Predator by Janice Gable Bashman Page A

“I snuck inside.”
    “But how?”
    “The landlady’s cell rang, and she went down the hall for some privacy. I slipped past the door and hid in the bathtub and waited. When I heard the landlady lock the door after the locksmith left, I looked around.” He removed a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. “I found this stuck inside a book of children’s folklore. At first I didn’t even think to look inside the books, but then I wondered what Kelsi was doing with a children’s book since she didn’t have any children. When I shook the book upside down, the paper fell out.”
    Bree unfolded the paper; it contained a list of bogs. Under each bog was a string of first names followed by years that dated back to the 1500s. “You have any idea what this is?”
    “The dates are during the Inquisition. My guess is they’re burial dates, but I can’t prove it. Internet records don’t go back that far. I didn’t know where else to look.”
    “If the Benandanti are real,” Bree said, “and these are burial dates, it makes sense why Kelsi was protecting the hand and the body.” Bree took a moment while all her thoughts came together. “Liam—Kelsi isn’t afraid of the Benandanti. She’s one of them.”
    Liam seemed taken aback at first. “Makes sense when you think about it. I bet that’s why she took the job at the institute.”
    Bree nodded. “She’d know right away if any ancient remains were discovered, no matter where. And if they were Benandanti, she’d be all over it.”
    “Now what? I assume you and your da are studying the DNA you brought with you from Ireland?”
    “Yeah, but…” She hesitated, not wanting to hurt Liam’s feelings. “I’m not supposed to talk about it, not even to you. I wish I could, but I promised my dad.” It hurt her to shut him out, but she had no choice.
    “I get it. My da’s like that a lot with his work too.”
    “I missed you so much.” She looked up at him expectantly, but he didn’t bend down to kiss her. Instead, Liam looked right past her. “What is it?” she asked.
    “I think your friends are staring at us.”
    Bree turned around and saw Sara and the others. Sara shot her a huge smile. “Let me introduce you.” Hand in hand, they strolled to the diving board, and Bree said, “Hey, guys. This is Liam.”
    Miguel stiffened. “Who the hell’s he? A minute ago you were going to Hatteras Cove with me.”
    Bree’s stomach clenched. “I never said that.”
    “You were going, and you know it. What do you want with this loser anyway?”
    “What’s your problem?” Liam said.
    Miguel imitated Liam’s Irish accent with an added snarl. “What’s my problem? It’s you. Go back to wherever you came from.” He turned to Bree and said, “You know you want to be with me, so just ditch this guy and let’s go.”
    “Look mate,” Liam said. “Leave her alone or I’ll make you.”
    Miguel seemed to consider the idea but backed off after he sized up Liam, who was a good four inches taller and at least twenty pounds heavier than he was. “Screw you,” Miguel said. “Both of you.” He stormed off.
    Liam rolled his eyes. “Either that guy’s a real idiot, or he drank a few too many pints.”
    Sara glanced over at Miguel. “I don’t know why I ever thought he was hot.”
    “You liked him?” Bree said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “Not anymore. Besides, he asked you to Hatteras Cove, not me.”
    “If he had asked you,” Liam said to Sara, “would you have gone?”
    “I don’t know,” she said with a slight smile.

Chapter Thirty
     
    The Delcore Institute, Rivershire, Virginia: Three Weeks Later
     
    “The answer is mice,” Bree’s dad said.
    She raised her eyebrows. “And what was the question?”
    “We inject the mice with a virus containing the lycanthrope mutation gene and other DNA sequences that will tell the cells to make a lot of the lycanthrope transcription factor. If we use the accelerator I developed for