Relax! Recharge! Read!

Lucas nodded. “I know that area.” He knelt in front of Bronwen. “I won’t hurt you. The werewolves around here have a certain…set of traditions. When one of us breaks the law, we—other werewolves—deal with them. It’s safer all around for us and humans. No human jail would be able to hold one of us for long. I’m a doctor, graduated top of my class, and I work for the police department. I’m a scientist, same as you.”
“Werewolves are like everyone else,” Blair added. “There’re nice ones and not so nice ones.” He turned and put one hand over his forehead to shield his eyes. “Forge.” Blair stood up fast, the boat rocked gently and he grabbed at the seat back.
Forge leaned down and took hold of the side of the boat, steadying it. He looked up at them and grinned sheepishly.
“Sorry we took so long,” Declan said and took advantage of Forge holding the boat still to hop down into it from the dock.
Shrugging and shaking his head, Forge stepped in after him. “You’re welcome.” He gave Declan a shove with his elbow.
Bronwen looked from one to the other. “What are you two?”
“French,” Declan said, raising his eyebrows.
“Detective.” Forge held up his badge.
Blair took hold of Forge’s arm. He held up his hand, showing her his ring, and pointed between them. “Me and him, we—”
“We’re married,” Forge said and smiled, adding, “Jonas Forge. Everyone calls me Forge.”
“This thing doesn’t have seat belts,” Blair said. Forge sighed and put one hand on Blair’s shoulder, squeezed, then pushed him back down to sit.
“We’re going here,” Lucas said and put his finger on the map. “Shouldn’t take us too long.” He started the boat. “Y’all might want to sit down.” After guiding the boat away from the dock and into open water, he gunned the engine.
“This thing transmits an ultrasonic signal of some kind,” Blair said, holding up the transmitter. “Grier would take it on his dives.”
“Really?” Declan asked and took the transmitter. He turned it over, examining it.
“Yeah, you might want to be careful with that.” Blair took the device with one hand and scratched his ear with the other.
Declan nodded. “How far are we going?”
“Couple miles,” Lucas said.
“There is a series of caves, natural and man-made. We were near there when our boat overturned,” Bronwen said.
“A transmitter like this was accidentally activated just prior to the boat being hit,” Lucas said.
“What was Grier using the transmitter for?” Declan asked.
Bronwen smiled softly. “I need you to see for yourselves. It’s nothing short of amazing, I promise.”
“This should be the right area,” Lucas said and cut the boat’s engine. He turned and crossed both arms over his chest. “Now what?”
Lucas had brought the boat to a stop at a part of the lake that didn’t have a beach. Instead, there was a sharp cliff that went straight down to the water. The water here was deeper than that near a beach. The land shelf dropped steeply and suddenly in this area. It could be a very dangerous section of Lake Erie.
Bronwen held her palm out. “May I have the transmitter?” Blair handed it over. She spent a minute searching through her tote, finally pulling out fishing line. She wound it around the transmitter, stood up, switched the device on, and lobbed it into the water. “That should keep us from getting rammed.”
“Rammed by—” Forge reached out and grabbed Blair’s arm when the boat lurched to one side.
“It didn’t hit us,” Bronwen said. Smiling, she pointed at the water. There was a swell and a ripple, and the boat swung to one side. “There is a transmitter attached to that creature. Grier did that too, and I’m sure he wasn’t gentle about it.”
“There!” Lucas moved down the length of the boat and leaned over the rail. “Did you see that?”
A long form sliced through the water. As it breached the surface for a split second, it shone in the sunlight, a shimmering blue that changed to gray as it moved. Then it disappeared. Lucas could see by the way the water moved that at least part of the animal was still above water.
“Whoa!” Blair exclaimed, the fact he was on a boat apparently forgotten. He darted across the deck and stood beside Lucas.
Declan went to the bow and leaned over. Forge took up a position partway between him and Blair.
“There it goes.” Lucas pointed out the path the creature took.
“I don’t see it,” Blair said.
“It’s right there. It’s huge.” Lucas moved along the rail. “You can’t see it?”
“No.” Declan shook his head.
“Mr. Grier could see them through the water too,” Bronwen said.
“It must be something with the refraction of the water.” Lucas pulled his shirt and shorts off. “I’ve got to get a better look at this.” He turned to Declan. “You can handle this boat if you have to?”
“No mainsail, but I’m sure I can figure it out,” Declan said. Lucas saw Forge grin. There was a time Declan had been a real-life pirate and sailed from Europe to the New World.
“Oh, you sail?” Bronwen turned to Declan.
Declan shrugged. “I’ve dabbled.” He turned toward Lucas. “What are you doing?”
“Getting the transmitter off that animal.” Before anyone could stop him, Lucas transformed and dove into the water. Using long, powerful strokes, he propelled himself along.
He estimated the creature was at least twenty-five feet long. It had a fanned tail and forward and rear flippers. Now that he was more werewolf than human, he could see it perfectly, no matter how it twisted and turned. Its color changing as it reflected the light differently.
Without warning, the creature circled around and came at him. Backstroking, Lucas repositioned himself so he was upright and stationary. It spiraled around him a few times, then moved off into a hole in the land shelf below the surface of the lake.
Lucas surfaced, filled his lungs, and followed. After a few minutes, his lungs began to burn, and he had to clench his teeth to keep his mouth shut. He was beginning to think he’d have to turn back. The narrow tunnel he’d followed the creature through opened into a bigger cavern. Emerging, Lucas gasped for air. There was maybe a foot of space between the cavern roof and the water.
Treading water, Lucas turned around slowly. The creature climbed onto a rock, about a third of it out of the water. Lucas watched. The creature studied him, turning its head to one side and rubbing its long neck against the rocks.
Changing form to human, he moved closer. “What’s stuck to your neck?” He swam forward slowly. “Don’t get nervous. I’ll get rid of it.”
The creature’s head was oblong and at least four feet long. It had small ears placed closed together along the top of its skull and large, round eyes at the front of its face. Features that signified to Lucas this was a predator.
“Okay, I bet you have a pretty impressive set of teeth. Let’s just keep them to yourself.” He inched forward until he could touch the beast. Reaching out he ran one hand lightly over the creature’s neck. Its skin rippled and twitched and it rolled into his touch.
Lucas laughed. “You like that.” He moved even closer and, using two fingers, worked them between the creature’s scaled skin and the device attached to its neck. “That bastard stuck a transmitter into you.” Lucas took a deep breath. “This might pinch.”
He yanked the metal box away from the creature. It snapped, made a sound much like a growling tiger, and rolled against the rocks. Lying on its side, it smacked at the tiny wounds left by the device with one flipper that had small, clawed “fingers.” Lucas pushed away as fast as possible, but the creature didn’t follow him. It used its claws to scratch its neck where the transmitter had been. There were four holes on the creature’s neck; minuscule drops of blood seeped from them. Lucas turned the transmitter over and found four matching prongs. “That shouldn’t make you bleed out. I hope it doesn’t get infected. Don’t worry. No one will do this to you again. Not as long as I’m alive.” He swam backward. As much as he wanted to see more, Lucas knew it was time to go. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Taking a deep breath and morphing into his werewolf form, Lucas dove under the water and made his way through the tunnel. Just before reaching the boat, he changed to his human form and tossed the transmitter onto the deck before hoisting himself back into the boat, stark naked.
“Ah…um….” Bronwen mumbled and ducked her head.
Blair heaved a sigh and threw Lucas’s shorts at him. “Werewolves don’t possess a drop of modesty.”
Lucas grinned, pulled the shorts on, and ran his hands through his hair, spraying water everywhere. He moved Bronwen’s tote aside and dropped onto the seat beside her. “You have got to tell me everything!”

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