m practising not caring.’

‘I don’t think you look silly.’

‘That’s because you look silly too,’ Trace said, turning to look Cam in the eye. ‘And you’re the cause of my silliness so that’s two counts of silly I can lay on your head.’

Cam laughed. ‘If you must.’

‘I must.’ Trace tugged him up a short set of stone steps and then down a long, narrow path. ‘He lives up here. He’s got a creek running through his backyard. Must be the otter genes.’

‘That would probably be a good guess.’ Cam tried not to let it show, but the steep incline of the path that led to Batts Dunn’s house was wearing him out. He didn’t have his energy back yet.

The wind tossed Trace’s hair in his face as he looked at Cam. ‘Christ, I’m a moron.’

‘What?’

‘You’re pale as a sheet. I should have known it would be too much. I should realise not everyone bounces back as readily as shifters.’ He turned his back to Cameron. ‘Hop on.’

‘What?’ Cam almost laughed, until he realised the wolf was serious.

‘Get on up there. Piggyback.’ Trace glanced over his shoulder. ‘Ride me, cowboy.’

That did it. Cameron chuckled, though the turn of phrase turned him on more than he’d ever admit. ‘I can’t. I’m heavy,’ he whispered.

Thunder rumbled and he prayed to Brother Lightning not to choose this moment to reacquaint himself with his human counterpart. Now would not be a good time to be struck.

Trace hung his head. ‘Do you really think that little of me? I can move a car with my bare hands if I get in the mood to. I can shift and run miles in the blink of any eye. Do you really think I can’t give you a
piggyback ride
?’

‘Um … no?’ Cameron pressed his lips together to try and keep his smile at bay.

‘Get on.’

Cameron did as told and then they were moving. Three times as fast as they’d been moving before and he had the extra bonus of having his arms wrapped tight around a man he’d grown to care for. A man who knew pain and loneliness the way he did. A man who could say whatever he wanted, could roll his eyes and make sarcastic jokes, but Cam was pretty sure he cared for him too. And that made Cam’s heart beat faster and his stomach grow tight.

He held on, enjoying the warmth of the wolf – the smell of him – and the swift but sure motion of the walk toward Batts Dunn’s house.

He wondered what the otter would have to say when they got there.

The house brought nothing. Locked up tight. Batts had about 20 store-bought and handmade wind chimes on his front porch. His house was an inviting, squat wood cabin that brought to mind Lincoln Logs for Cameron. How many days of his childhood had he spent making small towns with those little wooden logs?

Trace knocked again, his knuckles banging so hard on the wood door that Cam expected to see blood where the skin had split.

Cameron circled the house, rapping gently on a window here, a window there. All the blinds were down and the house sported nothing but covered windows like blind eyes. Nothing.

‘Maybe he’s just out!’ he called over the increasingly rough wind.

‘Maybe! But seeing as no one’s seen him in days I’d like to know!’ Trace’s voice was clipped with concern.

The back patio was small and butted up to a small, kidney-shaped pool. Really only big enough for one man to swim and twist in. ‘So he didn’t
need
the falls,’ he muttered.

‘What?’

Trace had snuck up right behind him and Cam jumped, feeling foolish, but he couldn’t help it. ‘Jesus Christ on a cracker. You need to make some noise when you’re coming up behind a person.’

Trace chuckled, wrapped his thick arms around Cam’s waist, and ground his body to the back of Cam. It was easy to feel the hefty cock that nudged the split of his ass even through his jeans. Cameron found himself blushing and short of breath. ‘How about if I just do this?’

‘That works.’ Cam sighed. When Trace let him go it took a minute for his brain to reboot. ‘I don’t like the vibe here. It feels abandoned. And if no one’s seen this man in days, where is he? This is a well-loved home. Look.’ Cameron pointed. A pair of beat up flip-flops sat where they’d been kicked off by a small barbeque grill. A few empty beer cans had been stacked on a table next to some magazines and newspapers. Under the awning was a thick stack of beach towels and, next to that, a hamper probably full of dirty ones. A double swing, a glider, a hammock, and lawn chairs all crowed the perimeter of the humble but welcoming patio. ‘He not only spent a lot of time out here, he invited people over. And now …’

‘Now he’s in the wind.’

‘Or somewhere worse. How far to the falls from here?’ Cam asked. The question alone exhausted him. He wanted to sit down and rest. Or lie down and rest. Or, if he was brutally honest, shut his eyes and take a nap. Which was downright insane since he’d been asleep for more hours than he usually slept in almost a whole week.

‘Not far. Quarter mile? Maybe less,’ Trace said. He bent to snag something bobbing at the very edge of the pool. A crumpled piece of paper. When he unfolded it, it started to break apart. Nothing but a soggy mess of white mush and pencil smudges. ‘Trash.’ He sighed. ‘Doesn’t look like anything now.’

‘Can we go there?’

‘Do you know how tired you look just saying it?’ Trace grinned at him.

Cameron hung his head. ‘I am tired, honestly, but something’s wrong. Something’s been off about your whole town since I got here. And if they think I can figure it out, or fix it, or something, I feel like I should really, really try to.’

‘You’re a good man,’ Trace said.

The statement came out of nowhere and it hit Cameron like a soft punch to the gut. He heard himself inhale quickly, then something akin to pleasure spread through his chest and stomach. Praise. Wow. ‘I –’

Trace shook his head, cutting him off. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes darted around, taking in the sights at Batts Dunn’s home but not looking directly at Cameron. He cleared his throat. ‘Hop on. We’ll go look at the falls. I don’t know why they’re so important.’

‘I don’t either. But I feel like everything leads back to them.’

‘The whole town leads back to them,’ Trace said, bending down just enough to let Cam get up on his back.

‘I know. So it makes sense that they’d be important. If they’re used for healing and there’s quartz and they’re basically the town hub … Stands to reason we should check, right?’ He was leaning over the wolf’s shoulder, talking close to his ear. Before he could talk himself out of it, he gave Trace a lingering peck on the cheek.

The wolf shook his head and sighed. ‘Now you’re just cheating,’ he said and took off, going fast enough to make Cam instinctively hold on tight. 

Chapter Eighteen

When they came upon the falls that twinkle-flash-shift of the memory came back to him and Cameron dropped from Trace’s broad back with way less grace than he would have liked.

‘I remember now! How could I forget?’ he breathed.

‘Well, it’s my understanding you were being prodded and poked by lightning when it happened.’

‘True. But I sort of have to deal with that all the time.’

‘Still. I’d have a really hard time remembering shit if I were being electrocuted.’

Cam ran his hands over his face and sighed. ‘I saw something when I first arrived. In the falls.’ He moved forward, watching the water for any familiar signs. ‘It was a quick, dark flash of
something
in the falls but I thought it was a trick of my eye. I thought I was seeing things.’

‘And now you think?’

‘I think I saw whatever’s at the core of these issues. But how do we get rid of it? I mean, if it
is
there.’

Trace narrowed his eyes at the churning water. The falls kept the water swirling with small whitecaps. ‘I don’t know. Not to sound like an asshole, but are you sure? I mean, you have been unconscious for a while and –’ he coughed ‘– you know. There’s been a lot of stress.’

Cameron chuckled. ‘Are you trying to ask me if I might be losing my shit?’

‘Not as much as … Are you sure? That’s what I’m trying to ask.’

‘No. But let’s get closer and see.’

‘That might not be a good idea. Those rocks are pretty slippery and you’re not exactly 100 per cent at the moment.’

‘I can walk down some rocks,’ Cameron insisted. Was he annoyed or scared? He couldn’t tell.

‘At least hold my hand,’ Trace said.

That he would gladly do. He liked the feel of that bigger hand curled around his as if that grip alone could keep him safe and sane. Two things he craved in his day to day life. Working with the elements rarely made you feel either.

‘I can do that,’ he grumbled. He caught Trace smiling in his peripheral vision. What a shit. A wonderful, gruff, perfect shit.

Trace squeezed his hand and they began a slow and careful descent along the slick rocks to get closer to the falls and the water below it. The wind blew and Trace looked up at the towering trees that swayed overhead. Just then came the rolling dark shadow of that
something
, but just as fast, it was gone.

‘Just happened!’ Cam said, tapping Trace harder than he’d intended.

‘When?’

‘When you looked up. Of course.’

Trace grunted. ‘Even if there is something in the water below the falls, what does that have to do with all the other crazy shit? The sightings and the chicken-eating monster?’

‘I think –
think,
mind you – that these things are drawn to the dual attraction of quartz and water.’

‘Both conductors,’ Trace said.

Cameron felt a burst of pride toward his wolf.
His
wolf? Where had that come from? His cheeks heated with a blush before he could even process the thought.

‘You smell horny and scared,’ Trace said, continuing to help him down the rocks.

‘Stop smelling me.’ But he laughed. ‘And if they have the two conductors of not just regular energy but psychic and mystical energy, that’s probably where the main breach is. All the rest is just cracks they’re finding along the way. Bleed-through places if you will. Like when the walls of your room are navy blue and you paint them light green.’

‘There are always spots where the blue is visible.’

‘Until you fix them,’ Cameron said, nodding.

They were nearly at the lip of the falls and the rush of the water was forcing them to shout. Cameron felt good, though, strong. He wondered if it was the quartz working its magic on his depleted body. The mist of the falls on his face made him shut his eyes and relish it. Such a nice feeling.

Trace’s hand was ripped away and Cameron’s eyes flew open to see the man going down fast. His ass hit the rock and he was trying to roll, but not quite making it, away from a huge tentacle. No more of whatever lurked in the water was visible, but the tentacle was the size of a sturdy sapling and easily wound around Trace’s ankles.

Cameron started forward, screaming – he didn’t know what, only that he was screaming. His ankle turned on the wet surface and he fell, sliding toward Trace even as the wolf was dragged toward the rushing water.

Amazement shivered through him as he watched his lover shift. The face changed first, growing soft around the edges before shooting out and down, a narrow snout where a stout jaw had been. The eyes flashed darker purple in the light and the ears perked up even as the wolf snarled. Clothes that were shed upon transformation tangled in the suckers of the tentacle and Cam blinked, open-mouthed, as Trace’s diving watch bounced down along the rocks. There was no wrist any more to hold it.

‘Trace!’ He managed to get to his feet and rush forward, only to slip again and then be knocked aside by the swaying monstrosity. The wolf in the thing’s grasp yelped, and it broke Cam’s heart to hear pain in that sound. ‘Trace!’ He bellowed above the sudden thunder and the rushing falls. The world was all muffled sound and battered air as the appendage swayed wildly and, for just a single second, he caught a glance at the head. A huge, misshapen blob of tissue with enormous eyes and a beak of a mouth. It was wrong in so many ways and Cameron felt a sob rip out of him as he scrambled to get a hold of Trace one more time.

But the tentacle was faster; it pulled Trace inexorably toward the water until the wolf ceased to struggle and the monster claimed its prize.

‘Now you desert me?’ Cameron shouted, head back to the sky. ‘All the people I’ve helped by being a goddamn human lightning rod and
now
you are nowhere to be found?’

Rage shot through him, grappling briefly with grief so sharp and stinging he wouldn’t have been surprised to see blood pouring from his chest. It was a pain he couldn’t comprehend because he’d never felt anything like it.

His throat hurt and the muscles in his neck ached as he roared at the top of his lungs. ‘I’m falling in love with him. I have something good. Something nice. Something that makes me feel alive and
now
you are nowhere to be found!’

Rage was replaced by a quiet, calm storm of peace inside him. It hovered there somewhere in his chest and, without really thinking about it, he waved his arms wildly at the body of water that had claimed his lover.

Lightning shot down through it. The sight was fierce and beautiful and terrifying. Water danced and lit with a vivid cobalt blue here, an aquamarine there. Electricity dappled the water and churned up foam. Somewhere in the depths a bellow came – again a lowing like a cow – and Cam seemed to feel it in his head more than hear it. And then – he couldn’t bear to believe it but his eyes made him see it – a wolf, wet and limp and looking damn near dead, popped to the surface.

‘Trace!’ Cam yelled again. ‘I need you to hold on! Focus. Can you hear me?’

There it was again. That slow, taffy-like stretch of time and matter and Trace was more human than animal and then all man. He looked like he’d been hit by several trucks, but he was alive.

He started a slow, painful crawl toward the rocks and Cameron moved toward him on his hands and knees, holding out an arm to snag the wolf.

Together they managed to get Trace up on the rocks and Trace made Cam move back as far as they could go.

Cameron didn’t think about it. He simply kissed Trace. Forehead, cheeks, lips, eyelids. He kissed him until his own face was wet and his clothes were drenched. Trace was shivering. He needed to get his clothes. But when Cam went to gather them, Trace grabbed him and kissed him for real. His mouth cold from the water but wet and sweet on the inside – because he was alive. Perfectly, blissfully alive.

He ran his finger over Cam’s cheekbone and gazed into his eyes. ‘Has anyone told you … you’re a danger, man?’

Cameron tried to laugh but it came out more of a sob. ‘Sorry.’

‘Don’t be. Now I’m pissed. We have to kill this fucker. And soon.’

Something burst from the bushes, crashing wildly through the foliage. A grunt, a roar, and then a huge brown body appeared, swaying slightly in that way they have. A bear. No doubt Slaughter, but Cameron was taken off guard and he backpedalled on his hands and feet as fast as he could, sliding too close to the water for comfort. Trace reached out and grabbed him.

A blink and a shake of his head and there was a buck-naked sheriff standing there on alert. ‘What was that? What happened? I heard –’

He was cut off by the sound of running feet on the slippery path. Eliot burst into view, her cheeks red, her face flushed. ‘What the hell? Sometimes it sucks to be human.’

‘It’s in the falls,’ Cameron blurted.

Trace stuck out his hand and Cam took it. Together they moved closer to the higher ground. Eliot snickered and tossed the sheriff some gym shorts. ‘Cover up, big boy.’

Slaughter blushed and grunted. ‘I heard a noise. I can’t describe it. Deep and big and wet and …’

‘It was the resident sea monster.’ Cam sighed. He was suddenly exhausted. So tired from this day that seemed to run in slow and fast time simultaneously.

‘What?’ Slaughter craned his neck, trying to get closer, but Trace put a hand on the sheriff and pushed him back.

‘I really wouldn’t recommend that. I’ve already taken a dip in the crazy pond today. Trust me. You don’t want to go there.’

‘What do you mean in the water?’ Slaughter asked.

Eliot touched his arm and said, ‘Come on. The wind is picking up and you’re … Well, pretty much nude. Let’s give the boys a ride home and then they can explain.’

Slaughter was blushing again, Cameron noted, and he dipped his head in agreement. ‘Let’s go, then. You OK, Trace? You do know
you’re
naked.’

They all looked at Trace and Cameron heard a semi-hysterical bubble of laughter float out of him. ‘Your clothes are there.’

Trace did his best to get dressed and they all filed out of the woods. One wet, one semi-naked, and two humans. Just an average day in Divination Falls.

In the car, Eliot said, ‘We’ll take you home. You can fill us in.’

‘Good. I can also go for some food, a shower, and a nap, believe it or not,’ Cam said.

‘I believe you.’ Eliot smiled. ‘You look wiped.’

‘There is a monster in the falls.’ Trace sighed. ‘And it tried to eat me.’

Eliot looked surprised. ‘You can’t be serious about the second part.’

‘Yeah, only the kicker is Lightning Boy channelled a bolt of lightning and hurt it and it let me go. So … You know. Normal stuff. What about you?’ Trace asked Eliot. ‘Are your woo-woo town seer senses picking up anything with our infestation of creatures that should not be? I mean, it’s like a fucking B-movie around here. Tentacles from under the falls, chicken-eating boogety-boos.’

Eliot frowned. ‘We’re lucky all it ate was a chicken. And I’ll tell you what I told Sam.’ She glanced at the sheriff and he gave her a brief go-ahead nod. ‘I see water and light. Light and water. And then darkness. Whether the darkness is good or bad, I don’t know. Is it them gone and the visions stop – or is it them winning? And we get darkness as the booby prize?’

‘It just keeps getting better,’ Trace snapped.

Cam sighed, feeling very much defeated, and rested his head against Trace’s still-cool shoulder. It didn’t surprise him in the least that the motion of the car and the contact with the wolf started to lull him to sleep.