Rebirth (Rogues Shifter Series)

by Gayle Parness

  His chest rose and fell as he slowly took in my scent and I instinctively sucked in a deep breath of my own. His was strangely sweet and somehow familiar. I was pretty sure that this guy was Rob's vampire friend.

  When he saw that I wasn't running out of the room screaming, he closed the distance between us. “Hello, Jackie. It’s a pleasure to meet you officially.” He didn’t hold out his hand and I was glad, because I thought since he wasn't exactly alive, that his skin might feel unpleasant.

  “My name is Garrett”. His voice resonated with a gentle persuasion as a tingle of energy urged me to look at him. I’d heard about vampires influencing others, at least in the books I’d read, forcing people to do things against their will. I looked down at my hands just in case any of that was true. I was so out of my element.

  “Hi,” I answered lamely. I was proud that my voice hadn't cracked, but my body tension was easy for anyone to pick up on. I peeked up through my lashes to see him smiling at me again. Apparently he thought I was extremely entertaining .I realized with horror that I was in my robe with my hair sticking out in every direction while he looked the perfect runway model.

  I pulled the robe tighter around myself and ran a hand through my hair. “You said, ‘meet you officially’. You’ve seen me before, haven’t you?” I avoided his eyes, trying to look past his shoulder instead.

  He laughed softly. “You can look at me. I won’t glamour you.” I didn’t move. He took another step and lowered his voice. “Please, Jackie, I’m a friend of Rob’s. You’re safe with me.” His voice was seductively rich and soothing: satin sheets against my skin. I shivered—and this time it wasn't from the cold.

  Rob tried to put me at ease. “Garrett and I have worked together for years. I was just telling him about your progress. He’ll be taking over your training soon. Ethan’s too.”

  Well this was just stupid. I had to get over my fear, especially if he was going to be training me. I raised my chin and forced myself to look directly at his face. His eyes were shining with humor, not dead and lifeless as I’d imagined a vampire’s eyes would be. His skin was pale, but not ashen, and his expression was warm, not threatening or frightening at all. He was, well, breathtaking is what comes to mind: a dark angel, his power undeniable.

  He spoke again as I watched in fascination. “To answer your question, three years ago I adopted you as a—well, not a project exactly. More of a willing responsibility, and I’ve been looking forward to finally meeting you in person.” His smile was brilliant and against my good sense, I found myself smiling shyly back, feeling slightly more comfortable. Even though, like Rob, he appeared to be only in his early twenties, Garrett spoke with a maturity that added years to my estimation of his age. He had no discernible accent, so I figured that he must be from somewhere nearby.

  “Rob told me that you shifted into a cheetah.” I nodded and noticed a subtle change in his expression. He was excited by the news. “And he says that you’re adjusting very well. It’s something I’ve noticed about you from the start, your amazing ability to adapt to new circumstances, even under extreme conditions.”

  He was suddenly standing only inches away, the closeness making me tremble. Hesitantly, he reached out, touching my cheek very gently with his fingertips. For some reason, I trusted that he wouldn’t hurt me and so I didn’t move away. His fingers were warm, not cold like I thought they’d be, and as they traveled down my face to hold my chin, I felt my skin flush with heat. I tried to look away, but his grip was firm and I was instantly drawn into the blue depths of his amazing sapphire eyes.

  “I wish I could have stepped in sooner, but it was impossible.” He released my chin and took my hands in his, inspecting them as if he expected to see my old scars. Was he apologizing? I must have looked confused because he gently dropped my hands and straightened up, smiling and looking very young again.

  “As much as I’d like to get to know you, I have business to discuss with Rob. Therefore I must say bonsoir. We’ll be meeting again very soon.” He nodded, turning and walking quickly out to the porch, leaving behind his sweet scent, still mysteriously familiar.

  Rob said, “Please go back to bed. You'll need your strength tomorrow.”

  I walked back to my room, still feeling Garrett’s feather-light touch on my cheek. Crawling under the covers I tried to sleep, but instead lay there sorting through the fragmented memories of what had happened to me on that dark evening two years ago.

  “Where are you running, sweetheart?”

  I was two months shy of fifteen years old. My day at school had been great. I’d made plans to go out to a movie with a really nice boy and a bunch of other new friends. I’d come home from studying at the library only to find my latest social worker in the living room telling me that once again, I’d be moving to a new town and a new family. I lost control and ran. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay much attention to where I was going.

  It was around 8:00 PM and I was on an unfamiliar road. There were two men outside a house and they’d called to me as I ran by. I ignored them, so they cursed at me and I stupidly flipped them off. I was angry and careless but I was sure that I could outrun them without a problem. They jumped into their car but I turned into a park and headed down a pedestrian walkway, knowing they couldn’t follow me where there was no road. However, they were very familiar with this particular park and were able to cut me off where the road intersected the path farther along. From that point I remembered only snatches.

  Car doors slamming and the sound of feet rushing toward me

  “Where are you running, sweetheart?”

  My arms held behind me so tightly they hurt.

  My head yanked back by my ponytail and a knife held against my throat

  The scent of whiskey and cigarettes.

  A rag pushed roughly in my mouth.

  My heels dragging along the hard ground as we moved farther from the path.

  “So pretty."

  I remembered kicking cigarette breath in the groin and then him cursing at me. His larger friend released me, then stabbed me in the side when I tried to get away. God, the pain... I stumbled back, managing to hold up my hands as I tried to block the rest of his attack .He sliced at my hands and my arms and I fell on the frozen ground. Cigarette breath kicked me in the ribs and I heard something break. Pain was all I knew and my blood was everywhere.

  “You’re dying tonight bitch.” As I was passing out, I heard him scream.

  Later that night, I woke up in the hospital. The police asked me what happened to the men who’d attacked me, but I’d been unconscious and didn’t know anything. Three weeks later, body parts washed up on the beach twenty miles north of my town. They were identified as belonging to both of my assailants.

  Chapter Eleven

  Getting up the next morning I dressed quickly, intending to grab a cup of coffee and then a shower. Outside my room I practically collided with Ethan who then held my shoulders so I couldn’t pass him, but after a few seconds he let go and backed up.

  “I see you’ve met Garrett," he said with a scowl. “You reek of vampire.”

  I sniffed my hands. I liked it “Not a fan?” I asked, teasingly.

  “He’s okay, but I hate the stench. Most of them are trouble.” Ethan grabbed both of my hands, sniffed them and before I could pull away, licked each one, grinning hugely. He called out as he walked past, “Now you smell healthy, like a shifter.” I laughed as I turned back to the bathroom to wash my hands, ridding myself of vampire and cougar.

  After breakfast Rob took us out to the yard and had me place my hand on Ethan’s shoulder as he crouched and shifted into his cougar and back again. He had Ethan explain how he did it. “I visualize myself in cougar form, imagining that I’m feeling each specific physical difference. As soon as I sense the power surge, I force myself to breathe deeply and focus on my hands and feet changing form. They always seem to transition first. There's pain but then the change itself flows naturally after that. It's gotten prett
y quick with practice.”

  I tried to do the same, struggling at first. Rob and Ethan continued to encourage me and after several frustrating tries I felt an overwhelming urge to allow the shift free rein. I found that I was able to shift more quickly and less painfully if I relaxed into the pain, instead of fighting against it.

  My larger feline companions led me into the woods to hunt for the first time. Opening my senses to the forest around me, I heard the heartbeats of several warm-blooded creatures in the area. I narrowed down my focus to one unlucky hare and set about the task of stalking it until I saw it up ahead nibbling on a loganberry bush. Lying in wait for the perfect moment to attack was difficult for me as I’ve never been patient when a goal was in reach. Rob had to practically sit on my tail to make me wait for the right moment to rush from the cover of the sword ferns. Happily, my instincts kicked in at the perfect time and I pounced on the surprised brown hair and bit into his neck making a clean kill.

  My more human form might have cringed to see the cheetah kill and eat the terrified animal, but my appetite was satisfied in a way I would never experience as a human. The chase had given me an adrenaline rush unlike any other, and my physical strength seemed to increase with each bite as I shivered in ecstasy over the bare bones of the unlucky hare licked clean. When I'd finished and was grooming myself in the usual feline way, Rob's leopard cuffed my head playfully with his giant paw and Ethan's cougar blinked and licked my face. Somehow, I didn’t mind at all.

  That afternoon, Ethan taught me to play backgammon while Rob emailed a few people and made some phone calls. Ethan turned out to be a good teacher, but after a couple of hours I was ready to stretch my legs and take a human run. Ethan said he’d tag along too so I slowed down my pace and we made it to the ocean together. We sat on an outcropping of rock and stared at the sea, both of us lost in our own thoughts for several minutes.

  I glanced at Ethan's unusually serious expression and decided to break the ice. “Solo Island, huh? I guess I understand the name. It is kind of lonely out here. Why are you here on the island?”

  He shook his head and looked away. “Not now, okay? I’ll tell you one day."

  “Sure.” I decided to try another subject. “What do you know about Garrett?”

  Ethan’s mouth turned down. “He’s dangerous. There’s nothing else you need to know. Just stay away from him.”

  I frowned at his bossy tone. The memory of Garrett’s concerned eyes and the gentle touch of his hands on mine still made me smile. “There’s something familiar about him. I trust him.” I shrugged and looked back at Ethan.

  Ethan sighed in exasperation. “Even though he’s Rob’s friend, you should know that he has a bad rep, so it’s probably better if we have as little to do with him as possible.”

  “We’ll be training with him soon.” I decided to file away Ethan’s words of caution, knowing that he meant well. But as I nestled under the covers later that night, I wondered when I would see Garrett again. I didn’t realize that it would be quite so soon.

  Chapter Twelve

  I dreamt.

  It was evening and I was walking alone in a lovely garden surrounding a spectacular villa nestled into the cliffs above the Pacific. In the distance I could hear waves crashing on the rugged shore, gulls screeching in their search for the last juicy fish of the day and the first crickets of the evening entertaining me in stereo. My footsteps echoed loudly on the stone path, and as the garden darkened, my skin started to buzz with electricity. I caught a familiar scent.

  Garrett walked toward me gracefully, eyes bright blue dotted with strange silver flecks, looking like every girl's fantasy. Warnings flashed in my head but I was already lost, my eyes locked on his as he came ever closer. Why was he here, I wondered? Was this his home?

  His closeness made me nervous, so I bit my lip as I had when I'd first met him, only this time a single drop of blood escaped and dripped down to my trembling chin. He reached out and captured the red droplet with a finger, lifting it slowly to his perfect mouth, sucking gently as I watched, enthralled. A slight shudder rippled over his body when he swallowed, then the silver flecks turned to streaks. but I wasn't afraid. Almost tenderly he grasped my hands and pulled me to sit beside him on a bench overlooking the sea, then wrapped an arm around my shoulder to pull me closer.

  “Jacqueline,” he whispered into my hair, “I was afraid for you. Now you’re safe with us.”

  My heart beat very fast.“I don’t understand.” I whispered into his shoulder.

  “Jacqueline.” He'd said my name with a French accent, lifting my chin with his finger so I'd have to look into his eyes. “May I show you something? You should know the truth."

  "Yes”

  His blue eyes drew me in as the scene quickly changed and I appeared in the park, an invisible bystander watching a younger me being beaten and stabbed by my long ago attackers. Only this time Garrett arrived like a hungry demon, ripping into them with sharp fangs and supernatural strength. The men screamed and then died. As horrible as it was, I couldn't look away.

  Then the dark angel was crouching beside me, holding my horribly injured body with great gentleness. He bit into his wrist, then encouraged me to drink his blood. I was pale, barely breathing and probably close to death. However, as I drank, the bleeding slowed and stopped and my color improved quickly. I heard an ambulance in the distance as Garrett lowered me gently to the ground and disappeared into the trees in a blur of motion, carrying away the bodies of my attackers.

  The vision faded and I was once more leaning against him outside the villa, feeling both grateful and terrified at the same time. “I was almost too late. Je suis desole. I’m so sorry.” His eyes gleamed with anger and frustration and such sadness. “Sleep now, Jacqueline.” The black velvet night swallowed us both.

  I woke up soaked in sweat and trembling violently. Reliving the attack had made me feel ill. I stumbled to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face then sank down to the tile floor and wrapped my arms around my bent knees.

  I’m losing it. Did Garrett come to me in a dream and show me how he saved my life two years ago? “Ridiculous” I said out loud. That drug must still be affecting my mind. And the whole me-drinking–his-blood thing was just too weird. But why did he seem so familiar? I opened the bathroom window and took in a few deep breaths of fresh air.

  When I stumbled back toward the bed, I looked at the small clock on the dresser. Great, What am I going to do at 5:00 AM? I decided to get dressed, sneak out the back door and then take a walk to straighten out my head. I’d noticed a narrow path that led south. Rob had said to avoid it, but since my night vision was excellent, and I wasn’t usually big on following rules that made no sense, I chose to check it out.

  Moving as quietly as possible down the forbidden path, I soon forgot the dream and became much more interested in my surroundings. Under oak and fir trees, azalea and huckleberry shrubs colored the dark trail with blooms which would brighten in the early light. The first chirping and warbling of birds in the high branches caused me to glance up and notice the moon in its waxing phase. Before long it would be full, lighting up the woods with a silvery glow. Good thing I wasn’t a werewolf, I thought smugly. They’d probably be pretty jumpy right now, waiting for their forced change. Or maybe they liked the hunt as much as shifters. I stifled a laugh with my hand when I realized how, in just a few days, I’d come to accept this crazy supernatural world.

  I heard noises ahead so I crouched and listened intently, peeking out between the larger leaves of a thick bush. Three men were speaking in hushed tones, but with my acute hearing I could understand every word. They walked toward me on the path at a steady pace, looking confident and excited.

  A stocky man with Hispanic features was talking. “Roberto is crazy, spending time out here with these rogues. The other others turned out okay, but these two have a troubled history. They’re a lost cause.”

  A man with a short red beard and knit hat, piped in.” T
hey should be put down. We can take care of that for him today.” He patted his side, as if he had a weapon hidden there. Goosebumps erupted on my skin. Ethan and I were in trouble.

  The tall blond with light eyes argued with the others. "You need to calm down. We’re here representing the council. If we think they’re dangerous then we take them into custody and Maya and the rest deal with them.”

  The dark haired one asked, "Do you think it is safe to bring them back to Crescent City?"

  “Of course. The last two adjusted just fine. I hear that Sinc is a whiz at programming and forensics and Kyle is the best young fighter we’ve had in a long time. Plus his tech skills are as sharp as Sinc's. Maya told me they've been developing new weapons. God knows we’ll need them now that those two werewolf packs have started trouble.”

  My thoughts raced, one after the other. Run away to save myself—run back to the cabin to warn Rob and Ethan—confront these men here, alone. I had to make a decision. My old instincts told me to run away. It was the way I’d always operated, but not this time. If these men were armed, I needed to stop them before they got to the cabin, which was still about a mile behind me.

  I felt a hand close around my mouth to keep me from crying out, but a moment later I took in a whiff of eucalyptus. "Shh. It's me." Ethan whispered. "I heard you leave. Who're those guys?"

  I explained quickly, sometimes using hand signals when I could. We decided to continue our surveillance for a little longer. Ethan led us slowly behind the brush along the trail, hoping to keep us hidden. Suddenly a red squirrel dove out of a nearby tree and raced across the path drawing a surprised gasp from me.