by C. D. Hersh
Fiona linked her arm in Kyle’s. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to my fiancé.” Rhys would not talk shifter when a human was in the room.
“Nonsense, darling. If Rhys wants a private conversation, I’m happy to oblige.”
“Actually, since you want someone with you, how about Mike?” Rhys smiled broadly at Kyle. “You don’t mind if Mike joins us, do you?”
Kyle returned the grin. “Not at all.” Then he opened the glass-paneled office doors and ushered them in.
“Kyle,” Fiona protested as he shoved her into the room.
“You can tell me all about it, or not, darling. Whatever you and Rhys decide.”
Kyle closed the door, and she was left staring at her long-lost brother and her bodyguard.
Mike grinned at Rhys. “Pretty slick trick. Making them do what you want. I haven’t been able to pry the man off Fiona’s side since I first met him. Think you can teach me?”
“You don’t have the skill set,” Rhys said, holding out the hand with his Turning Stone ring. Then he leveled a harsh stare at Fiona. “Want to tell me what you’re up to, sis?”
Fiona crossed her arms and glared at her brother. “You think you can disappear after promising me help then reappear and demand to know what’s going on?”
“There were extenuating circumstances. My life and Alexi’s life was in danger.”
“And now mine is, and it’s your fault.”
Rhys gave her the once-over then gripped her arm. The buzzing she’d sensed from the moment she entered the house intensified, surging through her like electricity. Rhys was strong, like Falhman.
“You’re in trouble because you did what I warned you not to do.” He twisted her arm until her left palm faced the floor, exposing the Turning Stone ring she now wore on her middle finger.
“Nice rock,” Rhys said, as he admired her engagement ring. Then he touched the bloodstone. “Who’s mentoring you?”
Fiona’s gaze shot to Mike. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“He knows,” Rhys said. “He’s working with me.”
She jerked from Rhys’ grip and stepped away. “You’re lying.”
“Do your thing on her,” Mike said. “I’ve got some questions I want answered.”
Rhys smiled at her, his lips drawn tight across his teeth.
The expression reminded Fiona of an angry animal getting ready to bare his canines.
“I’d rather you talk willingly. However, I can get the information by force, if necessary.”
She turned her back on the men. Rhys spun her around and captured her gaze with his. A strange sensation surged through her as her brother stared deep into her eyes. She struggled to resist him, the urge to bare her soul climbing up her chest, into her throat, reaching her lips. Suddenly, Rhys released her and looked away.
“I can do it. You know that now, don’t you?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
“Tell me what’s going on.” His voice dropped to a pleading whisper. “I don’t want to force my own flesh and blood to obey me.”
Fiona drew in a shaky breath. Getting it off her chest—all of it—would be good. She cast a sideways glance at Mike. But what would he say? How would he take the news she wasn’t merely human anymore?
“We can’t help you, Fiona, if you don’t level with us,” Mike said gently. “I want to help you. Want to keep you safe.”
“That’s your job,” she said flatly. “It’s what I pay you for.”
Mike moved in front of her and captured her gaze with his. “You don’t owe me a cent. Kyle doesn’t owe me a cent. I’m helping you because I care about you. I’m helping you because you are beautiful in the moonlight.”
At his reference to their night of lovemaking, Fiona’s heart melted. She lowered her gaze to the floor. “You won’t find me beautiful in the glare of harsh daylight, Mike.”
He tipped her chin until they looked in each other’s eyes. “I see you now. I don’t know what you’re involved in, but I still see beauty.”
His words broke her, and she threw herself into his arms. “I’m in deep trouble,” she sobbed, “and I don’t know how to get out of it.”
Mike led her to the office sofa and sat beside her.
Rhys followed and knelt in front of them. “Start at the beginning, Fiona. Don’t leave anything out. I’ll help you.”
“We’ll help you,” Mike said, as he put his arm around her shoulder.
Chapter 33
“Now let me get this straight, lassie,” Eli said. “Ye’ve taken Falhman as yer mentor. Yer trying tae take down the rogue shifter organization OmniWorld—what’s trying tae gobble yer company. Ye’ve committed a felony, and the Mafia is oot tae kill ye. Is there anything else ye need tae tell us?”
Fiona glanced around the semi-circle of shifters who gathered around her, then at LJ and Mike. Rhys had called them all in after her confession. Kyle was missing because she left him out of the equation. He didn’t know about shifters, and didn’t need to know. They didn’t need to know about him, either.
“No.”
“You’re lying, Fiona,” Rhys said. His gaze locked on her, and the pull of his hypnotic magnetic persuasion reached into her chest.
“Kyle,” she said quickly, to keep her brother from probing further. “They’re trying to take over his company.”
Rhys seemed satisfied with her answer and looked at Eli. “We need to help her, Eli.”
“She’s consorting with the devil, laddie.”
“Which we can use to our advantage. We just have to teach her a few things. Like how to hide when she’s not telling the truth. Otherwise, Falhman will read her aura and know she’s not working with him.”
“That’s how he knows what I’m thinking?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“But I’m a shifter, and I can’t read auras.”
“Only high-level shifters have auric skill. But I can teach you how to mask yours. Then your emotions won’t be as obvious.”
“It takes time to learn that skill,” Alexi said. “Time we don’t have. Every minute we waste with Fiona’s problems is a minute we aren’t searching for the children.”
“What children?” Fiona asked.
“Our son, Baron, and LJ’s son, Hugh Jr.—Falhman kidnapped them.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Fiona said. “He may be a rogue, a very bad rogue, but I don’t believe he’d kidnap innocent children.”
“That,” Mary Kate said, “is the very reason we cannot trust her. She does not see the bad in the man even though it’s staring her right in the face.”
“I was at his house, and I didn’t see any sign of children.”
“What!” they all exclaimed at the same time. Then they broke out in excited jabbering.
Eli waved the cacophony to silence. “Ye were in his hoose? When? Where ’tis it?”
“For my first training session, and I don’t know where it is. A helicopter pilot came to get me, blindfolded me, and we flew there.”
“How long did it take to get there?” Rhys asked, his voice filled with excitement.
“About forty-five minutes.”
“He only sent for you one time?” Rhys asked.
“Just the once. The other times I’ve met him he’s been shifted into different personas.”
“Ootside his penthoose and safe hoose?” Eli asked. “He’s getting brave. I’ve never known him tae wander too far from his safe places.”
“Except when he tricked me,” LJ said, frowning.
Eli studied Fiona. “What ’tis it aboot ye, lassie, that brings the hermit oot ’o his cave?”
“My mother. He told me I look like my mother. I think he still loves her.”
“Aye, ye do fancy her.” He faced the rest of the group. “The devil ’tis getting careless. If we’re crafty, we can catch the coyote. Maybe in his own den.”
“The police captain who came to the house was Falhman,” Fiona said.
“And ye know how?” Eli asked.
“His eyes. Once those piercing, silver eyes have stared you down, you don’t forget them. He called me, ‘my dear’. He always calls me ‘my dear’.”
“Me, too,” LJ said, her voice filled with hysteria. She lunged at Fiona, bunching her blouse into her fists. “We need you to get to his house and find my baby!”
Alexi came to Fiona’s rescue, disentangling LJ. “Fiona will help. Won’t you?” Alexi’s tone was calm, but her eyes nearly as distressed as LJ’s voice. Both women pleading in their own ways.
“I’ll try to get another invitation.”
“One for me, too,” Mike said. “We’ll play the bodyguard card.”
“I’ll be safe there. I’m a shifter like Falhman, Rhys, Alexi, Mary Kate, and Eli.”
“And that’s the problem. You’re not like them. If you’re new to this, like Mary Kate thinks, then they’re all stronger than you.” Mike stared straight into her eyes. “I don’t like shifters and can’t stand deceit, but I can’t let you get killed. So I’m going.”
Did that mean he’d didn’t like her anymore now that he knew she was a shifter? And if, somehow, he could overcome his dislike of her shifter persona, what would he feel about her and Kyle’s deception?
“If Falhman was here incognito as the police captain, he knows the threat is real,” Mike said. “Maybe we can use that to our advantage. If I can get inside I can possibly check out the security system. Find a weakness we can exploit.”
“Do you remember anything else about the house?” Rhys asked. “Something about the exterior? Something Alexi and I can use to search from the air.”
“It was all white. A series of buildings connected by glass hallways, snaking across a green, manicured lawn. I couldn’t see anything else.
“If he’s as cagey as you all say, wouldn’t he be leery of an aircraft over his home?” Mike asked.
“We don’t need a plane or chopper,” Alexi said. “My arm’s healed. I can fly now. We’ll search as hawks.”
Fiona stared at her brother and sister-in-law. Their alter egos were hawks? Not very impressive. “Will I be a hawk, because we’re related?” She’d hoped for something more powerful. Something to take down Falhman and OmniWorld in one swipe.
“Don’t look disappointed, sis. You may not be a hawk. You could be a titmouse, or even a wren.”
“Not funny, Rhys.” Fiona scowled at him.
“Don’t worry. If you’ve only had one training session, it will be a while before you find your animal ego.”
Her brother’s condescending tone pissed her off. She’d show him. She gave Mary Kate the once-over, and in a flash mimicked her. “How’s that, big brother? Do you want to give me more flack?”
Within milliseconds Mary Kate morphed into Fiona’s form. The transformation made Fiona dizzy.
“Ye’ve a bit to go before yer quick as the rest of us,” Mary Kate said.
Fiona willed her own persona back, and Mary Kate followed suit.
Mike retreated, confusion and something akin to aversion on his face. Maybe shifting in front of him wasn’t a smart move. He was not pleased. With either her or Mary Kate.
“Stop showing off, lassies,” Eli ordered.
A knock sounded on the door, followed by Kyle’s voice. “May I come in?”
Rhys waved him in. “We’re done here.” He checked his watch. “Time to get to the hotel.”
“Hotel?” Kyle asked. “You’re letting your brother stay in a hotel? That’s not Morrison hospitality, darling.”
She wasn’t a Morrison. Yet. And he wasn’t asking them to stay at his house. Kyle gave her a shaming frown and urged her with his eyebrow to extend an invitation.
The expectant pause in the conversation demanded she say something. Something nice. Not what she really wanted to say.
“I have plenty of room in the mansion, just down the road.” She smiled at Rhys, a forced half-smile she hoped he’d catch. One she meant to clearly relay, You’re not welcome. Working with her brother was one thing. Having him hanging over her shoulder quite another.
Instead, he said, “We’d love to come. Mary Kate and LJ can double up, if it’s more convenient.”
“No problem,” she said, with a grimace. “I have more than enough bedrooms.”
“Now that’s settled, I want to talk to Fiona,” Kyle said. “I had the staff lay out a snack in the kitchen. My butler, Charles, will show you the way.”
“Since I’m having guests,” Fiona said to Kyle, “I won’t be spending the night here.”
“Of course not, darling. It was presumptuous of me to demand it.” He looked at Mike. “You will protect her?”
“With my life,” Mike replied.
“This way, if you please,” Charles called from the doorway.
As the group exited, Kyle drew her to the opposite side of the room. “I’m sorry I deserted you, darling. One minute I’m declaring I won’t leave your side, and the next thing I know I’m letting a bunch of strangers into the room with you, while I’m standing in the foyer twiddling my thumbs. I don’t know what got into me.”
“My brother can be very persuasive. Don’t worry about it.”
“What did he want?”
“To apologize,” she lied. Rhys had, in fact, made no more excuses for his departure than the one line he’d said in the foyer. His entire focus had been on her. What she’d done wrong.
Kyle exhaled loudly. “I was afraid he would question you about the engagement. Persuade you a short courtship couldn’t be real. That would have spoiled everything. He doesn’t know about our plans then?”
“All I said to them about you was OmniWorld was after your company as well as mine.”
“You mentioned OmniWorld? Why?”
“Because Rhys asked about them. He knows they’re dirty. He warned me before he left not to get involved with them. Now he knows how deeply involved I’ve become.”
“Will your brother help us?”
Fiona laughed, the sound short and harsh. “He said he would, but the conversation turned, and suddenly I found myself agreeing to help them with their problem. I got a scorching scolding for going against Rhys’ advice and getting involved with OmniWorld, but we made no definitive plans to get rid of them.”
“Then we’re on our own?”
“For the moment.” She looped her arm in his and moved toward the door. “We should join our guests. I’ll mention the subject to Rhys later.”
Before she agreed to betray the tenuous trust she’d built with Falhman by searching his house for kidnapped children, she had to have some firm plans from Rhys and his shifters to eliminate OmniWorld. Cooperation worked both ways. Rhys had failed her once before. So far Falhman had not.
Chapter 34
Falhman reached for the envelope containing the DNA lab results with trembling hands. If the children tucked in the nursery wing of his estate were not his son and grandson, he’d have to dispose of them. Without the McCraigen, Falhman, and Jordan blood lines flowing through their veins the boys were useless to him. Two children who would be millstones around his neck.
He’d done a lot of evil things in his life, but he hadn’t stooped to murdering children. However, it would be a job he would have to do himself. He couldn’t trust an underling to murder a child. Look what happened to the wicked Queen when she sent the huntsman to kill Snow White. The whole plan backfired.
He placed his palm on the envelope, willing the contents to match his desires. In the short time they’d
been in his home, he’d grown rather fond of the rug rats. Their presence at the breakfast and dinner table made life more pleasant. Made him feel like a family man. Something he’d never experienced even though he had a wife.
Maybe he could send the children to an orphanage somewhere instead of permanently erasing them. He thought about his two sons, separated from their mother and father at a tender age. He’d always regretted losing Kayla, and when he’d discovered he had sons he had been overjoyed. At least as overjoyed as someone like him could be.
Heart pounding and unable to stand the anticipation anymore, Falhman tore open the envelope and unfolded the papers. Laying them flat on the desk, because his hand shook too much to read the text, he skimmed his long index finger down the first page.
Ninety-nine percent.
He flipped through the other test results.
Ninety-nine percent. Ninety-nine percent.
The boys were his blood kin!
A yelp escaped from him and the door flew open. His guard bounded through the doorway, crouched and ready to fight. He aimed his weapon, swinging side to side as he searched for an enemy. Seeing none, he holstered his gun. “Everything all right, sir?”
“Fine. Absolutely fine. I just received some wonderful news.” Falhman shoved the DNA results into his desk drawer and leapt from his chair. “Tell my secretary to clear my calendar. I’m spending today with the children.”
Falhman found the boys lying on a comforter spread on the patio outside the nursery. Their nanny sat under the shade of the table umbrella watching them as they played. Falhman’s son tried to stuff round balls into square holes on a toy board. The other tot lay on a corner of the quilt, banging a set of plastic keys on the comforter. Falhman knelt and handed his son a square cube. The child looked at it, then threw it to the concrete and continued to attempt to fit the sphere into the square hole.