Shadow Shifter

by Jane Hinchey

  That was it. I exploded in an earth shattering orgasm, my body convulsing around him, and I heard his gritted “Jesus Christ!” before he followed me into oblivion.

  Glancing around the kitchen, I giggled. The cake mixes I’d had on the go were now splattered over the counter and the floor. Black smoke was starting to waft from the oven. And I didn’t care. Feeling me tremble, Ben lifted his head and looked into my eyes. “Okay, babe?” he asked.

  “I’m perfect.” I smiled, then laughed. “But my kitchen…”

  Twisting his head, he looked over his shoulder and groaned. “Oops. It’s okay, I’ll fix it.” With a quick incantation and wave of his hand, the kitchen righted itself. Then he froze. “I just thought of something.” He turned back to me, a sheepish look on his face.

  “What?” I frowned.

  “After your break-in and this place was trashed? I used my magic to fix it. That may have been the excessive magic the council detected. Not from you. From me. But it was coming from your house, so they assumed…”

  “The worst. They assumed the worst without even checking!” While I was relieved we had an answer to the magic problem, I wasn’t happy that I’d been judged by the Council without an investigation or the chance to clear my name. They hadn’t even waited for Ben to report on the status of Ted’s murder.

  “I’ll get it sorted, don’t worry.” Ben ran his finger over my cheek and I melted all over again.

  I pulled his head down to me and breathed into his mouth, “I’d like to do that again.”

  He immediately hardened against me and I felt him smile. “Oh yeah? That’s good, because so would I!”

  10

  Katherine Quinn smiled as she opened the door to us the following day.

  “Watcher. Kristina. Great to see you both again,” she said as she ushered us inside, “though I’m surprised to see you here together.”

  “Kristina is assisting with the investigation,” Ben explained.

  She nodded. “Ah. I see. Partners, then.”

  “Yes. Partners,” Ben agreed, although the hot look he gave me had me guessing he meant partners in a different sense of the word. I blushed.

  “What can I do for you?” Katherine asked.

  “We’d like a word with Wes, if he’s available. His office told us he’s working from here at the moment?”

  “Yes, he’s staying with me for a while. He took Teddy’s death terribly hard. He hasn’t been able to face being alone in his apartment, so he’s taken up residence in my guest suite. I’ll get him for you.” She gestured at a grey sofa. “Please, have a seat.”

  The Quinn penthouse was decorated with casual elegance. Nothing over the top like the Kellers' home and I felt immediately comfortable here. Sitting next to Ben, I tried to ignore the warmth of his leg pressed against mine. I knew from his smirk that he was well aware of the effect he was having on me. I started to scoot over so we weren’t touching, but his arm snuck around my waist and anchored me in place.

  “I like you just where you are,” he growled. If we weren’t in someone else’s home, I would have jumped his bones then and there.

  “He’ll be right out.” Katherine returned, smiling down at us. “Now, drinks, anyone? Coffee, tea? Something cold?”

  “I’m fine, thank you,” I managed, tamping down on the desire rioting through my body.

  “A water would be great.” Ben smiled, bringing his ankle up to rest on the opposite knee, effectively hiding the erection straining against the front of his pants.

  “Flat or sparkling?”

  “Flat is fine.”

  This time, I scooted two inches left so we weren’t touching, and thank the Lord Ben didn’t stop me, otherwise I think we might have disgraced ourselves. I refused to look at him. Instead, I studiously examined the magnificent beach painting hanging over the fireplace.

  Katherine passed Ben his water, then seated herself in the armchair at a right angle to him. They started to chat about the weather, but I was too preoccupied with trying not to think about sex to join in. I should have been sated by now. We’d spent almost all night making love. I was actually a little tender in my lady parts, and both of us had had minimal sleep, yet I was wired and ready for more.

  “Guys.” Wes Quinn strode into the room. He was a handsome man, although disheveled. His hair was mussed and he clearly hadn’t shaved in several days. He wore designer jeans that were torn at the knees and a button-down shirt that was buttoned wrong, and his feet were bare.

  I caught Katherine’s frown. My own came into play when Wes turned and I examined his face. Flashing across his features, almost like a double-exposed photo, was a dog-like beast. A black, furry face, horns, and pointed ears. Terrifying. I sucked in a breath, surprised. Wes didn’t have any shifter DNA, and I wasn’t entirely sure what I was seeing was shifter, anyway. I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, it was just Wes, a belligerent expression on his face. Maybe I was overtired and my imagination was running away with me.

  “We just have a few more questions from the afternoon tea you hosted recently, Wes,” Ben said. If he’d seen what I saw, he didn’t react. “I understand you gave your statement to the officers at the scene, but a few things have come to light and I’d like to clear them up with you, if that’s okay.”

  “Sure.”

  Wes padded to the drinks trolley and poured himself a generous glass of some amber liquid. My guess was whiskey or scotch. Neither appealed to me; I was more of a vodka girl. He slouched into the armchair opposite his mother and eyeballed me.

  “Why are you here?” It was directed at me with a sneer.

  “Wes!” his mother admonished.

  “She’s with me.” No more warmth in Ben’s voice. Just steel. This was going to be interesting.

  Wes looked at me for another minute, as if trying to stare me down. I returned his gaze. No way was I going to let him intimidate me. He relented, his eyes dropping to his glass as he muttered, “Go ahead, then. Ask away.”

  “Tell me about the cupcakes you took from the dessert buffet.”

  “You expect me to remember what I ate?” he said in a condescending tone.

  Ben didn’t blink. “Did you eat them?”

  “What sort of question is that?”

  “A serious one. Another witness reported seeing you holding a blue cupcake and a yellow cupcake. Why take two at once?”

  Wes was silent for a moment. “I was getting one for someone else.”

  “Who?”

  The silence in the room was heavy. I caught Katherine frowning at her son. Was she unhappy with his behavior? I would be if he were my son. I turned my attention back to him. He was swirling his drink in his glass, his face sullen.

  “Answer the question, Wes,” Ben prompted.

  “I can’t believe we’re sitting here talking about fucking cupcakes when my best friend has just been murdered!” Anger was his defense. Jumping to his feet, he stormed to the fireplace, his back to us. I could hear him dragging in deep breaths.

  “Ted McNeil was poisoned by a cupcake at the party,” Ben told him.

  Wes whirled, pointing an accusing finger at me. “Then arrest her! She’s the fucking bitch who made them!”

  Katherine sprang to her feet, her face distressed. “Wesley Quinn! You apologize this instant!”

  “Miss Gates is not a suspect.”

  “Why the fuck not?” Wes was a very angry man. I was sure it was real hatred I saw blazing from his eyes. Why would he hate me? I barely knew him. I dealt with Katherine when it came to catering arrangements, but beyond that, we didn’t move in the same circles and definitely weren’t friends. His hatred was alarming.

  Ben was on the alert but remained on the couch. “I suggest you calm down and take a seat.”

  Wes eyeballed him, then came to some sort of decision. Rearing back his arm, he threw his glass at me. I watched in horror as it flew through the air, almost as if in slow motion, the contents rising to the top of the glass and over, t
o splash across the carpet and table between us. Ben’s hand reached out and caught the glass in front of my face. Everyone froze.

  “That was a very, very, stupid move,” Ben ground out between gritted teeth.

  He placed the glass on the coffee table in front of us and rose to his feet, one hand sending a blast of magic across the room. Wes staggered back as the magic hit him, wrapping his wrists in magical restraints.

  “Wesley Quinn, you are under arrest for assault,” Ben said, his face an angry mask as he moved like lightning to Wes’s side.

  “What?” Wes and Katherine spoke at once.

  “Ben,” I cautioned. I didn’t want him doing this for me. There was obviously something more going on with Wes, and I didn’t want Ben’s over-protective tendencies getting in the way.

  “If I hadn’t caught that glass, he would have inflicted serious injury on you.”

  “But you caught it. And I’m okay,” I soothed, standing up and coming to his side, placing what I hoped was a calming hand on is arm. “You don’t need to arrest him, do you? Maybe let him off with a warning?”

  “He’s sorry!” Katherine cut in. “It’s just been such an awful time for him. He and Teddy were so close and—well, as you can see, he’s not coping.”

  Tears filled Katherine’s eyes, and my heart went out to her. Ben looked from her to Wes and to me. With a resigned shake of his head, he released the cuffs.

  “First and only warning, Quinn. You curb that temper and learn some manners.”

  Wes rubbed at his wrists, and without a word, he stalked out of the room.

  “We’ll come back tomorrow,” Ben said to Katherine. “We’re not done here, but he needs to sober up.”

  She nodded, her cheeks flushed. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered to me, a hand on my arm as we made our way to the door.

  “It’s okay. I wasn’t hurt, but I have to say he doesn’t appear to like me much.”

  “I’ll come back tomorrow alone, or he can come to the office,” Ben said. “Either way, I need to speak with him. And I won’t have Kristina threatened in that way.”

  Anger still radiated from Ben. I reached down, entwining my fingers with his. I didn’t care if Katherine saw.

  “Yes, Watcher,” Katherine said. “I’ll make sure he’s sober, even if it means getting rid of every drop of alcohol in the apartment.”

  The door closed behind us and we waited for the lift in silence. When it finally arrived, we stepped inside and Ben punched the button for the ground floor. The elevator jerked, then began its downward descent. To my surprise, Ben reached for me, cupping my face in his hands he crushed my mouth to his.

  I was breathless and disheveled when the doors opened at the ground floor. Straightening my clothes, I stepped out of the elevator, avoiding the gaze of the couple waiting to get in. Ben walked in step with me, and this time he threaded his fingers with mine.

  I glanced at him and he shrugged, his lips curling in a smile. “What? I like it! And I needed something to distract me, or I would have gone back upstairs and punched his damn lights out.”

  11

  “Kristina? You’re not going to believe who’s asking to see you.” Paige stuck her head around the kitchen door, her face incredulous.

  I slid the tray of cookies into the oven and set the timer. “Who?” I asked, wiping my hands on my apron and beginning preparations for my coffee cake.

  “Jodi friggin’ O’Flannigan, that’s who.”

  I froze. Jodi was in my shop and asking to see me? Wonders would never cease. Untying my apron, I tossed it on the workbench and stood next to Paige, peeking around her to spy on Jodi. Yup, there she was, sitting at a table near the back, drumming her fingers on the tabletop and looking anxious.

  “I wonder what she wants?”

  Paige gave me a nudge. “Only one way to find out.”

  Weaving through the customers in the shop, I stopped to say hello to one or two before sliding into the empty seat opposite Jodi.

  “Hey. I hear you wanted to see me,” I said.

  Jodi looked terrible. Her face was pale, she had dark shadows under her eyes, and her hair looked like it hadn’t been washed—or seen a brush—in days.

  “Yeah. Thanks.” She cleared her throat. “Look, I know you and I haven’t always seen eye to eye on things, and I know it’s mostly my fault. I’m too competitive for my own good.” Her eyes darted away and then back. “But with what’s happened with Ted, well…”

  Tears filled her eyes and I had to admit, I was taken aback. I hadn’t expected this. I reached out a hand and patted her arm awkwardly.

  “Anyway, I just wanted to clear the air. There are a couple of things I think you should know.” She squirmed in her seat and her cheeks flushed, then paled again.

  “Just spit it out, Jodi.” I leaned back in my seat and waited. Whatever it was it had to be good. She was worked up into knots over it.

  “I stole your coffee cake recipe,” she blurted out, then promptly buried her face in her hands.

  “Okay.” I shrugged. Again, that wasn’t what I had been expecting, and it wasn’t a big deal. What made my coffee cake unique was my magic, not the recipe itself. I imagined she’d been trying to replicate the adrenaline kick my coffee cake delivered and had failed. Frequently. I bit my lip to stop a smile.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “Apology accepted.”

  She looked at me in shock. “You aren’t angry?”

  “No. You didn’t have to steal it, Jodi. If you wanted a copy, all you had to do was ask.” I could afford to be generous. I still felt bad that I’d scared her when I’d ghosted into her apartment.

  “Oh.”

  “Was there anything else?”

  “Well, I kinda wanted to talk to you about Ted’s death and stuff.”

  “Okay, sure. Wanna grab a coffee first? And maybe a cookie?” I signaled Paige, who was keeping an eye on us from behind the counter.

  “I can’t understand why you’re being so nice to me when I’ve been nothing but awful to you,” Jodi said.

  “We’re two different people who view life in very different ways, that’s all. You said so yourself. You’re competitive, whereas I believe there is enough for everyone. It doesn’t have to be you or me. We can both run a successful business without resorting to…” I trailed off. She’d stolen a recipe from me to try to replicate it and hurt my business. That wasn’t a nice thing to do, and judging by the state of her, it had been playing on her mind for a long time, the guilt eating her up.

  If I could let her off the hook and tell her about the magic, I would have, but that was the number one Council rule: No telling humans about magic. I’d had to petition the council to be allowed to use magic in my baking, and they had strict policies about what I was and wasn’t allowed to do. No love potions. No taking away free will. I used what I called fluffy magic. Feel-good magic, like my inspiration icing and my confidence cookies and my adrenaline coffee cake. So it didn’t matter if Jodi stole my recipes or if I gave them to her. She’d never create exactly the same cakes, biscuits, and brownies as me. No matter how hard she tried.

  Paige brought over our coffee and two confidence cookies. I figured Jodi could use the boost.

  “Okay, so you wanted to talk about Ted. You had a catering contract with him, so I assume you knew him reasonably well?” I prompted.

  Jodi took a sip of her coffee, then nibbled on her cookie, nodding her head. “Yes, I knew him pretty well. He’s given me a lot of contacts in the business world. My contract with him really opened some doors for me and my business got a huge boost.”

  “That’s excellent.” I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

  “His death was so unexpected.” Yes, well, that was often the case with murder, but I remained silent. Jodi went on: “I guess you know about Rebecca? I mean, I heard you’ve been working with Detective Hoffman on the case…”

  “I’ll level with you, Jodi,” I cut in. “I was snooping aro
und on my own first. My reputation was taking a hit, and even though I didn’t kill Ted, no one else knew that. You understand what bad publicity can do to a small business, right?”

  “Yes.” She looked away, unable to meet my eyes. Oh, yeah—she’d been helping perpetuate those rumors.

  “I figured out you knew Rebecca, and that Rebecca knew Ted in a very intimate way.”

  “Yes,” Jodi said. “Yes, she did.”

  I wasn’t prepared to lay it out for her. I had a feeling Jodi had something more to tell me, so I shut up and waited for her to speak again.

  “Rebecca and Ted had been seeing each other for about a year. They were so in love.” Jodi sighed. “Rebecca knew Roger would never divorce her, but she was prepared to leave anyway, just so she could be with Ted without having to sneak around.”

  “How did Ted feel about that?”

  “He was all for it. Marriage wasn’t important to him, but sharing Rebecca, even though she and Roger were no longer having sex, didn’t sit well with Ted. He wanted her to leave Roger, and it took Rebecca a long time to work up the courage.”

  “Right. So she told Roger she was leaving?”

  “Well, no. It didn’t get that far. Ted and Rebecca were finally on the same page, and then boom, Ted breaks it off with her. On the phone. He refused to see her face to face, had security turn her away when she showed up at his office and his home. He cut off all contact. She was devastated.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “But since then, Rebecca has changed. She’s become cold and bitter and nasty.” Jodi shook her head. “She’s nothing like the Rebecca I knew, and I can’t believe the change in her in such a short time.”

  “Do you think she killed Ted?”

  “Initially, I said there was no way on this earth that she could have killed him. She loved him so much. But lately, her behavior? I’m not so sure. He hurt her. Rejected her. Now I can’t help but think maybe she retaliated.” Jodi’s voice was barely a whisper.

  “Have you asked her?”

  “She won’t see me. Won’t answer my calls or text messages. We were best friends, and now she’s cut me off, like I’m nothing.”