Night Hunter Read Online Free PDF Page A

fireflies?
    “Thunder.”
    For a half beat, the jungle silenced, leaving only the single, haunting word. It seemed to have come from the glowing outline, but he couldn’t be sure. The figure—did he dare call it that?—glided closer. If there was a face, the night kept it hidden from him. He saw long, lean limbs, wispy and yet real. The man, or whatever it was, didn’t appear to be wearing anything. If he had such things as feet, they didn’t seem to be touching the ground.
    A shadow, a shade, a shape unlike anything he’d ever seen. Because his eyes weren’t telling him enough, Laird tried to smell whatever now hovered less than ten feet away, but the swamp-stench was too strong. Either that or this ghostly creature smelled exactly like his surroundings.
    “Who are you?” he demanded.
    “Night Hunter.”
    Laird jerked back. At the same time, the “thing” called to him in a way more powerful than any woman ever had. Crouching, he waited out a distant panther’s scream. “What are you, Night Hunter? What—”
    “Listen and learn, Thunder.”
    Was this creature who wanted to be known as Night Hunter calling him Thunder? Before he could decide whether to ask, the big cat again filled the air with its primal cry. There was the remotest possibility that a panther lived this close to civilization, but in his heart of hearts, he knew that wasn’t the case.
    “Is that what you want me to hear?” he asked. “The panther?”
    “He rules this land. Has since the first People came here.”
    “Not anymore.” Why was he arguing? “Thanks to man, his existence is in danger.”
    “You are wrong.”
    Something beyond his comprehension was happening all right. His thigh muscles burned from the effort of remaining at the ready, but he didn’t dare relax his guard. Now, when he was exhausted and it was too dark to risk walking on ground that might shred his feet, he felt a powerful need to follow Night Hunter.
    But where? Why?
    “What do you mean, wrong?” he finally thought to ask.
    “Soon.” Night Hunter’s voice became a seductive whisper luring him from the woman he’d been trying to reach since losing control of his motorcycle and world. “Soon you will understand. And take your rightful place with your people.”
    “My place? What…”
    Night Hunter shimmered. It was as if his body, or what passed for his body, had begun to dance with the wind. “As chief of the Seminole.”
     
     
    Gasping for breath, Mala shot upright. After what she’d been through today, she couldn’t believe she’d dozed off. She now felt as if she was sharing her body and mind with someone else. Thank heavens the lamp was still on because if it hadn’t been, she wasn’t sure she’d remember who and what she was. She concentrated on making herself as receptive as possible to whatever message Laird Jaeger might be trying to send, but nothing reached her.
    Nothing. The word was a mockery of everything she’d done and tried to do today. Everything he’d done to her.
    Sliding her legs off the bed, she started to stand when something occurred to her. Feeling like a fool for not having thought of it before, she reached for the Fort Lauderdale phone book. A study of the directory revealed no Laird Jaeger or anyone remotely resembling that name. Undaunted, she dialed information and asked if there were any Jaegers listed in Naples. There were three, including a fishing boat rental place called Jaeger Boats. Armed with the two residential numbers in addition to the boat business, she started making calls. To her growing alarm, no one answered.
    “Are they out looking for you?” she asked. Caught in the image of a frantic family, she prowled to the window and looked down at a well-lighted swimming pool filled with children despite the late hour. The normal sounds should soothe her and keep her rooted in the real world, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything beyond what Laird Jaeger must be going through, if he wasn’t