But he couldn’t stand there all day.
Kids jumped off the bus, sprawling over the footpath. Bailey waited until the last moment, then with his head down, he moved against the flow and up the stairs. The driver shut the door behind him, and Bailey slumped into a seat.
Now he had to figure out where he was going.
Three stops later, two cops got on.
Bailey slid down the seat and tried to melt into the fabric, but he was a leopard, not a chameleon. One cop spoke to the bus driver, the other walked over to him. “Bailey Fisher, we’d like to have a few words. Would you mind getting off the bus?”
Yes, he minded.
God knew he’d been breaking the law for Gran and her friends since he was fourteen. Three years of picking pockets in supermarkets and a year of going out underage and drinking and stealing credit cards.
If he ran, he’d be on a wanted list. Could he talk his way out of it? Or spill the truth?
He remained frozen, not knowing what to do, but knowing every choice was bad.
The bus driver coughed.
Bailey picked his bag up and stood. If he threw the bag and ran, how far would he get?
“Don’t do anything stupid, son.”
Bailey looked up at the cop. He was only a few years older. He wanted to be a law-abiding citizen, so he needed to act like one. He followed the cops off the bus, dread growing with every step. The bus doors slammed shut, and it took off, leaving him stranded on the footpath.
“I’m not wagging school, it’s exams.” His voice came out squeaky as his ribs constricted.
“It’s not about school,” said the older one.
“Gran, is she okay?” Of course she was, she’d probably tipped off the men, but a normal kid would be worried about his family. And he wanted to be normal. He wished he had a family like Matt’s. People who honestly cared. Did Kass care about him or was it all the bond and worry about his own life? He spent so much time living second hand through the connection, getting off, that he wasn’t sure what of it was real and what was in his imagination.
Even yesterday’s brush with death no longer seemed real. He should’ve kept his fat mouth closed.
The cop frowned. “Your Gran’s fine.”
He was too hot. Sweat trickled over his ribs. He wouldn’t talk first. They could explain why they were there. He looked at one then the other, wondering if he ran, could he become lost well enough that they wouldn’t find him? How long until his cash ran out?
He swallowed and tried to slow his heart, so it didn’t explode from the super shot of adrenaline flooding him. His skin prickled with the urge to shift—and while it would be harder to catch him on four feet, he doubted a snow leopard running around the suburbs would go unnoticed.
“We’d like to talk to you about some recent thefts,” the young one said.
“I don’t understand.” His old fall back was to always play dumb and let others do the talking.
“You go to nightclubs, yeah?”
Bailey shrugged, but he knew where this was going, and it was nowhere good.
“We have footage of you taking some wallets.”
Bailey took a few slow breaths. They had him on camera, and no doubt it was from after he’d turned eighteen, so he’d be tried as an adult. If the men were willing to throw him to the wolves, he’d do the fucking same. After all, the cops only wanted the truth, and he was a minnow in the grand scheme.
He nodded. “I had to. There're some men where I live. If I didn’t, they were going to hurt my Gran—she’s all I have.” Which left him with a handful of nothing.
They stared at him. So, technically he’d confessed. But this wasn’t being recorded, so it wasn’t official. At least he hoped it wasn’t.
“Can you come to the station and give us a statement?”
“Am I under arrest?” His skin prickled and blotches formed on his arms and chest.
“No, but we’d like your statement and then to follow up on what you told us.”
“So, I can leave after?”
“Why are you so keen to leave?” the cop asked.
“Because I need to study. I have one more exam.”
The cops looked at him like he was stupid. Yeah, he was in deep shit, but they didn’t need to know that he was aware. Let them think he was scared and willing to tell them everything.
The ride to the police station was silent. Then they put him in an interview room and his leg started bouncing under the table. Were they watching him? Recording every move he made?
He closed his eyes and tried to find a little calm. When he found only more tension, he reached for the now delicate bond. It wasn’t enough. He needed someone to hold his hand and tell him it would be all right even if it was lies.
It wasn’t one of the uniformed cops that had brought him in that entered the room. It was the man who rarely spoke, Crooked Nose. He perched on the table near Bailey and stared at him.
Bailey stared back, not wanting to be the one to speak first.
The man smiled. “All this can go away if you do as you’re told.”
“You’re a cop?”
“We are everywhere.” He smiled. “Now you have a birth certificate and a driver’s license and a bank account you can be tracked no matter where you go.” He leaned closer. “You exist.”
“And?”
“And how long until people figure out what you are? We protect your kind.”
“You put me in danger. I’ll tell them everything.”
“You can try, but everything you know, and love will be destroyed. Your gran, your friends, everyone, and you will go away for a long time.” He eased back. “But it’s your choice.”
“You’re supposed to be one of the good guys.”
“I am. You don’t want things to escalate…your mother screamed for hours. What will your witch feel?”
Bailey’s fingers curled. His nails pressed into his palms. “So what? I fall into line or go to prison?”
“Yes.” Crooked Nose smiled. “Everything will be fine. I will make the charges go away.”
He closed his eyes and drew in a breath. Then he opened his eyes and glared at the man who’d bullied him into crime in the first place. “No. I’d rather go to jail.”
Chapter 7
Kass checked his emails. Nothing. He tried the number Bailey had given him, but it went straight through to messages. Kass said he’d try again later. But he was getting worried. If not for the constant hum of tension through the bond, he’d have thought Bailey dead. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurt. Even if he was, there was nothing Kass could do. He couldn’t race home to help.
Though if the bullet had been an inch over, he’d have been stitched up and sent home to recover. If not for Bailey pushing strength through the bond, it could’ve been fatal. As it was he’d just bled a lot. Damn, that would’ve been so much better. He needed to see Bailey. Talk to him. Touch him.
The bond was returning to full strength and Kass doubted it could be easily broken now, even though it was dangerous for Bailey to be bound to a soldier. He wished they could communicate with words via the bond, he’d read that some were able to.
Occasionally he got impressions of what was going on, but nothing clear. And none of it felt good.
He made his way back to his room and lay on his bed staring up at the roof. It was fucking hot again, same as yesterday. And he was bored, but the people in charge weren’t ready to send him back out yet. He closed his eyes and toyed with the bond. He’d been looking forward to calling him. He didn’t remember what his voice sounded like, they hadn’t exactly done much talking, but he remembered the way his lips tasted. He was sure something was building beyond the shared pleasure—though there’d been a few times he’d ignored it because he was working. The few times they’d timed it right had been amazing.
How much was genuine desire and how much was magic he didn’t know. But there hadn’t been anything between them the first time he’d seen him. No, but h
e’d been drawn to him because of the magic. Now it was all they had, so he did the only thing he could. He let Bailey know he wasn’t alone. He had the room to himself and time to kill. He brought up the memories from the night club when Bailey had been in his arms. Bailey pulled away, shrinking from his touch.
Kass frowned and let his confusion flow. Even if it was a bad time for Bailey, he didn’t avoid the connection instead he responded with what felt like a hand on the chest. A promise of later—he didn’t know if that’s what Bailey was doing but that’s what he received. He wanted to compare notes.
This time Bailey put up a wall of ice. The chill was enough to make Kass shudder.
He lay there consumed by the hollow ache. It was like breaking up with someone, except they’d never been together, and this hurt worse than the bullet tearing through his side.
What the hell was going on?
Bailey sat quietly during the hearing. He’d confessed to what was caught on camera in the club, left out the men, and said that he’d done it to survive. But he didn’t know where the money or the cards were now. He gave them to Gran, which no one believed.
They’d asked about Kass’s cards in his wallet, and he’d lied and said Kass was his boyfriend, though it was rocky given that he was away with the Army. If they asked Kass, what would he say? Would he be horrified and deny it all? Every so often Kass’s gentle curiosity washed over him. He wanted to know what was wrong, but Bailey wasn’t able to call or email. He didn’t want Kass to know what had happened. Maybe he should’ve gone to work on Monday, fallen into line and escaped later, when they trusted him. Though did those men trust anyone?
And how many more crimes—serious crimes—would he have committed in the meantime? How much more would the men have gotten on him to hold to his head like a loaded gun.
He barely listened to the judge; vaguely aware he would sit in jail until the full trial, which might be a month away. Panic swelled in his throat. The judge asked for final comments.
It was now or never. Bailey stood. “Sir…Your Honor.”
“I advise you not to say anything else.” His lawyer ordered. When they’d spoken he didn’t care about Bailey’s last exam. He didn’t care about Bailey at all. He hadn’t bothered to put together a defense. Apparently, he’d been supplied by the State, but Bailey figured the men were leaning on him. They leaned on everyone, even his cell mate, who in turn leaned on Bailey.
Crooked Nose had visited him and reminded him to do the right thing by his family and friends. That meant not dobbing in the men. He’d kept his word, but he’d be damned before they took everything. It was a point of pride now, and that was about all he had left.
“My last exam is on Thursday. I’d like to do it.”
The judge peered at him. “Do you understand what’s happening? The trouble you’re in?”
Had he played the dumb kid too well? He managed not to roll his eyes. “Yes, and I wanted to stop, but…” He swallowed before the truth spilled out. “I want to finish school and find a job.”
“We discussed this,” his lawyer said.
Bailey glanced at him. “You said it was pointless to ask. I didn’t agree.”
“Do you like school?” the judge asked.
“Mostly.”
“What are you studying?”
Bailey stared at the floor. If he’d been studying to get into university, the judge might have been impressed. As it was, he was just another kid from the shit end of town. “Construction certificate.”
“And what kind of grades do you have?”
“I’m passing all subjects. I need this exam to pass and finish year twelve.” He glanced up, not feeling too hopeful.
“I don’t have a problem with this. In fact, I think it’s a good idea. You can sit it. However, it won’t be at your school, it will be at a correctional facility.”
Bailey’s face split with a smile. “I’d sit it on the moon if I needed to.”
The judge stared at him as though considering saying something more, then he shook his head. “Make the arrangements. You don’t want me to find out that this young man didn’t graduate.”
The lawyer nodded but wasn’t happy.
Bailey didn’t stop smiling all the way back to the cell. It was a small victory, but he was taking it. The men had failed to take away everything.
Chapter 8
The first thing Kass did when he landed back in Australia wasn’t call Bailey, or even his parents, but the Coven.
“Hello, this is the bakery, how can I help?”
Kass drove through Sydney with nothing but the tug in his gut to guide him toward Bailey. While he was away, he’d been contacted by the cops regarding his ID in Bailey’s possession. He’d covered Bailey’s ass and said they were dating.
“My mate is a snow leopard shifter. Bailey Fisher.” This time he had a full name. He prayed that last time they hadn’t said more because he hadn’t been able to give a full name. “What do you have?” He wanted to sit with Bailey and talk about what they were going to do about the bond and them and everything. Before he’d left, he’d wanted to break it, but now he wanted it. He liked it. Even though Bailey had withdrawn from all contact.
“Snow leopard? Are you sure?” the woman asked.
There was something in her voice that made him wary. “Yes, why?”
“Snow leopard shifters in Australia are very…insular, and they never take mates.”
He muttered a curse, almost ran a red light, and pulled over. “Well, this one did and now he’s in some kind of trouble and I need to find him, so can you do a wide search and tell me what you’ve got?”
The keys clacked as she searched. “Hmm.”
Kass waited instead of pressing her.
“Okay, his birth certificate was issued only months ago and before that he didn’t exist.” She gave his last known address and Kass memorized it like his life depended on reaching the location. “Wait, I have court documents.”
“For what?”
“He’s got a one-year sentence. That can’t be right. We always assign coven lawyers. It was his first offense, and they threw the book at him. There must be something else going on…”
“You couldn’t assign a lawyer if you didn’t know he existed.” Bailey had slipped through the Coven’s protective net. A shifter in prison would always have a hard time. “Is it possible to get him released?”
“Let me find out and get back to you. In the meantime, don’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m not going to break him out if that’s what you mean.” He laughed like he hadn’t been thinking that. “But I want to visit him. Can that be arranged?”
“I’ll contact you within forty-eight hours. Is this your best number?”
“Yes.”
“Kassidy, you enquired previously about breaking the bond, but it’s not wise to throw away what the Fates have given.” Then she hung up.
He tipped his head back against the headrest. Yeah, breaking a bond was considered not just rude, but also bad luck. As much as he wanted Bailey, he didn’t know how they were supposed to be together. Bailey was a thief—a convicted thief—and he was an army sniper. What future did they have when he could be killed, and Bailey was in jail?
Bailey was being smart by shunning the bond. Just because they were mates didn’t mean they needed to do anything with it. They didn’t have to help each other, and they didn’t have to be lovers. But the itch to see him, touch him, taste him never left.
Kass drove past the prison, where Bailey was being held, even though he wanted to stop. Instead, he went to the address the Coven had given him. An hour later he was at a run-down complex made up of eight little bungalows. The paint had peeled on the front door, revealing the wood beneath, and the late afternoon sun didn’t soften the edges. This was Bailey’s home.
A pang of something sharp and bitter slid through him. Bailey wouldn’t want him to be here, he knew that like he knew his bullet would always hit its target. But he got
out of the car and walked up the path to Bailey’s house, not sure who’d answer, if anyone.
An old woman opened the door. Her eyes were bright blue like Bailey’s and she hissed like a cat in water before trying to slam the door in his face. “Witch.”
“Shifter.” Kass stuck his foot in the gap before she could close the door. “Do you know Bailey?”
“No.”
“Liar.” She hadn’t just moved in. He’d bet she was related to him somehow.
She spat at his feet. “You corrupted him.”
Kass smiled. “I didn’t corrupt anyone. Why’s he in jail?”
Her eyes widened. “He stole things.” Her gaze darted behind him. “Come in and I’ll tell you more.”
On the street behind him he was aware of a car parking. He remembered the warning that snow leopards didn’t like witches, and he didn’t want to end up in a pet food processing plant as kitty kibble.
“I don’t think so.” He removed his foot. She didn’t close the door. That was definitely his cue to go.
Kass jogged down the path to his car. Parked behind his car was a white sedan with two men watching him a little too intently. Kass noted the number plate and strode toward his car like he was unbothered, even though the hair along his arms prickled to attention.
“Can I help you?” one of the men called. His arm rested on the door, gold watch glinting in the sun.
“I don’t think so.” He squinted, trying to spot their animal aura. But saw nothing.
“You’re looking for Bailey. We’ve been waiting for you. Why don’t you get in?” The glint of metal from the other side of the car was all the warning Kass got. But it was enough. The bullet skewed around him, then he sent it through the back window of their car as a warning.
Glass shattered, but Kass was already jogging over to his car. He got in, adrenaline coursing through him and his heart racing.
He drove, making random turns, not wanting the men to follow him back to the base or make any other trouble. They weren’t shifters, but they knew more than most humans, which was dangerous. He pretended he didn’t notice they were there, but his palms sweated on the steering wheel.
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