by Shea Balik
Copyright ©2019 Shea Balik
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover by: Harris Channing
Edited by: Avril Stepowski
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
EPILOGUE
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
“Please, tell me you’re joking,” Yosi mumbled at the computer screen, refusing to give up his search.
“I tried to tell you, it’s as if this guy doesn’t exist,” Soleil grumbled, still more than a little miffed that Yosi felt the need to do his own research, even though she’d spent more than a month checking into every detail.
It wasn’t as if Yosi didn’t trust Soleil to do a thorough job. Hell, she was one of the best hackers in his company, probably the planet, but this was too important to not find out the truth. It was as if his entire world, which normally was solely creating code for his software company, was now only focused on solving this puzzle.
“You know why I can’t leave this alone, Soleil,” Yosi said in hopes of placating her. Not that he really cared if she was upset or not. Well, other than the fact that if he hoped for her to continue to help him, which he did, pissing her off wasn’t the best idea.
Then again, Soleil rarely held a grudge – for long. The last time, it had taken her a week to finally agree to come back to work. Not that she had gone away. They lived on an island for fuck’s sake. It wasn’t like she could just walk away.
Yosi would have gladly taken her to the mainland had Soleil requested it, but his employees were usually too happy to choose that option. For one, he paid well, like, really well. Second, most of them had been on the run because of who they were, or what they had inadvertently done, to ever think about returning to the real world.
In Soleil’s case, there had been nothing inadvertent about her misdeeds. As a skunk shifter, Soleil tended to have a vicious need for retaliation that, when in human form, many would probably prefer to be sprayed by her animal instead. Guatemala found out just how bad her ability to strike could be after she’d killed her boyfriend when he’d been viciously beating her.
Unfortunately for Soleil, that guy had been the son of a prominent businessman in the country with ties to more than a few corrupt government officials. That she had been in the hospital, barely alive, when the police came to arrest her, didn’t seem to matter at all.
She had been lucky to survive, for they were planning on executing her. Her only saving grace was no one had known she was a shifter. It had allowed her to escape with none the wiser.
It had taken her several weeks to make it to northern Mexico before she felt it was safe to shift back into her human form. During that time as a skunk on the run, she had formulated her plans for revenge. Guatemala hadn’t been prepared, for even then Soleil had been an amazing hacker, with skills that most countries wouldn’t have any hope of being able to defend against.
In less than an hour, in a small internet café in the town of Juarez, Soleil had evidence of corruption for more than half the government officials. She posted it everywhere for the world to see. Her mistake had been when she also had drained several of the bank accounts of business leaders, like her boyfriend’s father.
Soleil could have easily hidden what she’d done, but she wanted to make sure those who had been responsible for her downfall knew exactly who was behind taking them all down. That put a price on her head that wouldn’t go away anytime soon, as those she’d destroyed were still alive today.
Eighteen years wasn’t nearly enough time to make anyone forget what she’d done. Then again, for some of those who lived on Yosi’s island sanctuary, the sentence would be much longer. Shifters lived long lives. For Soleil, one day, the humans would die and forget about her, allowing her to live out in the world again. For others, who’s transgressions had been with other shifters, that would never happen.
Yosi had done his best to make his island home as welcoming to others as possible, but he had to admit, for those he had been sheltering there from the old Council, he was glad they had been able to move to Miracle when the new Council took over.
Only those who were his employees and a few water shifters that didn’t want to live in the middle of a forest remained. In all, he had twenty-three people living there currently. It gave them all a little more breathing room, which Yosi appreciated.
No record found.
Yosi scowled at the screen. He didn’t miss the smirk that appeared on Soleil’s face, but he ignored her and continued to work. There had to be something.
“I’m telling you I know Jazz exists,” Soleil said. “I mean, I met him, even shook his hand. But on paper?” she shook her black tresses with its three white stripes running from her forehead down her shoulder length hair. “It’s as if he was never born.”
“Then how did his father register him in school?” Yosi demanded as he punched at the keyboard in front of him.
Calling up his school records, he could clearly see the fake birth certificate, with Jane Doe listed as his mother. He leaned in as he stared at the big screen on the wall with a half a dozen different images he’d been searching through in view. It was that birth certificate that he focused on.
Clicking on it, he smiled. His cursor floated over the birthdate listed. It was a date he would never forget.
Looking over at Soleil, he said, “Find out where Xeno Blythe was on this date.”
Soleil frowned, her gaze moving from the screen to Yosi. “Why? I mean, it’s a fake birth certificate. How do you know that date means anything?”
His heart hurt when he thought
about that day all those years ago. The call he’d gotten. The fruitless search that had ensued, only to end with death and devastation.
“That was the day my dad’s mate was killed,” he said as a lump made it nearly impossible for him speak the next words. “The day my newborn half-brother was stolen from my father’s home.”
For his father, it had been the signature on his own death certificate, for there was no surviving not only his mate’s murder, but his child’s disappearance. He’d tried to find that child, but nothing Yosi’s father, Nebo, had done succeeded in finding his missing son. Eventually, heart too broken to continue, he’d died in his sleep.
Yosi had taken up the search, if for no other reason than to seek revenge on whoever had caused his father’s death, but he’d never found a trace of the perpetrator or his half-brother. Even though he’d met Jazz twice, Yosi still hadn’t once thought the man could be his missing brother until Jazz and his mate, Wilder, were attacked after visiting him.
It was then, that Yosi found out the man Jazz thought was his father had killed Jazz’s mother for daring to choose the mate she’d found over Xeno. Then Xeno had stolen Jazz, keeping him away from the man who Xeno blamed for taking the woman he’d claimed as his.
Unfortunately, Xeno had died before anyone could ask any further questions, but there had been something too eerily familiar in the story for Yosi’s peace of mind. He hadn’t dared to tell anyone but Soleil that there was a chance of Jazz being his brother and she only knew because Yosi had needed her to find out the truth.
“You think this Xeno guy didn’t know when Jazz was born so used the date he took him instead?” Soleil asked.
Yosi shrugged. “That, or he was smart enough not to use Jazz’s real birthdate just in case anyone was still looking for him.”
He didn’t know, nor care. All he wanted to know was if Jazz was his missing brother.
***
“Yosi,” Soleil yelled as she raced down the path that led from the main house to his little sanctuary. Or, more accurately, his porcupine’s sanctuary.
It was on the west side of the island along a small cliff that looked down upon the water. It was there that Yosi loved the best, for he loved, even in his animal form, being able to look out over the water as he climbed the trees.
“I found him,” Soleil called up from where she stood below what she knew to be his favorite tree. Where he was hidden amongst the branches, she wouldn’t have been able to see him, but she knew he was there.
Slowly, he made his way down, using his tail to help from move from branch to branch. He clacked his teeth at Soleil when he was on the ground near the clothes he’d left. She rolled her eyes but turned around as he shifted back into his human form.
The moment he had pulled on the teal running shorts he’d put on to come there, he grabbed the orange tank top from the ground and started asking questions. “Who did you find? I assume you’re talking about my brother’s disappearance. Was it him you found?”
Soleil clapped a hand over Yosi’s mouth to stop him from his never-ending questions. “I found where Xeno was when your brother was abducted.” Her eyes sparkled as she practically vibrated with excitement. “He was in Powell River at the time.”
Powell River, British Columbia was where Yosi had grown up with his mom and dad. They hadn’t been mates, but when the alpha of their prickle had requested those who weren’t mated pair up, his parents had done so for the good of their kind. That said, Yosi knew they loved each other. Maybe not in the way mates do, but when his father had found his fated mate, his mother happily stepped aside so they could be together.
Yosi had been in his twenties at the time and couldn’t understand why she would do that. Sure, he knew about mates and their special bond, but it seemed odd after being together for nearly thirty years that she would wish the man she’d called husband all the happiness in the world.
His mom had told him that first of all, she had loved Nebo in her own way and wanted him to find the kind of love they all hoped to have. Which led to her second point. That Nebo had found his mate gave her hope that one day she’d find hers.
All Yosi knew was his parents were splitting up. As a twenty-six-year-old, that may not have seemed like a big deal, but as Yosi was discovering, the world wasn’t as accepting of him as his little prickle in Canada had been, the stability of his family had been something he’d desperately needed. He hadn’t taken his father’s mating as well as he should have.
It wasn’t until his mate had been killed and their newborn son kidnapped that Yosi realized what an ass he’d truly been.
“Not only that,” Soleil handed him a photograph. “This was taken at the hospital the day Jazz was born.”
Yosi glanced down at the slightly fuzzy picture from an outdated surveillance system and gasped. He hadn’t been there when Jazz and Wilder had been attacked by Xeno Blythe, but he had seen the video of the carnage. The man on the paper Yosi was holding was definitely Xeno.
But Soleil’s very smug smile said she wasn’t done. He quirked an eyebrow up and said, “What else did you find?”
She held out a book already opened to a page with what appeared to be a celebration of sorts. The hardcovered book appeared to be a school yearbook. The title of the two page spread said ‘Spring Carnival.’
Soleil’s finger went to a group shot of some kids and parents at a food booth. Behind the table taking money was a very young Jazz. He couldn’t have been more than ten if Yosi had to guess. Next to him, looking at Jazz as if he were ready to kill, was none other than Xeno.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he dialed one number. “What do you need, my liege,” the voice said drolly.
Yosi didn’t take offense. He knew it was Ruslan’s way. The man lived to irritate with his jokes. But he was the best at making arrangements for Yosi’s safety. Having the greatest software company in the world had its perks, like hiring only the best to keep him safe, but the fact he needed to be kept safe to begin with…well, it sucked.
“Rus, I want to leave within the hour,” he said as he rushed down the path back to the main house with Soleil on his heels.
“And where is it we’re going, my liege?” Okay, so maybe Rus did piss him off with the whole, ‘my liege,’ thing a bit. But Yosi didn’t have time to let it get to him now.
“Miracle,” he told Rus. “I have a brother to find.”
CHAPTER 2
Each step felt as if the muscle and skin along Kylo Reading’s entire right side was being yanked off. No. That wasn’t quite right. Oh, the agony of it all was dead on, but the extent of his burns had gone far beyond just one side of his body.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself up the next step. Four left. There were six long steps to the front porch of Alpha Eirik’s house, where Nole’s medical office was. The reason Kylo was forced to endure this torture.
“Kylo, wait,” Teddy yelled from somewhere behind him. “I’ll help you.”
Grinding his teeth even harder, Kylo placed his foot on the third step. No way was he accepting help. He didn’t need everyone pitying him. It was with that thought that he managed to speed up his movements and make it to the fifth step by the time Teddy had bounded up the steps like they were nothing.
Bastard. His usual placid thinking had changed since being nearly burned alive. Kylo was done allowing himself to hold back when it came to life. Although, not completely. He hadn’t said the word aloud, which wasn’t always the case lately, but this time he didn’t feel Teddy deserved his anger just because the man could move freely without wanting to cry with every damn step he took.
But when Teddy went to put his arm around Kylo to help him up that last step, Kylo wasn’t about to hold back. “Don’t touch me.” He hated that he had to say the words through clenched teeth, since the pain was just too damn intense for him to do anything else. At least it made him sound serious enough that Teddy stilled as Kylo pushed his way up that last step.
“Did I do something
wrong?” Teddy asked.
Kylo sighed, both in relief that he’d finally made it and in aggravation at the question that seemed to be asked a lot around him lately. Was he angrier since someone had tried to burn him alive?
Yep.
No point in denying that. Did his friends necessarily deserve his lashing out at them? Not really. But in his defense, Kylo had told them until he was blue in the face that he didn’t want their help, or their pity. Which is all he ever saw in their eyes when they were around him.
Well, that and the guilt. Even Elton, who had been seriously burned, although not to the same extent as Kylo, had finally healed with only some slight scarring along his upper arm. As shifters, they usually healed from just about everything. Apparently, not the kind of burns they’d sustained.
Kylo should probably be more grateful that he was a shifter. As a human, he never would have survived. Except…he closed his eyes before the tears that were threatening to surface could be seen. It had been six months of constant anguish. The kind that never really went away, even when he was sleeping. If this was to be his life, Kylo wasn’t so sure he wanted to live it.
Shaking that thought off, he opened his eyes and turned to look at one of his best friends. It was then that he really saw his friend. Teddy was one of those guys who hid his feelings. Even from his friends. Every once in a while, something would break free, but for the most part, he remained calm in any situation.
It was one of the things they had in common. But, just like Kylo, there was an agitation within his friend that Teddy was having trouble containing. Had he been so self-absorbed that he hadn’t even bothered to notice his friend was spiraling out of control?
Hell, Teddy looked like he was about to shift, which, considering he was an Orca, with no water anywhere near them, wouldn’t be a good idea.
“I just want to do this on my own. I’m not going to get better if people are always helping me,” Kylo said, before reaching out to touch Teddy’s arm.