She opened her eyes. “No. I didn’t see anything like that. The gun went off and hit Ronan, but his Collar never sparked. I think Ronan was just trying to take the weapon away from Marquez.”
Kim turned back to the judge, looking as professional as ever, but with a sparkle of triumph in her eyes. “There’s a whole ream of scientific data on Shifters as to why they can’t commit an act of violence while they wear Collars. If the Collar didn’t go off in Ms. Chapman’s store, that means my client had no malicious intent toward Marquez. My client saw the danger to Ms. Chapman and stepped in to make sure she wasn’t hurt, and in the scuffle to keep the gun away from Marquez, Marquez was knocked unconscious. If my client had any intent to hurt or kill, the Collar would have had him in agony, even a big man like him.” Kim walked to the judge’s bench, rose on tiptoe, and laid a thick folder on it. “Here are a few of the many studies done on the Collars. I can produce more if Your Honor needs them.”
The judge looked irritated. She flipped the file open, flipped it closed, gave Kim a dirty look, and sent a nastier one to Ronan.
“I’m going to let your client go,” she said. “Not because you make a good point, Ms. Fraser. Partly it’s because Marquez has previous arrests for armed robbery, and Ms. Chapman’s story is plausible, but mostly because it’s late and I want you all out of my courtroom. But I’m going to tell you, Mr. Ronan, to confine yourself to Shiftertown and not leave it for one month. I don’t want you anywhere near humans, understand? If you leave Shiftertown, I will have your carcass hauled in front of me again, and then you won’t walk out of here so easily.”
“Begging Your Honor’s pardon.” Liam Morrissey shot her his charming grin. “Ronan’s job lies outside Shiftertown, just outside the gates, in fact. He works for me, and he supports three kiddies with his salary. It would be a great hardship on his family if he couldn’t go to his job.”
“Fine.” The judge scowled, but even she wasn’t immune to Liam’s smile. “He goes to work, then right back home. Consider him under house arrest. I’m holding you responsible for him.” The judge pointed her gavel at Liam then banged it on the bench. She got up, robes swirling, and stalked out through the door behind the bench, which slammed.
Elizabeth was bursting to ask Liam what had happened at her house, but she had to wait for the bailiff to unlock Ronan from his shackles and then unlock the doors to let them out. Both Ronan and Kim had to sign things after that, and then they all had to walk out of the courthouse, back to the dark streets outside.
“What about my sister?” Elizabeth nearly shouted at Liam as soon as they cleared the front door.
Ronan put a large hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder, but it was comforting, not heavy. Kim walked close to her other side.
“Mabel’s fine, lass,” Liam said. “My brother and dad got there in time. They and my trackers scared the bad guys away.”
“What bad guys? Why were they trying to break into my house?”
They started down the street to the nearly deserted parking lot a half block away. Only two vehicles stood in the lot: Elizabeth’s small pickup and a sweet-looking Harley.
“I don’t know,” Liam said. “Sean only told me that your sister was safe and that the trackers were sniffing around, seeing what they can find out.”
“Trackers—you said that before. What trackers?”
“The trackers work for Liam,” Ronan said. “They’re guards, finders, warriors. Some of them can be complete assholes, but they’re the best at what they do.”
“Nothing will happen to Mabel with my trackers looking out for her,” Liam said. “I promise you that.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes a brief moment in relief. “Thank you, Mr. Morrissey.”
“Yeah, thanks, Liam,” Ronan said. “And you, Kim. Especially you.”
Ronan shouldered Liam out of the way and snatched Kim into a big hug. A bear hug, Elizabeth thought, feeling a little hysterical. Kim hugged him in return, and Liam stood by, not seeming to mind the large man holding on to his wife.
Kim patted Ronan’s back. “You’re welcome, big guy. Can I breathe now?”
Ronan released her and stepped back, then damned if he didn’t turn and enclose Liam in the same kind of hug. Elizabeth watched, eyes widening, as Liam wrapped his arms around the bigger man and held him close.
“You get used to it after a while,” Kim said. Her nose wrinkled with her smile. “Sort of.”
Liam and Ronan broke apart. Liam reached for his wife—no, his mate. Elizabeth was never going to get used to these terms. Liam hugged Kim and kissed her firmly on the mouth, and then he turned to Elizabeth and Ronan, one arm securely around Kim.
“Take her home, Ronan.”
Elizabeth blinked. “What? He can’t. He was put under house arrest ten minutes ago. That doesn’t include driving across town to my house.”
Ronan stood very close to Elizabeth. She could feel the heat from his body, remembered the feel of the powerful bear rushing past her in his intense and deadly charge. Ronan had saved her life, tonight. His Collar might not have gone off, but no matter what Elizabeth had told the judge, the bear in him had been ready to kill. Elizabeth had seen the need for murder in men’s eyes before, and Ronan had definitely had it.
“No room for me on Liam’s Harley,” Ronan said. “I’ll have to go with you.”
Liam and Kim had already mounted the motorcycle, Liam leaving the rest of the arrangements up to Ronan and Elizabeth.
“All right, you have a point,” Elizabeth said. “But I’ll take you back to Shiftertown and then drive myself home.”
“Whatever.” Ronan held out his hand. “Keys.”
“What? No. It’s not like I’m drunk.” Yet.
“After the night you’ve had? Nope. I’m driving you home.”
Elizabeth felt sick and stretched, her head ached, and her eyes felt hollow. She needed about a gallon of water and then one of coffee, a long bath, a hot toddy, and a really good night’s sleep. After she made sure Mabel was safe.
“Fine.” She dropped the keys into Ronan’s hand.
“Cool.” He snapped his fingers around them. “I’ve always wanted to drive one of these little pickups. Don’t tell anyone.”
The Harley roared to life. Liam lifted his hand and so did Kim, then Liam pulled out into the night. Kim, helmeted, leaned into Liam’s back, as though she loved him body and soul. A human and a Shifter. What a crazy night.
Ronan opened the passenger door and got Elizabeth inside. “I’m supposed to like muscle cars. Strongman, macho cars.” He shut her door and went around to the driver’s side. He barely fit behind the wheel and had to slide the seat all the way back. “Monster trucks. Bad-ass motorcycles. Anything big and chunky that makes a lot of noise. Nothing cute and girlie. So keep this quiet. Deal?”
Now he was making her laugh. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Not that Ronan could ever be mistaken for cute and girlie. He was huge but solid, like a pro wrestler, tall but perfectly proportional. His face wasn’t exactly handsome—too hard for that, and he’d had his nose and right cheekbone broken at some time in his past. But his face was striking. His eyes were dark brown, almost black, but not cold. They were warm, very warm.
Ronan started up the truck and peeled out of the parking lot. Elizabeth held on as he raced around a corner and pulled onto Seventh heading due east.
Elizabeth wanted to talk to Mabel, to reassure her sister that she was on her way home. She reached for her phone and found an empty place on her belt. “Oh, crap. Liam still has my cell phone.”
“Not surprised. Liam likes gadgets. He’ll give it back to you when he’s done with it.”
“Doesn’t he have his own?”
“Sure, but Shifters don’t get to have fancy smart phones. Our phones call and hang up, that’s it. I bet he’s texting every human he knows, or playing games, or taking pictures. He’s like a cub when he gets a new gadget in his hand. But I’ll make him give it back.”
&n
bsp; Ronan drove through the sparse traffic as he spoke, flashed under the I-35, and sped on in entirely the opposite direction from Elizabeth’s house.
“Where are you going?” she asked. “I live northwest of downtown.”
“You’re not going home,” Ronan said, gripping the wheel as he spun the truck around another corner.
“I’m not?” Her trepidation returned. “Why not?”
Ronan looked over at her and grinned. It was a warm grin, making his eyes twinkle. “Because I’m taking you to my home, Elizabeth Chapman. Shiftertown.”
CHAPTER 4
Ronan felt Elizabeth’s fear pouring off her as they neared the streets of Shiftertown. But there was nothing frightening about Shiftertown—at least, not these days.
When Ronan had first arrived from Alaska, though, he’d been scared as hell. Bears liked solitude, and Ronan had never lived near more than one or two people at a time in his life. In Shiftertown, scores of Shifters surrounded him, always. And then the human government had told him he had to let other bears live in the same house with him.
Ronan’s shyness had nearly killed him. Learning to survive the discomfort of being in a crowd, training himself to not react—either by running away or driving the others off—had been the hardest thing Ronan had done. People who derided shyness, or called it self-centeredness, didn’t understand it. Shyness was instinct. In the wild, the need for personal space—a lot of personal space—could spell the difference between survival and death.
But Ronan had conquered his fear long ago, thank the Goddess. Now Ronan knew everyone, and everyone knew Ronan, and he’d carved out his own place in this strange, new world.
Ronan drove around a dark corner that contained a deserted convenience store and headed into Shiftertown. Beyond an empty lot, which was purposely left derelict, Shiftertown unrolled in streets of neat lawns and well-kept bungalows.
These houses had been pretty much trashed and abandoned by the humans who’d lived there twenty years before, and the government department formed to deal with the Shifter situation had snapped up the cheap real estate and used it to house the Shifters. Shifters had moved in and repainted, reshingled, and repaired the houses themselves. Now anyone could walk fearlessly down the quiet streets of Shiftertown, doors could remain unlocked, and cubs could play safely in the front yards to all hours of the night.
Shifters, three species of them, now lived together without killing each other. Who would have thought?
Shiftertown was dark this late, though windows glowed in houses here and there. Felines and Lupines would be outside without lights, both species still nocturnal despite human effort to change that. Bears, much smarter, would be sound asleep, taking advantage of every moment of shut-eye they could get. Ursines used a lot of energy when awake, and they slept with dedication.
Elizabeth, beside him, took it all in while gripping the dashboard. “Are you going to bother to tell me why I’m in Shiftertown?”
“Sean brought your sister here, to my house.”
She whipped around to stare at him. “To your house? Why?”
“Well, he couldn’t take her to Liam’s house because Connor lives there, and that could get messy. Mabel likes Connor, but Connor’s still a cub.”
Elizabeth kept staring at him, clearly having no idea what he was talking about. “If you mean Connor who comes into my shop sometimes to flirt with Mabel, he’s not a cub; he’s in college.”
“He’s only twenty-one, and in Shifter terms, that’s still a cub. Won’t make his Transition for another, oh, seven or eight years yet. It’s best not to let him and Mabel be more than friends—too confusing and even dangerous for everyone. So, right now, my house is best. You’ve heard the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?”
“Sure, but what has that got to do with—”
“That story is total bullshit.” Ronan laughed, the rumble of it filling the truck. “At my house, nothing’s too hard or too soft. Everything is just right.”
He was rewarded with Elizabeth’s smile. He liked her smile, like a sudden flash of sunshine. He hated to see her so afraid. She shouldn’t be afraid, this sassy sweetheart.
Ronan slowed the truck, which he’d found fun to drive but a tight fit. He turned into the driveway, which was nothing but two strips of broken pavement that led behind the house. Ronan had turned the garage in the back into a work-and-play room he and his housemates called the Den, so he parked outside, behind the other car and a large motorcycle already there.
The motorcycle was Ronan’s—Sean or a tracker must have retrieved it from the street near Elizabeth’s store and driven it home for him. He hoped it hadn’t been Nate who’d fetched it. Stupid Feline drove like an idiot.
Ronan got out before Elizabeth could and went around to open her door. “Here we are,” he said, taking her hand to help her stand up. He liked her hand, small and warm in his. “Get ready for the horde.”
“The what?”
“No worries; I won’t let them hurt you.”
The “horde” tumbled out of the back door and off the porch Ronan had built around two sides of the house. They were Rebecca, a full-grown she-bear from Ronan’s clan; Scott, a black bear Shifter who was about twenty-seven and going through the pains of his Transition; Cherie, a grizzly, twenty in human years, who’d spent the first half of her life locked in a pen. Last came Olaf, the only polar bear in Shiftertown, nine in human years and still a true cub. Olaf had a sunny disposition, except when flashes of the past he couldn’t quite remember came to him in his dreams. They called him Olaf, but no one, not even Olaf, knew his real name. All wore Collars that gleamed under the porch lights.
Behind the bears was Mabel, Elizabeth’s twenty-one-year-old sister, whose hair today was pink streaked with green. She looked keyed up, frightened, and excited, all at the same time. She pushed past the bears and ran at Elizabeth, arms open.
“Lizzy, damn it, they said you almost got shot, and then you were at that police station for, like, ever. And then those guys came to our house—looking for you. They called through the front door asking where you were. And then Shifters, all over the place. Liam said it wasn’t safe for me to stay home, said I would meet up with you here. Have you seen that Spike guy? He is hot. I swear he has tattoos everywhere.”
Sounded like Mabel was all right then.
Rebecca looked at Ronan in concern. “Ronan? Liam said you took a bullet. You all right?”
Ronan held up his arm to show her the gauze bandage. “I’m fine. It just grazed me.” A tiny bullet cutting across Ronan’s triceps was nothing. He’d been shot with a Fae arrow last year—now that had hurt. The effing Fae spelled their arrows.
“You were jumping in front of bullets again, weren’t you, Ronan?” Cherie said, folding her arms. She had black-and-brown streaked hair, entirely natural, matching her grizzly’s coat. “You’ve gotta stop that. We need you without holes.”
“Leave him alone,” Scott said. “He did what he had to do.”
Scott was a black bear, the smallest of the horde when he shifted, but he was still tall and lanky, with black hair and a surly expression. The Transition was hard on him.
Olaf was still mastering English, having been located by Liam and brought to Shiftertown only a year ago. He had white-blond hair and black eyes, and his bear was too adorable to be real. “Mabel paints my hair too. Okay, Ronan?”
“I said he’d look cute with blue streaks in his hair,” Mabel said.
Rebecca shot Ronan an evil look. “I told him it was up to you.”
“Sure, thanks, Becks. Not now, Olaf. This is Elizabeth, Mabel’s sister. She and Mabel are staying. So keep it down so they can sleep. I’ll give them my room and sleep out in the Den.”
“No, no, no, don’t do that to them,” Rebecca said quickly. “They’re taking my room, which is habitable, and I’ll sleep in the Den. Putting them in your room would be cruel and unusual punishment.”
“I’m sleeping with Rebecca,” Cherie sai
d quickly. She always felt nervous when Rebecca was out of the house.
“Whatever. Female bears,” Ronan said to Elizabeth. “They like to take over. Everything.”
“Hey, Papa-Bear was out being arrested,” Rebecca said. “For being a knight errant. I didn’t realize that was a crime in the human world.”
“I did smack the guy,” Ronan said. “But he deserved it. His mother must be too soft on him.”
“His mother is probably terrified of him,” Elizabeth said. “Or maybe she’s as bad as he is, or—most likely—not there at all.”
Ronan realized he still had hold of Elizabeth’s hand. He also realized he wasn’t in that big a hurry to let it go. Rebecca noticed, but—thank the Goddess—kept her thoughts to herself.
“How do you know so much about humans like Marquez?” Ronan asked Elizabeth. “You said in the courtroom you knew exactly what he was going to do.”
Mabel rolled her eyes before Elizabeth could answer. “You do not want to know. Elizabeth was a juvenile delinquent. In a big way.”
“I thought they didn’t want to know.” Elizabeth shook off Ronan’s hand. “It’s nice of you, Ronan, but we can’t stay here. I don’t have a change of clothes, for one thing.”
“I brought your stuff,” Mabel said brightly. “And Sean says we have to stay. He’s cute, Lizzy—you should hear his Irish accent. Too bad he’s mated, but I like his mate. Andrea, you’ve met her before. Anyway, Sean says we’re staying in Shiftertown until Liam and the trackers make sure it’s safe for us to go home.”
Elizabeth held up her hands. “Mabel, stop talking for just a second—”
“Shiftertown’s the safest place for you,” Ronan broke in. “No one will find you here. The trackers will sniff around, find out what these people wanted with your house, and deal with them.”
Ronan saw Rebecca’s eyes flicker when he said, Deal with them, and the two bears shared a look. The phrase could have many shades of meaning, especially with the Morrisseys involved.
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