by A. C. Arthur
“I should get my camera,” Graham said.
He couldn’t get anything since both his hands gripped his rigid cock as he watched Kyss with the others.
“Ewen would love this,” Graham was saying as he stroked himself harder.
“Where is Ewen?” Nisa asked. “Maybe he could join us?”
Maybe he had the other animal scent on him? Nisa didn’t know but whoever had that scent, it was driving her cat wild. It wanted out and it wanted to fight. There was a threat near.
“Nah,” Graham said and licked his lips, spittle dripping from his mouth. “He’s taking care of business tonight. Shifter business.”
Kyss moaned loudly then and Lora rubbed her hands between Kyss’s legs.
“He should be here handling this business,” Kyss whispered.
“Yes,” Nisa added. “He should.”
She was saying the words, but her body was also moving to the side in an effort to get away from Patch’s touch. It felt dirty. And she felt disloyal.
“He’s gotta give that funky animal new instructions,” Graham said, his hand slipping up and down his cock as he’d already started to ejaculate. “Disgusting business. Not like this…ahhh yeah, just like that…” he sighed and jerked and pumped into his fist.
The scent was closer and Nisa’s incisors grew longer. Her claws broke through the skin of her fingers.
“Shit!” Patch yelled.
She looked at him then, her eyes wide, but not as wide as his. He’d climbed over her at some point and was now staring down at her…and the first remnants of her cat.
“Shifter!” he yelled again. “She’s a fucking shifter!”
Decan sat back and tried not to turn his nose up at the stench of the wolf.
He hadn’t been surprised when Blaez Trekas had walked up behind him in the crowded room. He’d come here looking for the man and he’d found him—all of him. Now, they sat across from each other, neither fully trusting the other but knowing they had a common cause.
“Lial Johansen is working for the Ruling Cabinet,” Blaez said without formalities or menial chit-chat. “Or at least he used to be.”
Decan could appreciate the get in and get out mentality. He wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable in this room, with all these humans. Possibly because he didn’t trust that small part of him that had been vying for revenge for the last five years.
“If he’s working for them, why would he kill their family members?” he asked.
“I think you know the answer to that question,” Blaez answered.
Blaez Trekas was bald. He had tattoos going down his neck and probably everywhere else. But he was wearing black slacks and a white dinner jacket. He looked like a billionaire. A strong lycan billionaire.
“What I know is that humans are dying and shifters are being blamed for those deaths. If Lial is the killer then he should be taken down. If not, then we need to prove that before this war between us escalates even further.”
Decan couldn’t believe he was saying that. The words were necessary he told himself and then took a cleansing breath just in case the wolf could sense his dishonesty the way another cat shifter could.
“Lial isn’t here tonight,” Decan continued. “And neither is the FBI guy, Wilson.”
“And neither is Cole,” Blaez replied. “So you can report that to Jace Maybon.”
“I’d rather find out why a Shadow Shifter came to you in the first place. How did he even know who or what you are?”
Decan wasn’t buying this connection that seemed to have just surfaced. Rome had told him that Jace had a new lead on finding Cole. Then, when he’d met with Jace last night, the FL had spoken of an arranged meeting with Blaez Trekas. How and why was the communication between the Shadow Shifter and the lycan so casual?
Blaez sat back in one of the lounge chairs surrounding the small glass-top table. He shrugged as he asked, “He didn’t tell you?”
“All I know is that you told Jace you had a lead on Cole’s whereabouts. How you knew Cole was even missing or how to contact the Faction Leader of the Shadow Shifters to tell him this, is a mystery to me,” Decan told him.
A mystery that he’d like to solve before he moved any further.
“I’m not a fan of keeping secrets from your pack,” Blaez replied and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
“Shadow Shifters don’t have packs,” Decan told him. “We’re a community of feline shifters fighting for our place in this world.”
“You’re a species on the run.” Blaez corrected him. “We all are. The humans fear us because they can’t control us.”
“And you want to change that? You want to help the humans to accept us?”
Blaez shook his head. “Not in a million years. But I’m not running or hiding. I did that before. It didn’t work. So here we are.”
“You’ve seen Cole?” Decan asked.
Blaez nodded.
“Maybon showed up at my door years back. My home wasn’t easy to find so I knew instinctively that things were about to get worse simply because he—a Shadow Shifter—was there,” he said.
Decan listened. He sat facing the entrance and each of the exit doors. His senses were on high alert for any species other than human in this room. So far he’d only picked up the scent of the wolf sitting across from him. Satisfied with that he waited while Blaez continued.
“We’d watched in horror on television as the Unveiling unfolded, so as Maybon told us about his missing friend we sympathized with him. My mate offered to help.”
“Your mate?”
Blaez gave a wry smile. “Our pack works a little differently than your so called democracy. Anyway, Kira was able to locate Cole in the southwestern region. My pack went out and found him.”
“But you didn’t tell Jace?”
“Cole did not want us to.”
“So where is he now?” Decan asked.
“That’s what we need to find out,” Blaez told him.
“Wait, you said you found him, but now you don’t know where he is? How is that possible?”
“In the beginning Cole asked us to help him and we did so, for years.”
Decan wasn’t sure if he was believing this. The wolf’s words matched what Jace had told him, still Decan felt like something was off.
“How did you help him?” What could you and your pack do that Roman Reynolds and the other Faction Leaders couldn’t?”
Blaez smiled and nodded at the woman who then appeared at the table with fresh drinks. Decan didn’t offer a smile, but instead inhaled deeply as a secondary check. They hadn’t ordered any drinks so why was she replacing them? He glanced around at that moment, spying small groups of humans together talking, and more guests arriving even though the gala had been in full swing for at least an hour now. What he didn’t see or sense was Nisa, Gold or any of the other shifters that were supposed to be here working.
“We could still move around above ground without detection,” Blaez continued when the woman was gone. “After the President’s tirade and eventual death the entire world knew who and what Roman and his friends were. That’s why he had to close his firm and go underground.”
“But they didn’t know Cole because Cole had gone missing the night of the Unveiling,” Decan said.
He remembered the years when he’d entered high school and armed guards stood at the doors of the school watching every student enter and exit. It was like that everywhere he went. Guards filled the streets looking for any signs of the shifters—namely, the reported leaders of the species, Rome and his friends.
“We worked with Cole tracking down Reed’s killers and making sure a shifter named Boden and all of his rogues were dead.”
Decan knew that name. Boden Estevez was the rogue Topétenia shifter who along with Captain Lawrence Crowe were responsible for unveiling the shifters to the world.
“Then, a year ago there was a fire,” Blaez continued.
Decan tensed. There was a fire a year
ago at the SIC in Arizona. It came after the explosion and it had nearly killed him.
“We were in Sedona,” Blaez was now saying. “In the area near where Sebastian Perry’s resort used to be. Cole had sensed a large group of rogues there. The fire started before we could find them. And when it was over, Cole was gone.”
“Gone? Where?” Decan asked and then he paused.
White hot pain speared through his chest. His hands trembled and the lion inside roared. He stood so abruptly his knee hit the table and his glass tumbled to the floor. Blaez stood as well. His eyes flickering an intense blue for a second before returning to normal.
“Nisa,” Decan whispered.
“Death,” Blaez said.
CHAPTER 11
Nisa jumped from the bed swinging her arm so that her claws swiped the man named Patch across the side of his face for a second time.
“Gun!” Kyss yelled from across the room.
Nisa ducked in time to have bullets cracking the bedframe behind her. She crawled on her hands and knees, teeth bared just before she jumped on one of the humans who had burst into the room. Her teeth clamped down over his wrist, sending the gun he’d just fired to the floor.
Adrenaline pumped through her veins, the instinct to fight for her life pounding against her skull like a brick. Her cat was ready to kill. It would be so easy to shift and take them out quickly, but she refrained. It was hard, but she did it and the next human that aimed a gun at her was rewarded for his efforts by her jumping on him, knocking him to the floor, her claws digging into his chest as she leaned her face into his and roared with all the ferocity she possessed.
That’s when she heard the glass breaking and more roars filling the space. She looked up in time to see a black wolf with bright blue eyes landing on the floor before charging the human that had the bad luck of standing closest to it. Kyss was lifting her leg to kick a gun out of one man’s hand, while reaching behind her to sink her claws into the stomach of another.
Nisa growled as heavy rope wrapped around her neck and yanked her head back. Her hands went to the rope as she tried to break free. The person on the other end was strong, pulling her so that the heels on her shoes broke as she was dragged across the floor. She managed to turn around just in time to see the tall bulky guy who thought he’d caught her. Her teeth bared, she roared once more before yanking on the rope so hard the guy lost his footing and tumbled toward her. He was just about to fall on top of her when a blur of white flashed before her eyes, and a roar like none she’d ever heard before vibrated throughout the room.
The man hit the wall with a sickening thud. He appeared dazed momentarily, to be followed by the spurt of blood from the quick and efficient bite to his throat. Nisa had only a moment to gasp before the new arrival turned to her, a man’s body with the lion’s face.
His hair had gone completely white, his eyes like glaciers. The beard was longer, blood dripping from his teeth as he glared at her.
“Decan?” she whispered before being pushed to the side as he charged another human.
Kyss came to her then, helping her up off the floor as the white lion and the black wolf finished the last two humans in the room. An eerie silence fell over the space as Nisa came to her feet, her claws and teeth retracting.
“Your shoes are fucked,” Kyss said glibly.
Nisa looked down and kicked what was left of the sandals off her feet.
Footsteps approached and seconds later Keller and Gold entered the room.
“They’re coming,” Gold announced.
“There’s a back elevator. Let’s go!” Keller insisted and moved to touch Nisa’s arm.
Decan roared so loud everyone stilled again.
His face was normal now, his hair back to its black and white streaks, but his eyes, they spoke clearly of rage and Keller immediately dropped his hand from Nisa’s arm. Decan moved first, coming toward her and scooping her up in his arms. Nisa wrapped her arms around his neck. A part of her wanted to say something, to tell him she could walk, or to stop being so grouchy, but the words didn’t surface. Something inside held her tongue and kept her still in his arms as they followed Gold out of the room. They all boarded the elevator and stepped out into the darkness of the parking garage. In seconds three large vehicles pulled up and Decan moved them toward the first one.
“We need to lay low, at least for tonight,” Gold said.
A man she didn’t recognize came from around the other side of the vehicle holding what looked like one of the human’s bloody jackets around his waist to hide the better part of his nudity.
“I’m on your comlink,” he said. “I’ll send you the address of a place to stay.”
Decan nodded and then looked to Gold and Keller.
“First thing in the morning,” he said. “That’s how long you’ve got to come up with a damn good reason for why you weren’t with her.”
Keller shook his head. “We were doing what we came here to do. Babysitting wasn’t part of the deal.”
“This is my operation. Whatever I say needs to be done, gets done!” Decan yelled.
“It was Mackey,” Gold said. “We had him.”
“I don’t give a damn! She could have been killed!” Decan continued.
“It’s been a really fun night, but I’m kinda hungry and tired, so can we wrap this up and reconvene in the morning?” Kyss asked from where she leaned on the second vehicle.
Nisa had never felt as out of place as she did at this moment. She was barefoot, in a shifter’s arms and remaining totally silent. How the hell did she get here? And where was the Nisa Reynolds that swore she could handle a mission on her own?
“First thing in the morning,” Decan repeated and then yanked the passenger side door open and deposited Nisa into the seat.
She immediately slid to the side and familiarized herself with the dashboard controls of this foreign vehicle. Decan slammed one door and then the other as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Sit back,” he told her.
Nisa paused and then decided to do what he’d said. There would be time for her to speak her mind, soon.
The vehicle took off quickly, moving even faster than the one that had brought them here in the first place. They drove through the city, into the almost pitch blackness of territory unknown to her, before finally coming to a stop. Decan stepped out and before he could get to her door Nisa got out on her own. Her feet landed on a grassy surface, and she looked down to see long blades of grass passing her ankles. Decan walked in front of her, going up the steps of what appeared to be an old wood house. Vines wrapped around the railing of what used to be a porch. Ivy stretched up the front walls like fluid arms and circled around the windows and roof so that the wood barely showed anymore. The place looked more like a grass hut now. He opened the door and waited while she entered, before closing it again. She followed him to the back of the dwelling where he opened another door and walked them down a flight of stairs.
Here, there was light and furniture and warmth. She almost sighed in relief at the sight of a small bathroom and a shower stall.
“Go ahead,” he said, his voice seemingly loud in the closed space. “I’ll be here when you get out.”
Nisa didn’t know what was happening to her. She was actually standing there searching for words. There was so much to say to him. So many questions and so much to tell him about what she and Kyss had learned about the Ruling Cabinet, but she did not say a word. She simply turned around and walked into the closet-sized bathroom.
Decan watched her.
Leaning against the doorjamb after opening the door, he just watched.
Her body was tight in all the right places, plump in the others. There was power in her legs, her calves moving up to her thighs. Her arms were long and strong as she lifted them over her head and let the spray of water hit her sides and her back. Soapy lather ran down her body in silken stretches that made him jealous all over again.
Wasn’t that how he’d felt
as he’d run from that ballroom and headed to the elevators to follow her scent. Someone was touching her. They were feeling her and taking what was his. The sensation had quickly turned to rage when he’d seen the rope go around her neck and knew the human had planned to kill her. Now, Decan was back to not knowing what the hell he was feeling where she was concerned. Actually, that wasn’t true. The bulging in his pants said he was definitely aroused and the sheer reluctance to letting her out of his sight again had him standing there while she bathed and watching like some perverted stalker.
“It’s a good thing I’m not modest.”
He heard her words and blinked when he realized she’d shut off the water and stepped out of the shower stall. Naked.
“The towel is behind the door,” she continued.
He nodded and moved further into the small room so that he could push the door closed enough to pull the towel off the wire hook.
“Thank you,” she said when he handed it to her.
“You’re not modest around me,” he told her. “Because you know there’s no need.”
She’d bent over and began rubbing the towel down her legs. Standing again she tilted her head as she stared at him.
“You have no idea what I know,” she replied.
“You know there’s something between us. It’s been there since the moment I first saw you.”
“Well, since you technically stalked me for about what? Six months? Without me knowing, then I’d say I had nothing to do with that, so how could I know anything.”
“But you felt it. That day as you packed your Tracer. You didn’t startle when I came up behind you because you knew I was there,” he said, keeping his gaze leveled on hers.
Yes, he enjoyed looking at her body and yes, they were only about three feet apart and he figured he could just reach out and touch any part of that body he wanted to at the moment. But he wanted to look into her eyes, to know what he was feeling was reciprocated. Decan had no idea why that was so important to him now. It had never been before.