Bodyguard (shifters unbound )

by Jennifer Ashley

  "Did they see you?" Ronan asked.

  "No one sees me if I don't want them to."

  "Anything else?" Ronan asked.

  "No, just those guys. I'll keep an eye out for them."

  "Thanks."

  Spike shrugged. "Hey, it's my job." He went out the back door to the alley, his movements spare and quiet.

  Ronan watched from the office doorway as Elizabeth went about her business. She was a natural at selling, he decided. He watched her greet her customers, talking to them in a friendly way without getting too personal. This was a novelty store, which meant she sold everything from T-shirts with funny logos to plastic handcuffs. Nothing distasteful, just fun stuff that people mostly bought as gifts for friends. The customers tended to be upbeat, laughing with each other over the zany thing they'd give whoever for a birthday, retirement, anniversary, bridal shower, bachelor party.

  Elizabeth had a way of putting people at their ease, helping them find exactly the right thing. Ronan saw, though, that she maintained a distance. That made sense while she sold things to perfect strangers, but he'd noticed it at the house too. Elizabeth didn't let anyone get too close. She was friendly, yes, but any personal question was deftly turned aside or evaded.

  Ronan had asked Sean to run her name in the database. Sean had access to a vast network, built by Guardians over the last two decades, which contained more information than any non-Shifter could possibly imagine. Humans didn't know about this network, which ran on a lot of technical know-how coupled with a little bit of magic. Only Guardians knew how to access it, and only Guardians were allowed to use it--Guardians being those Shifters who stuck their swords into the bodies of dead or near-dead Shifters to send their souls to the afterlife.

  Sean had run Elizabeth's name but turned up nothing. She had no police record, not even a minor traffic ticket, and neither did Mabel. Elizabeth was thirty, according to her driver's license, and had lived in Austin for about six years, owning the store called SoCo Novelties for five. She'd bought the business as a whole from the previous owner who'd retired.

  Ronan thought about how she'd skillfully plucked Kim's card from his pocket, and wondered again. Elizabeth Chapman had picked pockets before, and she fought like a street kid. Juvenile records were sealed, sure, but not to the Guardians. They could hack anything.

  Sean had added the little detail that there was no record of Elizabeth at all before her move to Austin. A reference to an address in El Paso when she'd rented an apartment upon her arrival in Austin, but that El Paso address turned out to be bogus. She'd used her store as proof of residence or proof of income for everything else, including the small house she'd purchased a few years ago. She paid all her taxes, no under-the-table dealings, and had a social security number, bank accounts, and IRAs for herself and Mabel.

  So who had Elizabeth Chapman been before she'd become Elizabeth Chapman? And why had she needed to turn into someone else?

  The store did brisk business, but Elizabeth closed down at eight when the crowd started to thin. People still wandered the streets to seek restaurants or to walk down to the bridge to watch the bats emerge, but all but the most dedicated shoppers departed. Elizabeth turned off her sign and locked up.

  "I'm making this deposit tonight," she said, heading toward the office. "You've been here all day, Ronan. Don't you have a job of your own?"

  "Starts at nine," Ronan said. "I'll take you to the bank on my way."

  "You go. Spike can drive me. I don't want you to be late because of me. You've already done so much."

  Ronan stepped squarely in front of her. "Spike drives like a maniac, and he's heading the same place I am. You're stuck with me, sweetheart."

  "What place?" Elizabeth caught up her lock bag and turned out the lights. "Where do you work, anyway?"

  "Shifter bar." He opened the back door for her but walked outside first, as Shifters did, to check that the way was safe. "I'm the bouncer. Come and say hi to everyone."

  * * *

  Ronan took her on his motorcycle to the bank around the corner and stood close guard--at the same time keeping himself out of sight of bank cameras--while Elizabeth put the deposits into the slot. After that, she was free.

  As Ronan pulled out onto Congress and headed for the bridge and downtown, Elizabeth again felt the heady joy of simply riding with him. She wished they could go on through the city and keep on riding, to the long, empty stretches of highway Texas had so much of. Out there, in the darkness, they could find freedom.

  But Ronan had people to take care of, as did she. Responsibility was a tether, but at least in Elizabeth's case, it was a tether of love. She thought, as they sped toward the illuminated dome of the capitol building and the Saturday night craziness of Sixth Street, that the tether Ronan had found here had become one of affection, even if it hadn't started that way.

  Ronan drove through downtown and out again into darkness and more derelict streets. He pulled up in front of a bar near the open field that led to Shiftertown. The bar was a squat, dark building with no windows and a small parking lot already filled with people. No, not people . . . Shifters.

  There were plenty of humans in the mix too, Elizabeth saw as they dismounted and walked to the bar. Shifter groupies, mostly, she saw--humans of both sexes who liked to hang out with Shifters, some wearing fake Collars. More than one woman looked at Ronan with appreciation and calculation, which irritated Elizabeth for some reason.

  The bar inside was crowded, with tunes playing on a jukebox and Shifter waitresses hurrying back and forth to serve beers and take away empties. The bartender was human, Elizabeth saw. Maybe Shifters weren't allowed to actually dispense the drinks. Liam Morrissey didn't own this bar, she knew--a human did. Shifters couldn't own property, but Liam could work for the human owner and manage the place.

  A number of Shifters greeted Ronan by name or slapped hands with him as he went by. Interestingly, many greeted Elizabeth by name, including the six-foot blonde called Glory who was a regular at Elizabeth's store, but they were deferential, looking to Ronan first.

  Ronan led Elizabeth through the crowd, staying close by her side. Some of the groupies looked at her with envy, some with resentment.

  Kim Fraser came forward to meet her. She opened her arms to Elizabeth and gave her a hug with a squeeze. "I'm glad you came. Let's go into the office."

  Elizabeth threw a glance to Ronan, who shook his head. "What's up?" Ronan rumbled.

  "Nothing terrible. Liam just wants a word."

  Elizabeth stopped. "I want to call Mabel. We like to check in with each other."

  "Mabel's here." Kim pointed across the bar to where Mabel sat in a booth with the lanky Connor Morrissey, Scott, and a dark-haired Shifter woman who was obviously pregnant. The dark-haired woman gave Kim a nod, said something to Mabel, and pointed. Mabel looked around and sent Elizabeth a cheerful wave.

  "Andrea will take care of her," Kim said. "Mabel was getting antsy, cooped up at Ronan's, so Liam said it was all right if she came. Don't worry. She's in good hands."

  Elizabeth was going to have to have a talk with Mabel. Mabel was of legal age, so that wasn't a problem, but she looked way too cozy laughing and talking with the Shifters. Mabel was very accepting of people as they were, something Elizabeth had always admired about her, but then, Mabel wasn't the greatest judge of character, either.

  Or maybe Elizabeth was being too protective. She'd always gone back and forth about Mabel, torn between wanting to shield her from the evils of the world and fearing to stifle her with too much restriction.

  Kim guided Elizabeth to a door marked "Private," and Ronan came so close behind her that Elizabeth felt his body heat.

  On the other side of the door she found Liam Morrissey inside a cluttered office. Liam sat behind a desk, his long legs propped on the desk's top, and he held a baby on his lap.

  Elizabeth wasn't sure which was more incongruous--the child held up by Liam's big hands or the man standing on the other side of the room wi
th a huge sword strapped to his back, the hilt slanting above his head.

  "He's underage," Elizabeth said, looking at the baby.

  " She ," Liam said. "Katriona Sinead Niamh Morrissey. Sinead for her auntie, Niamh for her grandmum, and Katriona because we like it. Born three months ago."

  "And you'd think she was queen of the gods," Ronan said. "The attention she gets." Ronan went around Elizabeth to the baby and gently poked her stomach.

  "Shifter?" Elizabeth asked.

  Kim reached for the child. At the same time her hands closed around Katriona's waist, Liam leaned up to Kim and kissed her on the lips. It was a warm, loving kiss, the look in Liam's eyes heart-melting.

  Elizabeth's thoughts flashed back to Ronan licking the corner of her mouth earlier this morning. His lips had been smooth and warm, soothing. And arousing.

  She swallowed and made herself not look at Ronan as Kim snuggled Katriona under her chin.

  "I can't wait to see what her wildcat looks like," Kim said. "We won't know for a few years. Shifter-human cubs are born human and then shift when they're about three. Pure Shifter cubs do it the opposite."

  Kim bounced Katriona as she talked, Katriona looking at everyone with round blue eyes, while trying to stuff her entire fist into her mouth. Kim moved across the room to the swordsman, who relaxed his grim stance to touch the baby's nose.

  Ronan was the only one not at ease. "What do you want, Liam? Elizabeth's had a long day. I brought her here because I thought she could relax a little and then go home."

  "She will." Liam retained his nonchalant pose, feet on the desk, hands now laced behind his head. He was watchful, alert while pretending not to be.

  Ronan took a step closer to Elizabeth, and she felt the tight muscles of his arm brush her shoulder. "What do you want, Liam?" he repeated, an edge to his voice.

  "Just a chat. First, to tell Elizabeth that we're grateful to her testimony that kept you out of jail." Liam gave her a nod. "It was brave of you to stand up for him."

  "It was brave of Ronan to rush a guy with a pistol," Elizabeth said. "I couldn't let him take the fall for that."

  "But so many humans would." Liam's gaze held no hostility, but at the same time, his blue eyes fixed on her, catching her like a fly in a web so finely spun it was undetectable until too late.

  "You're unique, Ms. Chapman," Liam said. "So unique that I can't find out anything about you. Not one single scrap of information. Correction-- Sean can't find out anything about you, and Sean is a master at it." He glanced at the swordsman across the room who said nothing.

  Elizabeth's mouth went dry, and she felt control of her life washing away like a branch caught in a flash flood. She'd thought herself safe--she was supposed to be safe. No one will ever be able to crack this, her friend had told her, and she'd paid good money for him to make sure it never happened.

  "But you know all about me," she said, forcing her voice to remain steady. "I own SoCo Novelties, I'm Mabel's sister, and I don't mind Shifters coming into my store. That's all there is to know."

  Liam's voice remained soft, but he had no need to shout to let her know he held the authority in this room. "You see, Elizabeth, it's my job as Shiftertown leader to protect my Shifters. You were great to help Ronan, and I'm happy that you were. But Ronan's putting himself on the line to take care of you, and that's a big risk to him. A risk to him is a risk to me and to all the Shifters living in his house. Maybe your secrets are innocent ones; maybe they represent no danger." Liam's feet came down, and he rose, tall and intimidating, his charm gone. "But maybe they do. So I need you to tell me the truth, Elizabeth Chapman, before I let you out of here. Who exactly are you?"

  Chapter Eight

  Ronan scented the sharp spice of Elizabeth's fear. He also scented her defiance, even before she spoke.

  "That's really none of your business, Liam," she said clearly.

  Liam's eyes widened, and despite Ronan's disquiet, he wanted to laugh. The arrogant Feline had grown used to people obeying him without question. People meaning everyone but his wife, his brother, father, and nephew. All other Shifters pretty much fell in line.

  "When you're in Shiftertown, you're under my jurisdiction," Liam said. "It is my business."

  "We're not in Shiftertown right now." Elizabeth took a step forward. She was afraid to, Ronan knew, but she did it anyway. "My past has nothing to do with Shifters, and it's nothing that can hurt Shifters."

  "Will you let me be the judge of that?" Liam asked.

  "No. I said it's none of your business."

  "Lass." Liam's voice gentled, which meant he was falling back on the coaxing approach. "I have one of my very best fighters guarding you. I want to know who he's guarding. I can't chance endangering him. Neither can his family."

  "I never said he had to guard me," Elizabeth said. "If you don't want me endangering Shifters, then Mabel and I are happy to leave Shiftertown."

  She started to turn away. Ronan stopped her by simply not moving. "You're not going anywhere until the threat to you has been eliminated."

  Elizabeth's eyes flickered at the word eliminated . "If Liam won't be happy until he hears all my secrets, then I can't stay," she said. "He'll have to be disappointed."

  "Lass," Liam began, again in the coaxing tone.

  "Leave her alone, Liam," Ronan said. He looked at Elizabeth and her blue eyes, not at Liam's. "She doesn't want to tell you."

  "Ronan, she's using a false name. Until six years ago, she didn't exist."

  "She exists now."

  "Ronan . . ."

  "I said, leave her alone, Liam. "

  The room went quiet. Ronan expected Sean to come charging across it to stand by his brother, his sword a silent threat. He'd seen them do that, and Shifters wilt under the double-alpha stare.

  Sean didn't move or speak. Neither did Kim, who usually was ready with some opinion. Even baby Katriona made no noise.

  "Do you want to make that official?" Liam said in a quiet voice. "Be responsible for her?"

  "Vouch for her, you mean?" Ronan let Liam hold his gaze. He'd already vouched for Scott, Cherie, and Olaf--clan-less, family-less Shifters with bad pasts. No one knew what the cubs would do or what kind of adults they'd become. Ronan had vowed with his life that they'd not be threats. Liam was asking him to do the same for Elizabeth.

  "No," Ronan said.

  Liam's eyes went wider, and Kim stirred. "Liam, stop it. You too, Ronan. This is Elizabeth's choice. She's not a cub. She's not even Shifter. The same rules don't apply."

  "Much as I hate disagreeing with you, love, they do," Liam said. "Will you let him vouch for you, Elizabeth? That means that, if you are lying to us, or you put a foot wrong, it's on his head."

  "No!" Elizabeth said fiercely. "What is wrong with you all? I didn't ask you to bring us to Shiftertown. I'm grateful for your help, but I don't have to stay with you. So thank you, but I'm leaving."

  Again Ronan stopped her by being too big for her to walk around. "I said I wouldn't vouch for you," he said. "But that's because I'm going to go one better, and mate-claim you."

  "Ronan," Liam said, warning in his voice.

  "Mate-claim?" Elizabeth said. She took a step back, which put her against Liam's desk. "What does that mean?"

  "It means not only do I vouch for you, but I ensure that all Shifters stay away from you, always, including Liam. The bond of the mate supersedes the authority of the clan leader and even the Shiftertown leader. If Liam has a problem with you, he has to come through me first. Trust me, he doesn't want to have to go through me."

  Liam, instead of getting upset, sat down and leaned back in his chair again, grinning his annoying Irish grin. "It's an interesting solution," he said. "Very interesting."

  Elizabeth looked from Liam to Ronan. "What are you saying? That I'm now your mate? I don't want a mate!"

  "Tell her she can reject the claim," Kim said. "Be fair. She doesn't understand complicated Shifter rules."

  Liam shrugged. "A mate-
claim only means that Ronan now protects you, and that you're off-limits to all other Shifter males. Doesn't mean you're mated. Yet. And yes, you can reject the claim. He can't force it on you." Liam said the last part reluctantly, as though he'd be happy for Elizabeth to be stuck in the claim.

  "Then I reject--"

  Ronan put his fingers over Elizabeth's mouth. "Wait. Let it work, first. If you stay under my claim, then Liam can't make you tell him about your past, or any other detail he wants to poke his nose into. I stay with you and protect you from angry gang leaders who want to kill you. Once the danger is over, you can reject the claim. We can't stop you. That's Shifter law."

  "I'm not Shifter," Elizabeth said, her breath warm on his fingers.

  "Doesn't matter. I am. Elizabeth Chapman, I mate-claim you, witnessed by Liam the leader of the Austin Shiftertown, Sean the Guardian, Kim the leader's mate, and Katriona, the leader's firstborn."

  As Elizabeth stared at him over his blunt fingers, Ronan sensed a click inside himself, as though something that had long been unresolved had at last completed.

  Elizabeth was a survivor. Ronan saw that in her. She was a survivor as much as he was, as much as the cubs in his house were, as much as Liam and his family were.

  Elizabeth drew a breath. "All right. For now, I won't reject it."

  Ronan relaxed, feeling a tightness in him loosen and flow away. Elizabeth held his gaze, her chin lifted. Nothing submissive about her.

  "But that doesn't mean I'll do everything you say," Elizabeth said.

  Ronan growled, feeling suddenly playful. Wait until he got her home and she looked at him with that challenge in her eyes. He'd never mate-claimed anyone before. Was this how it felt, an unexpected lightness, sudden joy? An excitement, anticipation of the next moment, of every moment? Ronan no longer wanted to work his shift. He wanted to take Elizabeth home and simply be with her.

  Liam looked past Ronan to his brother. "Sean? You've not said a word. What do you think?"

  Sean came out of his relaxed stance, unstrapped his sword, and tossed it to the battered sofa. "I'm thinking you brought me back here, away from my mate, for nothing," he said, moving to the door. "Elizabeth knows what she's doing, and you don't need me."