High Card: A Billionaire Shifter Novel (Lions of Las Vegas Book 1)

by Ellis Daniels, May

  Whisperer? Thieving whore I can get behind. I know what I am, although that doesn’t mean I like having it thrown in my face. But the other thing? Landon’s looking at me with an odd mixture of worry and understanding in his eyes—

  Landon squares his shoulders at the thug again. “The Council—”

  The first guy smiles. “Has become weak. You know this. Tell me you haven’t thought of taking them down.”

  “The pact,” Landon says. “The law. The united animals—”

  “None of that matters now. The Wildbloods are free.”

  “A bloodbath.”

  The tattooed guy rolls his head, cracking his neck with an audible pop. “A pleasure.”

  I stand up from behind the Bugatti, lay my arms flat across the roof, grip the Colt in both hands, careful not to bump my broken pinkie, and draw a steady bead on the first guy. “You move you’re fucking dead,” I yell. Then to Landon: “C’mon, pretty boy. Let’s get out of here.”

  Landon gives me a sad smile. “I should have told you,” he says in a way that makes me shiver. “I just…didn’t want to frighten you off.”

  “Frighten me off…Landon? What the hell—”

  I look back at the tank-top wearing thug, and what I see makes me squeeze off six quick rounds as fast as I can, and over the sound of the gunfire I hear an animal roaring—

  ***

  The guy’s a monster. An honest-to-god living monster. His frame bulks up so thick he splits through his tank top. Coarse black hair sprouts along his arms and hands and shoulders. His head bulges and a blunt snout protrudes and in a second or two I’m staring at something that looks like a cross between a tattooed thug and a raging black bear—

  Guess my hands weren’t as steady as I hoped. Only one of my bullets hits. The rest ricochet off the pavement. The bullet catches the freak right in the thigh, blowing a good-sized hole in him. He raises his head and roars, the muscle and sinew in his oversized neck stretching taut.

  Layla slips from my numb fingers. I’m muttering oh shit oh shit oh shit over and over. My knees are rubber. It’s a struggle simply to stay standing.

  “Run, Summer!” Landon screams.

  His voice sounds different. Deeper. Raspy.

  Oh hell no—

  Landon’s shoulders, already broad and cut, are swelling up beneath his leather racing suit. The suit splits down the spine and I see fine blonde hair—

  Then I’m on my knees. Hiding. My mind just…gone. Rational thought wiped clean by stark terror. Covering my face in my hands, sobbing while the sounds of animal-monsters murdering one another rises in my ears. Bloodthirsty snarls and growls and pained yelps and the sickening wet thwack of fists smashing down, aiming to end a life.

  I scramble for my backpack. Landon—or whatever he is—told me to run. Seems like a damn fine plan. I gather my strength and stand up to grab Layla, which I foolishly left on top of the Bugatti. When my head rises above the car roof I take a quick glance at the…things.

  What I see makes my breath freeze.

  Something that could be Landon is standing over the mutilated body of the bear creature. He’s holding a second creature in the air. The thing looks like another black bear, only smaller and heavier than the first. Landon has his massive, clawed hand around his enemy’s throat, and as I watch he ducks his head forward. At first I think he’s going to head-butt the guy. But instead he sinks his teeth into the bear-monster’s throat and bites deep. Blood floods from the monster’s neck. Landon flings the guy to the side and takes a step at the third and final guy—

  A low moan of terror escapes my lips.

  Landon whirls. There’s a creature straight out of a hellish nightmare glaring at me. Something wild and feral, that clawed its way up from the darkest depths of my subconscious mind—

  But it’s him. I know it’s him.

  Only…he’s changed. He’s a foot or so taller and much heavier. His fingers end in inch-long black claws. His shaggy blonde surfer-hair has grown longer, making him look like he has a wild mane—

  But it’s his face that makes me raise the Ruger and aim it at him. His brow has deepened. His jaw protrudes out a wide snout and inside his jaws I see two long rows of wicked incisors. And his eyes…they’re not just handsome now. They’re fearsome, glowing bright gold—

  Awesome. My hot billionaire boyfriend is some kind of animal-beast.

  A lion, from the look of him.

  Just my luck.

  Then I spot the third guy running—

  “Landon look out!”

  Landon turns just in time for the third attacker to slam into him. They hit the ground hard, spinning and rolling, moving so fast they become a blur. It’s like a vicious dogfight. I can’t tell who’s who. The sounds they make send chills down my spine. Pained screeches and roars and shrieks.

  Without knowing what I’m doing I step out from behind the Bugatti. The bear-thing has Landon on the ground, slicing its claws into Landon’s chest. Landon’s trying to keep the bear’s maw from ripping out his throat while also trying to stop the bear from slicing open his ribcage.

  Rage tightens my throat.

  I’m only ten yards away.

  Landon sees me standing with Layla raised, gets his feet under the bear’s belly and kicks him off. The bear-thing sails through the air, hits the ground, rolls, springs up, and as soon as he does I unload the entire fucking clip in his chest so fast I lose count. Bullet’s tear into him, shredding his chest to ribbons. The monster stagger’s back, wounded but still standing.

  I keep pulling at the trigger, screaming all sorts of nasty shit, desperate for the bear to go down.

  But he doesn’t. Instead he looks at the wounds in his chest, then lifts his head to face me. He’s hideous. His eyes black as death. Then he takes a leap at me—

  Landon catches him midair. The two fall to the ground and this time Landon has the advantage; I watch in horror as he wraps a powerful arm around the bear’s head. The muscles in Landon’s arm bulge, and then he makes a quick jerking movement and snaps his enemy’s neck—

  Except for the sound of my own panicked breathing in my ears, the silence is sudden and totally complete. The monster that I called Landon Stone flops off his dead adversary. His fine golden fur is matted in blood. There’s a criss-crossed set of vicious gouges running down his chest, but as I watch the skin around the wounds begins to lift and tremble—

  “You’re fucking healing,” I say. “Like after the wolves attacked you.”

  Landon lifts his head. Whatever he is…the monster…it’s leaving him, and it looks painful as hell. Landon’s back arcs and he screams and there’s a sickening ripping sound, like tendons being stretched past the breaking point, and then I’m running to the Bugatti and throwing my backpack on while glancing for the exit out of the speedway. The interstate’s only a few blocks away. I can run there.

  Flag down a car if I’m lucky—

  By the time I make it back around the car Landon’s standing. He looks like he did when I found him in the desert: pale, sickly, feverish. His race suit’s ripped and punctured. His hair’s a blood-matted mess and his usually sharp eyes are flat and dulled with the aftereffects of a pain I can only begin to imagine.

  But it’s him.

  He’s looking at me with that odd sadness I’ve sensed in him since day one. He stares at his hands. Black claws slip back into his skin. In moments he’ll look like a normal man.

  But he isn’t a man at all. He’s a monster.

  And I…oh my god. I think about the night at the desert retreat, then raise the gun at his chest.

  “Stay the fuck away from me.”

  “Summer I—”

  “I said stay the fuck away!” I’m biting my lip, trying to keep the tears down. The gun’s shaking in my hands. “I knew you were lying about something. Shit! I knew there was more—”

  “I tried to tell you—”

  “What? Tell me this? What is this, Landon? I thought maybe you were married. Ha!
Or had, I dunno, a brood of snot-nosed brats spread across the globe. Or herpes! But this? Oh shit. Oh shit. What are you?”

  Landon’s face hardens. He looks…stunning. Strong. Capable. Commanding. Even worse, there’s something in me…that feeling I’ve been trying to ignore since we first met…that feeling that says my place is at his side. That we belong together. That this is right. Which is waaay beyond fucked, because none of this is anywhere near right—

  Landon takes a step toward me.

  “Don’t you fucking move.”

  “You can’t kill me with that, Summer. You saw what I am.”

  “I can try.”

  “You can’t run from me, either.”

  “Hey, rich boy? It’s the Twenty-First Century. A girl can do whatever she damn well wants.”

  Landon smiles. Shit. A bolt of heat races down my midsection, making me grit my teeth. I love that smile. It strikes me right in my weakest spots. How his eyes sparkle gold—

  “All right. You can run. But I can hunt.”

  Hunt. Did he say hunt? Me?

  I remind myself about the brutal slaughter I just witnessed. Three bodies are scattered around Landon. The snarling animal-things are gone. They’re back in their human forms. All three look like they were hit by a Mack truck. With fangs.

  But still.

  I would’ve shot the bastards if I needed to.

  I would’ve defended myself.

  What Landon did was no different.

  Only difference was…he did it better.

  “What are you?” I breathe, not sure I want an answer.

  Landon shrugs off his torn racing suit. Bastard. He’s fucking naked. Sweaty and bloody. Muscles still swollen with exertion. He looks…almost godlike. He murdered those…creatures…for me. They came for me and he…he stopped them. Protected me.

  He didn’t have to do that—

  “Put the gun down, Summer. I won’t hurt you. I swear I’ll never hurt you. I’ll never let anything hurt you. You’re mine. I’ve known the truth…since I tore Blake off you in the alley. I would’ve murdered my own brother to stop him hurting you. It’s hardwired into my animal. It’s what makes him feel…calm. Being at your side. Keeping you safe. Please?”

  “I’m yours?” I say, tilting my head at him. “Is that what you’ve decided? Because I hate to break it to ya, but I might have an opinion—”

  “We’re lifemates,” Landon says, quiet but firm, as if that explains everything.

  “Lifemates? Bullshit. We’re business partners, remember?”

  I look at him, waiting, wanting to turn and run but completely unable to move—

  “You feel it, Summer. What we have. A bond that runs bone deep. A Wildblood bond. It’s sacred. Never supposed to happen between my kind and yours…but it has. Tell me you don’t feel it. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t feel it.”

  “Oh shiiit,” I moan, biting my lip, trying and failing to not take in his every sexy bulge and curve, how amazing he looks, trying to ignore the traitorous heat building my core, spreading through my loins and aching nipples—

  “They’ll hunt you down,” Landon says, taking another step forward. “I’m not sure why. But they will. More will come when word gets out what you are. They’ll want to use you to strengthen their animals. You’re safe with me. Only with me.”

  Every word thrums into me, vibrates through my bones, warms my blood, sends sparks of awesome tingling through all the good spots. Then a thought hits me. “You’re not, uh, fucking controlling me with your mind, are you? Because I’m pretty sure I just saw you change into some kind of snarling lion thing, and yet here I am…thinking about your dick…”

  Another smile.

  And then shit, I’m smiling too.

  “No. I’m controlling you with my body.”

  I burst out laughing. The smug shithead. I slip Layla into my belt, and when we meet it’s like the sun rounding the earth, waking the world with its warmth—

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  LANDON

  “I’VE DECIDED I’M totally down with this new you, Landon Stone,” Summer says as we drive back to the Strip. She’s talking super quick. Her cheeks are flushed. I scent her excitement and arousal.

  My lifemate.

  That’s the only reason she’s not frozen in terror right now. She senses my animal will never harm her. Knows I meant what I said about protecting her. The problem is…if what Don Luca’s hit men said is true…even I might not be able to keep her safe.

  “It’s not really a new me. This has always been who I am.”

  “Whatever. It’s new to me. Don’t be a downer. I mean…a lion? Someone fucking with me? Hey. Piss off. My boyfriend’s a werelion.”

  “That’s not what we’re called.”

  “Oh? What?”

  “Wildbloods.”

  “Hmm.” Summer purses her lips. “Doesn’t have the same ring. You say ‘werelion’ everyone knows what you mean. ‘Wildblood’ just sounds like an old Mel Gibson movie.”

  “We live in secret.”

  “Huh? Why? You guys would totally kick ass at MMA.”

  “That’s the point. There’s not that many of us. We’re physically far superior to humans. There was concern…justified concern…that we would be hunted to extinction.”

  “Silver?”

  “No.”

  “Full moons?”

  “No. A pagan myth.”

  “Huh. Blue flashes of light when you shift?”

  “No. Where’d you get that idea?”

  “Amazon free books.”

  “Don’t believe everythi—”

  “Joking. C’mon.”

  Summer slides closer.

  Lays her head on my shoulder.

  Rubs her hand across my chest. She feels amazing.

  “Something else you need to know,” I say.

  “Something else? This is plenty—”

  “You need to listen.”

  “Sounds serious.” Summer sits up. “I’ve had a lot of shit news already today, Landon. You gunna tell me get lost? Say it’s for my own good? Think I can’t handle—”

  “No. It’s not that. It’s about…what I am.”

  I’m going to have to tell her about the Wildblood Council. About my challenging Trent Thorsa for lion alpha. About the danger we’re both in. But for now I just want this moment. Outside of my family, no one I care about has ever known who I really am. It feels…I guess it makes me feel powerful.

  Confident. Proud, even.

  It’s not until now that I realize how ashamed I’ve been about the curse—about my animal. Summer’s acceptance, even excitement, feels like a hope I’d forgotten existed.

  Then I remember what Don Luca’s hit-men said about Summer being the Whisperer. It has to be bullshit. Or I’m way out of the loop—

  But if it’s true no human is safe. If the Council’s losing its grip on the Wildbloods…the streets are going to run red. We’ve been keeping our true natures caged for thousands of years. The animals are itching for a hunt.

  The Council united the animal clans. Stopped the ancient wars between felids and canids. Not to mention the filthy reptiles—

  I need to meet with the Council.

  And I need to bring Summer with me.

  The Council won’t believe me otherwise. Every species has its legends. The Council members need to feel the effect Summer has on their animals for themselves. I take a quick glance at my lifemate. An ancient Wildblood legend might be sitting here beside me—

  “Landon? You got something to say? You look all kinds of stressed.”

  “I’m going to take you to meet some people,” I say. “They’re like…the Wildblood government.”

  “Nah. Sound’s dull as hell. I’ll pass.”

  I laugh. “It won’t be dull. Trust me.”

  “You’re worried about me,” Summer says, her voice softening.

  “Yeah.”

  “Don’t be.”

  Summer lets her hand
drift over my pecs, down my abs to my cock. I stir in response to her fingers. The scent of Summer’s arousal makes my lion roar and paw at his cage. She wriggles closer, lying across the console, cupping my balls through my jeans.

  “Someone ratted me out,” Summer says, her voice husky, her fingers fiddling with my zipper. “That’s why Don Luca sent those bastards. Right?”

  My zipper finally relents.

  Slides open a few inches.

  Summer slips two fingers inside my jeans, then digs deeper, rakes her fingernail, just hard enough to feel amazing, across my swelling cock—

  I draw a sharp breath. “Maybe?”

  Summer gently runs her fingers along my hardening cock. “Maybe? What do you mean, maybe? Of course. Vito or his uncle found out I was playing them. Found out about you and me.”

  Summer wraps two fingers around my cock. My breath quickens. I scoot forward, giving her a bit more room, accidentally hit the Audi’s gas pedal and rocket the car forward, then slam the brakes to avoid rear-ending the car in front—

  “Easy, big man,” Summer almost purrs. “Two wrecks in one day I’ll start to think you and me are bad news…”

  Summer uses her other hand to pop my button open and pull out my dick. I leave my left hand on the wheel and grab her ass with my right, pull her a bit closer, my cock aching for her mouth—

  “So who’d you tell?” Summer whispers, her face inches from my cock.

  “No one.”

  “Liar.”

  Damn. She licks a slow ring around the tip of my cock, just below the head, sending a shudder through me—

  “No one. Fuck sakes, Summer. You think I’m an idiot?”

  “I think you’re inexperienced.”

  “Yeah? At what?”

  “At playing the game how it’s played in this town.”

  “Rest of the world’s as dirty as Vegas,” I say.

  Summer reaches down, cups my balls in her hand, squeezes. “I doubt that very much. And even if that’s true…I know you’re not as dirty as this town.”