She parked and climbed out, and with every step she took she felt more and more certain that she’d made a terrible mistake coming out here by herself.
She paused at the front door, hesitating. Should she just turn around and leave?
Before she had a chance to decide, Montgomery opened the door. “I’m glad to see you,” he said, grim-faced. “We’ve got a problem, and I don’t know what to do about it. I need to talk to you.”
“Is Jax here?” she asked him anxiously.
“He’s here. I’ll let you talk to him in just a minute.”
She swallowed hard, her palms damp with perspiration. If Jax was there, she had to go in. He was probably injured. She might be able to sweet talk Montgomery into letting her take Jax with her.
She followed him into the house. Hand woven rugs in geometric patterns adorned the floor. The walls were plaster, and paintings of panther shifters decorated the walls without frames.
Something felt very wrong here. Somebody was trying to speak to her from the other side, pounding at the edges of her consciousness. Tallulah? She wondered. But how would Tallulah have reached her here? She needed to be touching something that had belonged to the dead, or in their home or a place they’d spent a lot of time, before she could communicate with them.
Jason Strikes True and Richard Iron Claw were standing in the spacious living room, still as statues, with their arms by their sides. They had odd expressions on their faces. A ripple of alarm ran down Ginger’s spine as she noticed that the curtains were all drawn. It made the house feel like a dim, closed-in prison.
“Hello, Jason. How are you?” she said.
He stared at her, his eyes bulging, and his lip quivered, but he didn’t speak.
Suddenly Montgomery’s radio crackled.
“Sheriff Armstrong is at the gate. He’s asking to speak to you,” a voice said.
“Perfect. Send him back here,” Montgomery said.
Perfect? Ginger thought with alarm.
What did he mean by that? Why was it perfect?
“Come with me,” Montgomery said. He nodded at Jason and Richard. “You come too,” he said.
Well, at least Loch would be there, she thought with growing unease. She followed Montgomery down a long hallway, with Jason and Richard right behind her.
Montgomery led her through several doors and into a large library with books stacked high on the walls, and as she walked through the doorway, the coppery tang of blood filled her nostrils.
She froze on the spot and spun around, but before she could run, Montgomery nodded his head at Jason and Richard. “Grab her,” he said. “Bring her in the room.”
They both leaped forward and grabbed her by the arms, dragging her across the floor. She struggled and screamed, but it was useless. Their grip was like iron
The smell of blood was overpowering. Glancing at the back of the room, she saw where it was coming from. A body lay on a wooden table, wrapped in a tarp. Flies buzzed around it. There was a bloodstained knife resting on top of the body, with a cruel curved blade.
It was Tallulah. She could sense it.
Ginger wanted to scream, or cry, but the sound died in her throat.
She suddenly realized with shock that Jax was sitting in a chair by the table, his arms by his side. He was staring straight ahead with a blank expression on his face. His lip was split, one of his eyes was blacked, and the right side of his face was swollen.
“Jax!” Ginger cried out. “What are you doing? Help me!”
He blinked hard but didn’t move.
“I’m afraid he’s not capable, my dear,” the professor’s voice said. “I own his mind now. I own his will. And soon I will own yours.”
Montgomery walked around to stand in front of her. His face began to melt. The professor’s wavy hair appeared, his face…
Professor Reese stood before her. He had several small stone icons dangling from a leather cord on his neck.
“Where is Montgomery?” she gasped. “Did you kill him?”
“Oh, of course. The night I disappeared.”
Yes. That was who had been hammering at her mind, trying to get her to open up. Montgomery. As soon as she’d walked in he’d tried to warn her.
She heard Loch walking down the hall and she struggled to scream, to warn him. “Cover her mouth,” the professor said to Richard, and Richard clamped his hand firmly over her mouth, pinning her in place. Ginger writhed and bit at Richard’s hand until it bled, but he didn’t move.
Should she shift? There wasn’t much point; she was in a room with two panther shifters who could easily take her wolf down.
Loch entered the room a minute later, and froze for a second in shock when he saw the scene before him, with Ginger restrained and struggling. Then he let out a roar of rage and lunged forward.
Professor Reese waved the stone icon and said a few words, and Loch went crashing down to his knees, and his eyes glazed over.
“Stand up,” Professor Reese barked. Loch stood up. “Sit at the table, in that chair,” Reese ordered, and the sheriff did as he was told.