Savage Nature (27 page)

Saria looked more confused than ever. “You don’ even know me, Drake, not really. I’m not a city girl and I don’ ever want to be. This is my home and I love it. My life is simple for a reason. I had choices. This is my choice.”

“I know that, baby. I see you. Every part of you. Of course I know you have choices. I want me to be one of those choices.”

She bit her lip. “I’m not like other people, Drake. I’m just not. I can’t breathe sometimes away from here. I do what I want. I don’ like hurtin’ others and I know if we were together, you’d eventually try to tell me what to do and I know I would never do it.” She shook her head. “I don’ want to end up with children, an unhappy husband and a divorce.”

“The female leopard is not submissive to the male, Saria,” Drake said. “She’s wild and moody and he has to be in tune with her in order to be a successful mate. I didn’t choose you because I thought you’d be submissive to me. Am I a dominant male? Yes. There’s no probably, but I want a woman to stand by my side, to think for herself, to argue with me if she believes she’s right. I want you. It’s up to you to decide if you want me the way I am.” He glared at her. “But you’re not using me for sex and throwing me away after.”

A slow smile crept into her eyes. “You drive a hard bargain. I was lookin’ forward to usin’ you for sex. You’re very yummy.”

He gave her his darkest scowl, not giving in to his inclination to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. “Just remember the next time you want sex, you’d better mean it.”

She rolled her eyes, not impressed with his ultimatum. “We’d better get out of here. You don’ want to be traipsin’ through the swamp at night. Not even with me.”

Drake hid a smile. Yeah. He liked that little stubborn streak and the challenge she was always going to present. She had a passion for life and that same passion would spill over into the bedroom. He followed her back through the swamp as they retraced their steps, careful to step where the ground was solid.

Halfway back to the boat, he felt the snarling awakening of his leopard. The beast clawed and raked at him, an urgent demand to be let free. He found his amusement fading to be replaced by anger. Anger grew into rage with every step he took as they wound their way quickly through the rapidly darkening swamp. Who the hell did Saria think she was, treating him like that? Use him and walk away? She was a control freak. She needed a real man to teach her a lesson. His leopard roared at him, fighting to set free, to . . .

Drake pulled himself up short. What the hell was he thinking? Saria was young and inexperienced. And afraid. He couldn’t blame her. She was only trying to sort out an unfamiliar situation. He never would harm a woman or even consider doing such a thing. He stopped and looked around them. He had wrestled internally for some time as they made their way back to where she’d docked their boat, almost as if he’d lost track of time. His leopard subsided, giving him some breathing room as he followed Saria into the boat.

What the hell was going on? He needed to talk to his team. To her brothers. To really investigate Fenton’s Marsh and figure out what was wrong with the place. It felt—evil. 

THE Boudreaux house was somewhat small, but very well built. Mahieu escorted them inside and Drake’s team immediately deployed close to the windows. Remy kept the lights off, other than a few candles, and they sat down to discuss the situation. Drake sensed Saria’s nervousness. They’d showered—in separate rooms—and she’d been quiet since they left the swamp. He couldn’t blame her, he was fairly quiet himself, wondering just what had happened between them. She did sit next to him on the couch, which he was grateful for. She fit beneath his shoulder, his thigh touching hers, and that seemed to give her confidence to launch into her story.

Remy and the others listened patiently to Saria without once interrupting her. When she finished, there was dead silence. Drake looked around the room. Her brothers looked shocked. His team was more prepared. Jake had briefed them before they had come to help.

“You thought one of us had done this.” Remy made it a statement. “Become a serial killer?”

Saria slipped her hand into Drake’s, her fingers tangling tight with his. “I didn’ know there were any other shifters, Remy. I didn’ want to betray any of you, but when I found the second body, I knew I couldn’t just let the killin’ continue.”

“So you tried to mail a letter but found it the next day pinned to the pirogue. None of us use that, only you, so you knew the warnin’ was for you, and all of us had access to your boat.” Remy’s voice was thoughtful more than critical.

Drake stayed silent, shifting on the worn couch to bring Saria a little closer to him in an effort to comfort her. His team remained silent, deployed by the open windows, using leopard senses to ensure their privacy.

Saria nodded. “I was very scared.”

“For God’s sake, Saria,” Remy snapped suddenly, “I’m a fuckin’ homicide detective. You couldn’t have thought it was me.”

“I didn’ want to think it was any of you. I was afraid, Remy.” Her voice trembled.

Drake cleared his throat to rid himself of the snarl building. At least his leopard had subsided, giving him some breathing room. The sound was loud in the silence of the room, bringing immediate attention to him. All five of Saria’s brothers stared at him.

“You knew about this?” Remy asked.

Drake nodded. “Jake received her letter. It wasn’t signed, and it was worded very carefully. It implied someone was using Fenton’s Marsh to permit a large cat to kill humans by first stabbing the victim and then allowing the animal to administer a suffocating bite to finish the job. Naturally he was intrigued and he sent me to investigate. At the time, of course, I had no idea Saria had sent the letter. I asked for a guide into the swamp and she came highly recommended.”

Remy nodded. “That makes sense. She is considered one of the best guides around. Even with our leopards, she’s difficult to find if she doesn’t want to be found.”

Saria smiled and Remy glared at her. “That was no compliment.”

Drake brought her hand to his mouth and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. As long as he wasn’t the one trying to find her, he thought Remy’s observation was a great compliment. She sent him a quick smile.

“What did you find out there?” Remy asked.

“No bodies, but the scent of large pools of blood in the ground told me a number of males have been killed out there.”

Remy pressed two fingers to his eyes. He looked at his sister. “Where are they, Saria?” he demanded.

Saria blinked. She pressed her lips together. “Where is what?”

“The photographs. You took pictures of the dead bodies and the wounds on them. I know you did, so cut the crap and let me see them,” Remy snapped.

Of course she had. Drake should have thought of that. It was exactly what Saria would have done. She would have recorded the entire scene and the surrounding area. She would have done exactly as her brother said. Face, wounds, everything. She was a photographer and a damned good one. She would have needed proof to show Jake Bannaconni. And she’d probably seen enough crime scenes to photograph them correctly.

“Give them to him, Saria,” Drake said. “Remy’s the investigator.”

She bit down on her lower lip. “Remy, at two of the scenes, there were bottles from our bar. The kind we use exclusively. And Drake found evidence of other dump sites. There were no bodies, but he found where someone had lost a lot of blood and the same bottles were there.”

“You went lookin’ for more bodies?” Remy asked.

Drake nodded. “I wanted to confirm what Saria had told us. The bodies were long gone. The alligators took care of that, but my leopard found several more kill spots.”

There was a brief silence. The brothers exchanged long looks. Remy sighed. “Did you catch the scent of a leopard, somethin’ strong enough you might be able to recognize if you came across it again?”

Drake shook his head. “Nothing. Not a rake mark. No pile of leaves. No scent marking and nothing near where the victims were killed. Just blood and death. No leopard.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it, Remy?” Lojos, the youngest brother asked. “It isn’t a shifter.”

“Could you be wrong about the bite, Saria?” Remy asked. “Maybe Fenton’s Marsh is a body dump, but there is no leopard involved.”

Saria made a face at him. “You think I don’ know a leopard bite when I see one?” She jumped up and rushed from the room to get the proof.

Remy flicked his gaze at his younger brother Lojos, who silently followed his sister. Drake realized Remy was uneasy and worried for Saria’s safety even there in their home with all of his brothers and Drake’s team to protect her.

“What is it you’re not telling us?” Drake asked.

Remy sighed and glanced at Mahieu, who shrugged. “The dead bodies in Fenton’s Marsh aren’t the only ones. There have been five women that we know of murdered in similar fashion to what Saria says is goin’ on in the marsh. All stabbed with a strange bite mark to their throats—a leopard bite. The first killin’ was several years ago. We think there are more. It’s easy to go missin’ in New Orleans. We’ve had unsolved murders of women and people disappearin’ for years, but the bodies found were very distinctive.”

“Are you saying these killings have been going on for years—that they’re connected?”

“We believe so. And if a serial killer is on the loose and no one has come close to him before now, then Saria is in real danger. She’s alone all the time in the swamp. Everyone knows her and knows she photographs everythin’. If she found his current dumpin’ ground, and she sent a letter which he managed to intercept, she’s on his radar.”

Every muscle in Drake’s body tensed. The thought of Saria in danger was more than disturbing—everything male—in both leopard and human—protested.

“You’ve been watching all the females in your lair closely to protect them,” he guessed shrewdly.

Remy nodded. “The leopard bite bothers me. I doubt it’s real, but suppose someone knows about us and is tryin’ to cast blame on us—to bring us out into the open. We’ve married into families incapable of shiftin’ over the years. It’s possible someone born with the traits of a leopard but unable to shift could do this.”

Drake nodded. “Our species is capable of great cruelties. Without the ability to shift and allow the leopard freedom, yes, it could happen easily.”

“Saria bein’ so close to the Han Vol Dan complicates matters,” Mahieu added. “Every male for a hundred miles is crazy. Armande and Robert have both lost their minds.”

“It’s a lot more complicated than a female being close to emerging,” Drake contradicted. “This lair is in trouble and I think you all know that. You need strong leadership to keep leopards in check, especially around an actual city. This lair lacks that. You weren’t there the other night when they sent a fighter to challenge me. Robert Lanoux broke one of the most important rules in any lair and he went unpunished.”

“He was punished today,” Remy said grimly.

“Yes, but you’re not the leader of the lair, Jeanmard is. Or was. You know this situation will only grow worse if something isn’t done.”

“Are you advocatin’ one of us become the leader of this lair?” Remy sounded incredulous.

“Not one of you. You,” Drake said. “Because if you don’t, you’re going to have murders all over the place. If you think the attack on Saria was a one-time thing, you’re sadly mistaken. I’ve seen this happen before. Leopards have intense drives. You have to meet those drives or your leopard goes rogue. You all know that.”

“I have a serial killer to catch. Puttin’ this lair back together again is a full-time job.”

Drake nodded. “You’re going to have to send your males out to find females away from this place so you don’t risk the bloodlines becoming contaminated. More than anything, that gets dangerous. There are all kinds of problems here, Remy, and someone has to fix them.”

“Boss,” Joshua interrupted. “We’ve got company out there and they don’t look friendly.”

11

DRAKE leapt to his feet, the jump taking him across the room to the hallway where Saria had disappeared. He landed in a half crouch. Mouth set in grim lines, face a death mask, he turned already glowing eyes on Remy. “Where is Saria?” It was a clear demand, his voice a growl.

Joshua and Evan immediately moved position, a covert shift to cover their leader while Jerico remained at the windows, his weapon cradled comfortably in his arms.

Mahieu and Gabe blew out the candles, plunging the room into utter darkness, but with leopard vision, they had no problem seeing.

“The darkroom is a small shed behind the house,” Remy said. “Lojos went with her.” There was worry in his voice.

“Remy Boudreaux!” Amos Jeanmard’s voice called from outside. “We have Saria. She is a member of this lair and it has been decided that she is not allowed to leave our lair. We need her here. It is her duty to mate with one of our males. She will be given the chance for her leopard to choose. As lair leader I demand you and your family comply for the good of the lair.”

A roar of fury erupted from Drake. He began ripping his shirt away, claws forming, leaving thin traces of blood along his chest. “You’d better choose where your loyalty lies, Boudreaux,” he spat out. “Your sister or this poor excuse of a lair.”