Shapes of Autumn (Boxed set, books 1 - 5)

by Veronica Blade

  Sure, we could get caught as we left the restroom, but since I had no idea when we’d get another opportunity like this, I was willing to risk it.

  Zack swept in and scanned the walls and ceiling, rotating in the small space. I guess they decided not to be creepy by putting a camera in the bathroom. He cupped my face with both hands and stared into my eyes. Are you okay?

  I wasn’t going to waste my precious few seconds of privacy with Zack by replying. My gaze riveted to his lips before fusing to them. My lungs compressed when Zack locked his arms around me so tightly that I completely flattened against him. I didn’t know how long I could hold my breath because I’d never timed it. But it was longer than these few minutes I might have with Zack. So I didn’t bother trying for oxygen. I just concentrated on those full lips, his tongue sliding against mine, the musky scent of his skin, the denseness of his muscles.

  He held me, his kisses gentle but passionate, as his hands explored my body like it belonged to him. He pushed forward and I bumped against a surface. Even as he squashed me against the wall, his hands managed to squeeze between the wall and me, moving lower until they brushed my butt. I moaned, my fingertips parting tiny paths through his silky dark hair.

  Autumn, where the hell are you? My dad’s voice boomed into my head.

  I shoved Zack away and he stumbled. My dad’s looking for me. Wait a few seconds after I leave before you come out. I planted a brief kiss on Zack’s lips before rushing out the door.

  I was in the bathroom, I told my dad as I darted through the door to the training room.

  He met my gaze from the other side of the crowded room. And you needed Zack’s help?

  I blushed. In a flash, my dad was standing in front of me, his jaw set and his hands fisted. Autumn, this is not the time for that. We’ve got a job to do and a psycho on the loose. If anything happened to you… if Ulric captured you… I don’t know how your mother or I would go on.

  Now I felt like an ass for stressing out my dad. I hung my head and my dad visibly relaxed as Zack returned. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  “You don’t go anywhere alone, not until Ulric is captured or dead. Got it?”

  I groaned. “Yes.”

  ***

  Natasha had chefs who prepared the meals so everyone else could work without getting caught up in food preparation. While we trained, a delicious aroma wafted in, which compelled me to sneak peeks into the kitchen nearby. Ivan, a tall shape-shifter with reddish hair and a ruddy complexion, occasionally grumbled over missing ingredients or incorrect temperature while he micromanaged his petite Latina assistant, Valerie. She waved him off with a light scolding, happily sampling the next dish.

  My mouth watered while I continued to train. Finally, they set plates at an oversized picnic table with matching benches. The shape-shifters may have had the barest of utensils but they went all-out with the food—appetizers, salads, several vegetable dishes and two meat choices. I didn’t know if all shape-shifters made such elaborate meals or if we got special treatment because we were dining with the queen. Whatever. I planned to thoroughly enjoy their hospitality, regardless of the reason.

  When they announced dinner was ready, I attempted to claim the spot next to Zack. Dathan snaked it before I got a chance to sit, forcing me to his other side.

  Sorry, Zack growled into my head. I should’ve anticipated that.

  We should be more discreet anyway. That’s probably the way things would go for the duration of our stay. Unless I ended the fake engagement with Dathan. Unfortunately, instinct told me breaking up with him just yet was a bad idea. At least until his plan unfolded, whatever that plan was.

  Chapter Four

  Zack

  Two days had flown by in a frenzy of work and training, with rarely a moment for breathers. And almost no time for Autumn. I missed being alone with her. I missed exchanging flirty looks or witty comments, and the feel of her silky hair between my fingers. I especially missed snuggling with her.

  Natasha and her men hadn’t found the source of the heat they’d spotted by infrared, because the cameras in the tunnel were still down. No other signs of life had been documented outside the compound either.

  We were beginning to think the extra heat had been a technical glitch, which would explain why all the cameras in the tunnel went out. Natasha and Renzo tried to review the footage but it had disappeared. The security guy’s story of a virus sounded plausible and Natasha trusted her people. But something didn’t sit right with me and I couldn’t figure out exactly what. I couldn’t imagine her people putting their own lives at risk by covering up the presence of a dangerous werewolf. Maybe my paranoid imagination was working overtime.

  Still, what if the nagging at my subconscious, that thing tickling my brain and making the back of my neck tingle, was real? Though I stayed on alert and was thankful Quentin kept a close eye on Autumn, I tried not to think about Ulric or that he might still be in the tunnel waiting for his chance to get to us. Correction: I couldn’t help but think about the danger we’d walked into by coming here instead of running for our lives. So I did my best to keep myself busy so I wouldn’t dwell on everything that could go wrong.

  Each day began before dawn, Autumn and I tended to our cleaning station, sweeping and mopping the floors. Though I wasn’t crazy about that task, at least Autumn and I got to do it together. We were never alone—not to mention the cameras everywhere—and couldn’t touch each other, but it was our one chance to have a real conversation until bedtime. Which we did silently.

  After our morning chores, we went straight to breakfast, then we trained until lunch. Meals were my favorite parts of the day. Ivan and Valerie were masters in the kitchen and everything they served was the best food I’d eaten in my life.

  While we rested after lunch before the next pummeling, we’d each complete other duties—me in the garage while Autumn washed dishes—then we returned to the training area after our bodies had sufficient time to heal.

  Her parents had stayed in Natasha’s room, while the rest of us slept in the living room. Part of me wondered though if Olivia wanted to avoid everyone else in the building the way she avoided my dad and me. Ultimately, I didn’t care. Less people in our sleeping area meant less intrusion on my time with Autumn, even though we had little privacy.

  In case Natasha came in while we were sleeping, I didn’t scoot my cot closer to Autumn and hang onto her hand until we fell asleep. I resigned myself to a brief touch before settling down a few feet from her. At least we hadn’t needed to separate as we’d always thought we would. I couldn’t let anything or anyone tear us apart again—not even some crazed werewolf amped up on vampire blood. But as I vowed not to let Dathan get too close to her, I knew I’d already lost. They had some kind of bond and it bothered me. What were the chances of Autumn falling for him? I didn’t know. But any chance at all was too much.

  During combat training, Natasha usually paired with Dathan since he was the most powerful. With her fighting skills, not only did she hold her own against him, she usually bested him. He didn’t seem to mind. And I quietly gloated over the fact that Dathan apparently wasn’t “man enough” for her either.

  Renzo sparred with Sean, and Haji had been assigned to me. While it was a huge relief that my dad wasn’t constantly beating the snot out of me the way he had at the vampire palace, dread deluged me each time I tried to strike Haji, a massive black guy with arms the size of my thighs. His bulk didn’t slow him down at all and I may as well have been a gnat annoying him.

  This training was important though, so I gave it my all. By the end of the night, I didn’t have the energy to sneak a kiss with Autumn.

  Olivia had been paired with Persius, a guy who looked like a bronze statue—too tanned to be living in a mountain with so little sunshine. And Quentin had been matched with Rakin, a tall lean Arab who always held his head high, as if he’d once been royalty. Autumn teamed with Egon, the werewolf.

  After only two days
inside the shape-shifter haven, cabin fever gnawed at me. Sure, I morphed at night in their underground park, but I needed a little change in our routine. And I burned for some time with Autumn. Alone.

  We had two hours to go before dinnertime and sweat streamed down my arms, dripping off my fingertips. I popped off the floor after Haji tossed me across the room like an old shirt.

  Yvonne marched in with her shoulders back, her mouth set in a grim line. “Your Majesty.”

  Everyone stopped, anxious to hear any news on Ulric. “Yes, Yvonne?” Natasha let the sword hang at her side.

  Yvonne nibbled on her bottom lip a moment before releasing it again and running a palm over her nearly bare scalp. “Lenny and Blake spotted a group of werewolves in Mammoth.”

  “And they lived to tell?” Dathan shook his head. “This isn’t good.”

  Natasha hooked him with a death glare. “Care to tell me why two of my men being alive is bad news?”

  “If Ulric left Lenny and Blake alive, it’s because he intends to use them for something.” Dathan rocked back on his heels, raising his chin. “It means the worst is yet to come.”

  “Or it means they simply succeeded in avoiding Ulric. I’ve been around a while and I’m proof it’s possible to survive and beat the werewolves.” Her mouth widened. “And vampires.”

  Dathan raised a challenging brow. “You’re sure all your people are trustworthy? Confident they won’t divulge our whereabouts, even under the most grueling torture or the most tempting bribe?”

  Natasha angled her head to the side. “My people can’t be bribed with riches or promised freedom, because they know these things will never be given to them by the enemy. They are loyal under the most extreme circumstances, because they must be.”

  A vein pulsed at Dathan’s temple. “We have a few in our midst who wanted to abandon ship at the first sign of trouble. That’s not loyalty.”

  “Lack of desire to engage in war doesn’t automatically mean deficiency in moral fiber.” Natasha scowled, taking a challenging step toward Dathan.

  Most of the time, she talked like anyone else, but I occasionally detected a faint accent. Definitely not American. British? And for a shape-shifter, weak as they were, to be capable of holding her own against Dathan, she had to be ancient. Granted, she had some serious skills but she had to be crazy strong too.

  “You’re making excuses for your men.” Dathan stretched taller and his lips distorted. “The brave stay and fight. The only conclusion must be that whoever chooses to leave is a coward.”

  Natasha huffed and waved the sword she’d been using. “Vampires have been murdered for months and where are your people to stand up for their dead? It appears all your people are cowards.”

  “My people have been under attack for mere months, as you said. Yours have been oppressed and needlessly butchered for centuries and all they can do is run?” Dathan scoffed. “The fact remains that Ulric was last seen near Los Angeles just days ago and if he isn’t already here, he will be soon. If you want all your men to die, do continue to coddle them. If you want to win this, we must consider every angle so we don’t get caught off guard.”

  Natasha’s mouth slowly curved up, her gaze boring into him as she aimed the tip of the sword at him. “If you don’t approve of how I rule my people, you don’t have to stay.”

  “You two, settle down.” Olivia shot a scolding look at Natasha then Dathan. “This is not helping. We all need to work together.”

  “Rather difficult to accomplish when Her Majesty is in denial.” Dathan flipped around, leaving Natasha glaring at his back.

  Her eyes flared. “I think you should leave.”

  I prepared myself for a verbal explosion—and I hoped it wouldn’t be worse than that. The last thing I wanted was Dathan bailing on us. He acted like a douche bag many of his awake hours, but our chance of winning against Ulric was better with him. I needed to get Natasha and Dathan fighting less with each other, and focused on the real war.

  “Since Ulric is probably very close by, maybe even in the tunnel, and we already know it’s not safe to exit the building, I’m curious how much food we have on hand.” I nervously shifted my weight to my other leg, hating the idea of being trapped inside much longer, especially if we ran out of fresh food. I enjoyed real food too much to eat emergency rations that probably tasted like my shoe.

  Taking my cue, Autumn chimed in. “Assuming we can’t leave to replenish our supplies, how much longer can we stay here?”

  “We have a few more days of fresh food.” Natasha lifted her chin. “When that runs out, we can use our emergency rations.”

  “How long will the backup supply feed this many people?” Dathan asked, spinning and facing her again. “Because I’ve got another week or so of blood and then I’m out.”

  “Thankfully you can eat human food,” Natasha said, syrup dripping off every syllable.

  Dathan rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in the air. “Damn it, woman. Must you argue about everything?”

  “Only if I’m talking to you.” Natasha swiveled and stomped away from him, stopping beside Autumn’s dad. I lowered my head to muffle a laugh.

  “I thought you guys were old friends,” Quentin asked, glancing between Natasha and Dathan.

  “‘Friends’ is a bit of a stretch. But I’m always gracious until someone gives me a reason not to be.” Natasha threw Dathan a searing glance. “He saved my life years ago. Maybe he thinks that gives him license to tell me how to do my job.”

  I don’t even want to imagine how those two could tear up the place if they got physical, I told Autumn. We need them both alive and well, so they can help us fight Ulric.

  I’ll try to distract them again. “Can we stay on track?” Autumn asked Dathan and Natasha. “If we’re going to be trapped here for a while, we need to work out the food situation.”

  “We’ve got enough rations in storage to feed fifty people for six months,” Sean answered, then he grimaced. “The dried food tastes like dehydrated rubber. I don’t recommend it unless we have no other choice.”

  “I was thinking,” Autumn began, making sure she had everyone’s attention. “Why are we letting anyone dictate when we can and can’t leave when we could solve this by inspecting the tunnel?” Autumn chewed her bottom lip. “Maybe we’ll discover it really was an animal. In that case, we’ll all be free to come and go. Food and blood won’t be a problem.”

  “That requires sending my people into a place where Ulric could very well be. And possibly getting them killed.” Natasha lips mashed into a straight line.

  “Then we’ll all do it. Ulric will be grossly outnumbered,” I said.

  “And if he gets inside the building somehow, because we opened the hatch?” Natasha shook her head. “No.”

  “We’ll take precautions, guard all entry points,” Renzo said. “We can do this. Worst case scenario we find Ulric and kill him.”

  Dathan hissed. “Whether or not Ulric is in that tunnel, he’s very close. But we need to know either way. Natasha, gather your people and use them to guard the door to the parking area. The rest of us will search the tunnel. Let’s get it done.”

  A sharp intake of air drew everyone’s attention to Natasha.

  “What is it?” Quentin asked. He reached a hand toward her hair, then withdrew.

  Natasha’s chin quivered. “I’ve just been informed that one of my crew has been found dead in the parking area.” She bolted out the door and Dathan followed.

  I didn’t need to ask if the person was murdered. Any immortal knew that none of us died of natural causes.

  Chapter Five

  Autumn

  While Dathan and Natasha finished at the crime scene, the rest of us returned to training. My mom paced the outer edge of the room where she easily avoided being hit by Zack or me sparring with our dads. Although Renzo routinely kicked the snot out of Zack, staying ahead was growing more and more difficult for Renzo. I wondered at the effect of the vampire blood we’
d consumed and how long it would last.

  Spotting Natasha and Dathan slipping through the door, my dad halted his assault on me. “What did you find out?” my dad asked.

  “Decapitated. Havers and Kieran are still scouring the garage for evidence.” Natasha ambled to the weapon wall, picked up a knife then hung it back up. Her eyes were vacant, like she was a million miles away.

  Dathan leaned a shoulder against the wall, keeping Natasha in view. “Lulu looked a little thin, maybe a couple pints low on blood.”

  “The killer is a vampire?” Renzo snarled.

  “Possibly.” A vein pulsed at Dathan’s neck, his eyes stormy. “Or someone who’s been consuming vampire blood so long that he’s taken on our characteristics—like our need for blood.”

  “What did the cameras show?” Renzo asked.

  “A guy about six feet tall in a hoodie and jeans. He slithered in from the park and into the garage.” Natasha scoffed. “He must’ve known the exact location of every camera because none of the footage showed his face.”

  Dathan raised a brow at Natasha. “Which means he already knew the layout. Either his source—most likely one of your trusted people—relayed the information with incredible accuracy or the killer has been here himself. Both scenarios impossible, according to you.”

  Natasha spun to glare at Dathan, her teeth grinding. “Either way, you get to gloat.”

  “I’m hardly gloating, sugar. I’m just glad we can finally get down to business and take this seriously.” He leveled a look at Zack, then me. “This psycho is somewhere close by and I don’t want him anywhere near you two. No one goes anywhere alone.”

  “That rule applies to your entire crew, I hope,” my dad told Natasha.