“No. My alias, Miss Harvey.”
I took note that he’d said Miss, not Missus.
I released my punishing grip on the railing and slowly turned to face my intruder. I lifted my chin, and stated, “I think I’ll call you Joshua.”
The man was tall and broad, handsome in a way one hardly ever sees. Almost flawless to view. Soft brown eyes and tawny hair that ruffled in the wind. A suit that fit his muscled form to perfection.
Joshua Striker was stunning. And deadly.
His lips twitched. “Such fire inside your soul. The background here suits you.”
“How did you get into my apartment?”
He pointed up. “I’ve been on the balcony above yours waiting for you to come out. That apartment is empty.” An artless shrug of his shoulders. “Then I simply jumped down.”
Joshua Striker must be nimble. I hadn’t even heard him land.
He gestured inside. “I have something I’d like to discuss with you. May I come inside?”
Karma had been right.
One time was enough meeting this man.
“I don’t think so.” I started to edge around him. If I could get inside, my balcony door had a lock on it. “You can leave the way you came.”
Joshua placed his left hand against the doorframe, effectively blocking my way to safety. Those gentle eyes disappeared, and a predator peeked out, finally a glimpse of the real darkness inside him. And it was staring right at me with calculated intelligence.
He stated clearly, “If you don’t allow me inside to speak with you, I will tell the Corporate Army that ring you have on your finger is fake. Along with the marriage license you have. That you are a thirty-one-year-old woman evading her lawful duty. Then I’ll send them to your door, along with access codes to your links on the dark web. What might they say when they see all of your dirty deeds, I wonder?”
I gulped down all my sudden hatred for this man and plastered a pleasant smile on my face. “Won’t you come in, Joshua?”
He removed his hand from the doorframe and smiled just as agreeably as I had. “Thank you ever so much for the warm invitation, Ms. Harvey. I promise I won’t disappoint with what I have to say, along with what I have to show you. Your life will be changed forever.”
I left the balcony door open on our way in. Though the air outside was now polluted with the smell of cinders, I needed the rush of wind working through my house to calm my nerves. I dealt with many criminals in my line of work, but one had never been to my house—especially after just killing someone the same day.
I sat down on my leather chair and swiveled it to face him where he stood in the center of my living room. If he was expecting me to be hospitable, it wasn’t going to happen.
With a sweep of my right hand, I motioned for him to speak. “You’re inside now, Joshua. What do you want to say?” I’d say his real name over and over again, a tiny dagger straight to his inflated ego.
Scared, I might be, but I was still pissed off.
His chuckle was dark and amused. “Aren’t you curious at all by the coverage you watched, courtesy of the woman I murdered?” He had his own daggers to jab me with, apparently.
“Not really, Joshua. They’re dead. Karma fucked up. Again.”
Joshua tsked. “Are you positive they’re dead?”
I pointed to the balcony windows. “No one could survive that blast.”
“What if there were people in this world who are magical?” He crossed his arms lazily over his chest and rocked back on his heels, enjoying the sound of his own voice. “What if immortals are walking among you?”
He was officially off his meds.
I snorted. “I’d say show me proof. In business, I only deal in facts, not in fantastical fantasies.”
A small, delighted smile graced his lips. “I like how you think. I’m glad I had the foresight to know you’d want that.” Joshua snickered to himself, a joke unknown to me, as he pulled a disc from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He prowled like the predator he was to stand before me and held out the disc, waving it ever so slowly back and forth in front of my face. I watched the disc with furrowed brows, contemplating my next action. He crooned, “I know you’re curious. Take it.”
My lips straightened into a thin line and my brown eyes peered up into his. “I know a hoax when I see it.”
“I’m sure you do in your profession.” More waving of the disc, now even closer to my face. “I assure you. You’ll want to see this. Imagine the views you would receive on your dark channel from breaking a story about magical beings living in this world. It sounds crazy, but with the right proof, you’d make enough units to rival King Corporation.”
My curiosity sank farther into my gut, spurring me on. I was sure his theory wasn’t correct—I mean, give me some fucking credit—but there could be something else to it. Perhaps this man didn’t understand what he had witnessed. “If I watch it and want you to leave, will you do so?”
“Absolutely.”
I snatched the disc from his hand and turned my chair back around to face the blank hologram that was already waiting for me. I tapped on my computer board, entering all my passwords again, my system having logged off without use for three minutes—another safety feature I had installed. I waved the disc in front of the neon cuffs that had appeared, then handed the disc back to him.
A simple tap on the file that had downloaded showed me a picture file and a video file. Without looking back at him, I asked, “What do you want me to look at first?”
“The photos. I don’t think you can handle the video yet.”
I huffed but clicked on the photos as he suggested.
“Start at the beginning,” he said.
“Already on it, but what the hell am I looking at?” I mumbled and squinted at the hologram picture. I zoomed in and shook my head softly. “Are those animals in the wild?”
“Not exactly.” His lopsided grin sent chills down my spine. “Keep going.”
I flicked my gaze to the screen. Caution almost kept me from doing as he had ordered, but my curiosity won out. I waved my hand from right to left in front of the image. A new picture popped up, this one even more unbelievable.
I swiped again.
And again.
Again.
I swallowed hard, unable to look away from the current picture.
“This has to be fake.” Though it didn’t look like it to my trained eye.
“I assure you, it is not.”
My blink was slow. “What do you want for this? How much?” It had to be my soul. These photos were worth that much. And I hadn’t even gotten to the video yet.
The thunder of his deep chuckle made bile rise in my throat. “You’ll owe me a favor.”
I hated owing anyone anything. Especially, the deranged.
I drummed my fingers on my table, thinking. “Let me look at the video first before I make up my mind.”
In silence, both of us watched the video.
Men shifting into animals. Those animals playing in a forest—roughhousing, for lack of a better description. Animals shifting back into naked men. Not only that, but these men were the most influential and wealthy people in the world. The deceased Godric King was even on there. These…things…ran our world!
The fucking video was real too; all my tests cleared it.
My jaw hung open when I saw the results. “Holy beast.”
Joshua laughed behind me full of delight. “Not a beast. They, including me, are called shifters.”
I swiveled my chair back around in a hurry. I jerked my thumb behind me, pointing over my shoulder at the hologram, and sputtered, “You’re one of those things?” My voice may have risen an octave.
He shrugged his right shoulder and started taking off his suit coat. “I’ll show you. And as you saw on the video, when a shifter is in their shifted form, they keep all of their brain functions. I won’t go wild on you and try to attack.”
I snapped my mouth closed as the man co
ntinued to undress in front of me. My place was wired with all kinds of video surveillance. This could be even more ammunition I could use for an article—if the man...shifted—or whatever he called it.
Fully naked, a tornado of deep black sparkles spun in whiplash speed around his body, only to disappear a moment later. I rubbed at my eyes hard and shook my head, pushing away the shock that held me immobile. Once I had control over myself, I bent at the waist and placed my elbows on my knees. My face was inches away from the cute nose of a clouded leopard, the animal sitting in front of me with absolute control.
Air rushed out of my mouth onto his furry face.
His whiskers twitched.
“Joshua, can you understand me?” I mumbled in awe.
The clouded leopard nodded his head.
My brows rose high on my forehead. “I’ll take the deal.”
With another round of sudden black sparkles twisting crazily in the air, Joshua was back in his naked human form, squatting right in front of me. His nose was still inches away from mine.
His grin was pure evil. “I imagine you have questions.”
“Many, many questions.” I leaned back in my chair, away from that horrible smile.
My heart wouldn’t stop pounding inside my chest, my mind whirling with the facts—yes, facts—that I had witnessed. “Get dressed, and you can tell me all about your species.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Two days later, my rental boat floated on a river, the cold water gently rocking it side to side, far downstream from Poppy Carvene’s mansion. I held a pair of binoculars to my eyes as I waited in the dark, her home lit up like an ancient Christmas tree inside, all the windows ablaze with merry light. I waited like the patient person I was, just waiting to see if one of Joshua Striker’s tales was real.
The dead Ms. Carvene should be making her miracle way home tonight, fit and well, not a hair misplaced on her head. If true, then this story was going to be bigger than I’d initially thought. Humans becoming immortal, not just shifters. Humans becoming mates to this entirely different species. Mates conceiving children with shifters.
I felt like I’d entered into a beast mode reality. I couldn’t simply do my normal surveillance. I always had to make sure I was downwind from these fuckers, not to be smelled. Far enough away so they couldn’t hear me, far enough away from them to think I was innocent of any wrongdoing. I sure as hell didn’t want to get within reaching distance because of their strength. My whole world had changed, as Joshua had stated it would when he entered my home.
I still didn’t know his motivations, either. That bothered me.
A deranged man such as him… I wanted to stay clear from.
Clean blue energy lighted up the night over the forest surrounding Poppy’s home, a train flying into the solitude of the beautiful home.
I turned my attention to it, avidly watching through the binoculars as the train started to land. I tapped the earpiece in my ear, hoping the listening device I had planted on a tree limb on the edge of her property yesterday would pick up any conversations. It was a long shot, but it was better to try than not.
The train landed smoothly, and the door opened, the black wrought iron stairs sliding down to the ground. It was a King Corporation train, the emblem of a lion clearly depicted on the side of the transport. I held my breath and waited in anticipation, the suspense killing me.
My jaw dropped open as Cassander jumped out of the train, flying through the air, his blemish-free fur coat whipping around his strong frame as he landed with grace. He peered back at the transport, and yelled, “Dad, wake the hell up! I’m starving and want you to cook me something.”
The train had landed close enough for me to hear them!
Damn, I was good.
A moment later, Mr. Theron King poked his head out of the train’s doorway and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. “You want to eat here?”
Poppy Carvene made her appearance, my grin splitting my face with obvious delight. She patted Theron’s shoulder as she maneuvered past him, then trotted down the steps, speaking over her shoulder, “If you’re cooking, Theron, you two can definitely eat here.”
The dead woman didn’t look so dead to me. Hot damn.
Not a hair missing from her head. The shifter had been right.
Cassander grinned up at his father—his adopted father, as Joshua had informed me. “I want some type of pasta. Maybe white sauce, not red.”
Theron leapt from the train, much as his son had, landing right next to the two waiting for him. He ran his fingers down his suit jacket and patted his flat stomach. “All right then. How about chicken alfredo?”
“I think I have everything you need for that.” Poppy yawned so wide I could see her teeth gleaming from here. She complained, “Why am I always so tired after I die? No one ever explained that to me.”
Cassander watched her out of the corner of his eye, hovering if I wasn’t mistaken, and answered patiently, “Because regenerating takes a lot of magic. It can wear your body out.”
“Huh. Makes sense.” They followed her as she started ambling toward her house, swerving when she faltered in her steps. Once, Cassander reached out to help her when she almost fell, but Theron grabbed his hand and quickly yanked it back, gifting his child an exasperated expression and tapping at his nose. Poppy didn’t notice any of it, her tone mortified as she muttered, “Cassander, why aren’t you as tired as I am? This is embarrassing.”
He chose his words carefully and refrained from helping the strong-willed woman when she stumbled again, his fists clenched behind his back to restrain himself. It was clear he didn’t want her to feel any weaker than she already did. “I doubt you want to hear this.”
“Just tell me.”
Cassander sighed. “It’s because I have more magic than you.”
Her spine straightened instantly. “Well…I already knew that.”
It didn’t mean she had to like being weaker.
“It’s the simple truth,” Theron interjected kindly, his words almost disappearing the closer they moved away from my listening device, almost on her house. “I’m the king, and he’s the seer. We have the most power out of all the shifters and mates. You have nothing to feel ashamed of. You are a great soldier in your own right. You don’t need our power to be special.”
Instant. “I know I’m special.”
Theron and Cassander shared a private look behind her back.
“So…how long will it take to cook that food, Dad?” Cassander easily deviated from the hard topic for her. “Because I am completely famished.”
Whatever Theron responded, I couldn’t hear it, my listening device now useless as they climbed the massive stairs to Poppy’s front terrace.
I lowered my binoculars and lifted my bracelet. I used the camera on it, zooming and zooming and zooming in, to take pictures of the three of them as they ascended the stairs. When I had the perfect picture of the three of them all smiling at each other, I stopped. That would be my main image on the first article—just enough to get my followers to bite, build the buzz up.
A shifter king.
A shifter seer.
A human mate.
The title of my first article would be…
The King, the Son, and the Lost Girl.
Perfection.
* * *
The following morning, I stared at my written article.
My right pointer finger hovered over the submit button.
If I did this, I would be putting myself on the radar of the most powerful people of the world. Was it worth it? Leaving everything I knew behind to start telling the world the truth…
I pulled my finger farther away from the hologram.
This was just a teaser. Not everything. Just a prelude of secrets to come. But it was enough to have my world end.
My breaths came in sharp pants and fear raised the hair on the back of my neck. I loved my life. I truly did. I lived by my own rules, no one else’s. I would be hunted if I did this,
no way else to sugar coat it.
The shifters would come for me.
They would try to shut me down. Cut off my voice.
I swallowed on a dry throat. I growled, “Fuck it.”
The truth shall set you free.
My finger pressed the submit button.
I swiftly shoved my computer board into my waiting luggage and zipped up the side. My feet were running for the door, a hat low over my face, my right hand gripping the handle of my luggage, it rolling behind me at a fast clip.
Then I pulled a Karma. I detonated two controlled bombs inside my apartment. Before my eyes, the place lit up on fire, the greedy flames rolling over everything.
I turned and kept walking, not looking back.
My fingers yanked down the fire alarm switch two doors down.
With the blaring of the emergency alarm pounding in my ears, and residents racing out of their homes for safety, the fire and smoke wafting behind me, I kept walking at a steady pace. I left my life behind. The world would soon know everything.
CHAPTER FIVE
I stalked the midday streets in stealth mode, always circling back around to the port of New City, waiting for my contact to arrive. One of my long distance contacts, James, was delivering a transport for me to use—for as long as I wished since I bought the damn train with one of my undisclosed accounts. I’d used him once before, and he had come through for me. I hedged my bets that he would again. I hoped I was right since he was running late.
“Did you see that article?” a man whispered near me.
His friend leaned in close to him, and spoke quietly, “I saw it. What do you think is going on behind closed doors?”
“I bet it’s a threesome.”
“Maybe.” His friend scratched at his forehead. “But who is the ‘son’? I’ve never seen that man before. For that matter, why call him the ‘son’? He looks the same age as Mr. King.”
“No clue, but rumor is that he’s from the King Eastern Province. That’s what my accountant thinks anyway. My assistant agrees too.”
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