rogue shifter 05 - caught between

by Gayle Parness

  Nodding, he picked up the photo to look at her again. "And is she also a cheetah?"

  "Yes."

  He took a moment to digest this. "And you? How did you grow up?"

  I looked down at my hands. This was tougher than I thought it would be. Garrett rubbed my back in support. "Foster homes—a bunch of them. Then one set of parents adopted me when I was fifteen. The Crawfords. I thought all along that I was human. Garrett and his friend Rob took me in a few months ago when I finally started showing signs that I was going to shift. They helped me through the transition. We fell in love while Garrett was training me."

  His attention shifted to Garrett. "They took you at sixteen? I know that I have no right to criticize, but..."

  "You're correct. You have no rights where I'm concerned. I'm an adult." I'd spoken softly, but my words made him arch his eyebrows in surprise. "If it eases your mind, I can tell you that Garrett saved my life. He trained me to use my cheetah skills and has made me part of a team of shifters and vampires who work to protect humans and other supes. I'm happier with him than I ever thought was possible."

  He looked amused. "Shifters and vampires working together to protect the innocent? Adele would have loved that." A small smile played across his face. "You're so much like her. Beautiful and smart, and I get the feeling you don't take shit from anyone."

  Garrett laughed. "Exactly right."

  He met my gaze in that direct way he had, as if his brain was constantly analyzing reams of data. "I didn't know about you or your sister."

  "I believe you."

  "I won't lie to you. If I'd suddenly been presented with two year old twins, I probably would have found shifter parents to adopt both of you. When I heard Adele had died...well, lets just say I was a mess. Not fit father material. Surviving children were never mentioned."

  His eyes took in my belly. "And you're expecting?"

  "A son. Charles. Charlie." I smiled and leaned closer to Garrett, bringing another questioning look from Simon. "It's a long story." Garrett and I had discussed sparing myself from going into too much detail regarding my ordeal, but I gave him a shortened version, leaving Isaiah and some of the gorier details out completely.

  He was shaking his head when I finished. "Your strength is humbling. I'm so sorry." Garrett wrapped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer, making my father smile warmly. "And congratulations to you both."

  "Thank you..." I wasn't sure what to call him.

  "Simon is fine." I nodded, feeling relieved. I wasn't ready to call him Dad and Dr. Crenshaw didn't work for me either. "You must have questions too." He gestured toward me.

  "About a thousand. How did you meet?"

  He grinned. "She was the hottest girl in my high school. All the jocks wanted her, all the cool kids wanted her and all the nerds like me wanted her. But she rarely dated, and when she did, it was usually someone from another school. She wasn't a snob, in fact she was really funny and sociable. She went to parties with all of us, she had a lot of friends, and she was on the track team. But she held herself apart when it came to anything serious. Adele was afraid, afraid of herself."

  He gave me another calculating look, suddenly coming to a decision. "Do you have..?" He pointed behind his left ear, referring to the birth mark that anyone with demon blood possessed.

  "Yes. An ellipse. Bridgett too."

  "The demonic heritage frightened her. She was half cheetah and half demon...an amazingly powerful supernatural. And it terrified her. She thought she'd turn dark and lose control."

  He stood up and turned away, walking toward the window, looking out and continuing to speak without looking at us. "She rarely used magic at all. I started using magic at an early age, so when she found out I was a practicing sorcerer, she asked for my help. She wanted to find a spell to null those powers that she considered abhorrent. We searched together for an answer, but there was nothing, at least that we could find. We spent weeks and weeks together. Our friendship transitioned into something more serious.

  "We graduated from high school in 1992 and spent the summer together. That fall, I came here to Stanford to study and she disappeared about two weeks later. None of her friends knew where she was. Neither did her family."

  He turned back to look at me, his tall frame slightly hunched with emotion. "I adored her. I was a nerdy computer geek who wanted to write books about ancient languages of all things and amazingly, she loved me. This gorgeous, magically powerful, hysterically funny goddess loved me. And then she just disappeared off the face of the planet, and I never knew why."

  I smiled ruefully and sighed. "I guess it was because of me and Bridgett."

  "She could have come to me." He sat back in his chair, looking a little defeated. "I don't understand why she didn't."

  "How did you find out she'd died?"

  "Her stepmother called me and then sent me newspaper clippings reporting the incident along with a few other things of hers that Adele had wanted me to have. The newspaper said the cause of death was smoke inhalation. The house she was staying in burned down while she slept, somewhere in Tahoe City."

  I shuddered, remembering what it was like to watch someone burn to death. "What happened to her father and stepmother?"

  "They died in a plane crash four years ago. You must have been staying with them when Adele died. I suppose they were the ones who put you up for adoption."

  I looked more closely at Simon, imagining him as a teenager, working with my mom to find a nonexistent cure for her demon DNA. I could see why she fell for him. Besides the fact that he was a very attractive man, there was a calmness about him that drew you in, that made you feel comfortable around him. My closest friend Ethan had that same turquoise aura, and it made me smile to remember how many times he'd calmed and comforted me. "Do you have a wife and kids?"

  "No. There was no one else for me." His expression was pained. "Those months with Adele were my best. She encouraged me to major in my passion, and as you see, I did, despite my parents' disapproval. They're both dentists."

  I felt for this man who'd lost his love, yet never understood the reason. I shuddered thinking about how devastated I'd be if Garrett ever disappeared from my life.

  I sent to my mate, "Do you think...?"

  "Yes, of course. Invite him."

  I giggled, which seemed to puzzle Simon. "Will you come to Crescent City for Christmas?" Simon looked shocked. "Look, I know that we've just met, but I can't stay long and I have so many questions and..." I looked into his navy eyes and it felt right, somehow. "My adopted parents will be there for dinner. And our crazy team of vampires and shifters. Plus some of Garrett's family. You can stay at our house for a few days, there's more than enough room. Bridgett will be there of course, and your grandson will be a few months old."

  I touched my belly, then clutched at Garrett's hand and waited.

  When Simon smiled again, I let out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "Thank you. I'd love to come. Did you say Crescent City?"

  We nodded and his expression changed suddenly. "You mentioned that you've just come from Carmel?" We nodded again. "I remember now where I've heard your name before, Garrett. You broke away from your maker, Eleanor Howard. Then you ended her, correct?"

  Garrett's face grew grim as he remembered. "Yes. She came to our home and threatened Jackie and had another close friend brutally killed. I was an unwilling witness to her horrors over many decades."

  Simon nodded and said, "She was vile. You did a great service when you rid the world of that bitch." His eyes were dark with anger for a moment, as if he'd had some personal experience with Eleanor. After a moment he smiled at me. "I see you've chosen a mate who can protect you and your son."

  Garrett barked out a loud laugh. "Simon, she's capable of taking care of herself. She took down Antoine, Eleanor's second. Turned him to ash, even after he'd injured her seriously. He was over 200 years old. There are others she's handled. I'll tell you the stories when you come up."

&nb
sp; Simon was grinning like a school boy on the first day of summer vacation, perhaps with a touch of pride? "I look forward to hearing them." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "You have a shifter's aura."

  "I was born cheetah like Jackie. As far as I know, I'm the only shifter to survive the change. Eleanor enjoyed her experiments."

  "I've heard some of the horror stories." He looked us over again and shook his head. "You're both rather incredible. I may wake up tomorrow and think I've dreamed this evening." We all laughed, which lightened the mood in the room.

  "You don't know the half of it. Wait until you meet the crew. We're all rogues of one kind or another and we've taken that as our team name."

  "Rogues, huh? Adele would have loved that too. She was a rogue in many ways herself."

  I thought of something, blurting out, "Do you have a picture?" I was surprised to hear my voice crack with emotion.

  "Of course." He pulled open one of his drawers and took out two photographs, handing them to me. Garrett and I looked at them greedily, my hand trembling slightly as I held them.

  She was lean and blonde like me, with the same green eyes and straight nose, although she was petite like Bridgett. In both pictures she stood next to my father on the beach, clutching his hand, the wind blowing her hair to the side and her smile radiant. In the second picture she seemed to be laughing at him.

  After a moment of not breathing, I whispered, "She was so beautiful..."

  "Mon ange, you look so much like her." Garrett kissed my cheek.

  Simon nodded. "You do, Jackie. Although there's some of me too."

  "Bridgett looks a lot like you, but she's got Adele's green eyes and is closer to her height. She's bright and really good at languages, like you."

  "She is? "He seemed to like that. After another few seconds, I reluctantly handed back the pictures, but he returned the one where she was simply smiling, keeping the laughing one for himself. "You keep that one. I'll hunt around and see if I can find any others. If you leave me your address, I'll mail you more. Or I can scan them and email them to you."

  "Thank you." I couldn't stop staring at this lovely woman who'd given birth to us and then died so young. A mass of jumbled feelings tumbled through my heart. I felt sad and angry and cheated but mostly I felt grateful that she'd decided to carry us to term and love us for the short time she'd been able.

  Simon and I were quiet as we stared at the pictures cradled in our hands.

  "Are you alright, love?' I felt Garrett's warm breath on my cheek as he leaned in closer and took my other hand in his.

  "Yes. I'm good." I looked into his eyes and smiled. "I'm fine." He sweetly raised my hand to kiss my knuckles and as usual, every care disappeared and only this glorious man who'd chosen to share his life with me remained.

  I leaned against his chest and yawned. Garrett turned back to Simon. "We have to be leaving, but if you could give us your email, we'll contact you when Charlie makes an appearance and also about the plans regarding your Christmas visit."

  They exchanged cards then we walked to the door, turning to say our final goodbyes. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Simon."

  "And you, Garrett. I'm glad you two found each other. Take care of her."

  "Forever." They locked eyes and shook hands, something passing between them that seemed strangely fitting in these odd circumstances.

  Simon turned to me and opened his arms. "May I? This is all new to me, but..." He hesitated. "Adele is so present in you."

  I hesitated for only a moment and then walked into his arms. It was slightly awkward at first, because our bodies were stiff from nerves and the unfamiliar closeness, but after a few seconds we relaxed and I allowed myself to feel comforted by a gentle hug from a father who hadn't known I existed until just a few minutes ago. He was Garrett's height, so I guess I inherited his taller DNA. Being a shifter, I automatically took in his scent. He wore a light citrusy cologne which didn't mask his earthy almond aroma. I liked it.

  When I'd moved beside Garrett once more, I said, "I'll email you later in the week. Thanks for believing me and not throwing us out."

  "You'll find that I'm fairly even-tempered. Adele was the fiery one."

  "Ah, well I knew she got it from somewhere." Garrett smirked and Simon laughed while I punched my mate in the arm with a scowl.

  Garrett rubbed his arm pretending to be in pain. "Simon, do you practice your art? I only ask because sometimes we have need of a sorcerer on a job we're working."

  "Yes. I feel it's important to keep in practice. Keeps me on my toes mentally, too."

  "Great. I'll place you on our team contact list as a possible consultant."

  "Thank you. I think I'd enjoy working with both of you."

  We walked hand in hand to the car, both of us silent as we went over tonight's extraordinary events in our heads. We found Isaiah asleep in the back seat with french fries spread around him like an offering. Garrett actually growled.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Garrett, Isaiah and I beamed into the kitchen Star-Trek-style, surprised to find the house completely empty. It only took Garrett a second to contact his nest and find out that they were all playing soccer in their new back yard. Even Samson, our Rottweiler, was there acting as out-of-bound ball chaser. Garrett told them not to stop their game and that we'd walk over in a minute.

  Isaiah looked around the large room, taking in the enormous refrigerator, the eight burner stove, the two ovens and the long table where we usually held our team meetings. Sometimes we'd be cooking for a dozen or more people, most of them wolves or shifters, both groups notoriously big eaters. We were always prepared for whatever cropped up. Of course when I say 'we' I mean mostly everyone else. My cooking skills were limited to spaghetti, scrambled eggs and boxed mac and cheese.

  Isaiah had absolutely no luggage, which was odd but easy. On the other hand, I had a large suitcase, which Garrett sweetly took into his room along with his one smaller bag. His room was now officially our room since my old room across the hall was the new nursery. Most nights Garrett and I had started out curled up together in his bed, but he'd never been comfortable with me waking up in the morning in total darkness next to a cold non-breathing body. I didn't mind at all, since it gave me a chance to check him out. I'd turn on the lamp and smile, looking at him and feeling like the luckiest female on the planet. Of course it wasn't just his 6 feet of lean muscle, his gorgeous features and his thick wavy auburn hair that made me feel lucky, but c'mon, those things sure didn't hurt.

  We walked over together, Garrett holding my hand and Isaiah straggling behind us, looking at the garden and the woods beyond them. We'd placed the new house so that a narrow strip of forest blocked our view, giving all of us some much needed privacy. The path that Aaron's team had constructed between the houses wound around parts of our garden, under an arched trellis, around the end of the wooded strip, through another arched trellis and into their garden, keeping with Garrett's modern Victorian theme.

  The new house followed a similar design to the original, sporting a large porch with plenty of seating, tall windows which let in lots of moonlight but locked down with steel shutters during daylight hours, and even a rounded Queen Anne style turret. A circular driveway that ran adjacent to a three car garage, made the house easy to access from the main road. The garage was mostly empty as of now, but that would probably change soon if Garrett's nest had their way.

  Looking at it from the outside, a passerby would never know that a nest of serious badasses lived in this quaint house surrounded by wildflower and rose gardens. In fact, that was exactly the point. We hadn't mentioned to the general shapeshifter community that Garrett's nest was moving out of our basement, because a lot of the shapeshifters in town might feel on edge about it. Garrett believed in trying to keep under the community radar, avoiding confrontations with nervous neighbors whenever possible.

  The interior was designed more with the vampire's tastes in mind, without going into 'zombie-goth' or anythin
g too drastic. I hadn't actually seen it yet, but I knew that there was a huge 'man cave' which included the largest flat screen TV you could purchase, an office for William with a lot of high-tech computer gear and an artist's studio for Sasha. Heinrich was planning on rebuilding a couple of old Harley's he'd been able to purchase, so he'd taken over one small section of the garage with his hogs.

  Samson, the Rottweiler and fae dog mix we'd inherited from our murdered friend, Carly, ran over to lick my face and hands and nuzzle my belly as if he was greeting Charlie as well. The others hadn't noticed us so we stayed downwind and stood silently, watching them enjoy their new soccer field.

  It was hard not to admire their natural grace and athletic abilities. The three vampires who made up Garrett's nest were Sasha, Garrett's second, a 6'2" strikingly handsome Slav, probably descended from Tsars, Heinrich, a 6'7" German giant who usually dressed right out of "Easy Rider" but spoke with a politeness that always disarmed me, and William, a much younger tech genius who'd won the heart of my twin sister, Bridgett, and whose skills on the computer had come in handy on several occasions.

  Add to that our newest team member wanabe, Flynn, a lion shifter as large as Heinrich, but even younger and less experienced than William, who was still learning the ropes. They were an eclectic group who'd managed to grow dear to my heart over the short time that I'd known them.

  Heinrich looked exasperated with Flynn as he watched William get up from where he'd been brought down. "I told you, no tackling." He shoved him toward the goal that they were defending.

  "Yeah I know, but you said we were playing football." Flynn looked just as annoyed.

  "That's what they call soccer in other countries, dumbass."

  "Well, I'd rather play real football. This game is just a lot of running around, kicking and bouncing a ball on your head. Football's a man's sport."