The Apex Shifter Complete Set: Books 1 - 3

by Emilia Hartley

  But why would the wound in her head open up again after all this time? Why had Kayla been wearing a bandage over it in her apartment? Blood wondered if the emotional trauma Kayla felt at her returning memories could cause a physical sign. It seemed impossible. At the same time, the woman shifted into a dragon, so where did the reality lie?

  Wind picked up as he rounded one of the hills. A ridge rose in the near distance. No, not a ridge. A butte, he thought. Increasing his pace, he hurried toward his goal. The bluff did not look any different from the surrounding formations. Instinct drew him in. Blood was certain this was the Forgetting Place.

  To get to the top, he needed to leave the ruts in the dirt. It was a steep climb, the hill formed of rotten stone that slid under his boots. Breathing hard at the summit, he cast his eyes around.

  Weathered boards attracted him. Closer inspection revealed a half-covered hole. A broken ladder led into it. Blood crouched down and saw that six feet down, a tunnel angled into the hill.

  Outcropping from the uneven summit caught his eye. These were rough black stones jutting from the brown rock. Weathered facets shined in the gray light. Blood walked to the nearest one. A moment’s study revealed the substance. The black hunks were obsidian.

  More of the glossy stone must lie beneath his feet. Perhaps the mine tunneled into it. Blood pondered what an obsidian chamber might do to a dragon.

  Hard rain fell suddenly. His glance swept up. A storm speeded toward him from the west. Lightning flashed, followed by the bellow of thunder. His face and hands were sandblasted by mighty gusts. The time for pondering was past. Blood moved toward the abandoned mind on Bad Luck Bluff.

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  Chapter Forty-two

  Her mind awakened.

  The vista of rolling tan stone brightened as the weather suddenly cleared. She recognized this place. It filled her with sorrow, and with joy. For all the bad that had happened here, she knew that she would find peace. With that peace would come sleep, and in the Forgetting Place, she would be reborn, tabula rasa—a clean slate with no horror in her past.

  Bare feet trod the top of the butte. The mine remained, perhaps a little more run down than the last time she had come to forget. Soon, she would not remember even that much. She felt soothed, as well as saddened.

  In the ravine below, she had birthed her only child. She had come to the sleeping lair to forget that the father of her baby wanted only to kill her. Would he want to kill the baby as well? Her servants believed it so. He tracked them to every active volcano, a necessity for a dragon birth. It forced her to give birth as a human woman in the only place this was possible.

  After the birth, they realized the baby was not a dragon. They would take the child to his clan—the only clan remaining in the New World.

  Memory intruded, unbidden. They had taken the baby there, taken Thorn there to Alaska. But the unruliness of her inner beast refused to give the child up to the Kodiak Clan. She attacked the bear-shifters. One of her servants died in the fight. The child was lost to her in the end.

  Tears ran down her face, and she swiped them away. No more memories, no more sorrow, only the sweet release of such matters in a sleep nearly as deep as death. Intruding reminiscence brought agony to her heart, and to her head. She touched a pad on her forehead. It came away red. A good sign.

  She crossed to the mine shaft. Miners had not realized that they had dug only a few yards from an ancient lava tube, a few yards from a thick vein of gold. Gold soothed her, as much as the black rock stole away the voice deep down in her soul.

  Descending the rickety ladder, she embraced the dark as she would a warm bath. Almost immediately, the raging roar below her subconscious faded to a whisper. Time dispersed, all the thoughts of the past discarded. Once submerged in comforting rock, sleep would take her, and the forgetting would begin.

  But again memory intruded. She recalled crawling from the sheltering cave, starving, filthy, her mind a blank. She lay down on the ruts that led from civilization, wondering if death would take her. Her last sleep had left her on the brink. Without pausing to wonder what the forgetting sleep would bring this time, she moved deeper into the pit.

  In the utter blackness, she used her hands to see. The mine angled away, deeper into the butte. She found the tunnel, the ancient wood supporting the roof, the soft sand and dust of the floor.

  Not far beyond, she touched smooth stone. It had been melted to a liquid consistency by a force no miner could muster, and had since cooled. The molten passage opened to a circular throat of stone below.

  Although she was only a few feet underground, she could not call upon the eyes of her other self to see in the gloom. Already, that part of her vanished along with the voice of the beast. With every step, more of the glassy rock suppressed the animal within.

  Even without heightened senses, she knew the lair lay only a short distance ahead. It was a bubble in the lava tube, a spherical cavity that sliced a golden vein in the body of the earth. In this womb of stone, her supernatural half would be drained, along with her thoughts, her soul. Her ravaged mind craved the solace.

  ***

  Blood found a circular lava tube below the mine, though his ursine vision proved little better in the dark than his human eyes. He turned on the disposable flashlight he purchased in Willowcreek. His eyes followed the beam. Along the tube, the wall opened up into a large space. Blood entered. His boots kicked through something heavy that gave off a ringing sound. Reaching down, he grabbed a handful. It was colder to the touch than stone, and much heavier. Nuggets of gold gleamed in the weak light.

  He had seen dragon lairs all over the world. Some were constructed by human hands, some of which were natural caves. Dragon servants and worshippers offered tribute of gold to the creatures. Blood wondered if they only wished to mimic a natural dragon den such as this.

  Surveying the walls, he recognized this as a bubble in an ancient lava floe. Black stone gleamed when he shined his light. It was a chamber of obsidian.

  The Forgetting Place, Kayla had said, the dreamless sleep. Volcanic glass was the only weapon against dragon kind. For a dragon-shifter to be utterly surrounded by it—he thought about what that might mean. Kayla and her dragon were already separated by the damage to her brain. This place would likely sever any power, any presence of the monster.

  Blood realized that Kayla’s long life—long lives—were tied to the naturally long lifespan of the dragon. Without its influence, would she lose those memories? He thought this might be the case. In coming here, Kayla’s past would become a blank.

  Starting over from scratch with no past—he could recognize the appeal of that. Mistakes he made had pushed him to this. For all his years of pursuit to vanish? Yes, that sounded appealing. But Blood was no dragon. He had to live with what he’d done.

  He also understood that there was no way he could allow Kayla to sleep away her memories. It would sweep away any trace of the woman whose hands he’d placed his life, his future. Kayla had allowed him to forget his obsession, and consider a life beyond the never ending hunt. A woman he had fallen in love with.

  A shadow crossed the gloom. It came from the mineshaft. He switched off the light. Blood retreated from the chamber and silently stole farther down the stone tube. Feet shuffled softly across the rock—bare feet, he knew. Faint echoes sounded slippery and wet. Getting closer.

  How to reconnect human and dragon? It was the only chance Kayla had to live her life. It was the only chance Blood had at a life as well.

  He had only one option. It was as dangerous as it was desperate. Blood would either save the both of them, or destroy them.

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  Chapter Forty-three

  Submerged in the black, she moved slowly forward through the primordial throat of stone. Despite the fact she was blind, she felt comforted, calm even. Forgetting was only a few feet away. Her confusion dissipated like fog
before the sun. Thinking only of placing her feet, she moved forward.

  When the smooth wall of the lava tube fell away from her fingers, she faced the opening. Unseen, the chamber beckoned with lulling stillness. Kayla Hart, Kathy Drake, Kim Ladon, Kimama and a host of churning identities vied in her mind to take the step, to disappear, to sleep.

  Why did she hesitate? Thoughts of the hunter intruded. The man she had to kill. The man she loved. No, she could shed this confusing tumult with just a step. Did she want to?

  She was grabbed in the dark, lifted off her feet. Someone had invaded the Forgetting Place. A homeless man, a hermit miner, she froze in fear at the iron limbs constraining her. The grip was so tight, she could not utter a scream, could hardly grab a breath.

  Fight, she had to fight back! She twisted and writhed, kicked and elbowed. The mass of flesh her limbs collided with was like rock. Panic took her, drowning her confused thoughts.

  She had to shift. But what good was a deer in a battle for her life?

  No, not a deer. Where did that thought even come from? It was ridiculous.

  The voice roaring, so far away in her mind, that was not the sound of a timid prey animal. No, it was strength, it was fire, it was a weapon.

  She struggled for it, across the vast distance created by the Forgetting Place. So far, so very far away from her conscious thoughts. But she needed it now. Concentrating hard, focusing past the vise that crushed her, she reached out to her inner power.

  ***

  Blood held Kayla in the dark, feeling the feeble fight in her soft form. It was the only way he could think of to join woman and dragon—intense and mortal fear. He allowed himself to be elbowed, kicked, scratched. Blood had to let her know that he was immovable, irresistible, and unconquerable.

  Kayla was smart, resourceful, and he knew she wouldn’t go easily. No, she would do what in her mind was taboo, unthinkably dangerous. She would ignore the hypnotic suggestion that her other form was helpless.

  In his grip, her form grew hot, nearly too hot to hold. But he kept his lock on her. Soft limbs grew firm with might. The scent of sulfur filled the cave. A dim glow lit up the passage.

  “That’s it, Kayla, reach out to her!” he urged.

  For a second, her struggling ceased. “Elathan?” Her voice boomed from her like thunder. “Elathan, no!”

  “Yes, Kayla, take hold of her! Reach out to her! Control her!”

  With sudden strength, she lurched from his grasp. Blood realized the closer she moved to the surface, the easier the dragon would come. He couldn’t let it run wild. Though it burned his hands, he took her by the arms, dragging her back to the chamber threshold.

  Sheltered by obsidian, Kayla no longer shifted. Still, reptilian eyes took his measure, her skin sheened with scales. He knew his bear form could deal with her in this shape. But Blood didn’t know if the silver in his system would allow it. As a human, he stood little chance against her.

  “You feel the dragon in you, Kayla. Know it, understand it.”

  She bared fangs. “She wants to kill you.”

  “She’s afraid. Reach out to her. She doesn’t need to fear me anymore. No one does. Because of you.”

  Kayla glanced toward the chamber. Blood grabbed her wrist as she tried to dart inside. His skin sizzled, but he kept her in the lava tube.

  “You made me see that I could leave my obsession behind, to start a real life. When you took my case, when you believed in me, I placed all my trust in you. You helped me, and I wanted to become worthy of that. You tried to save me, without being manipulated, without being tricked into it. I’m in love with you, Kayla. The strength of your convictions, your outlook, your intelligence and beauty—I refuse to let you erase it all.”

  “Damn you, Elathan. How many laws did I break for you? How far did I twist my ethics for you? Maybe you didn’t manipulate me, but you tainted me.”

  “If tainting you means you do what’s right instead of following the letter of the law, then so be it. Everything you did was for good reasons. It was in you all along. You need to embrace the other side of you. It isn’t evil, just without guardianship. But who other than you could provide guidance to a monster?”

  She yanked out of his grip, and Blood was thankful for it. “Monster! I’ve done terrible things. Why won’t you let me forget?”

  “The memories will return, Kayla. The monster will resurface again. It’s part of you. It won’t go away, it will only sleep for a time. You must embrace it. I’ve done shitty things in my life. Until now, I wasn’t ashamed. I thought I was doing what I had to do. I live with it, and go on. Do you really want to start all over again? After all you’ve accomplished. Do you really want to go back to nothing?”

  Fangs bared, she merely stared at him, body quivering with untamed power, begging for release. However, something held it in check.

  “Come together with the dragon. It’s the only thing that will heal you. I know the process of healing the past will be a long one, but you can’t do it with your true self in pieces. You feel her now. Is she so horrible?”

  Kayla’s eyes shifted to brown.

  “No,” she said after a time. “She’s only scared, alone. She acts out when she’s hurt, or confused.”

  Blood nodded. “She needs you. You need her.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’ve been so many different people, it’s hard to think.”

  “Your thoughts and memories will come together when you join with her.”

  “How do you know?”

  Blood didn’t, not really. “I broke you. I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand at the time. And I’m sorry that I have to be so rough, to try and repair you. But it won’t be the way Sybil Auger did, by filling you with lies, by wiping away your past. It won’t be the way I would have done in the past. I won’t manipulate you. It will be a hard road, but you have strength. The strength to mend, the strength to guide your inner beast. I’ve fallen in love with that strong woman. I won’t see her disappear. I will see her grow stronger.”

  As he looked on, she closed her eyes. With deep breaths, she returned to her human shape, soft yet strong. Hands still stinging, he took her in his arms.

  “I’m so scared,” she said into his chest.

  He held her closer. “I know you can do this.”

  She gazed into his eyes. “I love you, Elathan Blood.”

  “I love you, Kayla Hart. As I loved Kimama, as I know I would have loved any person you lived as. But I want you whole.”

  She leaned into him, lifting her face to kiss him. He felt the quiver of her fear, and hugged her tighter.

  Kayla broke the kiss. “You need me whole, and I need you free. The trial is only a few weeks away.”

  “We need to take some time for you to know the dragon, to converse with her, to share yourself. I have complete faith in your ability to defend me.”

  She gave him a quizzical, shaky smile. “How do you know that?”

  Blood shrugged. “I read through your case notes. Who could possibly convict me?”

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  Chapter Forty-four

  They remained near the Forgetting Place for a few days. Elathan had spent a life sleeping rough, and was used to it. Kayla was not, and sent him into town for clothes and camping gear. They set up near the mouth of the mine. With a cheery fire burning, they ate, made love, and talked at length. She and Elathan had crossed paths many times, creating their slowly, the built up a history. But Kayla was not so much interested in the past as the future. She needed to defend Elathan in court. Time was running out.

  But she had another important task. Getting to know the creature she shared her life with. The dragon was regal, intelligent, but young and inexperienced. Sharing memories was not difficult, as the two sides of her experienced the same things, though at different levels of consciousness.

  Kayla no longer feared the dragon, no longer believed the hypnotic suggestion that she shifted into a de
er. These revelations brought a feeling of peace so deep seated, she wondered how she had ever really lived before.

  Some nights, she rode the winds above the badlands, breath taken away by the ability to fly. The dragon reveled in this as well, the sharing of it bringing them closer together. It did not take long to fall in love with the majestic creature.

  She returned from one such flight to find Elathan building a fire. She shrugged into some clothes and sat close to him. His arm found its way around her.

  “Where do we go from here, once you’re freed?” she asked.

  Elathan smiled. “Such confidence.”

  “Not everyone will understand a May-December romance.”

  He added a few sticks and watched them blaze up. “You still look young. No one will know.”

  “Jerk.” She bumped him with her hip.

  Elathan chuckled. Then he reached into the breast pocket of his shirt. Gold nuggets gleamed in his hand. “I may just retire. There’s plenty of money for that. Or maybe you could start your own law firm.”

  Kayla shook her head. “I kind of like defending people who can’t defend themselves.”

  “Is that what you thought of me when we met?”

  She made a moue with her mouth. “You were totally helpless. You punched out your public defender. Assaulted a man in a holding cell. A totally hopeless case.”

  Elathan bumped her with his hip. “Jerk.”

  “I don’t know why I’m still hanging out with you. You practically turned me into a criminal.”

  He smirked. “You were a total badass from the first I met you, counselor. Hanging out with me just made you a badder badass.”

  Her thoughts turned serious. “Thorn. Should we tell him?”

  “I think he’s figured it out. Most of it at least. Even if he is a knucklehead.”

  Kayla sighed. “It’s so strange. I have a son. And kind of… nice. Might be nice to have a little girl, too.”