by Godiva Glenn
“We thought to check on Solomon,” Chell said, glancing around.
“I wasn’t sure if you were still in town.”
“I won’t be much longer, but I like to see things through. I wouldn’t want to leave if your charge was acting up.”
Solomon indicated the backyard with a flick of his hand, and they began walking that way. “He’s been quiet. Grumpy. Nothing that shouldn’t be expected.”
Chell kept her eyes on the grass as she walked, but she’d already caught a lie. Solomon was incapable of being quiet. There was no way he wasn’t complaining day and night.
As if summoned by her ill thoughts, Solomon stepped into view as they rounded the back of the house. His expression was surly, but Chell caught a mischievous glint in his eye.
“Would you grant us privacy?” Chell asked Dagger.
He looked between her and Mara. “I suppose Mara and I could retreat to the kitchen and grab refreshments for your visit. Mimosa?”
She stared blankly at him. “What now?”
“It’s champagne and orange juice,” he explained.
“That’s fine.” She nodded to Mara.
Dagger and Mara left, and once the sliding glass door had shut behind them, Solomon released an exaggerated sound of disgust.
“It didn’t take long,” he said.
She turned to him and arched a brow.
“You reek of human. I could smell you the moment you arrived. Like rot and desperation.”
“It sounds like you’re only catching a whiff of yourself. Trapped and lonely here,” she replied. She wouldn’t allow him to bristle her, not today.
He knelt down and pulled out a small pair of clippers, with which he snipped at the grass growing between the stone blocks of the walkway.
“Is that your task? Grounds-keeping?” she asked.
“All day, every day.”
She examined the path. There was no sign of any grass being touched, save for what he now tended to. His light blue pants showed no sign of wear, either. He had not knelt before she arrived. The lie would only convince a simpleton, and yet that is exactly what Solomon believed she was.
Going along with his ploy, she pointed at the property line, which was designated by rows of fir trees. “And when those needles drop, you will rake them all?”
He followed her finger and nodded. “Of course.”
“Then I can return to Solara happy. You’ve been placed where you belong.”
He scoffed. “And you are where you belong. Underneath the sweating bodies of dirty human males.” He sat back on his heels. “I see now why you rejected me. I was too much for you. You require slack-jawed adoration. I would never worship at your shrine.”
She took the bait, stooping to his level. “As I recall, your attempt at prostration for my pleasure nearly put me to sleep. With that sort of lacking devotion, is it really a wonder you never made it further?”
His narrowed eyes met hers and he stood, looming over her. “I wonder what Valdus would say, to see you traipsing about with the stench of barbarians as if you pride yourself on being claimed by lesser beasts.”
Her head tilted in curiosity. “I have not heard that name in years.”
“But all know that you loved him, and he didn’t love you in return.”
Her hands became fists at her sides. “You don’t know what you speak of. You assume and reach.”
“He left you. What else is there to know? Facts aren’t assumptions.”
The sound of the door sliding open behind them made Solomon slink away and tend to the path at a distance from Chell. Dagger handed her a long-stemmed flute and motioned to the patio furniture near the house.
“Let’s sit.”
Chell sipped her drink while she considered everything going on. Nothing slid into place, but she knew she couldn’t leave Earth just yet. She sat with Dagger and Mara in silence for a few moments, but Dagger soon spoke of the weather and his flowers and Solomon’s work in the garden. His words were nothing but filler. White noise she sought to ignore. Why bring up her first lover?
“Has Solomon mentioned a male by the name of Valdus to you,” she asked Dagger.
Mara’s eyes grew wide and she tapped her throat as if choking on her juice.
Dagger shrugged. “Not familiar. He doesn’t speak much, and when he does it is of you or others who wronged him, but I pay him no mind. We do our best to not tolerate negative fixations from him.”
“I must commend you for your work so far. He seems somewhat humbled since coming to Earth,” she lied.
He spun his flute and gazed at the liquid swirling inside. “I can’t take credit for that. I believe you humbled him when you sliced his face.”
Chell couldn’t be certain but there seemed an air of judgment accompanying his words. “He lost a challenge. It was not a malicious mark.”
“I wasn’t aware that the clan leader often challenged malnourished prisoners.”
Now the disdain was clear, and Dagger seemed to have caught the tone of his words. He laughed softly.
“The ways of my Solaran brethren simply fascinate me, is what I meant. I know it’s a different culture and environment, and I can’t wrap my mind around the differences.”
Chell kept her face neutral and pleasant. Dagger wasn’t a bear. He was a snake.
Troy and Gabe were sitting in the front room when Mara and Chell returned. Mara immediately headed to her own room, and Chell envied her for being able to avoid the current situation. She had wondered if the men would still be around. If they had packed up and left, she wouldn’t have been surprised, as last night’s announcement hadn’t gone as planned.
“You said you were willing to give us time. Does that still stand?” Troy asked.
“Of course.” Even if Solomon and Dagger weren’t behaving suspiciously, she was in no hurry to give up on Troy and Gabe. “Does that mean my offer is being considered?”
“It means we aren’t ready to say goodbye either,” Gabe said.
She could have bounced with joy but held back. It would be nice to have something good come out of her time on Earth. Nothing could be better than finding her mates.
“Did your task go well?” Troy asked.
“As well as to be expected.”
“If we became your mates, would you still keep secrets?” Gabe stared at her. “Would we always be kept in the dark with your vague missions and important disappearances?”
She sat on the coffee table to face them on the couch. “You wish to know why I’m here? What I do when I leave?”
“Yes,” they both answered.
“I didn’t keep it from you to be secretive. I simply thought you wouldn’t care. That shifter business wouldn’t interest you.”
“That’s silly,” Gabe said. “If you have boring things to do as clan leader, you can still talk to us about it. But the way you acted last night when we asked about Mara, it felt like you were keeping things back.”
“I didn’t know what to say,” Chell admitted. “It’s a strange situation. I didn’t think it practical to speculate to you.” She frowned and looked away. “Especially not when other things were on my mind. Whatever is going on with Solomon and Dagger was secondary to what I was waiting to discuss with you two.”
A sliver of embarrassment tickled her spine. She’d asked them to be her mates, and they’d asked her to wait for a response. Maybe Solomon was right about her willingness to settle. Should her pride allow her to accept a ‘maybe’ when she deserved a definite response?
“Solomon? Dagger?” Troy leaned forward. “Who are they?”
She looked at him and noticed there was no change in his demeanor toward her. His blue eyes still held the same sparkling interest as before, with no sign that he was planning on bidding her farewell.
She summarized what had occurred since bringing Solomon to Earth, finishing up with Mara’s strange night following the delivery of a crate into the small shed at the edge of Dagger’s property.
&nb
sp; “And perhaps strangest, of course, is that the shifters come and go from this shed, but it appears to be no bigger than a single room. Yet a massive crate was delivered into it, accompanied by Dagger, Solomon, and more,” she explained.
Gabe ran a hand through his short black hair. “That’s strange, but have you heard of burying the lead?”
She glanced questioningly at him.
“He means, why all this trouble for Solomon? It’s obvious that if a shifter misbehaves, carting them to Earth isn’t the usual response. What did he do?” Troy asked.
She straightened. They deserved the truth, but it wasn’t a truth she enjoyed repeating. Clasping her hands, she forced away the emotion that stirred whenever she recalled the events of the past year.
“Solomon failed at courting me. Later, when I refused another suitor, his ally, they turned on me. Solomon drugged and imprisoned me, then announced that we had mated. He took control of my clan, claiming that I was carrying his child and indisposed. He turned many against me, and nearly incited a planetary war.” She nodded as she finished, satisfied with her brief explanation.
Troy and Gabe looked at her as if she was utterly mad. Gabe scooted to the edge of the couch and touched her knee. Troy followed suit.
“He didn’t… was there a…” Troy closed his mouth and frowned.
“Did he rape you?” Gabe asked.
Her jaw dropped and she shook her head. “No, oh no. Solomon… I don’t think I appealed to him sexually, and the lie was enough because he had built a following of supporters. Elric tried, but he failed, and before I see pity over that, he was executed. There was no curing his insanity.”
Troy took her hand and kissed her fingertips. Though his gaze was on her, his focus seemed far away. Anger danced in Gabe’s eyes. Not directed at her, yet palpable, nonetheless.
“I’m not delicate,” she said carefully.
“So, there was no child?” he asked.
“No. There never was.”
“How long did he keep you?” Gabe asked.
She thought back. “Only a few months.”
“Only,” he repeated. “Only a few months.”
“It could have been worse.” That was a truth she knew all too well. “The ones keeping watch over me feared me, I could tell.”
Troy pressed the back of her hand to his cheek. “We’ll help you find out what they’re up to.”
“Of course, we will,” Gabe agreed. He stood and pulled her to her feet. They were only inches apart, and this was the first time they’d been this close without it being sexual. He kissed her forehead.
“I don’t understand, though,” Troy said. “Why would you think this would bore us?”
“Because it didn’t involve you,” she said.
“It involves us now,” Gabe promised.
Chell leaned over Troy’s shoulder as he typed away and clicked around multiple screens. He and Gabe knew a bit about building codes and thought the best start was to dig around for building permits on Dagger’s property.
This was easier plotted than accomplished, however. Neither of the men were particularly savvy when it came to hunting down records, even if the files should have been public record.
They were on day three of their attempted investigation, and so far, they’d turned up nothing. Mara had continued her nightly watches, but that had revealed nothing either.
“That corner of the lot was added,” Gabe said placing his hands atop his head. His weary brow creased. “There was a house there, but it burned down ages ago.”
“That’s not particularly helpful,” Troy murmured, continuing to scroll through a poorly scanned document.
“It had a wine cellar,” Gabe added.
Troy looked up. “A basement.”
“And the shed sits on top?” Chell asked. “Dagger’s home is huge. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has a basement of its own.”
“Can shifters hear through cement?” Troy asked.
“Cement?”
“Hard rock,” Gabe supplemented.
“Some, I suppose. It depends on the sound and who is listening.”
Troy sat back and glanced up at Chell. “If there was a chance you’d hear something going on, he’d keep it far from you.”
“Well, yes. But what do you think is the ‘something going on’ in this case?” she asked.
He shrugged.
Gabe emptied his beer and crunched the can in his hand. “How about we go look?”
Mara, who had been listening and standing quietly by the window, now stepped forward. “We can’t trespass on another clan’s property and break into their shed. There would be endless consequences if Chell were caught in such an act.”
“Then we’ll do it. Two stupid humans. We don’t know any better,” Gabe said.
“Stupid is right. You think you can sneak past super-power shifter hearing?” Troy asked.
Gabe looked at Mara. “Would they hear us from the house, if we walked up to the shed?”
She shrugged. “Maybe, if you were loud. It’s all grass, and that’s not exactly the sound that carries.”
“But they’re always moving in and out,” Chell said. “You said.”
“During the day it’s mostly Solomon. But at night, they have not,” Mara said slowly. “Perhaps the men could get close. Closer than I could, at least.”
“You haven’t tried just walking up? Looking in the windows?” Troy asked.
“They know her scent. We would have to answer questions if she got that close,” Chell said. “There is a mixture on Solara that could mask scents, but I wouldn’t know the ingredients to make it here. Or who to ask for that knowledge without arousing suspicion.”
“I think we have a plan then. Wait until they’re asleep, and Troy and I will break in. Whatever lock they have on that shed, it won’t stand a chance.” Gabe grinned.
“You’re excited about this,” Mara observed.
“He likes to break in. It’s actually a generous portion of the job,” Troy said, shaking his head. “And as much as I think it’s crazy, we’ll do it.”
Chell gripped the back of Troy’s chair. “I don’t like the thought of sending you on a mission that basically pits you against an entire household of shifters. Shifters I don’t trust to let you walk away unscathed.”
“I’d be happy to be the lookout,” Mara volunteered. “The plan is not to get caught, but better to have a backup plan. If I showed up, it would keep Dagger and his men from harming any humans.”
The offer was welcome but didn’t ease Chell’s concern. The men would be in danger, and they weren’t even her mates. They didn’t owe her anything. Everything they had relied on suspicion. Assumptions. Yet they would be at the mercy of those much more powerful than they could handle. Mara could intervene, but what if her timing was off?
What if Dagger killed intruders on sight, instantly?
“I’ll join you both,” Chell said.
Troy spun in the chair. “But you just said—”
“It is my paranoia that fuels this investigation. I should be there. If nothing strange is happening, I would only believe it with my own eyes,” she reasoned. “And if there is proof that mischief is occurring, I would have to witness it in order to testify to the other clans.”
Mara headed for the door. “I’ll be back before night.”
“Mara?” Chell stared at her cousin.
Mara’s lips curled up wickedly. “I have an idea.”
Chapter Fifteen
Valdus
A foul odor wafted through the heavy door beyond Valdus’s cage. There was noise, too, but he was used to that. Shifters coming and going. Poking him. Prodding him. Laughing at him. But whatever hid behind the door tonight was not his tormentors, or at least, not his usual ones.
He lifted his large muzzle and sucked in the stale air. A skunk. He recoiled and retreated to the far end of his cage. If this was his new torture, so be it.
“I know that scent,” a delicate voice whisper
ed.
His soul leaped. Just as she knew his scent, he knew that voice. His mate. His beloved. Chell. A dream? A new trick to torment him further? Had they finally realized that as long as he had her in his heart, they’d never fully break him?
It didn’t matter. Ploy or not, it worked.
His mouth opened, and he whined, low, pitiful, shameless. I am here. Are you real? Would she forgive him his weakness? He could only hope. He dashed to the bars closest to the door, stopping short to avoid the barbed wire wrapped along the bottom three feet. His lips curled back, and he whined again.
Come to me. I’m here.
The door creaked open and three bodies fell in. Two strange males who stopped in fear, and one beautiful bear shifter whose eyes landed on him with surprise. She was not only real but vibrant and healthy. Solomon’s taunts, his claims that she was a broken, battered thing, were pure lies. Though her scent was masked by the pungent musk, he didn’t doubt his sight. Chell.
You found me.
He stood and pressed his paws against the bars, ignoring the prickling pain of wires digging into his fur and catching his belly. His mate was here. Time had passed cruel and slow since he’d been taken from her, and he didn’t know how long it had been in total, but she was as strong and lovely as ever. A vision.
The salty taste of tears singed his throat. She cried. She screamed. Her small hand reached through the bars and rested on the matted fur of his chest, calming him but upsetting herself further.
The men responded to her panic and anger. Though they had at first smelled of skunk, their anxiety now tinged the air with a different odor. Did she command human servants now? They examined the lock to his cage, but they had no key.
The shelf. It hangs behind the shelf.
She didn’t understand him. He didn’t know why, but the connection they’d shared before was severed. Time, likely. The drugs in his meals, equally likely. Whatever the cause, they’d fix it.
She stared at with him large, dark eyes. Gold seeped through as they grew wide and furious.
“Stand back,” she growled to the men.