by Zoe Chant
Abigail grabbed two bundles from her bag and threw them to Opal and Hank. Behind her, the final dragon shimmered and transformed into a dark-haired man with an athletic build and eyes that burned like hot coals.
Caine tensed, but—no. The fire in the dragon shifter’s eyes was warm and protective, not the angry sparks that overflowed his own monster’s eyes.
“Hi, Jasper,” Meaghan called, sounding exhausted.
Three dragons. Caine straightened his shoulders. Good.
Cole was right. Dragons were among the most powerful shifters in the world. And these three were all Meaghan’s friends. They would look after her.
Jasper strode up and put his arm around Abigail’s shoulders. “Who’s this?”
“Caine Guinness,” Hank supplied.
“Jasper Heartwell. And you…” Jasper’s voice had been light-hearted, but something flickered behind his eyes and his expression turned serious. “What are you? I can tell you’re a shifter, but…”
Caine’s demon rose up inside him. It clawed at his throat, scrambling to take form. Caine wrenched it back, but not before his eyes blazed with the demon’s terrifying gaze.
It pinned Jasper with its—his—eyes. Jasper went pale, but whatever the demon was looking for, it didn’t find it. Caine fought for control as the demon moved its attention to Hank, and then Opal. Each of them paled and stepped back.
Caine and the demon looked back at Jasper. Next to him. Abigail.
“Hey!” Jasper pulled Abigail closer to him. The protective gesture gave Caine the strength he needed to wrestle the demon back.
He never knew what would set off his demon’s hunting instincts. If it ran wild now, with children around—and Meaghan watching—
His demon hound whined unhappily and Caine blinked. Jasper’s protectiveness of his wife and child hadn’t called up its worst instincts. The demon sounded—felt—lonely. It retreated so quickly Caine almost fell to his knees.
He’s not for the hunt. None of them are. Meaghan—
Cold sweat broke out on Caine’s forehead. Stay away from her! he howled at the creature.
“What the hell was that?” Meaghan’s voice was sharp, but there was an edge of wonder in it that made Caine’s heart ache. “Your eyes—I knew I hadn’t imagined it. Yesterday, in the woods…”
Gasping, Caine raised his head. He couldn’t look at her. Not when he knew that the wonder in her voice would soon turn to horror.
“Jasper Heartwell,” he grated out. The dragon shifter flinched slightly as their eyes met, but his face didn’t turn into the mask of terror it had when he faced the demon. “You’re the shifter I’ve been hunting down since midyear.”
No! Wrong!
Caine flinched. That wasn’t a feeling. It was his demon’s voice, splintering against the inside of his skull.
We shouldn’t be hunting him. Why were we hunting him?
“I need your help,” he gritted out over the demon’s confusion. “Please. You Heartwells are the only shifters I’ve heard of who can get rid of their animal sides.”
“Wait. What? Slow down.” Meaghan stalked in front of him. She waved her arm at the Heartwells. “My neighbors are dragons and you—you know about them? And you’re a shifter too, but you don’t want to be?” She shook her head. “Why?”
She was close enough that he could have reached out and touched her. She was reaching out, her eyes full of innocent amazement—and he couldn’t tell if the way his heart leapt at the sight of her was his reaction, or the creature’s.
Ours, it whispered in his mind.
Caine clenched his jaw. He had to be strong. He’d made a terrible mistake, letting Meaghan into his life without knowing for sure that his demon was gone.
Had he really thought he could walk away from the nightmare he’d been living for the last twelve months? He should have known it would never stop chasing him.
And he needed to tell Meaghan the truth.
“Because you’re right,” he said. Meaghan’s eyebrows shot together. “Everything that’s happened to Pine Valley since Halloween isn’t coincidence. The gang you’ve been chasing are shifters.”
Meaghan nodded. “That’s why no one would talk to me about it.” Her eyes flicked around the rest of the group. “Bit late for that now, guys. Sorry.”
Her eyes met Caine’s again, and the trust in them made his shoulders heavy.
“So the ghost gang are real. Real shifters. Real, evil, scary shifters.” She was getting angry again.
Good, Caine thought. His demon whined.
“Shifters who bring fear and terror wherever they go. Who terrorize innocent people.” Caine took a deep breath. “The same sort of shifter as me.”
“What?” Meaghan’s eyes snapped to his. “But…”
Her face fell. The shock in her eyes made way for confusion. Caine tried to say something, anything, to reassure her, but his mouth wouldn’t move.
“But you’re not a monster,” she said, her voice shaky.
“I don’t want to be. That’s why I’m in Pine Valley. The Heartwells are the only shifters I’ve heard of who can ever lose their animal sides.” He turned to Jasper. “Please. Listen to me. I looked for you because I need your help. This—thing—inside me. I came here to ask you to help me destroy it.”
He turned back to Meaghan as Jasper cursed under his breath. All three shifters looked horrified. Caine’s head thudded. He took a deep breath, half expecting to breathe it out as smoke.
“Meaghan—I should have told you. I thought the monster was gone—that I’d gotten rid of it—but it was just hiding. Please believe me, I never would have gotten you involved in all of this if I thought it was still there.”
Inside him, the creature’s teeth ground together. It was pacing. Disturbed. Almost… scared?
It’s dangerous, Caine reminded himself. Why else would every shifter he met be so terrified of it? Why else would the only other hellhound shifters he’d heard of be criminals? First the ones who’d done this to him, and now the ghost gang?
Criminals, the demon raged, hurting the weak and unprotected. We must help her find them, hunt them, stop them—
Them? Caine couldn’t bear to look at Meaghan anymore. He closed his eyes, turning his gaze inward to the fiery-eyed, smoke-wreathed monster wrapped around his soul. She’s talking about you. Us.
We’re the monster she hates so much.
The smoke that had been wreathing at the edges of his vision darkened. His demon hound clawed at him, dragging him into shadows so dark it was like light had never existed.
The last thing Caine saw before he lost consciousness was Meaghan’s face.
14
Meaghan
“Caine!”
Meaghan leapt to catch Caine as he toppled forward. His body was completely limp and too heavy for her to hold. She lowered him as gently as she could, terror pulsing through her veins.
Oh God. Forget her own anger and confusion. None of that mattered. Not compared to the fear she felt when Caine collapsed. There had been one flare of smoky fire in the depths of his eyes, and then all the life had faded from his face.
She knelt over him. Caine was so pale his face looked gray. The purple shadows around his eyes looked like bruises. And he wasn’t moving.
Meaghan glared up at Jasper. “What’s happening? Is this some sort of shifter thing?”
It was Opal who answered. She’d wrapped the blanket Abigail had thrown her around herself like a toga, and her eyes were grave as she knelt down beside Caine’s still body.
“Do you know how long it is since he last shifted?”
“I don’t even know what that means!” Meaghan wailed. Even Caine’s lips were losing their color. She touched his cheek, her fingers trembling. “Oh God. He’s cold. Really cold.”
Caine wasn’t standing-in-the-snow cold. His skin had a chill that made Meaghan’s breath catch. It was as though that furnace-heat inside him had gone out.
“Someone help me get h
im inside.” Her voice buzzed in her ears, tinny and distant. “Help me!”
Hank and Jasper helped her carry Caine back into the cottage. They laid him down on the sofa and stepped back awkwardly as Meaghan stuck to his side like a magnet.
He was still cold. Too cold.
“Blankets upstairs,” she barked. “Someone turn the thermostat up. And get the fire going. And then get out.”
Jasper cleared his throat. “Meaghan—”
Meaghan wasn’t listening. Throat tight, she pressed her fingertips under Caine’s jaw, trying not to think about how cold he was as she searched for his pulse.
Thud. Thud. Meaghan let out a breath that almost swelled into a sob.
“Go on, sweetheart,” Abigail murmured. “I’ll stay with her.”
Meaghan was vaguely aware of the men leaving the room. Abigail settled down beside Meaghan and rested one hand on her shoulder.
“He’ll be okay,” she whispered. “Shifters are tough. Stupidly tough. Ask me how I found out about Jasper being a dragon one day.”
“Dragons.”
Meaghan swallowed. Thud. Thud. The icy panic in her own veins began to lose its edge. She took a shaky breath.
“All this… This is why Jackson and the rest of you kept telling me not to look into the ghost gang, isn’t it? Because they’re shifters. Like all of you are, and… and Caine.”
His pulse flickered under her fingertips and she hissed in a breath, holding it until the beat steadied again.
Abigail sighed. “Yes. That was the plan. Pine Valley is a haven for the few shifter families who live here, and you’re new in town, so… we thought it was the safest option.”
“I thought I was going crazy.” Not that that mattered, now. Thud. Thud.
“I’m sorry.” Abigail squeezed her shoulder. “The safest option for us. Not so great for you.”
The room was beginning to warm up. Caine’s pulse was steady. He was breathing. Meaghan sat back, but kept one hand resting on his chest. Just in case.
“So why do it? Why not just tell me that, yes, there was something going on, and it was all under control?”
“Would that have stopped you trying to find them?”
Meaghan didn’t even need to think about it.
“No.” Her shoulders slumped. “All this time I’ve been trying to help and I’ve just been getting in the way.”
Trust you, Meaghan. Fucking everything up. Going in like a bull in a china shop and smashing everything.
Abigail was shaking her head. “Like I said. Not such a great plan.” She smiled over Meaghan’s head. “Right, Opal?”
“Scared people make bad decisions.” Opal sat down on Meaghan’s other side. “And the ghost gang has everyone scared. Even us dragons. None of us have ever dealt with anything like these shifters before. Whoever the ghost gang are, they might as well be invisible. None of the local shifters can see, smell or sense them in any way, even when the Ghosts are chasing them. So when Cole telepathed me saying he’d found a shifter with no scent or psychic trace—”
“Caine isn’t one of the ghost gang!” Meaghan snapped.
The bundle strapped to Abigail’s front wriggled. One pudgy arm waved in the air, followed by a disgruntled gurgle.
Abigail’s expression froze. Meaghan winced.
“Sorry,” she mouthed.
“It’s okay,” Abigail said, and cooed at the baby. “What’s up, Ruby? Did you have a good sleep?”
Six-month-old Ruby gurgled again. Happily.
Meaghan relaxed. She’d met Ruby a few times, and the baby had—she gulped—dragon-sized lungs.
She caught Opal’s eyes. “Is she a shifter, too?” she whispered.
“She certainly feels like a shifter,” Abigail grumbled. Which didn’t really make things any clearer, from Meaghan’s perspective.
“It’ll be a few years before she shifts,” Opal explained. “Her dragon’s in there, but shifting takes a lot of energy, and right now she’s using that energy to grow her human body.”
Meaghan’s mind was spinning. She leaned closer to Caine without realizing what she was doing. His heartbeat was reassuringly strong under her hand. “That… makes sense?”
Abigail gave her an understanding smile. “Don’t bother trying to understand it all right now. Believe me. You’ll give yourself a headache.” She kissed Ruby on the top of her head. “I don’t even understand all of it yet. Especially with bub here. Being the human mother of a shifter is… something.” She exchanged a look with Opal.
Opal grinned. “You know, everything with you and Ruby should have tipped us off that there was stuff about shifters that we had no idea about, even before the ghost gang.”
“Which Caine isn’t involved with.” Meaghan didn’t know why she was so certain, except for—All the evidence. Right? He’s new in town. He wasn’t with the guys that stole the dogs. Olly saw the ghost gang, and he isn’t one of them.
“I know.” Opal held her hands up. “And I believe you.”
“Ask Jackson if you don’t believe me. He knows Caine had nothing to do with—” Meaghan’s brain caught up with what her ears had just heard. “Oh.”
“There is no way I would have brought bubs out here if I thought your boyfriend was an evil monster shifter,” Abigail said reasonably as Ruby grabbed at her chin.
Meaghan looked down at Caine. Even unconscious, his face wasn’t relaxed. There was a deep line between his eyebrows and as she watched, a muscle under his eye twitched. She held his hand tighter.
“That’s what he thinks he is, though,” she muttered. “A monster.”
She closed her eyes and changed her grip on his hand so she could feel his pulse. Still there. Still strong.
“He’s not my boyfriend, though,” she said. “We only met yesterday and—uh…” And hooked up a few hours later. And if Cole hadn’t turned up, he would have dumped me in a hot minute.
“And he hasn’t told you anything,” Opal muttered to herself. “Men. You’d better tell her, Abigail, you’re the only one with experience on the human side of this. I’ll let the boys know.”
Meaghan watched Opal leave the room, her mouth hanging open. “Why do I feel even more crazy now than when I thought I was the only one who noticed what the ghost gang was doing?”
“Because shifters are crazy. Most of the ones I’ve met, anyway.” Abigail sighed and settled herself more comfortably with her back against the sofa. “Jasper waited until he was almost dead before he told me about this, too.”
“About what?”
Just then, Caine murmured something and Meaghan was on her feet at once. She leaned over him.
“Caine? Caine, can you hear me? What’s wrong? Why won’t you wake up?” Caine fell silent and Meaghan turned to Abigail. “We should call a doctor.”
Abigail looked uncomfortable. “Not yet.”
“What do you mean, not yet?” Meaghan hissed, so loudly that Ruby started to fuss again. Abigail sighed, and cradled her daughter until she quieted down again. “Are you all insane? I thought I was the crazy one, but none of you are making any sense! We need to call the clinic.”
“No. And this is going to sound crazy, but…” Abigail cuddled Ruby and stared up at Meaghan, her eyes soft. “He doesn’t need a doctor. He needs you.”
Meaghan froze. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means—look, you spent the night here, didn’t you?”
“That’s none of your business!” Meaghan yelped.
“All right. If you did spend the night here, and if you do feel like he’s the most incredibly, ridiculously, completely irritating and yet somehow also completely wonderful man you’ve ever met…” Abigail’s cheeks went pink. “…or maybe that was just me… but, anyway. If you feel like there’s something special and scary between you that you’ve never felt before, then it’s probably because you’re his mate.”
“His mate.” Meaghan squeezed Caine’s hand so hard his fingertips went white. She forced h
erself to loosen her grip, finger by finger, without letting him go.
The most incredible, ridiculously, completely wonderful man you’ve ever met—Okay, yes, maybe, but…
“What is that supposed to mean? I’m his friend? I only met him yesterday.” Her voice fell. “I don’t know anything about him.” I just think he’s sexy, and funny, and now he’s sick and I don’t know what’s going on and I can’t let go of his hand…
“But you know you want to be with him.” Abigail’s voice was warm and understanding. She wrapped her arms around Ruby. “All shifters have a mate. One person who’s the other half of their soul, essentially. We—humans—talk about ‘soul mates’, but this is a bit more literal. Whatever Caine’s animal is, it must have recognized you as his mate.”
“That’s why he ran away from me.” Meaghan felt as though she’d wandered into a walk-in freezer and heard the door slam locked behind her. “That’s why he was leaving. Because his shifter-thing wanted me, but he thinks it’s a monster, so he thinks I’m…”
Her voice gave out at the same time as her knees did. She fell to the ground with a crack. Her eyes swam with sudden tears—Because it hurts, she told herself, and then fixed that to Because my knees hurt, because how freaking stupid would she have to be to be hurt by someone running off on a one-night stand—running away from her—thinking she was…
The other half of his monster’s soul. Her mouth tasted bitter.
Run in without looking. All or nothing. What’s the worst that can happen? Well, this has to be pretty fucking high on the list.
Magic existed. And it thought she was as much of a freak as the rest of the world did.
“I don’t think I’ve explained this right,” Abigail said quickly.
Meaghan swayed. “No, I think I’ve got it, thanks,” she muttered. “I should leave before he wakes up.”
“I’m sure that’s not—Jasper! Come in here and—”
“Caine said he wants to destroy the shifter part of himself. Which you’re saying is the part of him that wants anything to do with me.” Meaghan stared at her hand, clamped like a limpet onto Caine’s. Her knuckles were showing white through her skin.