Page 3 of Rifted Hearts
“It’s not easy to get reservations at Moon Star Ranch.” Javier gave Remi’s Italian silk suit an admiring glance before his cheeks flushed and he turned his attention to the highway. “Even if you’ve got tons of money.”
“My work’s paying for everything.” Remi made it sound as if he was sharing this in confidence. His family had damn well better be covering his expenses for this trip. His father hadn’t allowed him to take a vacation in over a year. He launched into his cover story. “I live-stream adventure travel on Apocalypse Data. My screen name’s Wandering Monster, and one of my corporate sponsors set up this trip. After all, what could be more of an adventure than seeing real monsters up close and personal?”
“The ones at the ranch aren’t dangerous.” Javier shifted lanes, his eyes darting to Remi as if he couldn’t help himself. Which, given Remi’s psychic seduction powers, he probablycouldn’t. “There’s a petting zoo—well, you might not want to pet everything in there, but those mons won’t try to eat you or anything like that. You might see bigger ones on the rides closer to the rift, but the wranglers keep a close eye on the tourists.”
Remi had no interest in watching annoying human children poking and prodding Riftworld creatures too stupid to avoid being rounded up and put on display. Not to mention that the entire concept weirded him out. He had a human mother and an alien father, not that either of them deserved to be called a parent.
A half-human member of the ratkind, as his father’s Riftworld clan was known, Remi had inherited the psychic ability to manipulate sexual and romantic emotions. Like most of his father’s people, he could also shift from a humanoid form—in his case, a quite attractive human man—to his rodent-like alter form. Many of his cousins looked like huge and terrifying rat monsters. Remi, unfortunately, could only transform into an oversized chinchilla.
Perfect monster petting zoo material.
“I heard the ranch has a veterinary clinic that treats mons.” Remi shifted the conversation to a less fraught topic, hoping his driver might know something useful. He had many nefarious ways to get information out of people, but if simply asking worked, he might as well save his energy for the main job.
“Oh, they take in creatures from all over.” Javier shrugged. “Some people in town call it Monster Ranch as a joke, but the owners and staff do rescue work with horses and normal animals too.”
Javier knew more about the ranch than Remi expected, and the guy had a certain amount of clueless charm. He toyed with the idea of a brief fling, but he had limited timeto get to his target and get the information Father needed. No time for seductions that weren’t required for work. He’d have to wait until after this job for a fun hookup. Come to think of it, when was the last time he had sex with someone for no other reason than he wanted to? He couldn’t remember.
Javier kept talking, rambling about information Remi already knew. “They have a veterinarian—Dr. K, everyone calls him—who specializes in things that come out of the Saguaro Rift. He even treats the big, scary mons. Like dragons.”
“Sounds fascinating.” Remi pretended not to be too interested in the main purpose of his trip and glanced out the window. They had turned off a long stretch of highway featuring billboards promoting everything from water conservation to post-Rapture mega-churches and were now on a two-lane dirt road with nothing but scrub brush and baked earth on either side. “Maybe I can get an interview with Dr. K. My subscribers would love that.”
Remi had already arranged to be introduced to Dr. K—Kaveh Salehi was his full name—and he planned to do more with the veterinarian than live-streaming an interview. The dirt on Kaveh dug up by his family suggested he was a human minion of the Saguaro Rift clan of drakones—the Riftworld species humans called dragons. Remi’s job was to seduce his way into the good doctor’s confidence and discover the secrets the drakones hoarded like…well, dragons.
“He’s a great guy.” Javier had a note of hero worship in his tone. “I go out with him on guest rides close to the rift all the time, and he takes care of my sister’s mothcat Flutterberry.”
“A doctor and a cowboy.” Remi rather liked the sound ofthat. Maybe this particular job would be more entertaining than the last time he had been sent on a mission against the drakones. Then again, that was a low bar.
The truck came to a halt in front of a large gate featuring a horse rearing up with the moon behind it. Above it, a sign read, “Welcome to Moon Star Ranch and Resort.”
Javier hopped out to grab Remi’s suitcase from the back seat and even came around to open the truck door and hand it to him. “Remember to stay inside if a rift storm breaks out.” Javier waved at the bungalows beyond the gate, charming southwestern-style small homes surrounded by drought-tolerant landscaping. “That’s when the mons who like to eat people come out.”
“I’ll be sure to take that advice.” Remi gave him a wink that left Javier staring at him with open-mouthed yearning.
Remi stepped out, grabbing the pet carrier and jostling it more than was absolutely necessary before setting off to the check-in desk. The driver might be cute, but Remi had a hot date with a cowboy doctor.
3
Remi didn’t let Lyall out of the pet carrier until they reached the door to his cabin. That was sure to piss the dog off even more, but he’d been a dick since this trip began and Remi wasn’t feeling charitable.
The Scottish terrier charged out of the pink crate then pulled up sharply before he poked his nose into a barrel cactus. The ranch’s landscaping was beautiful—and very pointy. Lyall looked up at Remi and growled.
“Someone’s in a bitchy mood.” Remi bent down to give Lyall’s collar a yank. “Try to bite me, and I’ll leave this on for the whole trip.”
Lyall bared his teeth, but after a huff of annoyance, he plopped his butt down and sat obediently—or at least the best approximation of obedience the terrier could pull off—beside the door mat.
“Now you’re being a good boy, how sweet.” Remi drawled as much sarcasm into his words as he could then rested his new leather carry-on on the ground and took out the key to his lodgings for the week. It was a real metalkey too. Door card readers wouldn’t work during rift storms.
Remi had checked in and flirted with the woman at the front desk, who had given him a fold-out souvenir map of the property. The ranch buildings had been set up in the shape of a horseshoe. The main building and dining hall were in the center of the half circle of guest cabins, with outlying structures including a pool, gift shop, and a corral used for mini-rodeo exhibitions every Friday. The monster petting zoo was marked on the map with a smiling cartoon dragon, which annoyed Remi almost as much as the concept itself.
The cabins were nice though. Each small building held an apartment-sized room, which in his case included a seating area near a king bed, a kitchenette, and a luxurious shower.
He walked inside, admiring the stucco walls, Western-themed wall art, and natural light. Far more tasteful than he expected. It smelled good too, with a faint scent of eucalyptus and lemon. Well, the website had said the staff used all-natural cleaning products.
Turning, he saw Lyall sitting outside the door, acting as if he was guarding Remi’s luggage.
“Are you coming in, or do you want a formal invitation?”
Lyall drew back his lips, pulling off a wolfish grin. Then he lifted his leg and pissed on Remi’s luggage.
