Most deadly, p.1
Most Deadly, page 1
MOST DEADLY
BOOK FIVE IN THE DARK LEGACY SERIES
M. A. ANDERSON
Table of Contents
Title Page
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY ONE
CHAPTER FORTY TWO
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY SIX
CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT
CHAPTER FIFTY NINE
CHAPTER SIXTY
CHAPTER SIXTY ONE
CHAPTER SIXTY TWO
CHAPTER SIXTY THREE
CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR
CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE
CHAPTER SIXTY SIX
CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN
CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT
CHAPTER SIXTY NINE
CHAPTER SEVENTY
CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE
CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO
CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE
CHAPTER SEVENTY FOUR
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
Reece, Andre, Nathaniel, and Tom raced through the hazy legion of tall trees in hot pursuit. They couldn’t allow the creature to get away from them again. They were determined to capture it this time. By the time the small group reached the edge of the wooded clearing, the monster had stopped in the center. Haloed by the full moon, its reptilian, multifaceted skin glistened under the milky veil of light. The moon had a lot to answer for. It not only governed humans afflicted by its influence – hence the name lunatic, but also a multitude of supernatural creatures. Reece believed this snakelike monster could be one of them. Sarah, Ed, and Lozano were on the opposite side of the circular, overgrown grassy knoll awaiting the PI’s order to move in. Their plan was to lure... or chase the creature here in order to encapsulate it in a hidden trap already in place beneath the layer of leaves, twigs and grass. Thankfully, it worked.
They were one man down, as Todd resigned after Charlotte’s death. He couldn’t handle the constant reminder she’d never be coming back. Reece figured the ex-detective had been in love with her, his feelings motivating his decision to join their team. He would’ve been an asset to their cause, although the PI understood why he couldn’t stay. Grief did strange things to people and Todd had to deal with it in his own way. Who knew what the future held, although it had already been almost seven years with no word from him. Maybe when he came to terms with the loss, if you ever truly get over losing someone, he might change his mind. The door would always remain open.
Reece tapped the communication device in his ear. “Everyone move in slow ’n steady. We want to catch the motherfucker this time.” He glanced over his shoulder, gave his son a nod. Tom shifted into wolf form. The PI wouldn’t take any chances with his son’s life. “Ok, let’s do this.”
Ed, Sarah, and Lozano emerged from the towering pines, stopping at the perimeter of the clearing. “Now what?” the chief asked.
“Spread out. Be careful. You know what this thing can do.” He’d seen it spit venom at a cop, melting the flesh clean off the guy’s skeleton before what remained dissolved into a sticky puddle of red goo. Hence, the reason they were covered from head to foot in dark blue protective gear, the kind that resisted acids and flammable liquids, except for Tom. His sheer size and speed would protect him. His son had adjusted well to his new life, the transition being a difficult one at first. Now that he could turn at will it made his life a whole lot easier, less painful too. When the PI had the father/son talk with him (not the sex talk), Tom remembered being abducted from Charlotte’s apartment at the age of ten and driven in the trunk of a car out to a cabin in the woods. Reece and his team had raided the property to rescue him and his mother from the Alpha, who turned out to be Tom’s biological father, Dan McCredie.
A shock to everyone, but an even bigger one for Charlotte who ended up shooting Dan in the head because he’d planned to massacre them all. He’d been stunned when she’d pulled the trigger, the look on his face before he hit the ground causing her to throw up at his feet. She never got over the fact their son would, on his sixteenth birthday, become a Lycanthrope. And she had felt betrayed by the man she’d once loved for lying to her all those years ago about what happened to him in the alley while on patrol. He’d attacked his partner and had not been bitten by something huge and fast as he’d claimed.
This reptile demon managed to escape hell somehow, which meant the rift had fractured again. Sarah’s incantation held for almost seven years, but they knew it would only be a matter of time before the otherworldly creatures found another way to infiltrate the human world again.
Nathaniel depressed the trigger on the remote device. The cage whipped up around the creature, trapping it in mid-air. It struggled against its restraints, spitting venom through the triangular gaps between the ropes.
The group moved in, Sarah shooting it with the tranquilizer gun several times to make sure she knocked it out.
“Let’s get this thing loaded and out to the facility where it won’t be able to do anymore damage,” Reece ordered.
“You don’t wanna kill it?” Ed asked, a deep questioning frown furrowing his already wrinkled brow.
“Not yet. We need to study it. We don’t know if this is the only one. If there are more out there we’re in serious shit.”
“Ok, I guess.” Ed shrugged. “If it was me I’d finish it.”
“I get where you’re coming from, Chief, but we need to know more about these creatures.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get your point.”
Reece’s gaze moved around the bordering trees. “Where’s Tom?”
Andre crossed the clearing to the PI. “I gave him the backpack so he can get dressed.”
“Thanks.”
Ed, Lozano, and Nathaniel secured the creature inside the van. “Will you meet us at the facility?” the black vampire asked.
“Yeah. I want to drop Tom home first, then I’ll head out.”
Tom joined the group, slinging the gray backpack over his left shoulder. “I wanna come with you.”
“You’ve got homework, don’t you?”
“I’ll do it when we get home. Come on, Dad, I’m part of the team, aren’t I?”
Reece gripped his son’s solid bicep. “Of course you are, but...”
“You’d prefer I go home, act like a regular teenager, do my homework. Right?”
“Your mom would’ve wanted you to have as normal a life as you can...”
“Mom’s not here, Dad. And I know what’s out there, so don’t treat me like a kid. I can help.”
“You have been helping.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Yeah, Daniels, what’s the problem?” Ed asked, walking over to the pair. “What’s the problem about what?”
“Dad won’t let me come out to the containment facility with you guys. He’s taking me home to do my homework.” Tom folded his arms, letting out a frustrated huff.
Ed cleared his throat. He didn’t want to get between father and son. “Yeah, well, maybe you should listen to your dad. He only wants what’s best for ya.” The older man gave Reece a sheepish glance. As a rule, he’d agree with Tom. He was old enough to be involved in every aspect of their work, being a werewolf, but he knew it wouldn’t sit well with the PI if he sided with the boy.
“Argh!” Tom threw his hands up and stalked away.
“Thanks, Chief, I appreciate the support. I know you don’t agree with me.”
“Yeah, well, I think he’s old enough to participate in the other areas of the job, but who am I to tell you what to do. I work for you now, not the other way around.” He shrugged.
Sarah came over to the pair. “What’s going on?”
“Tommy... Tom wants to come out to the facility with us but Reece told him he has to go home to do his homework.”
Sarah’s gaze moved to the PI. “When are you going to allow him to grow up?”
“Wait a minute...”
“No, you wait a minute. You allow him to come on raids with us, put his life in danger with us, but you won’t let him come out to the containment facility? I don’t get it. What could possibly happen to him out there?” She frowned into his eyes.
“Look, I’m trying to do what I think is best for him, what I think Charlotte would want. His father died out there... Charlotte killed him, remember?”
“How could I forget?” Her serious expression softened. “It was a long time ago, Reece. You know Charlotte would want him to be his authentic self not a watered down version of who he is. He’s a grown young man, or haven’t you noticed? And a werewolf. He’s stronger than any of us put together and he has the brains to accompany that strength. Give him a chance to be around the things important to you, to be a part of your world. That’s all he wants.”
Sarah made a valid point. Reece let out a heavy sigh and raised defensive hands. “Ok. He can come.”
“Hey, Tom, you’re dad says you can come,” Ed called out across the clearing.
Tom bolted through the tall grass and threw himself at his dad in a tight man hug. “Thanks, Dad!” His face beamed. “You won’t regret it.”
Reece wasn’t so sure.
CHAPTER TWO
“Charlotte!” Reece sprang from his pillow, eyes darting around the shadowed bedroom, his raspy breathing the only sound in the silence, his heart thumping against his ribs, beads of cold sweat dotting his brow. He hadn’t dreamed about his dead fiancée in a long time. His jumbled, sleepy thoughts wouldn’t adhere. He threw back the covers, stumbled out of bed, padded barefoot over to the window, and looked up at the clouded moon. What prompted the dream? He frowned into the eyes of his ghostly reflection in the pane of glass, attempting to pull it back into his memory.
A knock echoed into the room, startling him. He jerked his gaze to the back of the door. “Come in, Tom.” He knew it was his son because no one else shared their home.
The young man’s handsome face, etched with concern, peered around the door. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah. Just a dream.”
“You called out mom’s name.” Tom remained in the doorway, hand on the door knob.
“Oh. You heard, huh?” He crossed the room to his son.
“I couldn’t help hear it, Dad. You were pretty loud.”
Reece pulled Tom into a tight man hug and held him for a moment before speaking. He felt some of his dreams were omens, they had been in the past, and he didn’t have a good feeling about this one. Something unexpected would arrive on their doorstep. He could feel it. “Sorry I woke you.”
“It’s ok.” Tom eased out of his dad’s embrace. “Are you gonna be ok? Do you wanna talk about it?”
Reece gave his son a thin smile. “Yeah, I’ll be ok. And, no, I don’t want to talk about it. But thanks for asking. Go back to bed. Get some sleep. You’ve got school tomorrow.”
Tom eyed his dad with a curious frown before turning on his heel and heading down the hallway to the stairs. He’d chosen the attic for his bedroom because he thought it would be the ‘coolest’ space in the house. Before climbing the staircase, he glanced back along the hall at his dad standing in the doorway.
“Goodnight, Tom.”
“Night, Dad.” A ripple of apprehension slithered through Tom’s gut. Neither of them had dreamt about his mom in a long time. What could his dad’s dream mean?
CHAPTER THREE
A week later, Reece stood at the front door, key in hand, wondering how he would explain what had occurred an hour ago to his son. He filled his lungs with air, breathing deep in through his nostrils and blew it out in a whoosh. A sigh followed. Charlotte had been gone for over six years and he still couldn’t get his head around the fact he would never see her again. He missed her every single day. Before he could insert the key into the lock the door swung open and their son, Tom, stood in the entry hall. No longer the little boy Charlotte had loved, he’d be seventeen in a few months, had gone through his transformation, and stood just over six feet tall. A young man she would never get to know.
“How’d you know I was home?” Reece asked, stepping across the threshold and giving his teenage son a man hug before closing the door.
Tom shrugged. “I heard the Mustang before it reached our street.”
The PI stared into his eyes. “Your wolf hearing is pretty acute these days.”
“Yeah, I guess.” He shrugged again. “What’s for dinner? I’m starved.”
Andre had signed Adrian’s house over to Reece so he could raise Tom in a home environment. He told the PI he couldn’t imagine himself living there. It nurtured too many memories for him and he liked the apartment he and Reece had lived in, which he shared with Enrique Lozano, once sheriff at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, now full-time paranormal PI with Double D Investigations. Despite the rift being sealed, there were still flickers of supernatural activity from time to time, smaller creatures that had somehow remained. And the team also took on regular PI work in the interim to keep the business afloat.
“Can I talk to you about something first?” He gripped his sixteen year old son’s shoulder, gave it a gentle squeeze.
Tom’s frowning gaze roamed his dad’s face. Something’s up. “Sure, what about?”
“Let’s head to the living room.”
“Ok.” He followed Reece up the carpeted stairway, along the hall, and into the large room with a balcony.
Reece motioned to the burgundy, buttoned sofa that had belonged to Adrian. He didn’t have the heart to get rid of the author’s furnishings so decided to use them instead. “Have a seat.”
Tom gave his dad a quizzical stare. “Am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong?”
“Of course not, buddy, I need to tell you something important. And kinda... strange.”
“Oh, ok. What is it?” He backed up to the sofa and dropped down onto it, crossing one leg over the other and folding his arms.
Reece sat down in one of the matching armchairs opposite. “I met someone today...”
Tom’s face lit up and he leaned forward. “That’s great, Dad. You need to start getting out and having a social life. You’re always working...”
Reece raised his hand to stop his son from speaking. “Not like that.”
“Oh.” Tom leaned back against the sofa. “What then?”
“You remember the lawyer who handled your mom’s affairs after she... when we found out you could live with me?”
Tom nodded, an expression of worry crossing his young, handsome face. “I can still live with you, can’t I?” He scooted forward on the sofa again.
“Yeah, you’re stuck with me, warts and all. You’re not going anywhere.”
Tom smiled then frowned. “Good. So what do you want to tell me?”
“Phillip Pembroke called me today and asked me to come over to his office.” He paused, having no idea what he would tell his son about the woman he’d met at the lawyer’s firm.
“And? Come on, Dad, just tell me will ya.”
Reece stared into Tom’s eyes for a long time, not answering. He couldn’t believe it, so how would his son take the news. How would he react when he met the woman?
“Dad?” He reached across and whacked Reece on the knee.
“Tommy, it’s difficult to explain.”
“You haven’t called me that in a long time.” He stood up, walked around the coffee table and crouched in front of his dad, his concerned frown deepening. “What’s going on?”
Reece let out a heavy sigh. “When I got to Mr. Pembroke’s office a woman who claims to be your aunt was waiting to see me.”
“My what?” Tom shifted up and sat on the corner of the coffee table. “Mom said she didn’t have any siblings.”
“I know what mom said. Apparently they’d been estranged for years. I don’t know all the details yet, but I plan to find out.”
Tom’s frown deepened even more and his stomach did a nervous flip flop. Something didn’t feel right. “So, why did you have such a hard time telling me? If she is related to me it’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Of course.” He waited a moment. “There’s something you need to know about her before you see her.”
“She’s here?” Tom’s eyes widened.
“Yes. She’s waiting in her car outside the gate.”
The young man’s eyebrows knitted together. “You’ve never been this way with me before, Dad, why are you acting so weird?”
