She scowled at Celia and took one last defiant lick. “What? I haven’t eaten all night and I’m thirsty, damn it.”

Celia opened her mouth to say something to her, but then stopped suddenly. Her head whipped around. “Bren, where’s Danny?”

I straightened and veered behind me. His scent failed to reach my senses. “The last time I saw him, he was with the naked chick you took out.”

Celia urged the vamps forward. “Find him. Make sure he’s okay.”

We raced around the dance floor in a mad rush, searching for any trace of his scent. My feet pounded down the hall toward the bathrooms. I threw opened the doors. “Dan. Dan! Are you in here, man?” Silence was my only response. Shit, was it too much to hope he was hiding in a stall?

Celia sprinted up behind me. “He’s not in any of the offices, and the vamps can’t find him anywhere.”

I backed out of the bathroom and froze. My nose fixed onto a faint trickle of Dan’s obnoxious cologne. It trailed in the direction of the emergency exit down the dark hall. I bolted toward it and latched on to the smell. The alarm blasted as I barreled through the door with Celia hot on my heels.

The air in the alley mixed with the rotting garbage from the dumpster and still I scented Dan’s musky cologne . . . and drops of his blood.

“He’s been taken,” I growled.

Chapter Seven

According to Agnes, legend states that a Ciguapa can only be tracked by a black and white dog, with extra digits, during a full moon.

Well, screw that. The full moon wasn’t until the next night and no one I knew had any extra fingers. That wouldn’t stop me. I may have been a loafer, but I was the best damn tracker in California.

I punched Aric’s number on the speed dial when Celia ran off to get her Lexus. The reception was shitty at best. We obviously hadn’t destroyed all the damn spirits. Their dark energy continued to interfere with the reception. Aric answered on the first ring, and surprise, surprise, he was pissed as all hell and growling. “Did you send a wereskunk to gas bomb my Warriors cars?”

“Dan’s been taken,” I said in way of a response. “We’re at the Hole. A bunch of Latin ghosts showed up and wreaked havoc. We destroyed the few we saw, but there must’ve been more.”

Screams from the club cut me off. “What’s happening?” Aric pressed.

I poked my head inside. “The humans here are waking up and I think someone stepped on a melting head. Don’t worry. The vamps are on it.”

Suspicion lowered Aric’s voice. “What are you doing with vamps at the Hole?”

I debated whether to tell him. In the end I knew there was no way around it. “They shadowed Celia. She’s with me.”

“I see.” Aric paused briefly before switching into Leader mode. “I’m sending a team to scout the area in case there’s more spirits seeking to feast. Stay. There. The Warriors will help you track Dan.”

Celia screeched her car to a halt along the curve and flung open the passenger door. I hauled ass toward it. “Sorry, boss. No can do. The trail’s getting cold.” I jumped in, immediately lowering the window and sticking my head out. In the distant I caught the exhaust from Dan’s car. He needed a new muffler. Perfect. My nose locked on the stench. The hunt was on.

“Bren, don’t fight me on this. You don’t know what we’re dealing with. You’re no good to Dan if you get your own soul devoured. Wait for backup!”

Celia stiffened when she caught Aric’s voice, but stomped on the accelerator when I pointed down the street. “I have backup. Celia’s with me.”

Aric swore. “Tell her I don’t want her involved.”

Celia narrowed her eyes at my phone and continued to drive. “I’m not letting Bren track Danny alone, Aric.”

His tone softened. He’d heard her. “Celia, it’s too dangerous. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“And I don’t want anything to happen to Dan,” she insisted.

“I know, love. But I have a pack of wolves ready to help you. Just give them time to get there.”

Celia released a shaky breath. Must have been the “love” comment. Smooth, Alpha ass**le, real goddamn smooth. She collected herself and tried to reason with him. “There’s no time to waste, Aric. We need to find Dan, and we need to find him fast. These ghosts—they’re hungry. And right now, Dan’s their only meal.”

“Celia, please don’t do this without me.”

Her eyes focused hard on the road as she ignored him. “Which way now?” she asked when we reached the intersection.

“Left,” I answered after drawing in more air.

“Celia—”

I cut Aric off. “Looks like she’s listening to you about as much as she did when you were together. Later, bossman. I’ll call when I’m onto something.”

Aric snarled another curse before I could disconnect. I took another whiff. “Go up 431; it looks like they’re headed toward Mount Rose.” My phone rang. I tossed it in the glove compartment and lifted my body out of the car to sit on rim of the door.

Celia’s phone rang next. “Crap. It’s Aric.” The ringer abruptly cut off. I thought she answered until she hit a few buttons and nothing happened. “We must be getting closer. My phone’s dead again.”

“Or the collection of spirits is more than we thought,” I muttered.

I continued to hang out the car window to track the sour stench of Dan’s muffler. The rows of cedar-planked homes disappeared one by one until the thickening woods swallowed us like an approaching army. I slipped back into the cabin when the only aroma interfering with the cold autumn night was the lingering exhaust of Dan’s muffler.

“This is all my goddamn fault.”

Celia’s eyes cut from the long winding road. “It’s not. You’re not the one calling forth these ghosts to rise. We need to find out who is and shut her trap.”

“But Dan wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t bet he couldn’t land a decent lay.”

“Danny knows what you’re like—we all do.” Her voice quieted. “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know you care.” Celia pulled up on her smeared lacey shirt. The gray blood was plastered all over it. She ripped it from her body in one hard tug and tossed it in the backseat, leaving only the skimpy black top beneath. I barely noticed how it hugged her full br**sts. My focus remained on finding Dan.