Something Deadly

Something Deadly
Rachel Lee

Few could argue that the exclusive island of San Martin is anything less than paradise. In this wealthy enclave, veterinarian Markie Cross has a thriving practice, but her almost psychic connection to animals has made human relationships–especially with men–harder to navigate. Until mystery, murder and something unfathomable shatter her world…People are dying strange, unexplained deaths. Island medical examiner Declan Quinn is stunned at the unearthly condition of the bodies, and he and Markie share a dark suspicion that something terrifying and impossible is at work here. Something that may not be human.As a sinister message becomes clearer, Markie and Dec race to understand the tragic history of this island paradise and unlock the true nature of the evil now descending. Because if they can't, Markie may become the next victim….

He was racing to kill the woman he loved.

Dec’s heart beat heavily with anxiety and fear. He heard the mournful howl from the back of the house. He realized as he rounded the corner of the house that she was no longer the woman he loved.

She had been taken over by evil.

He pulled the vials out of his pocket and drew a cc of tetradotoxin into the syringe. He watched her, standing in the middle of the yard, arms thrown wide in celebration and triumph.

She was a stranger looking back at him with Markie’s eyes.

“Hi, honey,” he said, smiling as he had always smiled when they met.

Markie felt the darkness inside her try to force her to reach out and hurt…. “Dec…”

He leaped at her, knocking her to the ground. He dropped to his knees beside Markie, beside the love of his life, whispering, “God help me…I’m sorry….” He plunged the needle into her arm and rammed down the plunger.

Markie grew still. Dec felt for her pulse.

It was gone.

Something Deadly

Rachel Lee

www.mirabooks.co.uk (http://www.mirabooks.co.uk)

SOMETHING DEADLY

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Epilogue

Prologue

Shadow smelled it first. He lay on the living-room floor at his owner’s feet, sprawled on his left side with a rawhide chew bone a whisker’s length from his nose. He’d worked the knot for a while earlier, massaging his gums, as close as he was likely to get to the satisfaction of gnawing fresh, warm meat from the bones of a kill. Now the comforting scents—the half-chewed bone; the master’s feet wrapped in old leather slippers; the rug still rich with the aroma of pipe tobacco, though the master had long since stopped smoking; beef and potatoes and carrots and red wine in the pot on the stove; the barest remnant of the master’s wife’s perfume, even though she’d gone out the door; the salt air that was ever-present; loam on the master’s slippers from the garden; the varied and precious scents of Shadow’s world—were displaced by something else.

He drew in the air in quick, rapid sniffs, emptying his lungs when he could hold no more, repeating the process again and again, focusing, letting his agile mind filter out the familiar to pinpoint the new odor. Cold. Earth. Must. Decay. Chill. Death. Evil.