Free The Brotherhood of the Snake (Return of the Ancients Book 2) by Carmen Caine, Madison Adler

Four – Chupacabras

    Jareth swaggered into the kitchen, snapped his fingers in my face, and grinned. "Did you miss me, Sydney?"
    Spreading my arms wide, I snorted and replied, "This is my space, Jareth. Don't step in it."
    He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and pivoted to face Rafael, his smile hardening into a mask of animosity. "Al has something to show us," he said abruptly.
    I held my breath, my mind instantaneously flooding with questions. Had Jareth told Al they were fairies? Had Al believed him? Had the Mesmers followed them, too?
    I watched Al drop the plastic bags and PVC pipes onto the kitchen counter before turning to give me a conspiratorial wink as he patted his pocket holding the neighborhood watch notebook.
    "What is it?" I asked, unable to bear the suspense. "What’re you going to show us?"
    "Oh, that! " Al's face lit, and his blue eyes twinkled with excitement. "We heard it on the police scanner while we were giving the fans the slip."
    I shot a quick glance at Rafael. He stood with folded arms, watching Al with a clearly intrigued, yet amused expression that strangely made me feel better. Catching my eyes on him, he flashed me a warm smile and politely inclined his head in my direction.
    "Concentrate!" Jareth snapped, his voice thinning with irritation.
    Oblivious to Rafael and Jareth exchanging hostile glares, Al began to explain. "They called a couple of cops to check out a strange animal carcass in the shopping center parking lot we'd just left, so we swung by again to have a look on the way home. You kids come here to Betty's computer, and I'll show you a few pictures."
    Rubbing his hands together, he waved us into the living room filled with Betty’s cardboard boxes.
    We followed.
    "We must’ve just missed it,” he said as he sat down on the white plastic chair in front of the computer. “Can you believe it was right next to where we'd parked the truck, Sydney? We got a good look as they loaded it into the van. They're going to have a vet inspect it."
    I shivered, understanding all at once that he was talking about the Mesmer.
    Rafael's demeanor changed instantly. He was now tense, alert, and his eyes had narrowed.
    "I was telling Jareth here that it's a real chup-a-cab-ra !" Al continued, exaggerating each syllable. He wiggled and flexed his fingers as if he were a maestro preparing for a concert instead of someone simply getting ready to type on a computer keyboard. "Jack's sent me pictures of them before," he said as he began to peck at the keyboard with one finger. “Never heard of them coming this far north before though. Maybe Jack knows something about that. I'll give him another call."
    We fell silent.
    The sounds of laughter from the TV in the other room mixed with the soft clicking of the keyboard as Al laboriously hunted each key to spell "chupacabra", mouthing each letter with a satisfied smile when he found it.
    By the time he hit the letter ‘P’, Jareth visibly seethed with impatience, Rafael's jaw had hardened, and I found myself struggling with the temptation to snatch the keyboard away and type the letters in myself.
    Finally, Al finished and hit the enter key.
    "There!" he announced triumphantly, pointing to the computer screen.
    The image made my stomach twist into a knot.
    It was some kind of hairless and shriveled animal, resembling something half rat, half dog, but with long claws and a row of spikes along its spine and tail. Its mouth was shrunken, twisted, and pulled back to reveal long fangs on a distinctly gargoyle-like face.
    I knew it could only be a Mesmer.
    A quick glance at Jareth and Rafael confirmed it. They stood very still, their eyes riveted on the screen in outright alarm.
    “This must be contained, and quickly!” Rafael murmured, fingering the golden bracelet on his wrist.
    "Says here that they're really coyotes with mange," Al summarized, trailing his finger down the words as he read the article. He gave a skeptical humph and absently rubbed his chin.