by Elle Thorne
But Avala remained silent.
Tell me more, Camden requested, please.
Silence.
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.
She heaved a heavy breath from her panther’s chest, thanking the feline for not interfering or becoming overprotective.
Go find the little ones, Avala said. Make this right.
Camden frowned, in her mind, in her human body, ensconced in her panther’s form. Had Avala somehow, despite the heated discussion just become an ally? Had she just become a mentor?
She continued her padding through the tunnels, slowing when she heard the sound of giggles and splashing.
She peeked around a corner, curious about the sound and the light that seemed to be coming from around the bend of the tunnel.
Her eyes beheld a sight that amazed her. The most beautiful lagoon she’d ever seen was spotlighted by sunshine. At the water’s edge, three were watching the shoreline where the twins and a toddler just coming out of babyhood played. The three were Griz, a man—clearly a shifter, and a woman—clearly human.
Where was Tyler?
She didn’t have a chance to dwell on that thought long before she noticed and was awed by the occurrence before her.
She couldn’t help but notice the baby was surrounded by tiny sparks of electricity that glowed and then vanished. It reminded her of the same types of sparks that Circe used to make when—
She bit back a gasp that would have sounded like a huff coming from her panther.
—that boy had an elemental in him. A powerful one by the looks of it.
The hackles on her panther’s back stood on end. Camden snapped her head to the left.
And damned near had a heart attack.
A huge grizzly stood right next to her, his massive jaws inches away from her neck.
Before the snarl that was building up in her chest could come out, she felt the push against her brain for a sync.
At the same second, she recognized the bear. Tyler.
She accepted the sync and allowed the communication link to open. Syncing was the way shifters could communicate in their animal form. It was a means of talking, silently, in their minds. But in order to talk, one had to accept the push to link.
The way Camden did.
“What are you doing here?” Tyler’s voice sounded the same in their sync as it did in his human form. “Are you here to take the twins away from me?” His growl was soft but menacing.
Soft enough that the others by the lagoon wouldn’t have heard it, but menacing enough to scare the shit out of Camden.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tyler had sensed Camden’s approach. He couldn’t have said how, though. He didn’t scent her. He didn’t hear her.
Yet, something had told him she was approaching. He’d slipped out and hidden in the crevices of another tunnel, and waited.
His senses had not let him down. He studied her stealthy approach, how her eyes glittered in the darkness, how her fur was thick and gleaming. Muscular and lithe, she was a lethal weapon wrapped in a sexy package.
A sexy package that wanted to take the girls away.
His bear snarled a warning at Tyler. Really? The bear was taking her side? Tyler wondered what the bear knew that he didn’t.
He studied the feline; that’s when he picked it up. A sadness, a dejection in her walk. She was definitely affected.
Was it because of the council and all this?
He pushed for a sync, and she accepted quickly.
And then damn, if his temper didn’t overcome him again.
“What are you doing here?” He hadn’t been able to stop himself. “Are you here to take the twins away from me?”
His bear growled at frustration with Tyler’s having blurted that out.
Camden’s panther flinched at his growl.
Damn. He felt bad. He hadn’t meant to scare her.
“Tyler.” Her panther turned to face him, her expression earnest, her posture nonthreatening. “I’m here to help.”
“Follow me.” He wasn’t going to stay here and talk to her and possibly get caught by the others, maybe upset the twins.
He led her down the tunnel to a fork, then down another path.
Tyler’s bear stopped and turned to face her panther. His breath caught at how stunning a creature she was. They should probably speak in their human forms. “Let’s shift,” he told her in their sync.
He didn’t wait for her reply, deciding that her panther might not fully trust him to shifter when she did, he took the initiative and seized control from his bear, pushing his human form for a shift.
His bones began their transformation, becoming human-sized, reforming to their original state. His fur receded, sinews and muscles shrank.
Seconds later, he was in his jeans and flannel shirt, shaking the dirt off and trying to rearrange clothing that had become a wrinkled mess.
He looked like he’d been in a wrestling match and lost.
He smacked his palms against his thighs, dust rising in the process.
The sound of Camden’s shift brought his head up.
First came the crunching and tearing, and seconds later, she was in her human form, an agonizing expression on her face, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Damn. It never stops being so fucking painful.” She yanked at her clothing, trying to rearrange it.
Tyler knew the hellacious pain of shifting, but still, her reaction was comical. He fought back a smile of amusement, forced himself to remember she was the enemy.
He studied her as if he were a man in the midst of a drought and she was the sweetest source of fresh water. He didn’t know how he was going to proceed with this situation, and it hurt like hell, because a part of him couldn’t bear to lose her. But the same part of him couldn’t bear the notion of losing the twin girls he’d become extremely fond of.
Camden stopped rearranging her top and looked at him, her eyes, a deep dark blue, were pinned to his.
Ah, he knew those eyes. Avala was back. But why? Didn’t matter why, as far as he was concerned, she was butting in.
He leaned against the tunnel’s cool, rock wall. “Mind if I speak with Camden?”
“I don’t mind, but I’d like a word first, if I may.”
He inclined his head into a faint nod.
Avala’s face was somber. He couldn’t bear to think of her as Camden because Camden was the woman he’d fallen in love with—yeah, yeah, he’d admitted it, even to himself. He was in love with Camden Brazos.
But then again, he knew love didn’t conquer everything, now did it? He knew that very well.
He turned his attention back to Avala’s face. Funny how even her features seemed a bit different when Avala was at the forefront. He wondered if it was so, or if he was just thinking it. Maybe thinking so made it a reality for him.
His bear snarled at Tyler to quit the speculating and pay attention.
Avala was still watching him, saying nothing.
“Proceed, please.”
She nodded, folded her arms over her chest. “I am a witness to this. A witness that no one thought to call.”
“What?” He was confused.
“At the council meeting. If anyone had called on me, as an objective observer, I could’ve testified to what Camden did—what she said.”
Tyler frowned. Why the hell did no one think of this to begin with?
Well, that answer was easy to figure out. Who’d have thought of calling a spirit to testify?
“So, if called, you could affirm what Camden did or said?”
“I can. But right now, I’d rather tell you.”
“Why?” To Tyler, it was more important the council know; that the council reversed their decision.
Avala heaved a sigh that raised and lowered her shoulders, then she leaned against the wall next to him.
“I haven’t always been fair to Camden.”
Tyler cocked his head and studied her face, looking for her elemental’s expressi
on. “How so?”
Avala shook her head, then shrugged. “I don’t want to go into a confessional now. Anyway, that’s not my style. Can I simply say a few things and you not make me bare my soul?”
Man, he sure could relate to Avala. He knew exactly how she felt. “Yeah, no soul-baring needed.”
A slight smile played on her lips; a smile that looked nothing like Camden.
“She never did anything to jeopardize your position or your custody of the twins. Never. Not once. She was musing out loud, just curious about why two little girls were placed with two bachelors.” Another shrug. “Innocent inquisitiveness, that’s all. And she doesn’t care what the council thinks of her, she’s more worried about you.”
“Me?”
“Don’t play stupid with me, shifter.” Avala raised a haughty brow. “It’s clear to see you feel the same for her.”
Tyler didn’t say a word. He knew there was a good chance Camden could overhear their conversation. He wasn’t ready to reveal his feelings for her, not with the dilemma they were in. And he sure as hell didn’t want some third party revealing them. “Go on,” he told Avala. “What else?”
“I don’t know how long my stay with her will be, so I wanted—”
“Whoa.” He raised a hand, palm out. “What’s that supposed to mean? I know you all travel from body to body when someone dies. Is she—” He thought of how Avala had pushed Cleopatra to kill herself. Did she plan something similar for Camden? “Do you plan to hurt her?”
She gasped. “No. Never. But I think she’d be better off without me in her life.”
Stunned, Tyler took a moment to think. “So, you’re thinking about jumping to another body? Without even giving her a chance to have a say? That’s it?” A slow anger was beginning to burn in him.
Instantly, the indigo blue in her eyes vanished, to be replaced by her natural dark irises with the flash of amber that her panther lent to the depths.
“Thank you,” Camden whispered.
Her voice. She was back. He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t mind Avala, but not at the expense of not having Camden around.
“You’re welcome.” He knew she’d just received stunning news, and wondered how she felt about it. “Do you need time alone, to think? To sort things out?”
“I think I need time to talk to Avala.” Camden’s shoulders slumped. “If she’ll talk to me, that is.” She gave Tyler the once over. “I think my conversation with Avala can wait. I need to make things right with you.”
“Avala did that.”
“I heard her, but it didn’t make things right for you. I’ve got to get the council to reverse their position. I wish that circumstances were such that they could understand why Griz chose you and Sean.” A wry smile touched her lips, then faded away. “I guess, I wish that you could trust me enough to tell me.”
“That’s simple.” Griz’s rumbling voice came from the entrance to the tunnel Tyler and Camden were in.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Camden flinched. Griz’s voice had startled her.
A bolt of ice formed on her fingertips and she felt it, ready to launch itself. She aimed her hand for the tunnel’s ceiling, and the frozen arrow flew into the rock and shattered.
“That was close,” Griz said, approaching. “The council can’t be told because they are Tyler and Sean’s half-sisters.”
Camden did a double take. “What?” She chewed on her bottom lip. “What’s the big deal about that? Why keep it a secret?”
“Long story,” Tyler said. “Griz, would you do me the honors?”
Camden looked between the two grizzly shifters. Were they finally going to let her in?
Griz nodded. “I’ll start from the beginning. Sean and Tyler’s mother never told their father she was pregnant with them. She died in childbirth.”
Cam studied Tyler’s face to see if this affected him aversely, but he didn’t bat a lash.
Griz kept talking, “One day, their father learned about them. They touched base, but they were grown by then and they carried their mother’s name. So that was kind of the end of their story.”
“Not really,” Tyler contradicted. “Griz is leaving out the part where he pretty much took responsibility for helping us out.”
“That was nothing,” Griz waved him off. “Let me continue.”
Tyler laughed softly.
Camden enjoyed the camaraderie between the two. The way Griz didn’t want accolades, and that Tyler gave him subtle crap about it.
“Go on,” Tyler said with a smile. “Continue.”
Griz shook his head, looking much like a proud father. “Their father met a new mate. An elemental. He was working in Europe and their mother went to her family to give birth. Her family was a tightknit community of elementals.”
It occurred to Camden that Circe would want to know about the community of elementals in Europe. She’d have to get some facts about this for her big sister, if she could.
Griz was still explaining, “There was a huge rivalry between witches and elemental factions where they were at. I guess that’s just part of being who supernatural beings are.”
Tyler nodded.
“Then one day, the girls and their mother were kidnapped. Their mother perished during the abduction. Their father managed to save the girls, left Europe to escape the elementals. Came to the States where he was killed saving the girls from another abduction attempt.” Griz crossed his arms across his chest, as though saying, story over.
“Wow.” Camden’s head was reeling.
“Yup.” Griz nodded. “Wow is right. So, here’s the bottom line: the twins’ mother was the only child of the leading family of elementals. Now, she’s dead. The leading family wants the twins. The witches want the twins dead. We just want them to live.”
Camden shook her head.
Griz’s face was nothing less than determined. “I swore to protect the girls. Zach and I go way back. It’s a long story.”
“Zach?” Camden asked.
Griz indicated Tyler. “Tyler and Sean’s father. Zach. I can’t let it get out where the girls are or that they are alive, or that Zach even had sons. The boys carry their mother’s name. The girls will bear the name O’Reardon and not their father’s last name--Romanoff.”
“Romanoff?” Could it be the same Romanoff, Camden wondered.
“Zach was Mikhail’s cousin, but fell away from the family long ago.”
“Griz,” she started. “Let me fix this.”
Tyler put his hand on her arm, then turned to Griz. “Give us a moment.”
Griz nodded. “I’ll check on the girls.”
Camden looked up into Tyler’s face. Would he dispute her wanting to make this situation right? Did he not trust her? “Tyl—”
She was interrupted by his lips claiming hers.
He’d lowered his head with the ferocity of a predator, claiming her lips. His kiss was urgent. She kissed him back, spurred on by the passions of their mutual attraction, oblivious to the witness that Avala bore to this kiss. She’d talk to Avala later, right now, she wanted nothing more than to be exactly where she was.
The entire world felt like it had paused and was spinning around them in a holding pattern while his hand twisted in her hair, crushing her lips tighter against his.
She breathed out a sigh that he swallowed with his kiss.
His other hand swooped under her derrière and pulled her closer to him, maneuvering her against his body, signaling the need he felt for her.
A need she matched, body, mind, soul, feline, and elemental.
She moved against him.
He groaned, and she drank his groan away with her own kiss. Suddenly, her need competed with his, both seeking to control, both needing each other.
“We have something else to work on, when the council matter is settled.”
“Yes,” she breathed the word against his lips.
His mouth overtook hers. She savored the taste of his lips while they dev
oured her own.
She tore away from him. “Trust me?”
It was a question that asked for more than just the trust that came with handling the council.
His gaze bore into her eyes, striking at the core of her soul, pulling her into the same place he was.
“Trust me?” he asked in return.
Such a difficult question. One she’d never been able to yield to. She’d only ever trusted Eden, Circe, and Marco.
Until now.
If she wanted him to trust her with his secret, with the lives of the two little precious ones, she could give him no less than the same trust.
“I do,” she said. “And I’ll be back with word.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Camden couldn’t transform, not so soon after her last shift. Her only option? Run toward Grant’s home. Now, she was far from a runner, so for her that meant running, then stopping to breathe—or die from exertion—then running more. With a healthy dose of walking in between. She had so much she wanted to talk to Avala about, but this just wasn’t the time.
Hopefully, she’d have the time, soon.
She put one foot in front of the other, sweat pouring from her forehead, stinging her eyes. She ran the back of her hand over her face, wiping the sweat away with her sleeve. Her heart felt like it was going to pound right out of her chest.
She stopped, gasped for breath, then began to walk again. She was still in the tunnels, still far from the entrance, and then she would have to traverse the mountainous paths before she was at Grant’s home.
Why couldn’t I have just stayed in my panther form?
As though thinking of what ifs, and shoulda, coulda, woulda, might be of any help now.
Let me help, Avala said in her head.
How can you help? I don’t have the energy needed to get into my panther body. That’s the only way I can speed up getting back to the council, getting word to them to stop this nonsense.
Will you let me help? Avala asked.
Of course, she would. Please.
Camden gave control of her body to Avala. She raised her arms to the tunnel’s ceiling. Seconds later, a large crackling sound occurred.
