61 - This Endris Night

by D. L. Jackson

  Finally, she couldn’t hold it anymore. She excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. As she washed her hands and leaned over the counter to reapply her lipstick, a gorgeous redhead walked in and stood beside her at the sink.

  She turned and smiled at Shiya. “Isn’t this just the most romantic place you’ve ever been?”

  “I used to live in Alaska.” Shiya shrugged, even though she had to agree with her.

  The woman turned back to the mirror, tugged at her neckline, lowering the cleavage a fraction of an inch. She eyed Shiya out of the corner of her eye. “Lucas wanted me to give you a message.”

  Shiya dropped her lipstick in the sink and her hand shot to her breast. “You’re here with Lucas?”

  The corner of the woman’s mouth curled into the most unfriendly smile she’d ever seen. Shiya stepped away, putting distance between them. The woman moved closer and leaned in. “You can’t run.”

  Shiya stepped back and bumped into the wall. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. He had minions. Everywhere. Lucas had sent a message all right. Wherever she went—she’d never be safe. Even in the land she knew better than most.

  The redhead did a head to toe appraisal and looked back up into Shiya’s eyes. “Lovely dress.” She gave Shiya a friendly smile, grabbed her clutch from the counter, and turned to exit the ladies’ room, pausing at the door. “You either go to him, or he’s coming for you. Choose.” The door clicked shut behind her.

  Shiya threw her hands on the counter, dropped her head, and sucked in a deep breath. Her heart pounded so hard she could barely breathe and her head spun. The encounter brought questions to the surface. If the pretty redhead worked for Lucas, who else did? Was this whole party a setup? Had she been lured to this lodge to die?

  One thing was for certain. She needed to run. She couldn’t wait for backup to arrive, and she couldn’t go anywhere with Gunnar. His life would be in danger if he remained in her company.

  If someone wanted to commit murder, Alaska was a great place to lose a body—or two. She should have thought of that before coming home. It had always felt so safe, a place she could run to for security. At the moment it felt like the most dangerous place on Earth.

  Shiya closed her eyes, took another deep breath. No more waiting around for a knight to come to her rescue. It had been foolish to think she could find security in the arms of another. If she wanted to get out of this alive, she’d have to do it on her own.

  She lifted her chin, opened her eyes, and froze. The woman in the mirror staring back at her in her snowy velvet dress was the redhead.

  Shiya screamed.

  ***

  Gunnar looked up when he heard the scream. Lucas lifted his chin at the same time. The room was loud and chaotic. Nobody else seemed to notice. Which was a good thing.

  A redhead in white burst from the ladies room and ran for the kitchen and back doors. It took Gunnar seconds to register the woman was Shiya, and she’d gone into the shift, triggered by endorphins from fear or their earlier sexual encounter. The way she ran, he’d say it was fear. Not good—especially with Lucas witness to it.

  She threw the swinging doors to the kitchen open and darted through, disappearing behind them as they shut. Lucas shot Gunnar a quick look and headed for the front exit. Game on. Gunnar took Shiya’s route, and as he ran by the chef and his staff, a snowmobile screamed past the backdoor with Shiya on it.

  Gunnar rushed outside. “Shiya!”

  She didn’t look back—she hadn’t heard him. The sound of a second engine rent the night. The bright red Polaris roared past, hot on her tracks with Lucas on the back.

  As Gunnar went to acquire a snowmobile of his own, someone grabbed his arm. He didn’t have to turn to see who. His teammate who was supposed to be distracting Lucas by shifting her appearance to Shiya’s. He shrugged her off. “You were supposed to distract him.”

  “I was in the ladies’ room.” She grabbed his arm again. “Let her go. You know the law.”

  He glanced over his shoulder to see the attractive redhead behind him. This time she’d pulled a laser and set the sights on him. He should have known better than to trust her. She’d tried several times to have sex with him and form a bond since she’d arrived on Terran soil. Jealousy clearly reflected in her eyes and contempt filled the sneer on her face.

  “The law doesn’t apply to mates.” He’d rushed the bond to protect Shiya, knowing eventually he planned to take her as a mate anyway. His only regret was that he couldn’t take the time to court her in a proper manner, and Regan saw it as an indication he wasn’t serious about Shiya. “If she dies, I’ll have you brought up on charges of murder.”

  “Clearly, she’s going to die.”

  Gunnar struck so fast Regan didn’t have time to blink. She slumped into a heap at his feet. Pulling her up onto his shoulder, he picked up her laser and ran for a shed where the snowmobiles were stored and he could dump Regan until he could deal with her later. Hopefully, the delay wouldn’t cost Shiya her life. If it did, Regan and Lucas would both pay.

  Chapter Five

  Shiya heard the snowmobile seconds before it struck the back of her sled, spinning the Arctic Cat around like a top on the frozen inlet. The sled hit a rut and stopped. She didn’t. The centrifugal force sent her flying from her seat where she hit the ice and slid toward the water’s edge.

  Shiya clawed at the wind-slicked surface, breaking her nails, frantic to stop before she went in. A rough chunk of ice caught the strap on her shoe, stopping her slide, but breaking the buckle and gouging her ankle. The stiletto continued across the ice for several feet, until it dropped into an open area of the inlet with a plunk.

  Lucas fired several times, hitting the area around her. With each impact she yelped, expecting the bolt to hit her. Instead, the frozen surface began to glow with an eerie green light, seeming to take on the energy from the blast. The glow faded as quickly as it had started, followed by a popping and crackling sound. Several fractures moved through the ice and underneath her.

  Blood dripped from her forehead, freezing on impact. Pressing her hands flat, she pushed to rise, but the surface began to crack around her palms and knees, spider-webbing across the glassy surface in every direction. Shiya went still. The next move could be her last.

  “Shiya, Shiya, Shiya. You’ve given me quite the challenge.” Lucas stopped fifty feet from her location, safe on the thicker ice near the bank. He swung his leg off the snowmobile, dismounting in a casual manner, as though he murdered people every day. “You’ve been a hard woman to kill.” He waved the strange gun around casually. “I regret what I have to do,” he said, “but you understand. I can’t allow you to go around shifting your appearance in public. This planet isn’t ready to accept our existence.”

  “You sent that woman into the ladies’ room.”

  He gave her a nod. “You aren’t who you think—you’re a loose end—a doppelganger—one of us.”

  “So that’s what this is about?” Shiya swallowed. Yeah, she got that Gunnar hadn’t been lying, but why did that mean she had to die? “I won’t tell anyone your secret.”

  “Our secret.” He tsked. “That’s the problem. You can’t control it. You haven’t been taught how. That shift you did earlier proves it, and it was all the evidence I needed to terminate a rogue mate. Regrettable. There are few females with your talent and beauty.”

  “I can learn.” Shiya lifted her head and gave him a pleading look. The ice cracked some more. Her heart jumped. “Please, don’t shoot me.”

  Lucas tipped his head back and laughed. “I’m not going to shoot you. The water will swallow you. This is for Gunnar. He should have backed off when I told him to.”

  “Don’t hurt him. He only protected me.”

  “Sorry, he gave me no choice. I don’t like looking over my shoulder, which I’ll have to do for killing you. We mate once in a lifetime.” Lucas shrugged.

  In the distance a motor hummed, growing closer by the second. Lucas smiled
and turned his head toward the sound. Shiya’s heart began to thump painfully against her ribs. “Don’t do this, Lucas.”

  “Sit back and enjoy the show.” Lucas spun around and lifted the laser, firing as Gunnar came around a bend in the inlet. He dove off the sled as it exploded into ash, tucking and rolling across the snow. Lucas raised the laser again.

  Gunnar had gone from rolling to rushing forward on his feet like a linebacker. His clothes dropped behind him as his body stretched. Fur rippled across his skin, covering his bare flesh in velvet white. Gunnar leapt into the air, his hands stretched forward. As they came down, they landed as giant paws. His face extended into the all too familiar Roman nose of Nanuk.

  Lucas fired. Gunnar dodged to the side. Snow and ice exploded into the air where he’d been, not slowing his charge in the least. Gunnar roared, launching across the shore at Lucas.

  Lucas took the time to aim. His arm came up steady, as though danger didn’t approach.

  Calm, collected, ready to make a kill.

  “Watch out,” Shiya screamed and scrambled to her feet. The ice caved around her. It took only a second, but in that second Lucas glanced back to see her go in. The distraction gave Gunnar all he needed to reach and tackle him—the last thing Shiya saw as she went under and blocks of ice slammed shut over her head.

  Gunnar’s jaws closed on Lucas’s forearm as he threw it up to protect his face. Grizzly fur quickly filled his mouth. A giant paw came around, swatting Gunnar in the head and sending him flying back into a bank. Lucas circled as Gunnar rolled to his feet and shook off the impact.

  He pulled his lips back, eying the spot Shiya had gone under. If he could get around Lucas, he could dive in and pull her out. The cold would keep her alive a little longer—the only benefit of going into the arctic water.

  Lucas wasn’t having any part of it. He posted himself between Gunnar and where Shiya had gone in, letting him know if he wanted to get to her, he’d have to go through him. Lucas raised a paw and batted at the air in raw challenge.

  Come and get her.

  Gunnar put his head down and charged. He didn’t have to beat him. He only needed to get into the water to retrieve Shiya. At the last second he dodged to the side, toward the gap in the ice she’d gone through.

  Lucas anticipated his move. Claws at least six inches long ripped across his side, laying open his hide as cleanly as a filet knife. Ribs snapped like twigs along the gash. The raw power of the strike had been more than Gunnar expected. He staggered and went down halfway to his goal, too far from the water, and too hurt to get closer. Blood pumped from the wound onto the ice, painting it red. Lucas swung around. Triumph filled his eyes.

  I’ve won. You die.

  Gunnar groaned and lifted his head. That had not been the way to go. He stared, waiting for the fatal blow, a million regrets flashing through his mind. He’d failed her when he’d promised he’d save her.

  Lucas raised a paw, a smile on his maw.

  Death.

  The ice cracked and exploded around them. A killer whale broke through the frozen inlet and took Lucas under the ice with it. Waves splashed up, soaking Gunnar. Shiya could still be alive if he acted quickly, but he couldn’t move.

  Frothing water splashed everywhere. If the Orca gave Lucas enough time to focus on shifting, it would be over for the whale. Fins, slashing paws—a roar as Lucas’s head broke the surface—silence as it sank back under. A violent struggle of life and death ensued beneath him and he could do nothing to retrieve the woman who desperately needed his help.

  The grizzly came up again, claws sinking into the edge, frantically seeking purchase. A pleading look filled his face. Lucas began to shift back into his true humanoid form, unable to hold his focus in the frigid water. Fur retreated, bones popped back into place, cracking and crunching. Soon, human hands fought to keep hold of the slick surface.

  Save me, brother.

  But to shift his shape with his injuries would be a death sentence. He wouldn’t have the strength to shift back and without immediate medical attention, the wounds in his human form would kill him. The whale would end it quick.

  Lucas’s hands slipped and he dropped into the water. Seconds later his head submerged into the icy depths. He’d only been doing the job he’d been assigned, but that job had threatened the woman Gunnar protected. He regretted his death. This matter could have been solved in their courts.

  Now, fate had decided and all would die. Even if he located her, Gunnar wasn’t sure he could bring her to the surface. The better solution would be to drown with her. He kicked a back leg, pushing his bulk toward the edge.

  Lucas resurfaced, thrust up onto to the ice by a massive black and white head. The whale backed away and locked gazes with Gunnar. Human eyes—Shiya’s eyes.

  She lived. He tried to crawl forward but couldn’t move. His body had gone numb from the blood loss, and his heart struggled to beat with the dropping pressure.

  She sank below the surface and came back up again. This time her dark hair swirled around her head in the water. “Gunnar,” she said.

  Lucas rolled over and looked in her direction. Seconds later, his hand extended out toward her. She eyed it for a moment before she reached out and let him pull her naked body from the water. Shiya immediately crawled over to Gunnar and stroked his face. He licked her hand. “He’s dying,” she said.

  Lucas nodded.

  “Please help me save him.”

  Gunnar’s vision grew fuzzy. He blinked, but couldn’t reopen his eyes.

  ***

  “Will he be okay?”

  “Okay? Never. He’s always been a strange one, but he’ll recover if that’s what you mean.”

  Gunnar opened his eyes and glared at Lucas. The surroundings were familiar. His ship—his quarters—his bed. “Look who’s calling me strange.”

  Lucas smiled. “Your woman and I came to an understanding.”

  Gunnar raised a brow.

  “I won’t kill her and she’ll learn how to control her abilities.”

  “And who’s going to teach her?”

  Lucas crossed his arms. “I’d volunteer, but I think you’ve already staked your claim.”

  “You think right.”

  Lucas nodded. “Treat her well. She’s a remarkable woman. I’m glad I didn’t succeed in killing her. Keep her out of trouble and you won’t see me again.” Lucas turned and walked out.

  “So where do we go from here?”

  “Everywhere.”

  “You’re doing that talk in the head thing again.”

  “Yes.” The universe belonged to them. There was so much he wanted to show her—teach her about her ancestors and the people of their world. Once the mission was over, and the ship recovered, he intended to show her wonders, take her places that would leave her breathless. But until that time, he’d like to make her breathless. He eyed her. Naked and breathless.

  “Let’s start over.” Gunnar reached his hand out and took hers, pulling her onto the bed and face to face. “Hi. My name is Gunnar. Where have you been all my life?”

  “Waiting for you to rescue me.” Shiya leaned in and kissed him. “And is that what you’re doing—rescuing me?”

  “Whatever you want to call it.” He grinned and went for her top.

  ~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~

  D. L. Jackson is a writer of urban fantasy, science fiction, military romance and erotic romance. She loves to incorporate crazy plot twists, comedy and the unexpected into her worlds. As a U.S. Army veteran, she naturally adores men in uniform and feels the world could always use more. She does her part by incorporating as many sexy soldiers in her novels as she can. When she isn't writing or running the roads, you can often find her online chatting with her peers and readers. Grab a cup of iced coffee, pull up your virtual chair and say hi. She loves emails and blog visits from her readers.

  Visit D.L. online at:

  www.authordljackson.com

  .L. Jackson, 61 - This Endris Night