by Elle Thorne
Leandra shrugged. “We’ll fill you in after you get us out of here.”
He and Griz unloaded a dinghy, and two-by-two, they unloaded the porch.
Lana was so happy to have her feet on solid land.
“What the hell happened?” Griz gave Slate a dirty look. “And how the hell did you get here?”
Slate shrugged. “My bear happened. And he’s how I got here, too. I owe Leandra a porch. Guess I’ll be staying in Louisiana while I put one together for her. Though I don’t understand why you keep this cabin. It’s had better days.”
Leandra’s expression was cryptic. “This cabin has history. And it has power. It sits on a convergence of ley lines.” She winked. “Big power.”
Lézare nodded. “This is true. The power here is legendary among locals.”
Lana turned to Slate. “Do you really intend to stay here? To work on the porch?”
He plucked a splinter loose from a sideways leaning part of the handrail. “Seems the right thing to do.”
“There’s no need, frere,” Lézare said. “We’ll do the rebuilding.” His gaze encompassed Slate and Lana. “But if you two would like a place to stay for a while…? I understand you might need to lie low for a spell while things work themselves out. Things that involve you and your brother.”
She flipped her gaze to Griz. He’d told Lézare? She grew concerned on Slate’s behalf.
Griz shook his head. “Before you go thinking I’ve given anything away, I’ve only divulged the barest of bones.”
“This is true,” Lézare concurred. “What do you think? My hospitality is being offered. You’d find Arceneaux a very relaxing stay. And then there’s New Orleans. The French Quarter. The Warehouse District. The oak shaded Garden District. Historic mansions. Boutiques. Lavish gardens.”
She glanced at Slate, a touch excited about being able to sightsee in the world-renown city of New Orleans. Not to mention, how happy she was Nephraline no longer had a place in her life.
“Yes, stay.” Leandra put her hand on Lana’s. “There are answers here.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Strolling down St. Phillip heading toward Decatur Street, Slate and Lana passed by a little café which exuded a humming sort of power, drawing one in.
“You feel that?” he asked her.
She was in a green sundress that brought out her eyes, spaghetti-thin straps holding the light fabric in place while a light breeze swept through the French Quarter of New Orleans.
“I do. I think. It’s—” She shuddered. “It’s kind of like some sort of witchy power or something. Is that what you mean?”
“Yeah. I guess. I don’t know. I’m a shifter. We don’t do witch vibes.” He guided her closer to the building, almost inside it.
“Mais, cher,” a sultry voice beckoned from the dim interior. “You wan’ to pass the time? Come in. Have a café au lait. Maybe a beignet. Better tha’ Du Monde, it is. Trus’ me on that.” The woman stepped out, partway, into more lighting.
The woman was ageless, but not old. Couldn’t say the same about her eyes. They were old, old eyes, which, for some reason, brought Sidonie to Slate’s mind. The woman was attired in a red peasant blouse with a multicolored skirt. A matching headwrap. Her feet were bare, which made him wonder how that worked with health code inspectors. But then again, he wasn’t one, so whatever.
“You want some coffee?” he asked Lana. He’d personally rather have something cold. With lots of ice, in a glass he could hold against his forehead. The heat in Louisiana was relentless. Three weeks here and he was close to regretting having accepted Lézare’s offer.
“Sure,” she said. “Plus, I’m curious about the place.”
He guided her inside, checking out the place. A closed-in courtyard garden sat in the back, with plants against all the walls and in a centerpiece of elephant ears, jasmine, honeysuckle, and ivies.
“You wan’ sit outside?”
I want to sit in an igloo, somewhere not so damned hot it feels like one of the nine circles of hell in Dante’s Inferno. Though he couldn’t exactly say that.
“Sure,” Lana beat him to answering. “Two café au lait, please. And two beignets. Since you said they’re so good.”
“Oh, much better.” Though the way the woman spoke, it sounded closer to betta. She disappeared through a door he hadn’t noticed.
He held a wrought iron chair out for Lana who sat then leaned back and studied him while he took his seat. “You don’t like it here, do you?”
“It’s not my type of locale. You?”
She shrugged. “I don’t see it as a permanent place to live, no. But for the time being, while we—” She grabbed the chair’s armrests. Her head flew back, eyes wide, unfocused and rolling back.
“Lana.” He jumped up, kneeled next to her. “Oh, hell.” He knew this routine. He’d experienced it. She was having a damned vision. So far, she’d been vision-free since Nephraline’s banishment. He hoped it was a good sign her visions had returned. Lana hadn’t complained about not having them, but he knew she was concerned something had dramatically changed—and for the worse.
“Ah, she has the gift.” The woman entered the courtyard, two coffees and beignets on a tray.”
He looked up from Lana. “What do you know about this?”
“The gift of sight. She’s a seer. Is she not?”
He nodded.
“It is a blessin’ from the ol’ country. She’s a rare one.”
That she is, he thought. That she is. He noticed her eyes were open, and she was studying the woman.
“You know about my visions?”
The woman nodded. “I do, young one. My name is Eremithra. I had a great-great aunt who had the visions. She came from the old country. Her family moved to the Balkans centuries and centuries ago.”
“I’ve never met anyone else who has this.” She reached for the woman’s hands. “Please tell me more.”
“Why, there’s no more to tell, chile. It is the gift. It travels down a mother’s line. It’s in the bloodline, but skips generations.”
“I didn’t know my mother.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I have no one I can ask about this.”
“Tis of no consequence. Your mother did not have the gift. Possibly not even your grandmother. So there would be no one to ask.”
Slate rose and stood behind Lana’s chair, his hands on her shoulders, offering comfort, though he wasn’t sure if it would do any good.
Lana sighed. “How am I supposed to handle this skill? What am I supposed to do with this gift?”
“What have you done so far in your life, with it?” Eremithra crossed her arms. “Well, tell me. What have you done?”
“Nothing. I just see things.”
“Then that is what you will continue to do. That is all you can do. See things. My gran’ had the sight. She said it told her of things that might happen. That this was all there was to it.”
Her hands trembled as she raised them to tuck her hair behind her ears. “Were your grandmother’s visions accurate?”
“She never had a false one.”
Lana slapped a hand over her mouth.
“What’s wrong?” He sidestepped and studied her face, concerned.
“I saw something.”
“Was it bad? Are you okay?” His heart plummeted. “Is Dunn?”
“It wasn’t Dunn.” A tiny smile played on her lips. “It was you.”
“Me?”
She nodded, her cheeks flush with a rosy color. “Holding a baby. A mountain range was behind you.”
He stared at her. “What? Wait a minute.”
Eremithra clapped her hands. “If the sight has shown you this, then it surely will come to pass.” She pulled Lana to her feet and hugged her. “Find peace with your gift. It is a good thing.”
She hugged the woman back. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”
He realized his jaw had dropped open. “Are you…? Does that mean—”
She b
urst into laughter. Eremithra joined her. “No,” Lana said. “I don’t think it necessarily means right now, but…” she shrugged. “I guess it’s going to happen?”
He grabbed her in a bear hug while, in his mind, his bear roared with happiness. “Best news ever.”
“The baby or the fact we’re going back to the mountains,” Lana teased.
Slate planted a kiss on his woman’s lips while Eremithra walked away, hand over her head, waving at them.
“You’re something else,” he told her, pulling away from their kiss.
Maybe New Orleans had been good for something. Gave his woman peace with her gift, after all.
Was he in a rush to leave here? He wouldn’t say it was a rush, but sure, he was ready to go back.
Permanently.
Yes, he’d found a home at Bear Canyon Valley.
A home he could share with his mate. And soon, hopefully, their baby.
Keep reading for an excerpt from the next book in the series!
Excerpt: Illusion
Meri’s a forensic pathologist with a spectacular arrangement with Notre Dame University—practically unlimited access to funds and a paid position to perform her dream research.
The price she has to pay for this arrangement? Notre Dame occasionally loans out her highly specialized skills. Other than pose an occasional disruption to her research schedule, this arrangement works well. She’s got no problem with sinking herself into her work, especially now that philandering Josh Monroe is out of the picture.
Deathbending bear shifter Dunnigan Youngblood’s got a hell of a problem. He’s got to sneak out of a morgue before someone decides to cut into him. Too late.
Chapter 1
“Meredith?”
Meredith Morales—Associate Director of Forensic Sciences at Notre Dame—looked up from her computer screen. She was young for the position, but it came with a price. Meredith—Meri to most of her friends, but not to her boss, who was the one on the other side of the monitor, calling her name—put on a smile, though she wasn’t appreciative of the interruption. This was sacred research time. But, as a fairly renowned forensic pathologist in her field, she’d made a deal with the devil. And today, the devil—Doctor Felton Broussard—was calling her name.
“Doctor Broussard?” She took note of the pencil marks on his chest where he’d missed his pocket protector, the black rims on his thick glasses, and the receding hairline, but mostly, she noted the harassed expression on his face. She’d seen that expression before, and she knew it meant someone important had called, requesting her services. “What can I do for you, Doctor Broussard?”
He cleared his throat with a raspy hack. Another harbinger of bad news. “Your services have been requested.”
The very words she feared she’d hear. She kept the smile plastered on her face but wondered if her eyes reflected her irritation. Maybe this would be an easy request. One that would allow her to get back to her work quickly, but like she already figured, the man’s expression did not bode well.
The deal with the devil she’d made? Yeah, she’d made it willingly, but…damn. So here it was. The deal. A fancy title, Associate Director of Forensic Sciences at Notre Dame, ooh la! A steady paycheck. Unlimited access—practically—to research at Notre Dame. Unlimited funds—also, practically—to pay for that research. The tradeoff? She could be outsourced to any government—or private entity with enough cash to satisfy Notre Dame’s coffers. The projects almost always involved cutting into people because—hello!—forensic pathologist. It most often involved dead people, though Meri had assisted with an occasional project involving live specimens…erm, people. Not specimens, she reminded herself.
So now, again, it was time to pay the piper. She bit back a grumble because, let’s be real, it was not as though she was called upon more than a couple of times per year.
“Who am I working for this time?”
Confoundment crossed his face. “That’s just it. This came down from one of the Board of Fellows—Agnes Gaston.”
She sat back in her chair. The Board of Fellows. This was a new one on her. Usually it was the Department of Defense or a specific four-star general at the Pentagon or the Center of Disease Control. But for something to come directly from the Board of Fellows? That didn’t—hadn’t ever—happened. That she knew of, anyway.
“So, this is for the Board of Fellows.”
He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “All I know is one of them conveyed the request. I don’t know who is behind it or anything more than that. And it’s a top priority. You’re to pack for five days. That’s what they said.”
“Where am I going?”
His blue eyes, with the filminess of one who’d reached a certain elderly age, locked gazes with hers. “I have no idea. Can you leave your research for a few days? Will the samples you’re working on deteriorate?”
Clearly, Doctor Broussard knew about the finer points of cytopathology, and though he never pressured Meri for details about her work prematurely, she was appreciative to have a boss who got it. She clicked to save the program then shut down the computer. “It will be okay. I’ll leave some directions with the lab.”
“Fair enough. I’ll tell Agnes Gaston you’ll be ready to go in…?” He waited for her.
“An hour.” Enough time to run to her apartment and pack a couple things, water her plants—thank goodness she had no pets, who could with this kind of demand on her time?—and be ready to go. Which reminded her… “Where should I go when I’m packed?”
“She said they’ll pick you up at your place. I’ll give them the address.”
“Alright. An hour, then.”
Afterword
Hope you enjoyed Slate and Svetlana’s story. This is just one of many books in the Shifters Forever Worlds, and there are many more to come.
Look for the next one! If it’s not out yet, it’s coming soon!
Happy Reading!
The Shifters Forever Worlds
SHIFTERS FOREVER SERIES
Are you ready for it?
I have a whole world full of shifters to share with you. I’m listing them here, in the suggested reading order, though I’ve tried to make it so that you can pick up anywhere in the series as we all have probably done that at one point or another.
Many of these are organized in box sets for savings. Be sure to visit www.ellethorne.com to see which box sets are out!
* * *
Where’s the best place to start? Well, probably with Shifters Forever.
SHIFTERS FOREVER starts the series off with grizzly bear shifters and their mates that steam up the pages in these swoon-worthy paranormal romances. From trespassers with hidden agendas to curvaceous women who are ready to take a chance, the stories in this collection will capture your heart.
•Protection
•Seduction
•Persuasion
•Invitation
•Temptation
•Attraction
* * *
ALWAYS AFTER DARK is a spinoff with the white tiger from Shifters Forever: Vax, born Vittorio Tiero. He’s the one that helped Kane out during a shifter battle. Follow the Tiero family, a group of white tiger shifters, as they head to America to find love... and heart-stopping danger. Full of romance, suspense, and gritty drama, this red-hot collection is sure to entertain!
•Controversy
•Territory
•Adversary
•Sanctuary
* * *
NEVER AFTER DARK is another spinoff that takes place in Europe. Here we visit cities along the Mediterranean and meet the old school Tiero white tiger shifters who are resistant to change.
•Forbidden
•Forsaken
•Forgotten
•Foreplay
* * *
ONLY AFTER DARK takes place in New Orleans. The Arceneaux shifters, led by Lézare, Vax’s white tiger cousin—on his mother’s side. The Arceneaux are the black sheep of the fa
mily. Lézare doesn’t cave to public opinion. He dictates policy in the area he rules and he shuns old school European rules and regimes.
•Desirable
•Insatiable
•Combustible
•Undeniable
* * *
MORE ONLY AFTER DARK takes place in New Orleans. The Arceneaux shifters and the Matthieu witches wreak havoc and find love within this city set on the steamy Louisiana coastline.
•Inevitable
•Inescapable
* * *
BITTER FALLS FOREVER features Mae Forester’s nephew Dane Forester, a freewheeling, sexy, successful, movie star who uses every role and every woman to escape and forget the heartbreak he left in Bitter Falls.
•Unbound
* * *
BARELY AFTER DARK features more of Mae Forester’s nephews! Grizzly bear shifters steam up the pages in these swoon-worthy paranormal romances. From trespassers with hidden agendas to curvaceous women who are ready to take a chance, the stories in this collection will capture your heart.
•Cross
•Lance
•Judge
* * *
Ever After Dark introduces us to the white tigers you learned to love in Always After Dark, Never After Dark, and Only After Dark. See their heritage. Visit Giovanni Tiero and his brothers Federico and Tito. Get reacquainted with Isabel Tiero and meet her sister Capriana Valenti.
•Stonebound
•Formidable