by E L Thorne
Chapter Nine
Kane
Astra was up to something.
Of that, I was sure. I helped her stand, then I looked at Grant. If I had my own place, I would have already left, but I was at Grant’s mercy. I needed to know where this cabin was, and how to get there. Before I could do that, I had to be examined by the hot blonde who was standing next to me.
Making it all worse, Her Hotness had a cryptic smile on her face and was not making eye contact with me. Yep, she is definitely up to something. I’d put money down that whatever she was up to would not bode well for me.
“We can use the library.” Grant showed the direction with a nod.
It was a long hall, dimly lit, painted a dark green color. Grant led the way. I indicated for Astra to follow Grant. She rewarded me with a dirty look, then quickly made it vanish and replaced it with a stoic expression.
My reasons for following her were twofold. Sure, I didn’t mind the opportunity to keep a close eye on her, since now I was starting to question her motives, but the other half of me... That half of me wanted to watch her as her hips swayed. A body like that needed to be appreciated. She was definitely the kind of woman that a man wanted to watch coming and going—and coming.
Shit.
There I went again. I licked my lower lip in anticipation of having her check me out—medically, of course.
Chelsea and Mae stayed in the kitchen, though I knew Mae well enough to know that she wanted to come along.
Grant’s home was like a mansion, but rustic. Actually, it was like an old-world fortress with a new world look, if I had to describe it.
A few dozen feet down, several closed doors later, the three of us were in the entryway, beside the giant double doors we’d come in through when I’d first gotten to town. We made a sharp left, past another set of double doors, this time made of glass, and we arrived at a huge library with a roaring fireplace. A dark wood desk dominated the room, rivaled only by the large fireplace tucked into one wall. Grant closed the doors behind us, giving us total privacy.
“So what’s the deal?” Astra jumped right into the subject.
Grant chewed on his lip, worry crossing his face. “We need you to check Kane out.”
“What am I checking him for?” Her demeanor was cool and detached.
“I was attacked by shifters—” I started.
Grant went into a coughing spell, interrupting my statement.
I narrowed my eyes at Grant, a question in my expression that I hoped the other man would read. I had no idea what to say. It seemed like I set Astra off way too easily.
Astra spun around, pointed a finger at Grant, and then pushed the finger into his chest. “You know damned well how I feel about this.”
“Look,” I started. “I don’t have to—it’s fine.”
“No. It’s not fine.” Grant gave Astra a stern look. “Listen. If he’s infected by a touched shifter, then he’s got to be helped. We need to know that the bite isn’t from a touched one. Period. He cannot die. It will break Mae’s heart. She cares for Kane.”
“Why don’t you tell me how this whole thing works first?” Astra sat on the edge of the desk.
“You mean you don’t know?” Grant’s tone was incredulous. “How can you not know when Doc—hasn’t Doc told you?”
“He tried.” A sheepish grin crossed Astra’s face. “I didn’t want to know.”
“If you didn’t know, then you couldn’t help him if he needed help.”
“Fine, Grant,” she spat. “I’m a shitty daughter, a sucky person. I get it. Okay? I suck.”
Grant put his arms around her.
She sniffled once, then pulled away. The whites of her eyes were red, which made the green that much more vivid.
“Do you know how to kill a shifter?” Grant asked Astra.
I thought it best I be silent. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing, or say the right thing at the wrong time, and piss her off again.
“I’m not that insensitive. I did hear him when he told me that.” Astra pouted.
Her full lips looked perfectly kissable to me. I turned my gaze away. The last thing I needed to do was pitch a tent right now.
Astra continued, “You separate a shifter from his bear.”
Grant nodded. “But do you know how to do that? How that happens?”
Astra shook her head, then hung it low.
“Couple of ways. Don’t feel bad. I had to explain them to Chelsea, in case... One way—” Grant took a deep breath. “One way to separate a shifter from their bear is to decapitate the shifter. That ends it.” He clapped his hands together as if dusting them off. “The other way is to be bitten by a touched shifter. When a touched one bites a shifter, a battle begins within the shifter to kill the shifter’s bear. By the way, it doesn’t just apply to bears. All shifters are the same.”
“So the kit Doc told me to carry, the one that tests to see if a shifter was bitten by a touched?”
“Do you have a kit?” Grant’s face lit up, hopeful.
“He said I have to carry it in my bag all the time, because he never knew if he would need it.”
“Yes!” Grant exclaimed.
“What happens if it tests positive? Then what?”
Grant frowned. “That’s a different problem altogether. It’s better not to take chances and find out.”
“What if a touched one bites a human?” Astra asked.
I found myself admiring her intelligence and curiosity. There was something special about this woman. The way she thought, the reactions she had. She wouldn’t be boring to have around.
“Don’t worry. If a touched one wants to hurt a human, it’s unlikely the human will escape with just a bite. Humans don’t stand a chance against shifters. Any shifter, touched or not, will kill a human if it wants to.”
“I’ll get the test.” Astra opened a black bag and removed what looked like a miniature shaving kit. From it, she set out a slide, a cotton-tipped swab, and a medicine dropper in a black-colored glass container.
As she sorted the equipment, I wasn’t sure what I had to do, or what she had to do or where, but figured it would have something to do with my wounds. I removed my flannel shirt and pulled the tee over my head.
“Okay, now—” Astra turned around, and froze.
The bottle that was in her hand started to slip out. She fumbled with it.
Grant and I both dove for it.
I snatched it midair.
Chapter Ten
Astra
I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I’d dropped the glass bottle.
What the hell!
Who could blame me? I peeked at the man who’d caught it midair.
Kane.
He was shirtless. With dark olive skin, his chest was as broad as a door, all man, all sexy. His pecs looked like they were made of steel, above a set of abs that I could do laundry on. I wanted to shake the image out of my head.
Jeez. He’d stunned me so much that I’d dropped the stupid bottle. Why the hell was it glass? Too fragile. I swore under my breath.
Both Grant and Kane looked at me. I knew their bears had heard me, even if a normal human couldn’t have.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, reaching for the bottle, averting my eyes from Kane’s body. “My hands were... moist. Probably sweat.” I tried to talk my way out of how I’d come to drop the bottle, as if the reason wasn’t his muscles, that chest, those abs and arms.
No, it couldn’t be that at all.
A tiny snigger made me look at Kane. Amusement glinted in his eyes, as though he knew he’d affected me.
I snatched the bottle from his grip, ignoring the charge that I felt in my fingertips when my hand touched his.
That’s when I saw.
I gasped.
A brief glance and I’d made a quick assessment. I couldn’t keep myself from continuing to look. His upper chest and shoulders were covered with bite marks and claw marks. Deep ones.
He’d rea
lly been attacked, seriously.
“What the hell?” I muttered. “What happened to you?”
“Three very nasty rovers,” Kane said.
I looked at Grant for an explanation and at the same time cursed myself for never allowing Doc to tell me about his life and to define all the terms that applied to it. “What are rovers?”
“Rovers,” Grant said. “Shifters who are for hire. Roving. Doing deeds they’re paid to do.”
“Like mercenaries?” I frowned, then turned to Kane. “What did you do to deserve having rovers sicced on you?”
Chapter Eleven
Kane
I grimaced, not really wanting to get into it with her. She was too volatile, and too much hinged on my being able to keep the peace around here, at least long enough to get to a cabin, to put some space between me and the rest of the world. Which reminded me...
I turned to Grant. “I ran out of hunter’s block. Any chance you know where I can get hold of some? I can pay for it.”
“I’ve got some you can have,” Grant offered.
Relief coursed through me. At least that part was covered. “So, back to the test?”
“Hold out your hand.” Astra’s voice was professional. Strictly business.
I did so. She took it, separated my index finger, and using a diabetic type of gun implement, she pricked it. She caught the drop of blood with a tiny glass tube, let the drop fall to a glass slide on the desk, then squirted one drop of whatever was in the black bottle onto my blood.
“What does it do?”
“It’s supposed to bubble. Like when hydrogen peroxide is applied to blood.” Astra shrugged. “If it bubbles, that’s bad.”
No reaction.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. For me, the whole ‘touched’ thing was abstract, as if it couldn’t possibly happen to me, until Grant had started talking about it. Then I had realized how screwed I’d be if I were infected. I didn’t know the first thing about becoming uninfected. Unless Grant knew. Or knew someone who did.
I blew out a sigh, my chest deflating. I’d gotten lucky. What if... I unclenched the fist I’d made while Grant explained the whole ‘touched’ thing.
“Looks like you’re in the clear,” Astra announced. She packed the testing kit in the little black bag, then threw my clothing at me.
“No physical?” I couldn’t help the teasing note my tone took on. Maybe relief did that. Or maybe adrenaline from having been worried and then coming down from that worry.
Astra tossed me a frosty, dirty look. “No.” Her reply was quick and curt. She turned to Grant, waved her hand at me. “Now what?” It was clear she was talking about me, yet she was acting like I wasn’t even there.
“I guess that’s all, Astra.” Grant smiled, clearly trying to lighten up the mood.
“No, really,” Astra persisted. “What about him, now?”
“He’s staying in the cabin at Northpoint End,” Grant answered.
I felt like leaving them alone to have their talk. In fact, that was exactly what I needed to do.
“I’ll go see if Mae and Chelsea need any help.” I took a stride toward the glass double doors.
“No.” Astra’s voice was sharp, loud. “Stay.”
I kept my hand on the door handle, but didn’t turn it. Nor did I turn to face her.
“Please.” Her voice softened.
I took my hand off the knob, then turned around, and looked at her. I’d never seen this softer side of her.
“I’ll give you a ride to the cabin.” She turned to Grant. “I’ll take him to Northpoint End.”
“I don’t think so,” Grant said before I could even think of thanking her for the offer.
“Why not?”
“There’s a snowstorm coming. You don’t need to be out there, a woman alone.”
“Then who’s going to go?” She planted her fists on her hips. “Not Mae. And if you go, then Chelsea will be worried all night.”
Grant squinted at her. I cocked my head. She made sense when she put it that way, but when I thought of her taking me somewhere—who knew how far away, but it was up a mountain—then driving back alone... That didn’t sit well with me.
“I’ll go with you,” Grant said.
“You’re being silly. My place is closer to it than yours.”
I felt like I was watching a ping-pong match, trying to keep up with the argument these two were having.
“I’ll look after her,” I said, though I could see the flaw in my logic. It was very flawed, because who was going to look after her after she dropped me off? Unless I could talk her into staying until morning.
The bear made a growling sound of approval in my head. Yeah, I bet you do like that.
Grant shook his head, as if he were uncertain. “Let me talk to Mae and Chelsea.” He stepped toward the doorway.
“Grant.” There was a measure of steeliness in Astra’s tone.
Grant froze.
“I know it’s hard for you to accept that I’m an adult. I get that you want to take care of me, like Doc would. But I’m not a child. I don’t need your permission to give someone a ride.”
Oh shit. Now she’s gone and put me in the middle of it. I took a step back. It was either make Grant angry, or piss the hottie off.
Easy solution here. I’d sooner piss off Grant.
“I’ll make sure she’s fine.”
“You don’t have a choice, really,” Astra told Grant, buttressing her argument. “If I have a problem, I know you’ll shift and come save me.”
Okay. Surely Grant could see the logic in that.
Grant exhaled a long, drawn-out sigh. “So be it. Call me to let me know you’re okay.”
Chapter Twelve
Astra
I gave Kane a dirty look, ignoring his attempt to help me with my coat. I shrugged it on by myself.
Grant put his arm around me. “Call us when you get home.”
I rolled my eyes and bit back a smartass sarcastic remark.
Kane and I got in my Jeep. I started it and headed down the road toward Northpoint.
The vehicle seemed small with a mountain-sized man in it. I tried not to let his size affect me. Size and sexiness.
I had my plan ready. It was simple; talk him into leaving the valley immediately, before the ones who were hunting him could find him here.
If that failed, I had my pistol in the back.
I gave him a sideways glance. He was staring straight ahead, his profile aquiline, his skin tone beautifully dusky in the dimness of the dashboard’s lighting. Full lips at rest, not smiling or talking, just looking perfectly... kissable.
Damn, what’s wrong with me? Kissable? WTF! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
I turned my eyes back to the road, reluctantly so. No. I can’t shoot him. I’d have to talk him into leaving. Somehow.
“What’s the story with you and the ones hunting you?” I could at least break the ice, make nice, and then make my request.
“It’s a long story. Is this going to be a long drive?”
I thought for a moment. I could make it as long as I needed to by going back and forth on back roads, to get the story. Not the safest option, perhaps. “No, not that long.”
He realigned himself in the seat, moving so that he was facing me more than before. “Why are you asking?”
“I guess, if we have bad guys—” Wow, did I really just sound so cliché? “If there are rovers following you, then it would be nice to know why, in case we have a problem with them.”
“You shouldn’t. I used block to disguise my scent, and I was very careful.”
“Famous last words,” I muttered.
Outside, the snow began to fall more heavily. I ignored it; I couldn’t let a little snow stop me from my mission.
He rubbed his jaw, the scruff of his few days’ growth of beard making a scratchy sound. “You really want to know?”
I didn’t trust the tone in his voice. “You really think you can
throw them off your trail?”
He was silent for so long I began to think he either hadn’t heard or he was ignoring my question.
“Think so.” His words were almost a whisper.
A shiver ran through me. “Can I make a request of you?”
“Shoot.”
“I may not have a right to make a request, though I did run that test on you...” I let the words sit for a moment, for emphasis. He owed me. “I don’t want to lose any more of my family members to shifters. If you keep moving, and you’re not here, then we—they—won’t be in danger.”
“So you’re saying you don’t want me to stay in Northpoint End.”
Under normal circumstances I’d have enjoyed getting to know more about the hunky stranger.
What the hell am I thinking? He’s a damned shifter.
There was something about him. Something that clicked with me. An instant chemistry kind of thing. Like a chemical reaction.
“Or anywhere in the valley,” I added. “It’s too risky.”
“You’d want me wandering around in this snowstorm?”
Does he have to put it that way?
He made me sound horrible.
“Well, no. I mean...” What the hell could I say now?
“Can I at least stay until morning? Just let me hole up in the cabin until the snow stops falling. Is that too much to ask?”
That didn’t seem like an unreasonable request. “Okay. But promise me, first opportunity, you’re out of there.”
Chapter Thirteen
Kane
Was she freaking kidding? Like I’d just head out?
Just say yes, a part of me said. Just tell her what she wants to hear, then get her on the road.
But I didn’t want her on the road. I wanted to spend time with her, in the cabin. A lot of time. I wanted to get to know her better.
She hates you, idiot, that same part of me said, so walk away. Let her go, and then stay in the cabin until you’re ready to move on.