Shrew & Company Books 1-3

by Holley Trent

  “That’s not a good enough reason to be with someone.”

  “I think it’s a damned good reason to try, querida.”

  “Maybe.” She said it so softly, she wasn’t sure if it was merely a mental echo or if she’d really said it out loud.

  He dragged the tip of his tongue along the outer rim of her ear and kissed her cheek before letting her up with a slap on her ass.

  He strode out, saying, “I hope there’s coffee with lunch.”

  She somehow managed to swallow the lump in her throat and wrenched on the hot water knob in the tub once more. “Right. Coffee.”

  She stuck her head under the tap and tried to drown out thoughts of how completely off the rails she felt. There wasn’t a guidebook for this, and she was struggling for it.

  Why isn’t there a guidebook? Something to tell me what this is?

  And she really didn’t know. Was it a fling? Good dick and nice company? Or was there something there? Hard to tell. She’d only known the guy for a day.

  She turned off the water and wrung the extra from her hair before standing.

  Maybe Felipe was right about one thing—a “human” man probably wasn’t what she needed. She needed someone who understood intimately what it was like to be different. The question now was, was that person she needed Felipe?

  CHAPTER TEN

  Although Eric had made a pretty convincing plea for them to stay, Sarah seemed antsy. Felipe found it evident she was uncomfortable away from work, and there was no compelling reason for them to hang tight at the lodge.

  They took their lunches to go and drove to the cabin, being mostly quiet in between bites of their sandwiches. Other than to reach for the occasional napkin or ask him to unscrew the cap from her bottle of water, she seemed withdrawn. Felipe didn’t want to push. Maybe he’d pushed her too much already. She hadn’t said no, nor had she exhibited reluctance about their affair, but perhaps she was feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse?

  Did she want him to be more passive? For her to be the one holding the leash? No. If it were up to her, it seemed, she’d stay locked in her same little habitual patterns and never seek experiences beyond them. He hadn’t been blowing smoke when he said he was probably it for her. It wasn’t conceit. He wasn’t insinuating she had no options. It was just that from the moment he’d met her, it’d been nearly impossible to separate her out of his thoughts of the future. They’d met a little over a day ago, but he felt like he really knew what made her tick…and he liked it.

  Patrick bounded down the stairs, shirtless and barefooted, before Sarah got the parking brake engaged. “Got some news,” he said when Felipe pushed open his door.

  “Yeah? About Fabian or the Bears?”

  “Both. Let’s get inside. Billy’s here with his granddaughters.”

  Sarah blew a raspberry on the way past them both. Felipe didn’t need to ask what had set her off. Her feelings about the Cat were well known to all.

  The little cabin was jam-packed, and Felipe suddenly had a very good understanding about why Patrick was adding an addition to a house he lived in only three days out of the month. According to Eric, who’d been very eager to share information, Patrick hadn’t wanted to be in the Were-catamount group at all, but had gotten drafted into it, anyway, after being attacked by some Bears the night of his first shift.

  Billy, a native of the area and a born Were-mountain lion—or catamount, as the locals called them—was the de facto leader of the group. Patrick said Billy’s role was mostly to coordinate whom brought what to the monthly cookouts after the full moon, but Billy also very occasionally arbitrated disputes and acted as an ambassador between the Cats and other Were-animal groups.

  The Catamounts and Bears had been under a tenuous truce for several years until a couple of the wild young men in the Cat group antagonized the Bears. The Bears had been seeking revenge ever since. Dana and the Shrews got involved in the mess because of a rescue attempt gone wrong. Dana and Sarah got spotted during the tussle and were immediately labeled as Bear enemies. The Bears took their presence in their territory as an act of aggression. The attacks had been waging on for months, and now with the Visas in the mix no one could tell who was initiating what…but the Bears didn’t know that.

  Sarah leaned against the wall near the front door by Dana. It seemed natural that she’d fall into place there.

  Dana shoved two fingers between her lips and blew out an ear-piercing whistle that quieted all the chattering in the room.

  “All right, shut it everyone. We pulled the girls off perimeter security for this little powwow, so let’s make it brief. I’ve heard some rumblings the Bears got attacked again last night. Billy swears it wasn’t any of the Cats…”

  She let her words trail off, but the accusation hung in the air.

  Billy’s white eyebrows darted up to his hairline. He widened his eyes, as if shocked. “It weren’t! Most of them were at the hospital. The rest knew better.”

  “Uh-huh. Since my girls don’t have claws and giant teeth, I know it wasn’t them. That leaves us with two options—the Visas, or some other Were-group taking advantage of our current disorganization.”

  Sarah rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms and muttered under her breath. She’d obviously already considered that. If she hadn’t, she probably would have gasped like some of the other people in the room. Not much seemed to surprise her.

  Or any of the Shrews, for that matter.

  Felipe took a moment to assess them all. All five were present. Dana and Sarah in the kitchen doorway, Astrid giving him the evil eye from her perch on one loveseat arm, and Maria and Tamara sharing the loveseat, chattering in nearly unintelligible rapid-fire speech. It was almost eerie, the way they finished each other’s sentences.

  Billy and his granddaughters took up the other chair, and the two female Cats seemed paralyzed with fear. Their gazes darted around the room and they jumped with each small noise.

  These were women who could force their bodies to shift into efficient killing machines if they tried. It would hurt, but even outside the full moon period, they could do it at the drop of a hat. And there they were, cowering like mice instead of cats. In company of the Shrews, they looked like shadows of women. From what he’d witnessed of them at the circus, they weren’t particularly intelligent, so the only thing they really had going for them was their looks. Looks had never been enough for him, though, even if they could hold a candle to his Shrew.

  Rounding out the group in attendance were Patrick, who’d re-joined them from the kitchen bearing a bottle of beer he handled to Felipe, and one of the two Visas they’d captured days before. He was tied to a ladder-back chair, gagged, and looked a bit more bruised than the last time Felipe saw him. The Shrews had probably scared the desire to shift out of him.

  When Felipe scanned the room again, Tamara caught his gaze. She seemed to know exactly what it was he’d noticed, and cocked her chin up in a Yeah, I did that fashion.

  Weird little wench.

  “Our mercenary friends”—Dana strode to the gagged Visa and looped an arm around his slumped shoulders—“aren’t being so forthcoming with information, so we’re having to make a lot of educated guesses.” She walked around to the front of the man and bent just enough to meet his upturned gaze, but not enough to be on his level. The man was beneath Dana’s level, and it had nothing to do with posture.

  “I don’t like making guesses,” she said. “I don’t like there being so much wiggle room in my jobs. Ups the chances of collateral damage. But I guess you and your friend are learning that lesson right now, right?”

  He didn’t respond, but Dana likely didn’t expect him to.

  “Let me talk to him,” Sarah said, voice flat.

  While a smile crept across Dana’s face, and Patrick raised his shoulders in a nonchalant shrug, Billy stood and waved his hands in a No way gesture. “Y’all don’t think them folks is mad enough already? I’ve seen the way she works. If she’s gonna do what I
think she is, he ain’t gonna be right in the head when she’s done.”

  “Oh, please,” Patrick mumbled, rolling his eyes.

  Felipe stared across the crowded room at Sarah. She hadn’t even flinched, so if Billy was exaggerating, she certainly wasn’t bothered by it the assertion.

  Just what, precisely, is this woman capable of? And has she done it to me?

  Astrid, Maria, and Tamara gathered around the Visa’s chair and seemed to look to Dana for instruction.

  “Where do you want him?” Tamara asked.

  “Take him into the bedroom. She doesn’t need the crowd for this.”

  They nodded in unison, and on the count of three, each grabbed a bit of wood and carried him into the bedroom as if he were a king on a sedan chair.

  Dana took the seat Astrid had abandoned and studied her nails.

  Sarah walked in a leisurely gait toward the bedroom with her hands shoved in her pockets.

  Felipe expected her to whistle a jaunty tune next, she seemed so unbothered.

  He wrapped his fingers around one of her biceps as she passed, and drew her in close. “What are you doing?”

  She gave him a long blink and cocked one eyebrow up. “I’m working.”

  The Shrews came out of the bedroom clapping dust from their hands onto their pants. The Visa’s chair legs rattled against the wooden floor as he tested his restraints. No one else seemed concerned. It wasn’t like he could go far with all the Shrews and shifters in the room, even if he shifted himself.

  “Why is the old man so concerned about this?” Felipe asked.

  Slowly, she turned her head toward Billy and grinned. It was an evil grin, and one Felipe hoped to never be on the receiving end of.

  Billy swallowed hard and cleared his throat. He didn’t seem to want to meet her gaze.

  “Let’s just say sometimes I do mediation work. I help people talk. And now Billy’s wife knows some things about Billy she didn’t know before. And Billy’s the kind of guy who can’t stop talking once he starts, isn’t that right Billy? How long did it take you to clam up after our session?”

  Billy didn’t answer.

  “Oh,” Felipe said.

  Seemed to be a useful skill. Was that the mutation he was supposed to be frightened by, or was he still waiting to witness that scary thing?

  He let go of her arm and gave her a gentle nudge at the small of her back. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Suit yourself. You might not want to stand so close while I’m working, though. I hear the psychic effects bleed over a bit. I haven’t figured out how to concentrate them.”

  “Fine. I have nothing to hide.” He followed her into the tidy bedroom and shut the door behind them. After switching on the bedside lamp, Sarah walked to the corner and dragged a second ladder-back chair toward the wary Visa. She set it so it faced him and sat with her knees inches from his.

  Felipe skirted around them and occupied the corner the chair and formerly been in, crossing his arms over his chest and settling in to watch the show.

  She stared at the man for a moment, seeming to commit his face to memory.

  And maybe she was.

  The Visa in his human form wasn’t particularly memorable, so Felipe probably wouldn’t have recognized him even if he had been a fixture at the circus. He was just bland. Dishwater blond hair. Nondescript brown eyes. Swarthy skin. Clothes he could have gotten from any big-box store. No jewelry. No distinguishing features to speak of, other than a nose that was a bit too large for his face and a few fresh cuts that would probably leave scars on any other man.

  Sarah crossed her legs at the knees and leaned back in her chair, drumming her fingers along the sides of her arms.

  The Visa’s gaze softened, and traveled down her torso to her thighs. His cheeks twitched behind the bandana holding his gag in place, and Felipe imagined he must have been smiling behind it.

  He wanted to walk over, grab his head, and twist it on his neck so the Visa would never look at his woman’s body in such a way again.

  Felipe tightened his hands into fists at his sides, but stayed in his corner. If Sarah didn’t seem bothered by the man’s lecherous stares, then Felipe could stay put. For all he knew, maybe that was part of her magic. Maybe she was already at work, spinning the Visa off his axis.

  “You know,” she started. “I spent the last six weeks working undercover for a man who exploited young women and children. For six weeks, I sat back and refrained from acting because I had to wait on the FBI to make a big bust. Twenty hours every day, I was on the go. Bussing tables, serving drinks, doing my job. And when my boss wasn’t looking, I was checking in on those girls and getting them patched up. Reassuring them everything would be okay, although at one point, I wasn’t sure that was true.”

  The Visa’s eyes scanned upward and met her serious expression now. Like Felipe, he probably wondered what she was getting at. It seemed a roundabout way to interrogation.

  “I saw a lot of dirty deeds while I was up there, man. Sickening things, and that’s coming from someone who’s been deployed overseas and nearly blown up a handful of times. I’m not scared to fight. I’m not afraid to get in close, even if it means I’m putting myself at risk. But to be in a situation where people are getting mentally and physically ruined at the hands of someone else, only because they were trying to do something better with their lives than what they were doing in their home country is just abhorrent to me. Can you imagine?”

  The Visa raised his shoulders.

  She shook her head, scoffed, and leaned in closer. “Really? Can you imagine being a poor little kid, hungry, barely having a roof over your head? You’ve probably given up on the world and think that’s just your lot in life. Maybe death will come soon, right? Take you out of your misery? Then you think your prayers have been answered. Some man tells your mother he’ll take care of you. Get you some work in America. Make sure you’re in school.”

  Felipe could imagine. It all sounded so familiar to him.

  “Maybe he gives your mother some money—good money—as a show of good faith. So, you pack your bag and have stars in your eyes because things are looking up. You’re going on a plane ride for the first time ever! But as soon as you touch ground in the US, things get weird. This man is telling people, important people, that he’s your uncle and that you’re an orphan. And they stamp your paperwork and lift the gates so you can walk through. Then, you get in a van with three other girls he’s picked up at the airport, and no one says anything all the way home. Your new home is some dank basement beneath a strip club. And then you realize the next day when some crying woman, not much older than you, is putting makeup on you and telling you how to fluff your breasts, that you’re just a body to put on display. Meat. And they all tell you if you try to run, he’ll kill you. There’s no going home. There is no home for you anymore, because once your family finds out what you’ve been doing, they’re not going to want you back, anyway. You’re a disgrace.”

  The Visa’s eyes went wide.

  Maybe his heart wasn’t so black, after all, but Sarah didn’t seem to be close to done yet.

  “Now imagine if that were you, stolen away under pretense of lies, only to be abused for years upon years. That’s how long some of those girls had been there. Ten years. More. All used up. Some had become mothers while they were there. Hid their pregnancies, and when he found out, he took their babies away. Those women might as well be dead. If you look at them now, there’s no life in their eyes. But at least they’re safe, right?”

  Slowly, she extended her hands and rested them on top of his bound wrists.

  He didn’t move.

  Didn’t flinch.

  She squeezed his hands gently.

  Her voice was soft. “I’d barely been home for an hour when my boss out there—Dana—put me in the truck and brought me out here, only for me to learn, what? That there’s someone else like that asshole from the club exploiting people. Men. Women. Children. Doesn’t matter to him.
As long as he can put them under his tent and make a few bucks off them.”

  Felipe now understood the Shrew’s desire to punch Jacques in the throat. It wasn’t just bellicosity. She could fight damn well, but Sarah was a lover at heart.

  He could tell.

  Softhearted Shrew.

  The Visa mumbled something through his gag and shook his head.

  Sarah sighed, stood, and walked behind him to untie it. Once the bandana was loosened, he spit out the wadded-up sock holding his tongue flat and swallowed.

  “He told us either we find performers, or he’d take us,” he said, voice raw and gravelly, and accented with some language Felipe had never been able to identify.

  “Es absurdo,” Felipe said with a shake of his head.

  The Visa wrenched his head around to see Felipe and nodded rapidly.

  “Is true. We are as trapped as you. Maybe more so. You sign a deal with the devil and even your children will pay the price. I am second generation. My father signed us all away. Couldn’t resist the money.”

  Sarah put her hands on the Visa’s cheeks and forced his face back around. “I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t hurt people unless I have to, but I’ll hurt you and your buddy out there in the bread truck if you don’t give me the information I need.”

  “I-I’ll try to help. I don’t know it all—none of us do. We’re only told what we need to know to acquire troupe members.”

  “How many Were-animal groups in this area have you been infiltrating?”

  “Uh…four. I think.”

  “Which?”

  “Cats. Bears. Uh…” His jaw flapped and his gaze flitted around the room while he searched for words.

  Felipe moved closer and leaned his butt against the dresser. He thought maybe the Visa needed some help thinking, and he was ready to help him with his fists. “What else?”

  “I do not know! I—”

  Sarah tightened her grip around the Visa’s wrists and squeezed hard enough for him to wheeze.

  “I swear, I do not know! Jacques split us up. The other two groups were very small. Isolated.”