by Ann Denton
But I didn’t hear a response. I was too busy with my own thoughts. Drake… the dragon shifter that I almost thought was my—
The tornado in my mind suddenly stopped spinning, dropping me right out of the air. Every bone in my body shattered as I hit the ground. It was like I ceased to exist.
The blonde woman on the screen leaned forward to showcase her plastic cleavage as she said, "The manhunt for the shifter responsible continues. Mage Police are offering a ten-thousand-dollar reward for any information—"
A couple of the squirrel shifters spit at the screen.
I just sank slowly onto the cheap industrial carpet. I stared at a gum stain, which was fitting. Something bright and delicious had been smashed flat, stepped on, and turned black. Just like me.
My mother’s anger suddenly made so much more sense. No wonder she was flinging wild accusations at me. Turned out, she wasn’t quite as delusional as I’d thought.
I hardly noticed when Drake shut off the tablet, because I had already stood. I was already running. Out of the vault, through the hallway, and into a tiny office space at the end. Once I hit that dead end, I just stared at the wall.
Easton had apparently followed me; he slipped into the room behind me before shutting the door.
"Oh, Aubry." He sat down on the edge of a desk and reached for me, scooping me up with one giant hand and plopping me sideways onto his lap. Careful not to crush my wings, my mate wrapped me up in a hug.
It was the hug that broke me. The dam I had erected years ago that separated mind and emotions, that carefully meted out appropriate amounts of smiles and laughter, seriousness and sadness, broke. Everything came bursting forth at once. I sobbed into Easton’s shoulder, clutching him close.
"I hate him. I hate him!" I screamed into Easton’s neck.
"Shh, sweetheart. I know. I know."
I cried and I ranted into his neck, feeling sick, feeling evil. Because deep down, I knew it wasn’t my father’s death that made me sad—the man and I had barely been on speaking terms. But Drake’s betrayal… That’s what gutted me.
I clutched Easton closer. I wanted to climb into his body and escape mine. I didn’t want to feel… this.
"I want to leave."
Easton hugged me tighter, but he didn’t say a word.
My sobs eventually slowed, and I swiped at the wet mess my face had become. I took a few deep breaths before turning to Easton with a composed face. "I want to leave."
He stared at me, conflicted, eyes wide and unsure. "I know you’re upset…"
I pushed off from his lap and stood, glancing around the meeting room for an exit. "I want to leave now."
"Aubry, there’s nowhere safe we can go."
I shook my head. "I don’t care."
"Well, I do. Bodie does. You want to leave, but we can’t guarantee your safety out there."
"I’m not a fucking child, East."
"I know," he growled, standing and shoving his hands into his pockets. "I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I’m trying to tell you—"
"What I already know? That it’s never gonna be safe." I gave a raw, bitter laugh as I strode toward the door.
Easton’s hand on my wrist stopped me. "Wait, Aubs. Where do you wanna go?" His voice cracked. "This… damn it, this is the worst fucking time."
"Yeah, sorry it’s so inconvenient for you that Drake murdered my father!" I yelled.
"That’s not what I meant," Easton sighed, sounding way too fucking reasonable. I didn’t want reasonable. I wanted to fight.
"Where the fuck is Bodie?" I growled.
He’d fight me. Or maybe he’d fight Drake on my behalf.
Easton looked crushed by my question. "Aubry…"
My stomach clenched at the thought that I’d hurt him. I didn’t want him to think I was rejecting him. But I needed more aggression than he was giving me.
Drake shoved open the door and shut it carefully behind him. Then he walked up to me.
"I’m sorry."
My fist flew out and smashed his chin. Fucking hell! Was his chin made of iron? My entire arm hurt—fingers, wrist, and forearm. But I didn’t stop. I gave him an uppercut, and then a kick to the stomach.
He didn’t even flinch.
"Fight back," I sneered.
"No."
"Fight the fuck back!" I roundhoused that motherfucker in the gut. It was satisfying to finally hear him groan and watch him double over in pain. But not as satisfying as it would have been if he’d tried to punch me and I got the upper hand.
I shook my head and dropped my stance, like I was too disgusted with him to continue. I walked toward Easton, who stood off to Drake’s side. But as soon as I passed the dragon, my hand lashed out like a snake. I fluttered my wings and jumped as I landed a karate chop straight on his Adam’s apple.
Drake’s eyes flared gold and scales crawled over his skin.
"Come on, dragon, don’t you wanna wipe out my entire family just like that bitch did yours?" I cut him deep, not caring what it took, just needing the fight.
Drake came at me with a roar.
Brutal victory coursed through me as he slammed me into the wall.
Yes.
But a second later, Easton ripped him off me and shoved his body between us.
"Get the fuck out, Drake!" he yelled. His eyes were golden, and his teeth had elongated. Soft, caramel-colored bear ears poked out of his hair, looking so fucking ridiculous that I couldn’t help but give a snort.
He turned to me with a question in his eyes. Pretty sure he was questioning my sanity, actually.
"It looks like you’re wearing a little girl’s headband." I gestured toward his ears as a laugh bubbled out of me, one that quickly dissolved into tears. With it, my desire to fight dissolved too.
Easton’s ears returned to normal as he scooped me up again, cuddling me close and planting soft kisses on my forehead. He made his way to a small meeting table in the corner, pulled out a chair, and sat down with me on his lap. He caressed my back and murmured sweet nonsense into my hair. I reclined against him, just soaking up his gentle strength.
I heard the door open and shut, knowing Drake had left us.
I didn’t have the energy to call out after him. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to say. Did I want to insult him? Hurt him? Apologize? Or cry and ask him to hold me? I closed my eyes and decided not to decide. I wouldn’t think about Drake.
"I still want to leave."
"Let’s wait ‘til Bodie gets back, sweetheart." Easton tilted my head up and kissed my cheek. "We don’t want to worry him."
I nodded vaguely, staring off into the distance, which wasn’t far. We were underground, so I couldn’t even stare out a window. Instead, I played with Easton’s hair and tried not to think about real life. I focused hard and was finally able to point my thoughts in a different direction.
"Easton?"
"Yeah?"
"If you’d actually been trying to pick me up at the bar that night, I would have gone home with you," I said, wishing things were different.
It was like the sun had risen on his face; his smile was so bright. "If I could change things, I would totally have gone home with you that night. And every night after."
I giggled. "I don’t think I’d be able to walk straight if it was every night."
"Who needs to walk straight when you’ve got wings, right?" He grinned and pulled me close, snuggling his face into my neck.
"Definitely not me."
"That’s the spirit." Easton pulled back and planted a chaste kiss on my lips, studying my eyes intently.
"Don’t do that," I scolded. "We’re playing make-believe. We are not dealing with reality right now."
He sighed before a mischievous grin slid onto his slips and his eyes darkened. "Okay. I’m making believe there’s nobody else in this building and I can just lay you back on this table, spread your thighs apart, and—"
The door swung open, cutting off the naughty things Easton was ab
out to say. I swiveled in his lap, surprised to see a little girl come striding in like she owned the place. She had wild black ringlets that sprang when she walked, and I immediately recognized her from babysitting. El Fuego’s little cousin, Mariana.
"I wanna cheese stick!" the shifter girl whined. "Where’s the kitchen?"
Her mother hurried in after her, scooping her up. She glanced over at us and bowed her head toward Easton. "Sorry. Sorry. She just… ran." She scolded the little girl in her arms. "I already told you, Mija, there are no cheese sticks here."
"But I want one."
"Well, we don’t have any," her mother replied with the patience of a fucking saint.
"Then let’s go get some."
"It’s not safe to leave," her mother’s voice cracked. "Remember how I told you Lucien got… hurt?" Her chest heaved and her eyes closed.
She didn’t mean hurt. She meant gone. She just didn’t know how to say it yet.
The make-believe that Easton and I had started up quickly swept away, and reality came crashing down on me like a violent, twenty-foot wave. I’d lost my dad, sure. But this woman had lost her son. I could see the agony ripple across her expression like lightning, though she tried to hide it from her daughter.
Had she even gotten a chance to cry?
I stood, swooped forward, and held out my hand to the little girl, shoving aside my own pain. "You’re Mariana, right?"
"You remembered," the little girl said, smiling at me. "And you’re Aubry."
"I am," I replied with a warm smile. "Can I help you on your cheese stick quest? Your mama looks a little tired. Like she could use a rest in here."
I gestured toward the door, and Easton was at my back a second later. "I’ll help too. Bears are great at sniffing out cheese."
"No, they aren’t!" Mariana giggled, scrunching her nose and pointing at him. "Mice are good at sniffing cheese!"
"Nuh-uh," Easton shook his head. "Bet I can sniff out some cheese faster than you can!" He partially shifted again so his bear ears popped out.
Mariana and I both giggled. She squirmed out of her mom’s grasp and mine and then darted down the hall, laughing.
Easton stomped after, playfully sticking his arms out like Frankenstein’s monster and yelling, "Cheese! Cheese!"
Seeing how good he was with her made my heart crack a little. Easton deserved so much better than this. All the shifters did.
I turned to Mariana’s mother. "Take a minute for yourself."
The woman grasped my hand, tears already slipping from her eyes. "Thank you."
I nodded as I closed the door behind me and went after Easton. He slid his arm around my shoulder as soon as I joined him, making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I’d stay for a little bit longer… to help with Mariana, and maybe a couple other kids. But as soon as Bodie came back, we were leaving. If Bodie came back.
My stomach clenched at that thought.
No, Aubry, don’t be stupid. He’s the best assassin the shifters have. Just because the mages know his face now doesn’t mean they’ll miraculously catch him…
So when Bodie came back, I wondered if he’d return empty-handed or if he’d have Trite’s head on a stick. Last time, he’d returned with Tee in tow… my sassy pixie friend who still hadn’t woken up.
God, the world was so fucked up right now.
We went upstairs to where more offices littered the back half of the main floor, which was lit for evening, like most businesses in Skid Row, in an attempt to deter thieves. Mariana opened a door and walked into some random room. We followed behind, watching as she dove under the desk, sniffing and announcing, "No cheese here!"
Easton strolled over to casually stand beside a mini-fridge, hoping Mariana would take the oh-so-subtle hint.
"I dunno," he scrunched his face and stared around the room. "If I were cheese, and I was hiding in this room, where would I be?" He looked behind a painting on the wall. "Not here!"
Mariana giggled and headed straight for the mini-fridge, yanking it open. "Here!"
Against all odds, she was in luck. Whoever worked in this office had apples and cheese sticks in their mini-fridge. A health nut.
Mariana tried to take four, but Easton told her she could only have one. After a brief bout of pouting, she happily munched on her cheese as we made our way back to the vault in the basement.
Shifter families were settling down for the night beneath the gleam of flashlights that glinted off safe deposit boxes. Mariana found her dad and waved at us before skipping off.
I turned to Easton, asking softly, "Is there any way we can check on Bodie?"
East stared at me for a minute. Then he sighed. "Sure. I’ll be right back."
Not a minute later, he returned and led me to the stairs, handing me a burner phone.
"You can text him. I’m sure he’s gonna want to know you’re ok, too. But there are rules. One text per burner, so even if he replies, you can’t text him again. Also, you have to make it sound like a business transaction. Nothing obvious. I’ll give you some space."
I wanted to roll my eyes. Fucking Drake and his stupid fucking rules.
But, at the same time, that fork-tongued lizard had kept my guys alive thus far. Hidden and safe thus far. And I didn’t want to ruin that.
So I sat on the steps, thinking long and hard before I typed my message.
I wrote: Your pie is hot and ready for pickup.
I waited. And waited. But Bodie didn’t text back.
Nervously, I wandered up the stairs and into the office where Larry had deposited Tee’s cat carrier. The room was empty, aside from the sleeping pixie. God, why hadn’t she woken up?
And why hadn’t Bodie texted me back?
I glanced from the cage down to the burner phone in my hand, squeezing the hard plastic case in worry and fear until my knuckles were white. My stomach twisted itself into knots, and my heart pounded out an irregular rhythm, as I stared at the blank screen before me.
I leaned into the wall behind me and slowly sank to the floor.
My mate bond twinged. It felt stretched tight. The shifters might know what a mate bond stretch felt like because they and all their family members had mates, but I didn’t. The other magical beings who’d had mate bonds for years might feel secure, but I didn’t. Fae rarely got mates. And I’d only just learned to treasure mine. I didn’t know what these feelings meant. Any little twinge set me on edge.
Bodie was out there trying to find a psychopath. And he wasn’t answering his phone.
Please be okay, Bodie, I thought in desperation. Please…
9
Easton
Two days had passed. Two burner phones melted into a puddle in Aubry’s fiery palm because Bodie didn’t respond. She and Drake didn’t acknowledge one another unless absolutely necessary—being in a room with the pair of them felt like walking on a tightrope over Niagara Falls—too much stress.
I knew I had no chance of making Drake ease up. I could see the guilt and the fury that hit his eyes whenever he thought about someone he’d killed. On the surface, he acted like it didn’t affect him. But inside, I knew he wasn’t like Bodie. He couldn’t shrug it off. Life meant something to him. All life. Maybe having his family ripped away when he was young did that. I didn’t know. All I knew was that he would focus on the shifters even more and avoid Aubry whenever possible.
Drake stayed busy. On the flip side of things, Aubry had become nearly a statue. I didn’t know if it was because she was worried about Bodie, worried about her friend Tee—the pink-haired pixie still hadn’t woken up and Larry had no idea why—or if she was still reeling from her father’s death.
No matter what the cause, I needed to do something about it. As her mate, it was my job to make sure she was taken care of and happy. And I felt like I was failing. It was a horrible feeling.
So I spent every spare moment I had—which wasn’t much considering how worried and freaked out all the other shifters were—workin
g on a surprise.
When it was ready, I went and found her in the bank manager’s office. That’s where Tee’s cat carrier lived. Aubry had made a habit of sitting on the floor beside Tee and just staring at the beige wall blankly.
My heart gave a painful squeeze. I hated seeing that empty look on my Spitfire. From the moment we’d met, Aubry had been full of sass and attitude. Now… I was gonna help her get it back.
"Come on," I said, taking her hand in mine. I loved how small and delicate her fingers were. "I have a surprise for you." I helped her stand, then I brushed back her soft, pale hair and kissed her gently.
"A surprise?" Aubry questioned with a raised brow as I led her up the bank stairs.
She gave me a shy smile, one of those sweet grins that melted my heart, the grins she saved only for me.
"You looked like you could use a pick-me-up." I shouldn’t have used that phrase because instantly, I imagined the last time we’d fucked, how I’d picked sweet Aubry up, shoved her against the wall and slid inside that hot wet pussy. I scolded my dick like it was a dog; we weren’t here to just give Aubry sex, she could get that from Bodie, but what she couldn’t get from anyone else… was romance. Adoration. I started to sweat.
What if she didn’t like it? I mean, we’d researched her. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew she was into kink and stuff. But part of me wondered if that was because she had never formed a real connection with anyone before.
I wanted to be that for her.
I wanted it so badly that my stomach was tying itself in knots.
I tried not to let my hands or voice shake as I pushed open the door to the bank’s lobby. The lights were off and the windows were covered in plastic. We’d set up a "Closed for Refurbishment" sign outside.
"Are we leaving the bank?" Aubry asked, hopefully.
I scrunched my nose. Damn it! Should I have tried harder to get this date somewhere else? Was she going to start off disappointed? My stomach dropped. "Sorry, it’s not safe. Plus, you know Drake..." If he thought we’d compromised this location, he’d fucking nail me to the wall. Maybe even literally. Drake hated murder and torture after the fact, but in the moment...