20 Shades of Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Demelza Carlton

  Twenty minutes later, the bikes had all been unloaded.

  Drake stood in front of Davin with a large briefcase. “Is this what you wanted?”

  Davin took the briefcase, popped it open and inspected it. “Yup.” Shutting the case, he tossed it to Rasputin. “Count it again.”

  “You don’t need to fucking count it. It’s all there in cash.”

  “You’re trying to rip us off, we will bury you.”

  Drake snorted. “Have you forgot, we have the guns?”

  “Oh yeah.” Davin looked over his shoulder. “Hey, brothers. They have all the guns, they say.”

  If Davin was making his play now to get the bikes and the money, Jonas didn’t appear to know it.

  Then Davin blinked twice at Jonas and something seemed to resonate in him because he straightened up. “Yeah, Prez. They have the guns.”

  Everyone started to chuckle. Drake and his boys ignored them and focused on the bikes.

  Tempest eyed Jonas and he moved quickly beside her.

  “What?” he mouthed the one-word question.

  She inclined with her head moving toward the front of the rig.

  Jonas took a cautious step, followed by another, as did Tempest.

  They reached the front of the truck. She pulled the keys out of her pocket, popped the door open and darted inside. She didn’t have the speed Jonas did, but he followed behind her.

  She grabbed the large duffle still on the floor, pulled out a shotgun, then handed another automatic rifle to Jonas. “Here.”

  “Thanks.” He took the rifle, checked it, then heard the commotion outside.

  Tempest handed him another rifle. “Give that to your best shooter. Then, through the sunroof.”

  Nodding, Jonas took the key from her, shoved it into the ignition and clicked the power in the truck on, before hitting the sunroof button.

  She pulled herself up through the sunroof and took one rifle from him.

  Then, he leapt up, guns in hand, before running across the top of the cargo hold and stopping. “Cristin, catch.” He chucked the rifle to Cristin.

  Cristin looked up, held out a hand and caught the rifle.

  Pliny lunged for Nadine, grabbing her off the back of Rasputin’s bike and shoving her behind his large form before the Firebrand MC started pulling out weapons.

  “Everyone has a gun now, it seems.”

  Everyone had weapons pointed at everyone else. “I don’t like this.” Tempest aimed at Drake, then Kalen, then back at Drake.

  “We’re all at a Mexican standoff, babe.”

  She looked at Jonas, saw him aiming for Drake. “I can cut the head of your MC off. Then what?”

  “Then we kill these fuckers, right Prez?” Jonas signaled with a hand to Davin.

  Davin nodded. “They are the club responsible for killing our queen’s lover.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We had nothing to do with that.”

  “Shut up Drake.” Jonas jumped off the back of the truck and marched up to Drake, slugging him in the jaw with the butt of his rifle.

  Drake hit the ground hard and his men started to rally around Jonas.

  Tempest strode to the edge of the cargo hold, cocked her rifle and pointed at Drake. “I’d stay right there, fellas.”

  The members of Firebrand looked up, weapons pointed at various targets. “What shall we do?”

  “Kalen, if I were you, I’d back the fuck off the punk vampire right now.”

  Kalen nodded and kept his weapon pointed at Jonas, but took several steps back.

  “These bikes belong to the Faery Queen and her guard. The Sluagh have not been able to stop us, the Firebrand MC sure as shit isn’t going to, either.”

  The Firebrand MC Prez shook off the blow and got to his feet. “We had a deal, Davin.”

  “Wrong, Drake. We had a ruse. Just so happens,” Davin started for Drake. When he reached the tall, bald Fae, he grabbed him by the collar of his cut and yanked him around until he slammed him into the open door of the truck. “We had a suspicion your club had an involvement in hiding the creature who killed our Queen’s lover. Now we know.”

  “How?” Drake’s eyes went wide. “None of us admit to shit.”

  “You don’t have to. The Fae don’t lie.” Tempest jumped off the back of the truck and landed squarely on the ground in front of Davin and Drake. “I have no proof of this accusation from the Undead Souls but I also know what it means to be foresworn. And you are now foresworn.”

  Drake shook his head, eyes narrowing. “You have no proof of that.”

  “I can smell it.”

  “How? The Fae aren’t that talented in the scent department.”

  Davin backed off when Tempest shoved the barrel of her gun against Drake’s temple. “I never said I was a complete Faery, either.”

  “You’re the half-breed.” He stuttered. “You’re the fucking half-breed.”

  Tempest pressed the barrel of the rifle against Drake’s chest. “Tell me who hired the Sluagh to try and rip me off?”

  “I had nothing to do with that. Honest.”

  She believed him. But someone had to have been responsible. “Who in your club?”

  Davin glanced over his shoulder. “Jonas, shoot Kalen in the thigh.”

  Jonas lifted his rifle. “With pleasure.”

  Kalen started to run.

  Taking aim, Jonas fired off one slug, catching Kalen in the thigh and dropping him quickly. Then he put a second round in the thug’s other leg. “That first one was from me.”

  “Bastard.” Kalen screamed, grabbing his thighs with both hands while rocking back and forth from the pain.

  “Relax. You can still ride. You’ll just be riding bitch for a while.” Jonas chuckled, along with the rest of his club.

  “Actually, he’ll die if those wounds aren’t treated. None of you have the specialty rounds I do in my weaponry. He’s poisoned. Just like their leader’s about to be.”

  “Wait, I can make this right!”

  “You grovel like a dog, but you claim to be a male. How pathetic.” Davin sucker punched Drake, then slammed the Fae’s head against the metal door. Then he punched him in the stomach again, dropping the Fae to his knees.

  Drake looked up.

  Tempest stared down the length of the rifle and wanted to take the shot. “Any last words?” Her finger itched to pull the trigger. She knew Drake and the Firebrand had been behind the Sluagh coming after them.

  “This is club business, honey. You don’t need to do that.”

  She glared at Davin. “He had a hand in slowing me down.” Looking dead on at Drake, she held up the rifle. “You were responsible for not just the attack, but stealing my truck and setting me off course. Why?”

  “You should have your loyalty reexamined. You’re more one of us than you are them. Who the hell lied to you and told you that you were in alignment with the vampires? That they were the good guys?”

  “Nobody. Know how many times I threatened to shoot Jonas?”

  “It’s true. She did.” Jonas slid his hands in his jeans pockets.

  Tempest glared at the smiling idiot over her shoulder before refocusing on Drake. “Seriously, because I’m half vampire, your word games won’t be wasted on me.”

  “Sure about that?” Slowly, Drake rose to his full height. “Because I can make this all worth your while if you’ll just hear me out.”

  Davin clocked Drake across the jaw with a right hook, sending him spinning against the door and tumbling to the ground.

  This time another large Fae decided to play hero and rush Davin.

  “Prez, look out!”

  Davin spun around to the sound of Jonas’ voice.

  The idiot bum-rushed Davin and slammed him into the door, pummeling him with fist after fist until the sound of a gun going off stopped him.

  He spun around and his head exploded.

  Tempest blew off the smoke from the barrel of her AK.

  The body d
ropped to the ground.

  “Drake,” Davin held his stomach, his face looking a little worse for wear, yet still eerily regal, stood with the aid of a hand on the door. “What are you doing sending prospects into the field?”

  “He was a loose cannon, I’m afraid.” Drake waved a hand in the air. “Permit me to get the body?”

  “Get the trash out of here.”

  Drake sighed and got to his feet. “Indu, Warren, come gather our dearly departed idiot. Take his cut and burn it.”

  The other two buffoons came and dragged the body away from the truck. Indu hauled it onto his bike.

  “Well, what shall we do, Davin?”

  Davin shrugged. “I am one for burying your MC on our lands so your spirits roam forever in eternity, haunted. Alas, that is not the best option.”

  Jonas stalked up to Davin, spun him around. “What? These fuckers made you--”

  “Jonas, slow down. No need to fly off the handle.”

  Jonas stared at Tempest, flames in his eyes.

  Shit. She knew that look. Not from being around vampires, but from the sheer fact that he’d called her his Ol’Lady and she let it slide.

  Damnit.

  Not that she didn’t want to be his in some way, even if the term grated on her nerves. “Calm down, baby.” She lifted a hand, caressed his cheek, hoping to ease the pain he was going through. Flying off the handle wouldn’t do them any good now, not if they wanted to walk out of here alive. The Firebrand MC had lowered their guard because Davin had Drake under control and it seemed that not one of them were man enough to challenge the older vampire.

  The fire in Jonas’ eyes rescinded and he shook his head, coming back to his senses.

  “Tempest, I…”

  “I know.” She stroked his cheek. “We need to get these bikes back onto the truck and get out of here.”

  Jonas looked over his shoulder. “What say you, Prez?”

  Chapter 11

  Jonas didn’t know what to make of the outburst when Davin announced he was letting Drake and the Firebrand bastards live. It shouldn’t have surprised him; the Undead Souls weren’t mercenaries, they were merely an outlaw club that stole for survival.

  And wealth.

  But were they chasing a reputation on behalf of the Vampire Queen still?

  “You. Get thee back to thine own realm.” Davin lowered his chin, fixing his gaze steadily on Drake. “Now.”

  Tempest glared and marched up to Rasputin, fists balled. “You’re just going to let them live?”

  “They are of no consequence to us right now.”

  “Then why the hell the double cross?”

  “I don’t owe you an explanation, halfling.”

  Jonas started for Davin but a hand caught him around the shoulder. He looked back and saw Cristin’s expression. Gritting his teeth, he kept his distance. Tempest could handle her own.

  “The fuck you don’t. I don’t care about MC politics, but your boy here,” Tempest jerked her thumb in Cristin’s direction, “has a mean fucking hand. Sure it couldn’t have been avoided?”

  “You saw the Firebrand MC.”

  “Bunch of pussies. This was all for show?”

  Davin cleared his throat. He stared down at Tempest. “The circumstances of our arrangement prior to us getting the drop on the Firebrand were quite reversed. Clever play was needed if we wished to ensure safety of our club.”

  “Yeah? You mean vampire games.”

  “Which are no different than Fae games, if I understand correctly.”

  Tempest opened her mouth to speak, but shut it quickly.

  “Needless to say, playing dumb has advantages when the opposing team shows a hand you need to win.”

  “Fine. Still seems like bullshit.”

  “Perhaps. But these fools have bought more of the human side of this lifestyle, rather than blending it with Fae culture. Their downfall is due to them forgetting what they are and that MC life is an extension, not a replacement.” Davin raked his gaze over the Undead Souls before setting it on Drake.

  Jonas felt her seething even from a few feet away, but knew he needed to let his president handle things.

  Tempest was right, Jonas concluded. Not like it mattered since it wasn’t her call or his.

  Drake stood slowly, making his way back toward Kalen and Indu.

  Davin yelled over his shoulder. “Get the special bikes back into the cargo hold. Take the money. We ride back to our meeting place. And you,” Davin glared hard at Drake. “Never darken our lands again. Be advised that we will come after the one you are hiding, and we will seek vengeance for our Queen.”

  “I told you, we had nothing to do with that.”

  “If you think I won’t let her shoot you, keep talking.” Davin’s growl came across plain as day. Don’t fuck with him while he was in a giving mood.

  Drake scrambled to his bike, along with the rest of his MC. Then they started up their bikes, spun around and turned tail in the direction they came from until they were merely blips in the distance.

  Then Jonas sighed. “That’s done.”

  Nadine ran up and threw her arms around Jonas.

  He hugged her, spinning her around. “You okay, little sister?”

  She buried her head in his shoulder and nodded.

  “Good.” Jonas looked at the other club members. “Next move?”

  “We still need to find the Queen’s paramour’s killer, but the Firebrand MC won’t divulge anything. They’re protecting someone.”

  Cristin met them. “Yeah. They are. Drake wouldn’t reveal it. Means he’s probably scared of who they are protecting.”

  Tempest clicked the safety on the shotgun. “Those were Ankou, you know. Only the Queen’s real Guard are Ankou, and you do not want to fuck with them.”

  “Shit.” Cristin scratched the back of his head. “You mean…”

  “Yup. You boys got lucky with my firepower. And the fact that those pricks aren’t actually Ankou. They’re glamoured lower level Fae.”

  Someone in the background whistled.

  “You know this how?”

  Tempest turned to Cristin. “I smelled something off in them but wasn’t able to put my finger on it. No offense, but if they were real Ankou, all of us would be dead. The Ankou are incredibly smart, violent. Ruthless. They are the real Queen’s Guard.”

  “So, are they mimicking the Firebrand Fae MC? Does the real MC know?”

  Shrugging, Tempest shook her head. “I have no idea. Nothing in these lands gets by the Queen. Your adversaries didn’t smell of death. What would death want with motorcycles when they could already pass through the realms without the magical technology needed?”

  “Good question. Why would the Firebrand or the Queen’s guard need those bikes if they could just go through portals?”

  “Don’t know. Don’t care. Just know that you’re alive because of my weapons and that I have a job to do. No one questions the Queen for fear of her wrath.”

  “Yeah. Thanks for that, Jonas’ Ol’Lady.”

  She glared at Cristin. “I have a name.”

  Jonas cleared his throat and moved from Nadine to stand beside Tempest. He slid an arm around her waist and hugged her against his body. “Cristin, Undead Souls Motorcycle Club, this is Tempest. She’s a truck driver.”

  The members standing around all nodded, smiling politely. Good thing, too.

  Catching the look on Tempest’s face, he saw she wasn’t entirely amused, but she wasn’t refuting him either. Would she once they got on the road?

  They’d have to talk. For sure, because he wanted more time with her. He yearned for her.

  For now, he needed to concentrate on the task at hand. And figure out what the shit he’d missed by being on the road with her for what, three days?

  Not that he’d trade it, but so much of his life had been with the club that to do anything else seemed unnatural until her. Jonas extended his hand to Davin. “Look man, I’m sorry.”

  Davin gra
sped his hand and shook it heartily. “It is fine. We are letting the Firebrand MC go. Wounded pride is worse than death.” Davin glared at Tempest.

  Jonas had to rein in his response to his president’s glower at his lover. She didn’t understand MC politics. “Fine. What then?”

  “We took their money, of course, and will add it to the coffers. When we get back, we shall have to send someone for Bogart the Blunt so he can handle our accounting and move the club info from Faery back here.”

  “I see.” Jonas looked at Tempest, feeling just as confused as the expression on her face.

  Rasputin came to stand beside Jonas, clapping him on the shoulder. “We no longer need the bikes. This ruse worked out perfectly, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Jonas nodded. “I suppose so.”

  “How the fuck you think it all worked out? After all the shit they cost me? I’m probably not getting anything for this fucking haul because of all this MC biker bullshit.” Her voice rose, punctuating each word with clear anger.

  Jonas grabbed her by the shoulders and settled his hands on her.

  She spun around and stared. “What?”

  “MC business, babe. Not your fight. We’ll make it right. Trust me.”

  Her nostrils flared. “Not my fight? Are you fucking kidding me? I still have to get these bikes back on the fucking road and to the Faery Queen. I’m late enough as it is. Shit isn’t going to move itself, Jonas.”

  Jonas quirked a brow at Davin.

  “Gentlemen? Get a move on. We have a date.” He headed for his bike, straddling it and gripping the handlebars.

  “Wait, what?” Tempest frowned.

  The vampires all huddled around and began moving motorcycles back into the cargo hold.

  Jonas put a hand on Tempest’s shoulder, glad for the comfort of her being near him. His nerves had been shot the entire time, with the club not filling him in, then this shit happening. “I told you, Tempest. The MC is coming with you. You’re getting a personal escort.”

  “Through the Shadowlands.”

  Jonas nodded.

  “And you’re going to accompany me all the way back to a realm that hates your kind and outlaws it?”

  Rasputin sauntered up beside Jonas. “Let’s just say the Queen of Faery owes us a favor. We shall remain unharmed, and be allowed to pass.”