For a long moment Darby just looked at Goldie and said nothing. Then her mouth curved in a gentle smirk. “I kind of want to fuck with you like I’m not convinced, but for real, I can’t fucking wait. This shit is crazy. I could be a witch? Made to kill vampires? And these dudes are animals? I wonder what Riot is. Mmmm, or that yummy guy at the diner, maybe he’s one.” She rubbed her hands together and Goldie felt a stirring of apprehension. What on earth have I gotten these poor shifters into?
Goldie stood up, leaning in for a hug from Darby before she aimed her feet to exit. “I’ll let you know how it goes.” Darby waved her out and Goldie closed the door quietly behind her.
Immediately her eyes searched for Flint in the hallway, pushing to standing and coming towards her with a grin on his handsome face. “It sounded like that went well. Sisters again?”
Goldie stretched to her tiptoes for a kiss. “Sisters again.”
Flint took her hand and aimed them both for the elevators. “Let’s go home.”
A sigh escaped Goldie’s mouth as she tipped her head to lean on Flint’s upper arm. “Where’s home?”
Flint squeezed her hand and leaned over to kiss the crown of her head. “You know where home is, Goldie.”
Chapter 36 - Goldie Joins The Cause
With every mile closer to Resperanza they got, the more Goldie knew Flint was right. She knew where home was now. The feeling grew so strong that by the time Flint drove up the terracotta driveway with its sunburst pattern, Goldie could hardly sit still in her seat with the anticipation she felt. It was like when her parents had still been alive and they’d gone to Tallulah’s house for Sunday dinners, and Goldie had known that waiting for her was a big pot of gumbo or some other dish chock full of love, and precious time with the only person she could remember who had always been happy to see her.
They passed the front door this time and continued as the driveway curved and slanted downward around the side of the hacienda, next to the meadow, to a lower level with an outer wall marked by so many garage doors Goldie didn’t bother to count them. A few cars and trucks were parked on the big concrete pad, but Flint pressed a button on an automatic opener and pulled into a space inside where the wall in front of his bumper was marked with a painted bear claw. She looked over to the side and saw a blue Mini Cooper parked nearby, as well as Jameson’s truck, and on the other side a black motorcycle she recognized as Riot’s. Her eyes tracked the markings on each of their spots; a bat for the Mini she assumed belonged to Cora, a howling wolf silhouette for Jameson, then she stopped short at the next spot on the wall, marked with a fat, round pumpkin. So this is home.
Flint had that intense look on his face as they opened the door to step into the house and Goldie heard the murmur of a small crowd. The two of them rounded the corner hand in hand and Goldie realized she was in the enormous room where she’d first met Jameson and Cora, but this time it held considerably more people.
Her fellow switch jumped off one of the couches and ran to hug Goldie before she’d even gotten two steps inside the room. “Oh my fuck, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Goldie hugged Cora back and the warmth she felt expanded, swelled into a shock wave that moved from her heart to Cora’s to the space around them, making the whole house seem to tremor. Her vision didn’t go green, but it was like… like her soul did. She pulled back to meet Cora’s wide hazel eyes and fairy-faced smile. “I think Resperanza’s glad to see you, too. How’s Darby?”
Goldie swallowed her confusion and focused on Cora’s question. “Better. She might even be able to get out of the hospital soon. We’ll see what the doctors say.”
Jameson walked over, drew Goldie’s attention. “Flint said you two had talked about moving up here, bringing Bryce and Darby along?” His voice said no pressure, but his eyes said how soon can you start?
Goldie smiled and nodded. “I’m joining The Cause. If those bloodsuckers think they’re going to push me around they better be ready for a fight.”
Flint squeezed her hand and Goldie looked at him, a blush heating her cheeks at the pride she saw reflected in his eyes. The best part about having a warrior by her side was that he recognized her as one, too.
Cora and Jameson backed up a little, and Goldie could finally see what she was walking into. Scattered around the room were more than a half-dozen people. She recognized Bryce, of course, and Shiloh, but not the lean man standing next to her with the black hair and watchful eyes, Riot on his other side. A tall man with a sharp profile sat on a barstool next to a handsome black man with a smile so bright Goldie couldn’t help but return it. Carick, leaning against a wall, gave her a scowling nod. “Your first Undoing, switch. Well done.”
Cora took Goldie’s hand and patted it as she led her to the couch, to the middle cushion, and Flint settled on the other end. “Don’t mind him. He’s happy you’re here, he just doesn’t show it. Like, ever.” Cora winked in Carick’s direction. “Try just saying ‘hello’ next time, big guy.”
Goldie sat next to Cora on the couch and looked around nervously, grateful for Flint’s steady warmth beside her. Jameson was standing in the center of the room, a welcoming smile on his face as he looked at Goldie. “Everyone, you’ve heard about our newest member. Meet Goldie, the second Breath switch of the new generation. Goldie, on behalf of everyone working for The Cause: welcome. We’re glad you’re here.”
So that’s it? I’m in? She hadn’t even known what was happening! But it seemed to Goldie that this was a meeting of The Cause and she was part of it, as Jameson gave her a final smile and moved on with other business. “We need updates. Bryce, you brought us a present?”
Over at the bar, Bryce stood from his stool and reached down for a pillowcase resting on the floor beside him. Goldie heard the muffled clank of metal and felt her stomach clench. She knew precisely what was in the bag.
Bryce tossed the pillowcase to the center of the room, by Jameson’s feet. “Bloodchains. And let me tell you, those fuckers are freaky. I had a hell of a time getting ‘em unwound from the bed, it hurt like fire and getting electrocuted all at once. Had to put on leather gloves, for fuck’s sake.”
The pillowcase gave a clunk and everyone’s eyes shot to the bundle of dark magic in their midst. Goldie squinted. What the what?
Bryce cleared his throat nervously. “Yeah. Then there’s that.”
Shiloh scrunched her nose at the bundle. “So what are we going to do with them?”
Carick snagged the bag from the floor with a grumble. “I shall examine them.”
No shifter protested. Goldie didn’t blame them.
Jameson cleared his throat and moved on. “Dario?”
The dark-skinned man with the dazzling smile straightened slightly on his stool. “Had some friends of mine in Shady Pines PD do drive-bys of that address Flint gave me, looking for a man with skunk-striped black hair, orders not to approach, just report. Nothing. Hasn’t been seen since Goldie’s last run-in.”
Dario nodded her way as he continued. “Also thanks to Goldie, we got the missing person’s case resolved. Brittany’s moved back home with her dad and Lucas for the time being.”
Shiloh spoke up with a smirk. “Anyone else notice that Brittany is officially dumber than a dead body? Nine days and it never occurred to her to follow the stream from the Springs to the BBOC?”
Dario gave the sharp-tongued female shifter a what-can-you-do look and kept on with his report. “Plus Garner’s bones degraded down to nothing while they were sitting in the morgue, literally turned to dust in the body bag. There’s nothing left to even test, so that one will probably end up on the back burner before long. Been a good week for gettin’ shit done. Y’all don’t fuck it up for me.”
Jameson nodded, turned to the man with the sharp profile. “Aven, you got anything?”
Aven clacked his teeth once, almost as if he was offended Jameson had to ask. “We got someone new in the mix. The bogey who chased Goldie and her sister wasn’t human. Not shifter, either, or at lea
st not pure. Honestly, it was like nothing I’ve ever smelled before. I followed him almost all the way to Bryson City, then he pulled over, the door opened, and by the time I circled around he had just… disappeared.”
Eyebrows around the room went up. Aven flipped up fingers as he counted off his finds. “I didn’t get a good look at him except to say he was definitely male, anywhere from twenties to fifties, medium build, hair on the darker side. The car was a toss-away bought for cash from a lot near Bryson City by a guy nobody remembers, the tags were stolen that morning outside Turner’s Mill from a hiker’s parking lot, so no cameras to check. I don’t have a lead I haven’t chased down to nothing. I’ve got his scent now, though. If he comes into my forest again, I’ll know.”
Goldie was impressed. All she’d known about the man who followed them was that she wanted to be as far away from him as possible. Knowing Aven had his number was more of a relief than she would have expected. Just as she had been on the day they found Brittany, Goldie was struck by how reliable and valuable this group was going to be as she found her way into her new life. She glanced over at Flint and smiled. As they found their way.
Carick’s gruff voice spoke up from across the room, calling everyone’s attention. Goldie saw he was looking at Shiloh. “Speaking of that disaster, shifter, you were there? Did it not occur to you to stay put, call in reinforcements?”
Shiloh squared her shoulders, clearly ready to take her lumps, but Goldie spoke up before she could. “Uh, that’d be my fault. I was determined to get my sister, Darby, to safety, and whatever that guy in the car was, he made me want to run. I told Shiloh she could stay or go, but we were leaving. She came with us.” A glance at Shiloh showed the platinum-haired shifter looking back, a new regard in her eyes. She gave Goldie a silent nod.
But Carick was pushing off the wall, coming towards Goldie so fast that Flint beside her muscled his own weight forward. The huge man with the glittering black eyes stared her down hard. “Sister?”
Goldie stammered. Time to own up. “Yeah, uh, I know I said she was just my roommate but that was before… everything. She’s my sister. And she’d like to move in here, if it’s okay. Flint and I were thinking there’s a chance… well… that she might turn out to be a switch, too.” Goldie couldn’t bear to voice the uncertainty she’d shared with Flint, that Darby wasn’t her full sister and might not be a switch at all. As long as Darby was safe, the rest would work itself out in time. She had a much bigger team on her side now.
A murmur ran around the room. Next to her Flint spoke up as well. “We have plenty of room down here in the barracks. Bryce would move in, too. Now that the vampires have the duplex on their radar it’s not safe.” Goldie glanced at Bryce and thought Flint’s younger brother looked less than happy at the prospect of living here with all of them. Flint had told her on one of their dates that Bryce had been enjoying being on his own; she guessed now he was disappointed to find his wings being clipped once more.
Carick was looking at them all in turn with an expression of amused disbelief. “Best of luck to you all.” Then he paused, turned back to Goldie. “Your sister, tell me about her. Is she slender like you? Petite?”
Goldie’s face automatically pulled into a scowl. What did Darby’s body type have to do with anything? But Carick was on a roll. “And her hands. Is she good with her hands?”
Now, that was just twisted. Goldie looked at Jameson, standing nearby to see if he knew what the heck was up with Mr. Awkward. The Keeper cleared his throat and smiled at Goldie, a sparkle in his piercing blue eyes. “Why don’t you go find your room?”
Goldie clapped her hands and rose, Flint beside her, with a smile just for her in his sweet-as-chocolate eyes. She aimed her footsteps up the narrow staircase and past the dining room, the front door and beyond, to the glass-ceilinged atrium and the staircase she figured must lead to some bedrooms. But when they reached the enormous, round, plant-filled room, almost at once Goldie spied a door that she hadn’t before. Tucked under the stairs on the far side, and slightly ajar, she felt immediately drawn to open it.
The first thing Goldie noticed when she stepped inside was simply the sheer size of the room, but the second was the bed. The biggest she’d ever seen, it had to be even bigger than king-sized. Flint-sized, that’s what it was. And sturdy, with wide wooden posts at all four corners and wrought iron crossbars in between. Perfect for tying a bear to, or a Prowling switch, Goldie thought with a sexy shiver. And what was that topping each post? Goldie squinted as she walked closer, looking at the sculpted rustic finials and laughing when she finally recognized them. Pumpkins. “I like this room.”
She delved further inside as Flint slowly followed. The furniture was all unique, like nothing she’d ever seen before. A chest of drawers on one wall had sturdy legs that looked like beanstalks, and to her delight Goldie spotted a tiny Jack climbing one while a much larger giant carved into another leg waved his fist in the boy’s direction. The wooden entertainment center held a state-of-the-art sound system she couldn’t wait to try out, on a series of shelves connected by uprights that were carved to look like pumpkin vines. Goldie spun in a circle, delighting at all the subtle fairy tale touches, when it hit her. This room wasn’t just a lucky find. It was designed for her.
A giddy feeling grew in her stomach as she spun in a slow circle, noting ever-more-personal details. Sitting on the chest of drawers was the delicate metal model of a spinning wheel that Tallulah had gotten Goldie for her thirteenth birthday. And that was her Queen of Hearts bathrobe hanging on the hook of an open door in one corner. The door led to a luxurious bathroom, complete with a clawfoot tub big enough for two, even if the second person was Flint. Her single toothbrush rested in a stand on the counter next to the sink, her hairbrush on a silver tray beside it.
She staggered out of the bathroom and into the door opposite, which turned out to be a huge, perfectly organized walk-in closet. All of Goldie’s clothes were hung neatly on hangers or folded into built-in drawers. Her shoes were stacked on a shelf.
Goldie’s mind reeled and she let it, because the knowing she had went deeper than that, down past her heart and her soul and the very molecules that made up her body to the energy that made up everything, ever. This house was magic. Real magic. Even more real than the little balls of electricity she could toss around. Ancient. Wise. Infinite. And beyond that, she could tell that somehow Resperanza knew her, was deeply delighted to have her here. It was like having Tallulah alive again, in some small way. Goldie knew all the way through to her core that, here, in this place, on this ground, she was loved and looked after.
But then something struck her, even harder than the realization that Resperanza was magic. And this epiphany didn’t delight Goldie, it pissed her off. She stalked back across the room to where Flint was lurking with heavy eyes, and demanded to know. “Where the heck is your stuff?”
Chapter 37 - Staking Her Claim
Flint rubbed the scar on his neck with his knuckle. Hard, as if it would somehow stop his mind from reeling, his heart from aching. It was crazy enough spying the door in the atrium he could swear hadn’t been there before, but then to find this whole room that was so obviously Goldie’s, with her belongings already moved in and arranged? That was some straight trippy shit.
The gargantuan bed with the pumpkin accents, the other pieces of furniture so perfectly crafted to reflect her strength and whimsy, it all added up to a room that Flint felt right at home in. A big sofa in the nook between the bathroom and the closet looked like the perfect place for lounging, and if he wasn’t mistaken the French doors that opened off the back wall led to the courtyard with the grill and garden, which meant this room was just a short walk from the kitchen. No stairs.
What bummed him out, and why Goldie’s words made his stomach churn, was that he was wondering the same thing she was. Sure, there was the sturdy bed, the oversized tub, the man-sized couch, but all that was just fuel for fucking. In this whole room there was not one b
it of evidence that the two of them were in love. It was a painful reminder that as a shifter it didn’t matter how heartbound Flint was, switches weren’t beholden to anybody until and unless they agreed. Until they made it official with a Claiming. And as much as Flint wanted that, he couldn’t stand the idea of putting any more demands on Goldie when she’d already changed so much, given up so much, just to be here. “Probably down in my room.”
The look in her eyes when she heard him… fuck. Flint could tell she didn’t understand, and her sad question confirmed it. “You’re not going to stay up here with me?”
Flint stepped closer, pulling Goldie right in front of him so that he could look into her confused blue eyes. Every word was like a gut punch but he got them out evenly. “I’ll be here every night. Anytime you want me. But my stuff stays down in the barracks. Jameson is up here because he Claimed Cora.”
She nodded her head but Flint could tell Goldie still didn’t understand. Worse, she probably assumed he was saying he didn’t want to do the same to her. Oh, Bear. Flint was going to have to take a serious leap. “I want that for us, too, Goldie. Forever.”
Goldie’s eyes flew up to his, the joy so sparkly he couldn’t help but grin. Damn, what this woman does to me. She held his gaze with that shy smile, his kryptonite, the only substance on earth his grizzly heart wasn’t impervious to. “You do?”
Flint felt his bear pulse inside him. Was she really considering-? He took Goldie’s hands, kissing her knuckles, laying her palms against his chest so she would feel how strong his heart beat for her. Her limber fingers crept lovingly to the scar on his neck, grazing across the puckered flesh with a reverence that humbled him, the pulse of his blood so close to her touch Flint swore he could feel her inside him. Her scent spiked and thickened, the live, green, lush herbal complexity rushing through Flint, his mouth watering for a taste.
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