Shapes of Autumn (Boxed set, books 1 - 5)

by Veronica Blade

  Sounds like you needed him, my mom said in a silent whisper.

  I did and he filled the void for about a year. But as I said, I often found myself questioning his choices. Our concepts of right and wrong were, and still are, drastically different. So we agreed to part ways and reunite in the future when it was time to take down King Mortimer.

  And here we are, my mom said. But weren’t you even sadder after he left?

  Actually, without him, I was free of all obligations. I was relieved to see him go, Natasha replied, plucking a biscuit from a silver tray. I’d vowed never to allow myself to invest so much in anyone again.

  My mom paused, staring at her food a moment. Yet you did.

  Natasha halted mid-bite and glanced at my mom. Did what?

  You fell for Dathan anyway. When Natasha set down her fork, my mom forged on. Please don’t try to deny that you’re drawn to him, minimally you feel more for him than you want to.

  Natasha’s eyes sparked. Believe whatever you wish. I’m not sure I can ever let anyone in again, least of all a man such as Dathan.

  “Are you two finished yet?” Dathan asked, irritation straining his voice.

  As if the topic of Dathan was closed forever, Natasha shoved her plate away and turned toward the devil himself. “Definitely.”

  I didn’t think so. Natasha wasn’t done with Dathan, not by a long shot. And she still believed we were engaged. Maybe she actually wanted him despite her denials. Maybe she’d feel less resentment toward him if she knew he was attainable.

  Yvonne cleared her throat as she approached the secluded dining area. “Your Majesty. I’m sorry to disturb your meal but I thought you’d want to know right away… two of our crew are missing.”

  Natasha canted her head, her brows drawn as he stared at Yvonne. “Not possible. I just finished a round and no one informed me.”

  “I didn’t want to say anything until I knew for sure.”

  “Who?” Natasha asked.

  Yvonne’s left eye twitched as she scrunched up her cheeks in a grimace. “Claire and Ryan.”

  Natasha rubbed her temple. “The entire compound was searched, every nook and cranny?”

  “Of course, Your Majesty. Even the parking structure and lockers, as well as the park and sleeping quarters.”

  Natasha flinched. “And you made sure no one could slip into the area you’d already searched?”

  “Positive.” Yvonne sighed. “We’re stumped.”

  “Then we need to search again,” Renzo said. “Unless you think they could’ve left without your security team knowing. Maybe they wanted to get away before the war started.”

  “You won’t find them.” Dathan stood, then tipped forward and flattened his palms on the table. “I know your people wouldn’t want to help Ulric, but anyone who encounters him may not have a choice. If he were to telepathically persuade your men, he could find out anything he wants, whether his victim was willing to share or not.”

  “Although I seriously doubt Ulric’s ability to telepathically persuade my men, I agree that we should prepare for all possibilities,” Natasha said, her brows drawn in worry as she rested her elbows on the table.

  “Which should include confirming someone did indeed breach the tunnel and if they got inside the compound,” my dad said in his most authoritative tone. “And if the crew members really did leave, we need to figure out how they got out and why no one saw them on the monitors.”

  “I need to send a group into the tunnel, but that means allowing my people to go outside the safe zone.” Natasha tapped her chin thoughtfully.

  Dathan scoffed and returned to his chair. “That’s assuming the safe zone hasn’t already been compromised.”

  Natasha rubbed her temple. “I have to think on this.”

  “You must make sure they take proper precautions as they move through the compound. I’m sure you don’t want to lose any more of them.” Dathan peered at me from under his lashes and I knew he was about to annoy me. This time though, I was grateful for the distraction from the missing crew members.

  He leaned into me. How did your little experiment with your mom turn out? Was I right again?

  I rolled my eyes, not caring if anyone knew I was annoyed at my fiancé. Unfortunately, yes. My mother doesn’t smell like Natasha or my dad. But she doesn’t smell the same as Zack and Renzo either.

  And you’re her daughter. Dathan picked up a fork and steak knife then began carving a big hunk of rare beef. How many times have you heard someone say you didn’t smell like a shape-shifter?

  Too many times. And Dathan obviously knew why. I’m not a shape-shifter?

  Dathan speared another hunk of meat. That’s not what I said. But you need you to find out why you’re different.

  I didn’t smell like a shape-shifter, but I was a shape-shifter? Yet I was different. Awesome. Now I couldn’t concentrate on food. But I needed to eat for energy, so I loaded my fork with stuffed zucchini. Not to sound repetitive, but what’s in it for you?

  Dathan smiled smugly as he spooned mashed potatoes in his mouth. A more accurate question is… what’s in it for you?

  I gripped my fork as irritation ripped through me. Dathan, seriously.

  We’ve been over this. Dathan paused his dinner to shoot me a glare. I want Ulric and King Mortimer dead. You and Zack safe. Now all you have to do is ask the correct questions.

  I groaned. Oh, just tell me already.

  It’s not my place.

  Thankfully, he stopped pressing and I could continue my meal in peace and contemplate my differentness.

  After swallowing his last bite, Dathan rose and pushed his chair back under the table. “Excuse me. I have some business to attend to,” he said as Ivan came around to gather the empty plates.

  What’s going on with you two? Zack asked, pausing with his next bite of beef.

  I’m trying to figure that out. I glanced away from him to find everyone at the table staring at me. “Don’t look at me. Dathan started it. I’ll go talk to him.” Dathan, wait up. I bolted into the hallway and was about to follow Dathan’s scent when he hissed.

  “Damn it, Autumn. You’re not supposed to be alone. Do you want to disappear like the others?”

  Patience gone, I cut to the chase. What gives, Dathan? You knew about Ulric, you have a lot of info on my parents and you know something about Natasha. For all I know, you could have other surprises in store for us.

  I’ve lived a long time, encountered a lot of people, and I pay attention. Nothing too mysterious.

  I scoffed. And?

  The corner of his mouth lifted. And after you get your answers from your mom and then Natasha, I do have another surprise for you.

  I threw my head back. You’re killing me.

  Dathan chuckled. “Let’s get you back to training, sugar.”

  I grunted, spun and marched ahead of him back to the training area. I’m breaking up with you soon, FYI.

  He whistled. “Whatever you say, sugar.”

  I stopped short, twisted around and slapped a palm on his chest. I know a nice shape-shifter queen I can set you up with. Word on the street is you guys used to have a thing.

  His smug smile flipped, morphing into a scowl. “What we had wasn’t anything at all. Merely two people using each other.” His tone softened with a hint of mischief. “You don’t have to be jealous, sugar.”

  I flinched, then turned away and swung the door open.

  He gripped the door by the top and held it open for me, his arm over my head so I could pass. “You’re the one who brought it up. Might be best if you didn’t involve yourself in my love life.”

  “I don’t think you need to worry about that. Your past is far less exciting than I had hoped.” I didn’t look back as I headed straight for the training area.

  My mom sparred with Persius across the room—away from everyone else, as usual. Not a surprise. My dad paired up with Rakin and by the time I circled to locate Egon, he was standing next to me. I needed to ta
lk to my parents soon. Unfortunately, the inquisition would have to wait.

  But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a quick private conversation with Natasha. I held up an index finger at Egon, then went for it. Um, Natasha? I think you should know that Dathan and I were never engaged. He wanted me to pretend so that the other shape-shifters would accept him more easily. I went along with it because it made sense at the time, but I already have a boyfriend. Zack.

  She froze in the middle of a stretch. Why are you telling me this?

  I feel bad for not being honest. I faced Egon, my energy renewed and my spirits lifted. “I’m ready.”

  And I was curious to see what Natasha would do with that information. At the very least, the sparks between her and Dathan would make things a little more interesting.

  Chapter SiX

  Zack

  As soon as we walked into Natasha’s living room, I wanted to fall onto my cot and pass out. But Dathan had already slipped into the bathroom and he always took the longest showers ever. Dathan… the most irritating person I knew. What the hell did he have going with Autumn to make her annoyed enough to chase after him?

  I wanted to pound my fist into my chest, announce to everyone in the compound that Autumn was mine, then throw her over my shoulder and haul her off to a private room where I could do things to her that would make her toes tingle. Things that would make her cry out my name and tell me how much she loved me.

  That was a fantasy for another day. I was too tired to get into a conversation that would likely turn into an argument. I just wanted to wind my body around hers and finally get a full night of sleep. Well, the cuddling part wouldn’t happen tonight, but the sleep definitely would. I yawned. “Maybe I’ll go straight to bed and hit the shower in the morning.”

  Autumn wrinkled her nose. “Before five a.m.?”

  I blinked when she dragged the mattress off my cot. “What are you doing?”

  “Earlier today I had a nice chat with Natasha. Ended up telling her that Dathan and I aren’t actually engaged, that you’re my real boyfriend.” She beamed. “We don’t have to hide anymore. Not in here anyway.”

  I could feel my face split, exposing my teeth. “That’s the best news I’ve heard in ages.”

  “Isn’t it?” She giggled.

  My dad pointed to the sofa. “For the love of God, please don’t forget I’ll be sleeping over there.”

  She laughed. “We won’t. I promise.”

  I helped Autumn move her own mattress onto the floor next to mine, then we scooted them together. When we finished making up our bed, Autumn pushed Dathan’s cot all the way to the other side of the room. I heaved his suitcase up and hauled it across the floor, setting it beside his cot.

  The scent of soap mingled with steam followed Dathan as he strolled out of the bathroom. He halted when he noticed the new arrangement. “What’s going on?”

  Autumn pointed to Natasha’s door and lowered her voice. “I sort of slipped to your ex that Zack was my real boyfriend. We don’t need to keep up any pretenses when we’re in here.”

  “His ex?” My mouth went slack as I switched to Dathan. “You and the queen?” I whispered.

  His nostrils flared. “If I hear any indecent noises from you two, I’ll join you on that nice big bed.”

  I saluted him, then rifled through my suitcase for boxers and a T-shirt, brushed my lips against Autumn’s and dashed into the bathroom before someone else beat me to it.

  Ten minutes later, Autumn was dead-still on our mattress, her deep steady breathing telling me she was asleep. I chastised myself for my missed chance to get a good-night kiss from her. On the upside, we could snuggle all night. But first…

  “So what’s the story with you and Natasha?” I asked Dathan.

  “I was wondering the same thing.” Renzo sprawled out over the sheet he’d laid on the couch.

  Dathan shrugged. “We ran together for a while.”

  Yeah, already knew that. “Did you love her?”

  He huffed. “I never completely fall for any woman, Zack. I’m not made that way.”

  Renzo snorted. “I’m going to have to call you on that.”

  Exactly what I was thinking. And Dathan trying to deny having feelings for Natasha only made me more curious. “In all these centuries, you’ve never fallen in love with anyone? Not possible.”

  My dad snickered from the couch. “I’m with Zack. Highly improbable.”

  Dathan swung his legs up onto the cot and flopped against his pillow. “Some women have intrigued me more than others.”

  Maybe he wasn’t forthcoming because Natasha was in the next room and could hear everything. How long were you and Natasha together?

  He fumbled for his phone charger like he was trying to avoid my gaze. A year maybe.

  How long ago?

  I encountered her in 1812 and we met again about a year later, Dathan said.

  So Natasha was well over two hundred years old. She dumped you, huh?

  Enough questions, Zack. He threw me a hard look then followed it up with a pillow.

  I caught the pillow after it bounced off my head. If you want her back, Autumn would probably be willing to put in a good word for you. I aimed the pillow at him.

  Dathan snatched the pillow from the air and stuffed it behind his head. Make sure Autumn keeps up pretenses outside this room. The others need to believe she’s devoted to me. He rolled over on his side and closed his eyes. Conversation over.

  A moment later, I rested my head against my pillow. “Hey, what if Ulric attacks in the middle of the night? If he’s here like we suspect, and he has any power over others, they’re all in danger.”

  Renzo raised an arm from his horizontal position on the couch. “He strikes when he strikes, whether it’s ten minutes from now or ten days. When he shows himself, there are a lot of people he must get through to reach us. Until then, we need to carry on.”

  I rose to pace, and stopped to face my dad as I tilted my head. “You sound pretty casual about how Ulric would ‘get through’ all those people. Doesn’t it bother you that they’d all die for us?”

  “They’re on night shift, Zack,” Dathan muttered. “They know what they signed up for.”

  Still, seemed harsh. “So they stay up on watch while we’re here all comfy in our beds?”

  Renzo propped himself up on an elbow. “And while we’re up during the day, we’re keeping them safe in their beds, probably getting better sleep than we are.”

  Yeah, okay. I could see that. I resumed my path across the wood floor. “Dathan, do you think Ulric made those two disappear or do you think they deserted ship?”

  He lifted his head off the pillow and studied me for a moment, then exhaled as he stared at the ceiling. “Ulric is here and he’s picking us off.”

  If only I hadn’t asked. Now I felt even less safe than before.

  “He has surprise on his side but we have numbers,” my dad added. “Regardless, Natasha has measures in place, so if he’s really here, we’ll locate him soon enough.”

  Dathan readjusted his pillow to get me in his line of vision. “Unless Ulric is still in the tunnel. Someone here could be doing his dirty work.”

  I paused my assault on the floor. “How could that work? Because I’ve only been able to put ideas into people’s heads, not extract information.”

  He grunted. “I’ll explain this, then you need to go the hell to sleep.”

  I nodded and indicated for him to continue.

  “Shape-shifters are similar to werewolves in that they telepathically plant thoughts into someone’s mind. But only from a distance. Vampires must make physical contact through feeding, however, once we are connected we have far more control over the victim than a werewolf or shape-shifter ever could. You can influence them to some degree, but once we’ve given them a command, we can make them our slave for as long as we want, completely change their way of thinking or erase their memory.”

  “I’m not getting what this has to
do with Ulric,” my dad said.

  “Wait for it.” Dathan paused, checking to see if I was still paying attention. “If a werewolf ingests blood of a vampire, he may take on some of our characteristics. He may heal even faster, his strength will likely increase, but he won’t necessarily crave blood.”

  There had to be more because I wasn’t quite connecting the dots yet. I lowered to the mattress on the floor, careful not to wake Autumn. “And?”

  “Imagine if an already deadly werewolf had been consuming regular doses of vampire blood for centuries. And what if he had gained the ability to completely control his victim as a vampire can, while maintaining his natural ability to influence remotely like any werewolf?”

  My stomach churned and I fervently hoped Dathan’s theory was wrong.

  Renzo’s head lifted off the couch. “You’ve seen this before?”

  “Before I became king centuries ago, a werewolf terrorized my kind. Probably your kind too, I would imagine. I never had the pleasure of killing him because he vanished,” Dathan said. “I believe he went into slumber as vampires are prone to do. I haven’t met this werewolf they call Ulric, but he follows the same patterns as the werewolf I knew as Urian. They’re the same person, I’m sure of it.”

  “Seriously?” I would’ve changed my name completely. “Doesn’t seem like he’s trying to hide from you with such a similar name.”

  “He wanted me to figure it out. A personal challenge,” Dathan hissed. “And now you understand why I can’t stop until he’s dead.”

  “Yeah.” I let my head drop back and sighed. “This just gets better and better.”

  “Enjoy your time with Autumn while you can. Until something else happens, no use worrying and ruining the good times.” Renzo tugged the blanket up over his shoulder. “Try to sleep. If you can’t, your body will still heal while you rest.”