by Lola Kidd
There was one thing he and Jess had in common—a dead mother. His mother had died in a tragic car crash when he was just a baby. A few days later, his deadbeat dad ran off out of “grief” and left Alek with his maternal grandmother. His gran had been a good woman, but she wasn’t a shifter.
Most of the shifter info he had came from the Internet. He really wished he’d paid more attention to the parts about mates. He had no clue how it worked. It had always sounded like an instant-love kind of thing to him. He was sure that Jess was his one and only, but that had only come to him in the last twenty-four hours.
He’d known her for years and had never thought of acting unprofessionally. She was gorgeous, with a perfect body, but she was his charge. He wasn’t about to cross that line. And she had never given any indication that she was interested in him at all. In fact, they barely even liked each other. Their relationship was strictly professional. He had no clue how he was going to convince her to be with him forever. He could barely convince himself that his tiger was right.
That wasn’t even getting started on the whole “Abe and the lamp” deal. The lamp was a myth. Even Alek had heard it, growing up in Wooten. He didn’t want to push the subject with her. It was easier to take her to the stupid cave and let her see for herself that it was fake. It was going to crush her, but there was nothing he could do about that. And Abe? Alek was sure he was the King of Thieves. Any security guard worth his salt knew about the Thieves. They weren’t all thieves, but they were bad news. They were a group of shifters who stuck together in the Wasteland. They ran Rose Valley.
Abe didn’t seem so dangerous. Alek’s tiger was wary, but he didn’t think the guy was a threat. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. Abe definitely didn’t like Alek very much, and he was quick to protect Jess. It also didn’t seem like he had any sexual interest in her at all. The older man genuinely wanted to help. That wasn’t at all like the rumors Alek had heard about the Thieves and their king.
His list of problems reached to the moon and back. It was hard to figure out which one to focus on first. Even if he figured out how to convince Jess to be his mate, what was he going to do about Roger? They were going to have to lie low for a few years. If Jess left by herself, her father would be crushed, but he would leave her alone. If they disappeared at the same time, he would never stop looking for them. God forbid he found out Alek was a shifter.
He was inside his own head the entire walk to the mountain. He was shocked when Abe announced they were at the entrance of the cave.
“We’re going to have to keep an eye out for it. The entrance will blend into the stones.”
“Isn’t there some kind of magic word?” Jess asked, feeling along the black rocks.
Abe laughed. “I’m sorry, princess, there is not.”
“How do you know it blends in?” Alek asked, leaning against a tree and watching.
“Legend. You know how shifters talk.” Abe shot him a look.
Alek didn’t look away. “Not really. I don’t speak to shifters.”
“I think I see it!” Jess said excitedly. She ran down the mountain, took a sharp right, and disappeared.
Alek was on the move right away. He fought the urge to shift. This was going to be very difficult if she insisted on pulling her usual tricks. “Jessica!”
“What’s the magic word?” she called.
Alek searched all over the space where she’d disappeared but couldn’t find any door. “I don’t know any magic words. Stop playing around.”
“Don’t like when your mate disappears, do you?” Abe whispered in his ear.
Alek jumped. He hadn’t heard his companion sneaking up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The only reason I haven’t exposed you already is because I know who you work for,” Abe hissed. “I don’t think Roger Sheridan would be too happy to learn that a shifter has infiltrated his ranks.”
Alek turned and stood nose to nose with Abe. “I’d watch the accusations you’re throwing around if I were you. That’s slander, and I won’t stand for it.”
“You have no idea who I am, but I won’t take your threat personally. You couldn’t handle what my men had to throw at you. But in the future, watch who you speak to in the Wasteland, young man.”
“Ta-da!” Jess jumped from her hidden room. She looked from Alek to Abe and put her hands on her hips. “I leave you two alone for one minute and you’re already having a pissing contest.”
“Your minder just wants to be sure I’m acting above board,” Abe said. “I can’t believe you found the door so easily.”
“It’s pretty dark in there,” Jess said. She took two flashlights out of her bag. “I only have two.”
Abe snatched the second flashlight. “I think Alek will follow close at your side, so you two can share.”
“That’s fine,” Alek said. “Lead the way.”
Abe went in first, followed by Jess, and finally Alek. Of course he was going to follow close at Jess’s side. For all he knew, this was a trap. Maybe Abe didn’t mean them any harm, but who was to say his men weren’t lying in wait inside the cave? Roger hadn’t made a move against the Wasteland yet, but he was still saying a lot of inflammatory things. It would be suicide to hurt his prized daughter, but maybe the Thieves would kidnap her to use her as leverage. Which would also be stupid, because Roger would burn this whole place down looking for Jess.
The cave was small and damp. The black rocks made it seem even smaller than it was. Alek’s tiger hated being inside the mountain and was incredibly anxious.
“How far inside is this thing supposed to be?” he asked Jess.
“It doesn’t say. We’re just going to have to search for a while.”
“Wonderful. It’s not a great map if it doesn’t say exactly where we need to go. We’re going to get lost down here.”
“I have a good sense of direction, friend,” Abe said. He pointed his flashlight up. “I don’t think we have far to go, though. There’s an interesting smell down here.”
Alek couldn’t smell much beyond Jess’s perfume, but now he focused. There was something strange about the smell in the cave. There was something down here.
Abe sniffed and started walking faster. “My god. The rumors were true. He is alive!”
The small tunnel opened up into a vast room. It was like a giant underground theater. There was a huge rock tower in the center of the room, and at the top of the rocks, there was an enormous lamp. Alek couldn’t believe it. Jess’s mother’s books weren’t fairy tales. It was all true.
“I told you!” Jess crowed. “I told you.”
She ran for the tower, but Alek grabbed her around the waist. “Not so fast. That doesn’t look very safe.”
“You just want to be the first to get his hands on the lamp!” She struggled to get out of his arms. “That’s my genie and my wishes.”
She kicked at him hard, but he didn’t let go. “Jessica! Stop it. There is no such thing as genies. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“I will get you the lamp, little one,” Abe said. He put down his flashlight and pointed the light toward the tower.
“No!” Jess’s scream reverberated off the rocks. “That’s mine. I brought you here.”
“I don’t think there are any wishes to be had.” Abe was at the middle of the tower. It swayed dangerously under his weight. “I don’t think this is a genie.”
A shriek pierced the air as the tower swayed hard. Jess gasped and stopped struggling. Abe got to the top of the tower and held up the lamp triumphantly. It wasn’t a lamp at all; it was a cage shaped like a lamp. Alek couldn’t see clearly what was inside but it looked like a bird of some kind.
Jess went limp in his arms. “What is that?”
“It’s a dodo,” Abe said.
He navigated his way down the rocks very slowly. It was like watching molasses drip from a tree. The bird didn’t make much noise, but it didn’t seem to like the trip. Alek didn’t let go of Jess
when Abe reached them with the cage. She was shaking but not crying yet. He knew she was going to be hurting. The childish myth had given her hope. This had to be devastating for her.
Abe held the cage up in front of them. “It’s a shifter.”
“Why is it in a cage?” Alek asked. “Why didn’t it just shift and get out of this thing?”
“We have our own tall tales. There was one told of an old shifter who betrayed a friend and was locked away for his misdeeds.” Abe studied the bird for a moment. “This shifter must be very old. The dodo has been extinct for four hundred years, and it lost the ability to fly long before that. ”
“Shifters can live that long?” Jess asked.
Her voice sounded hollow and rough. Alek couldn’t look at her. He was going to lose it. He should have never let her come. Better she wondered all her life than be crushed by the knowledge that her mother had died for nothing. There was no genie in a magic lamp.
“Not usually.” Abe shook the cage. “My friend, I am going to unlock the cage now.”
Abe fiddled with the cage for a few moments, trying to pick the lock. After a failed attempt, he grabbed a rock and bashed the lock off. The bird stayed in the cage.
Alek crouched near it. “At least have the decency to come out, or we’ll lock you back up again. Stupid bird.”
“What if it’s dangerous?” Jess asked. “Someone put it all the way down here and locked it up. Whoever did it must have had a good reason.”
That got the bird’s attention. It hopped to the edge of the cage and stepped out gingerly. Once on solid ground, it started to transform. Alek got out of the way as the small bird became a small man. While he didn’t look a day over thirty, he was very pale and had long white hair.
The man cleared its throat a few times. “I am not dangerous. But the man who locked me inside this cave is. You should leave. He’ll be back soon.”
“Who locked you in here?” Abe asked urgently. “We’ll leave if you want us to, but I have to know. Are the rumors true?”
Before the bird could speak, someone else answered the question. “If they say that a man was betrayed by his own brother, then yes, they are true.”
Alek’s blood ran cold. He knew that voice.
Kevin Burrows was standing at the mouth of the cave, and he didn’t look happy.
Seven
She was numb. It was stupid, but she had been starting to hope the lamp was a real thing. Even Abe had been excited, and he was a seasoned resident of the Wasteland.
This was too much. She’d known it was silly, but now she was screwed. She hoped she liked Baghera, because she was going to be stuck there forever once she turned. There was a good chance she was going to become a were-tiger at the next full moon. That was why she had fought so hard to get the lamp.
She knew there was no chance of bringing back the dead. That was part of all the genie myths. But finding the lamp would have meant that she had some hope of not becoming a were-animal.
A stupid bird. Her mother had died for a stupid bird.
At least Alek was here with her. When he’d taken her in his arms, she had fought at first but it wasn’t all bad. He was so strong and his body was so warm. It felt nice to be pressed against his chest. It helped her keep her emotions under control. She didn’t want to be sobbing in front of these two. They did have to get out of the cave, after all. She could cry when she was alone.
“I told you to wait, Kevin,” Alek barked. He was standing between Jess and Kevin.
“He isn’t here for you,” Abe said. He looked at Alek. “Get her out of here.”
A look passed between the two men that Jess didn’t understand. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Do you remember how to get out of here?” Alek asked her.
She nodded. It was a straight shot out of the cave. It was only two turns and then going straight.
“Good. Then whatever happens, I want you to run,” Alek said, looking at Kevin.
“Go to the bar and ask for Gunner,” Abe told her. “He’ll help you.”
Jess had no idea what was going on, but the bird shifter took her by the arm. “I would love to get to meet you, but it is time for ladies to exit. This is a job for men. I thank you for your help. I pray you find safety.” He pushed her toward the mouth of the cavern.
Kevin’s gaze flicked to her and then back to the bird shifter. “Oh, Jinn, always looking out for the women. I guess you haven’t changed in your old age.”
“I have said ‘I’m sorry’ a million times,” the bird shifter said to Kevin. “No one is sorrier than I am. Please, my friend, don’t draw others into our quarrels.”
“This is your fault,” Kevin spat. “I didn’t want any of these people to get pulled into this. I know these people, and I never wanted to hurt them.”
“Get out of here!” Alek yelled at Jess.
She tried to go, but she couldn’t stop watching the drama unfolding in front of her. She wanted to know what was going on. This fake lamp had killed her mother, after all.
“I didn’t think you’d ever return,” Abe said to Kevin. “How did you survive?”
“You’ll never guess, but I work for Roger Sheridan now.” Kevin laughed without mirth.
“You are a sick man,” Abe spat. “This ends here. I should never have shown you mercy.”
“Your men aren’t here now. I don’t think it’s going to be as quick a fight this time,” Kevin said. He cracked his neck and stretched his arms.
Jess’s blood ran cold. “You killed my mother.”
“I didn’t want to,” Kevin said. “She would have helped Jinn. She was a stupid human and you human women always have soft hearts for shifters. She would have helped him.” His face started to change. “You should listen to your friends, Jess. Get out of here before I have to hurt you too.”
She wanted to run, but she could only stare in morbid fascination. Kevin Burrows, bodyguard for the Sheridan household, was transforming into a grey wolf. When he was on all fours, he shook himself and then growled. The old man transformed back into a bird and flew to the ceiling. Abe started to transform too. In the blink of an eye, a monkey emerged from his clothes on the floor.
She was ready to run at that point, but she couldn’t—because Aleksander was also transforming. Her legs wouldn’t work as she watched him turn into a tiger—a black-and-orange killing machine. Alek was a tiger shifter. The man who’d been guarding her for years, who she spent more time with than even her best friend, was a shifter.
Jessica ran fast and hard. She didn’t stop running until she was in town again. Her lungs burned and her legs were jelly. She was sure she was going to pass out soon, but she looked around for the bar. She had to get as far away from the Wasteland as she could, and fast.
***
There was no choice. He had to protect her, and he could only do that as a tiger. It pained Alek to shift, but he had to do it. He’d told her to run, but she hadn’t listened. By the time he was on four paws, Jess was gone.
Kevin lunged at him fast. He bit down hard on Alek’s left front paw. Abe’s monkey screeched and threw a rock at the wolf before scampering up the rock tower. The wolf circled Alek and tried to lunge for his throat.
Alek made a quick move and used Kevin’s energy to turn him on his back. He closed his teeth around his former friend’s throat and bit down until blood filled his mouth.
He shook the wolf around until it yelped. It brought him no joy, but he held on to the wolf until it stopped moving, then let his tiger take over. The animal knew what to do, and it was ruthless. Kevin had never harmed him, but he had killed Alek’s mate’s mother and would likely go after Jessica too. Alek couldn’t risk it.
“I think it’s done.” Abe was standing next to him, putting his clothes back on. “We must hurry to find Jessica. I’m sure she is scared out of her mind.”
“First, tell me what the hell is going on,” Alek said after he had transformed back. “I just killed my friend, and I�
�d like to know why.”
“He was not your friend. He was the wolf shifter who killed Jessica’s mother and who imprisoned the one of the founders of Rose Valley in a cage.” Abe pointed to the dodo. “Jinn, could you please come down here?”
The bird floated down and transformed. “I am not going back to town. I don’t belong there anymore. I should be locked up.”
Abe shook his head. “You did everything you could.”
“What is this?” Alek asked again. He was starting to lose his patience. He had no idea what they were talking about, but it had to be common knowledge in Rose Valley.
“When Rose Valley was first founded, a shifter woman was killed by humans in an accident. Jinn decided not to retaliate as long as the humans left the town alone,” Abe said.
Jinn nodded. “It was Kevin’s wife. After all I did, the humans still treated us like garbage. It was useless. We should have killed those men when we had the chance.”
“Not quite.” Abe patted him on the shoulder. “We’re still here. They have left us alone all these years.”
“You said Kevin killed a woman,” Jinn said.
Abe nodded. “A human woman found the map to your cave. You’ve become part of a legend.”
“Great. I just transformed in front of my mate because of a stupid legend.” Alek shook his head in disgust. “What happens to a shifter who loses his mate?”
“You haven’t lost her,” Abe assured him. “You just avenged her mother’s death. I don’t think she’ll stay mad at you.”
“Except I attacked her last night,” Alek said. “I don’t think she’s going to forgive that. You didn’t see her face when she ran off.”
“You attacked her?” Abe laughed. “You marked her without asking. Silly boy. I’m sure she’ll understand. We have to go now. She might not have gotten out.”