by N R Tucker
Lea smiled in sympathy, “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Victoria nodded and tried to stand. She winced and became one with the bed. “Yeah, I think I’ll just rest here for a while.”
“I knew you were smart,” Destin placed flowers on the table by the bed. “Don’t worry about your place. Tempe had a cleaning crew set things right, and there are guards at your house now.”
“Wow. I need guards? Why?”
“Have you talked to Tempe yet?”
Victoria opened her eyes wide. “Why would she need to talk to me?”
“Well,” Destin cringed, but plowed on, “You sort of made the evening news.”
“Me?”
“Actually, I made the evening news and someone, whom I shall find, leaked your photo, so now everyone knows you work for us.” Tempe walked in and stood at the foot of the bed. “I’m afraid I did a poor job of protecting you.”
“Honestly, I think you did a great job of rescuing me. I’m not sure I would have survived many more questions.”
“That’s kind of you to say, but now we have a problem. The hate groups know who you are and where you live. You must move.”
“I just bought that house. I can’t afford to move.”
Tempe flinched at Victoria’s response. The only reason the girl had trouble chasing her was her job, working with shifters. “We’ll buy the house from you and help you relocate. You can’t go back there.”
“Relocate? You mean I lost my job, too?”
“No. Your job is secure. We’ll work on getting everything else worked out. I called your parents, and they know you’re okay. We’re also guarding them. You won’t be able to contact them until we work out a few details. Destin will bring you a more secure phone tomorrow.”
“Secure phone? I’m being moved to a secure location, and I need a secure phone? What am I, a spy?” Victoria sighed, “I know it’s not your fault, but geez, I like my little house. I just finished tiling my kitchen and painting the cabinets. It’s perfect.”
“That’ll help with resale,” Destin smiled, happy to be able to offer some good news.
Tempe and Victoria turned to stare at him and then looked at each other and shrugged. Men.
“Get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.” Tempe patted Victoria’s foot and left.
Victoria sat for a minute and let all the bad news sink in. “So, did they trash my place?”
“Uh, yeah,” Destin blew out air. “Ryan said it looked like they were looking for something specific.”
“Oh no, surely they didn’t.” Victoria stood on shaky legs, “We have to go. I think I know what they were looking for.”
“Okay,” he caught her before she toppled over. “Let me call Tempe back and –”
“No! Not until I see if it’s gone or not.” Victoria walked over to grab her clothes, flashing her panties. Stupid hospital gowns. She turned and saw that Destin was now facing the closed window. Her boss had a sweet side. Too bad he had a girlfriend. She dressed quickly and only hissed a couple of times. Once dressed she asked, “You coming? Or are you going to rat me out?”
“You know Tempe, right? She won’t be happy if anything happens to you.”
“Then let us make sure nothing happens. I just want to be sure it’s safe.” She checked the hallway was clear before she angled toward the stairs.
“What are we checking on, anyway?” Destin asked as he opened the door to the stairwell.
“Nothing. Destin, go home. And you must be Victoria. You go back to bed.
Victoria looked up at nearly six and a half feet of gorgeous, most definitely crackers-in-bed worthy, male. She smiled. Any woman on the planet would gladly hop back into bed if he joined her.
“Hey, Fred. Whatcha doing here?” Destin gave him a pained smile.
“Making sure you humans don’t go and do something foolish.” Fred crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet.
Victoria groaned. They wouldn’t get past him without his permission. “Fred, is it? I have to check on something at my house. We’ll be quick.”
“No.” No anger, no heat, just a simple no from the shifter.
“I have to make sure the crazies didn’t find my research.” She leaned on the wall to steady her shaking legs. Apparently, the drugs weren’t out of her system yet.
“What research?”
“The part of my research I didn’t tell anyone about. I can track individual gate signatures now.”
“You can identify who opens a way? And you didn’t tell anyone? Fred asked. His quiet tone didn’t match the flash of fire in his eyes.
“I didn’t want to show it to anyone until I was sure I had it right.”
Fred glared at the human and spoke slowly and distinctly, “Are you telling me you worked on this at home? Where anyone could find it?”
“Yes,” her voice squeaked. “But I also booby-trapped the safe. No one but me should be able to open it. I’m not a fool.”
“That remains to be seen,” Fred said through gritted teeth. Should was not a power word. “Let’s go.”
“You’ll help?” Victoria looked up at him hopefully.
“I don’t see that I have a choice, do you?” He tossed his keys to Destin and swooped Victoria up into his arms.
“Hey! I can walk.” She tried to move, but he held her firmly in his grip.
“You can fall on those shaky legs, but I doubt you can walk more than a few feet.” With Fred carrying her, they left the building, using stairways and less traveled routes. He placed Victoria gently in the back seat of his car before crawling in beside her. Pegging Destin with a glare, Fred muttered, “Drive while I call for reinforcements.”
Chapter 19
Destin parked down the block from her house. “This is a bad idea, isn’t it?”
“Yep, but I’ve left messages on every friggin’ phone the local alphas have. At least one of them should get the message and show up soon. You stay in the car and wait for them. If anything happens, get away and call for help.” Fred turned to Victoria, “You’ll obey every order. Right?”
“Yes, sir!” She added a backward salute.
Fred rolled his eyes and opened the door. “Just don’t get injured again. Your Aunt Naomi will kill me if you get hurt.”
“I’ll do my best,” she said and hid her smile. Apparently, Fred had met her aunt and was impressed. Most people were.
Fred put his arm around her to keep her close. Humans didn’t understand how fragile they were. They were easily injured, and they healed slowly. As they neared her house, Fred said, “Something’s wrong. I don’t sense any shifters inside your house.” He tightened his grip on her, forcing Victoria to slow down.
She tried to move forward but Fred held her in place. She tapped her foot when he didn’t move. “So?”
“So, there should be two shifter guards in your house right now. We’re leaving.” Fred turned and caught the business end of a non-regulation Taser in his stomach. He fell.
Destin saw Fred hit the ground and used the only tool he had available. He drove the car into two of the four assailants. One of the men flew into the windshield, cracking it. Hopefully, Fred would forgive him. Within seconds, one of the remaining guys pulled Destin out of the car and held him in a chokehold, whispering, “You could be useful. Come quietly, or we’ll kill you and the shifter. Either way, we’re taking the girl.” Destin stilled and gritted his teeth. The zip ties used to bind his hands behind his back were pulled tight and cut into his skin. Victoria looked over in desperation as her hands were bound as well. They were thrown into the back of the van.
“Leave those two. If they were stupid enough to get run over, they deserve to be captured.” The guy who whispered in Destin’s ear issued that order. The other guy nodded and closed the side door before joining his friend up front.
No one noticed the butterfly that fluttered into the van and perched on a rope in the corner.
Destin looked around. Well crap. He didn’t know the
y still made vans with no side or back windows. Even if their hands weren’t tied, they wouldn’t be jumping. The door didn’t have a handle on the inside, and the driver’s foot was heavy on the pedal. Fred wasn’t with them, so he was dead or unconscious. Hopefully unconscious. Surely a Taser couldn’t kill a shifter. Not with their genetics.
He was under strict orders to reveal his shield only in dire emergencies. Hopefully, Tempe would consider this an emergency. Destin worked out a simple plan. Before anyone could separate him from Victoria, Destin would set a shield and hope like heck Tempe could find him. Why had he never asked if anyone could sense a shield? That would be useful information to have right about now. With the zip tie on his hands, Destin couldn’t remove the magical bracelet so Tempe could find him.
Destin twisted until his back leaned on the side panel and he pulled his feet toward his butt until his knees were nearly eye level. He wasn’t sure what that position would do for him, but it was mildly comfortable. Victoria noticed and followed suit. That was good. At least Destin would have a contained area to shield.
The kidnappers would hear anything he said, so he couldn’t tell Victoria the plan. Destin tried to look reassuring. Base on Victoria’s response, eyes wide in terror, he failed at comforting looks. He glanced around the van for something to help and noticed a butterfly on the rope. Destin had heard about the butterfly shifter. Anyone who spent any time around shifter kids heard the story. It was a cautionary tale about focusing during first shift, but he didn’t believe it was true. How could someone get distracted during their first shift? And if there were a butterfly shifter, he or she would be some ninety-pound weakling. Oh yeah, in a pressure situation he turns to a butterfly for help. Time to focus on Plan A. Shield and hope help arrives before the air runs out in his shield. Depending on a delicate butterfly to save the day was definitely Plan B.
Eventually, the van slowed and turned onto a bumpy dirt road. Victoria and Destin bounced around the back. Destin growled and tried to protect Victoria from the jarring, but it was a losing proposition with his hands tied behind his back. Her face grew whiter with each bump, proving she still had some healing to do.
The van stopped, and Destin took a deep breath. He might be able to shield the entire vehicle. Then they might be able to get their wrists untied and, if the keys were left in the van, they could drive away. The driver got out of the van and took the keys with him, driving the first nail in the coffin of that plan. Crap!
The butterfly fluttered over and landed on Destin’s knee, facing the van door. The little wings flapped softly.
“Maybe you should shake your knee to move it,” Victoria whispered. “They seem like the type to pull the wings off a butterfly.”
Destin shrugged and moved his knee. The butterfly hovered and turned to look Destin in the eye. Destin stopped moving his knee, and the butterfly returned to his stance on Destin’s knee, facing the door.
Destin and Victoria exchanged surprised expressions. “Okay, that’s just weird,” she shrugged. Destin silently agreed.
The van door opened, revealing one the two kidnappers. No one else was around. The butterfly fluttered towards the driver, the only one with a gun. The driver was clueless until the butterfly shifted into the guy he had Tasered earlier. The muscled man tackled him to the ground, landing on top of him. Fred’s knee connected to the driver’s stomach at the same time his fist connected with jaw. The driver was out.
Fred turned to take out the other guy and stopped to enjoy the view. Destin and Victoria were grinning behind a shield, while the moron hit the shield and then shook his hand from the shock. Then he repeated the same process over and over again. Apparently, some people can’t be taught.
Fred stalked over behind kidnapper number two and grabbed him in a chokehold. Once the guy was out, Fred tossed him on top of his cohort.
“Nice shield. If you drop it, I’ll cut the zip ties.” Fred pulled out a pocketknife.
Destin dropped his shield and grinned, “So you’re the butterfly shifter I’ve heard so much about.”
“I tell you what, you don’t mention what I shift into, and I won’t mention that you used your shield. Since I didn’t know you could shield, I’ll bet you were ordered to keep that a secret.” One quick slice and Destin was free.
While Fred cut Victoria’s ties, Destin looked at the cut mark on his wrists, “Deal.”
“How about me?” Victoria looked up from inspecting the cuts on her wrists.
“You will keep both of our secrets, or we’ll tell everyone you were running tests in your house instead of the secure lab,” Fred snarled. “You could have been killed. These guys were not going to play nice.”
“Geez, I know that.” Just that quick she left the grateful train and disembarked in the dreary town of Annoyed. “It was one of those middle-of-the-night-ideas, and I didn’t want to mention it until I was sure I was onto something.”
Two birds shifted as they landed.
“Looks like we’re late to the party. Guess I’m on cleanup,” Ryan said. He grabbed a kidnapper without waiting for anyone to speak.
“I’ll help.” Fred offered. It was the work of a minute to tie up and load the two kidnappers into the van. Fred followed Ryan into the house to search for anything useful.
“Report.” Tempe’s tone was bland, but her eyes burned.
Victoria hung her head. “My fault. Destin said the house had been trashed, and I had to go check to see if they found my research. Yes, I was doing research at the house. I know I shouldn’t have. You’ll probably never trust me again.”
“No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to help Victoria leave the hospital.” Destin’s shoulders slumped. It was the first time he had failed Tempe. He didn’t like the feeling.
Fred walked back to the group. “Tempe, we need Destin and maybe Victoria. There’s some equipment, as well as folders, and we can’t make heads or tails out of ‘em.”
“Go, we’ll discuss this later.”
The humans ran for the house, glad to have a reprieve, even if it was a short one.
“So, I screwed up,” Fred stared her in the eyes. He believed in being direct.
Tempe shrugged, “How so? Looks like you had everything under control when we got here. You and Destin should have been enough support with two shifters guarding her house. You know as well as I do that stuff happens. Did they see your shifter form?”
“Yes, and I know Destin can set a shield now.”
“Well, I suspect you guys will keep each other’s secrets. And it appears that Victoria is the queen of secrets.” Tempe patted him on the shoulder and headed for the house.
Fred grinned and followed.
*****
Victoria looked across the table at Tempe, Ryan, and Sage, as well as a host of alphas, some she didn’t know. Her side project was safe, but she had caused a lot of trouble. At least Fred and Destin, sitting on either side of her, weren’t injured because of her actions. “What now? Am I gonna to be tossed in a cell? A cave? Six feet under?”
Laughter greeted her last question.
Fred leaned over and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “No one’s going to harm you.”
Rain, Fred’s prif, leaned into his screen. “Fred?”
“She’s safe. Because of her, we have a list of organizations with ties to the not so defunct AIB, as well as contact names within those organizations. Good info that we can use. And she makes a breakthrough about once a week. We need her working for us.”
Victoria looked between Fred and the man who had spoken to him. What was she missing?
Sage smiled. “You’re safe, Victoria, and we’re going to keep you safe. You have options. If you still want to work with Destin, we can either assign you quarters in one of our facilities, or you can live with your Aunt Naomi, who is already living in a secure environment.”
“I get to keep my job?” Victoria squealed.
“Yes, but no more unapproved projects. Anything you want
to work on is fine, but you have to tell Destin everything you’re working on,” Sage explained.
“And you will do all work in a secure facility, even middle of the night eureka moments,” Tempe added.
“That’s great! I’ll live wherever, and I promise all my research will be kept in the secure lab from now on. I’ve learned my lesson.”
“You’ll stay in Calabozo.” Fred’s tone left no room for discussion.
He was ignored.
“You sure?” Ryan chuckled.
“Yes, it will be better to have her where she has quick access to her lab.”
“That the only reason?” Rain leaned back and grinned.
Fred glared at his prif, “It’s enough of a reason.”
“That works.” Destin turned to Victoria, “I live there and can show you around.”
“I’ll show her around.” Fred glared at Destin.
“As you wish,” Destin smiled.
Victoria looked at Tempe and asked, “How did you find us?”
Fred held up his hand. “All of the sovereign’s PAs wear a ring that allows the alphas to track us. Sovereign, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get Victoria settled in her quarters.”
“Dismissed.”
As Victoria left with Fred, she heard a lot of laughter but didn’t know what it was about. Must have been some shifter joke. Before the door shut, she heard Sage say, “Enough. Torment Fred on your own time. We have other topics to discuss.”
Chapter 20
Ryan opened the way, nervous about the trip, but pleased that she agreed to meet him away from the Northern Realm residence. He opened the gate from PAC HQ and exited at Saffron’s herb garden.
Saffron looked up from her cuttings as her young nephew arrived. “Welcome.” Ryan didn’t speak, and she stood. “Tempest and I are not much alike, except that we don’t think a lot of small talk. I suspect you don’t either. Why are you here?”
“I seek your indulgence,” he admitted and then winced. It sounded better in his head than it did out loud.
Saffron raised her eyebrow in a Tempesque fashion before returning to her garden. “At least you didn’t ask for a favor.”