Cora's Secret: A Vampire Ménage Urban Fantasy Romance by Tracy Cooper-Posey Read Free Book Online

happier.
    You have no idea what is happening here, do you ?
    Rhys was starting to feel that perhaps he really was out of his depth.

Chapter Five
     
    The fire tower was at the top of a low-sloped hill, the highest part of the island that made up Presque Isle State Park, which was with this one exception a flat, almost featureless island. Lindal reached it just before noon and stood at the foot of the tower to look around. The tower had been out of commission for more than a decade and there were heavy chains and warning signs everywhere, forbidding anyone from climbing the tower.
    But Ginny Jacobs had assured him the view was spectacular even from the base of the tower and well worth the hike. Lindal had believed her. Ginny was what Beth liked to call ‘good people’.
    He turned slowly, looking out over the tops of the trees, trying to ignore the spurt of guilt thinking about Beth created. He shifted the backpack over his shoulders into a more comfortable position, flexing his shoulders to shift the straps and heard the thermos inside gurgle.
    The view really was magnificent, especially to the north, where Lake Erie twinkled like blue cloth right up to the horizon. The city of Erie was to the south, with more blue water between the park and the mainland. The city was a brown smudge on the shore.
    Most of the trees were evergreens, making a green carpet down the long sloping hill to the lake. When the tower had been in commission, the park wardens had kept a fifty yard radius around the base clear of flammable growth. Now the trees were creeping back and weeds and grasses and small bushes grew right up to the iron struts. There was a bald section to the south that once had probably been a small parking lot. The compacted earth wouldn’t let anything grow. Time would fix that, though. Eventually the green, growing things would have their way.
    It was very peaceful here. The early morning breeze had disappeared, so now not even the air whispered through branches and tree tops. Overnight frost had killed off mosquitoes and the bears were already slumbering. Silence seemed to grip the clearing.
    Lindal walked a slow circle around the base of the tower, stopping to study the landscape spread out below, when something caught his interest. He had nearly finished the full circuit when he decided that he wasn’t imagining it—he wasn’t alone anymore.
    He finished the circuit, giving whoever it was time to study him and see that he was harmless. Then he turned to look toward the trees where he thought they were hiding. “Why don’t you come out and say hello?”
    Silence.
    Then the trees moved as if they were swaying in a breeze, except that there wasn’t one. A figure stepped out from between them. One cautious step. Then another.
    Lindal looked them over. Tall and very slender, like saplings. Male or female…it was hard to tell. But their clothing was mottled greenish brown and their flesh was brown. Their hair was silvery green, a short crop at the top of their heads.
    Lindal pulled in a breath, then let it out. “Come here,” he said, keeping his voice low and free of tension. “I can’t talk to you from there. You did want to talk to me, didn’t you?”
    The dryad nodded. Lindal decided it was a ‘he’. He crept closer, almost sidling like a wild creature…which he was. Lindal had never met a tree dryad before. They were creatures of Earth only. There were none on his home world because the trees there belonged to the Elves.
    The dryad moved between the rough undergrowth built up around the tower, until he was three feet away, then his courage seemed to desert him. He stopped, half-turned so that one foot was pointing back toward the trees. It was a flight position. He was ready to bolt.
    Lindal gave him a small smile. “You’re very brave. Something must be badly wrong if you risk exposure like this.”
    The dryad nodded, his eyes on Lindal’s.
    “Can you speak?”
    Again, the nod.
    Lindal waited.
    “You