Night Hunter by Vonna Harper

It’s—it’s the way it needs to be.”
    “I can’t say whether you’re right or not. Be careful.”
    “Careful? I thought you didn’t believe your brother disappeared in the Everglades.”
    He sighed. “I’m not sure what I believe. He isn’t at work. He hasn’t been home. And he hasn’t called me.”
    It struck her as sad that only a foster brother cared what happened to Laird, but he’d probably deliberately kept things that way. If that was so, if he’d never developed close ties, why had things changed with her?
    After hanging up, she went into her bedroom and changed into jeans shorts and a cotton shirt. She put on her most comfortable pair of tennis shoes and dug a seldom-used backpack out of her closet which she filled with a change of clothes for herself and a shirt and sweat pants Jeff had left behind after they’d broken up. The outfit would be snug on Laird, but as far as she knew, the only thing he now had to his name was that loincloth. He couldn’t return to civilization dressed like that.
     
     
    Feeling as if she’d come home, Mala slipped into the Everglades. It was still morning, but hot enough that most of the mosquitoes had gone into hiding. Still, she was glad she’d remembered to bring along repellant since she had no idea how long she’d be here this time—or whether she’d return alone or with Laird.
    “I’m back,” she said aloud. “I wasn’t sure I would be. Your arguments for keeping me near you are, shall we say, powerful. But that scares me.”
    She fell silent as she searched for the now-familiar trail, then trudged on once she’d found it. The pack on her back made it sweat.
    “I thought—after I left the last time I was sure you’d use your, ah, persuasive powers on me. But you haven’t. Why? Don’t you need me anymore?”
    He didn’t respond or materialize and she couldn’t sense his presence.
    “I find that hard to believe,” she said, shocked by the desperation in her voice. “I told your brother what happened, but I don’t know if he believes me. He cares about you. I want you to know that.”
    Something about the air changed. Maybe a predator—
    “Are you here? I—I’ve been thinking. Whatever the hold over you, it’s getting stronger. I saw—don’t ask me how—I saw a ceremony in which an old man placed a leather bag around your neck. It looked as if it was full. What’s the significance? Please, I’d like to know.”
    “You do not belong here.”
    Thank God! Stopping, she looked around but saw nothing. “What—what do you mean?”
    “What has happened does not concern you.”
    “No! You’re wrong. Laird?” she called out when he didn’t respond. The backpack pressed into her shoulders, and she shrugged out of it and dropped it to the ground. “I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t important to me. You didn’t, you know, get to me sexually.”
    “I did not try.”
    “Because you had other things on your mind. I understand.” The word understand swirled around her, becoming more complex with every heartbeat. “If lust was the only thing holding us together, I wouldn’t be here. But I am. And you know why.”
    The feeling that he’d come closer intensified.
    “I talked to your brother,” she said. “The man you consider your brother. He told me about your upbringing.” She paused, gathering courage. “You’ve never felt you belonged anywhere. You’ve always been looking for—for something. Now you think you’ve found it.”
    The Everglades surrendered its hold on him. She sensed the wilderness’s struggle and the strength it took for Laird to free himself. Once again he’d changed since the last time she’d seen him. He still hadn’t shaved and the elements had roughened his flesh even more. His muscles seemed to have grown, perhaps in preparation for what might be ahead of him. She didn’t know whether he wore the same loincloth. The shell-decorated leather bag rested against his chest, looking for all the