by Chant, Zoe
He barely spared a glance for where he was—some kind of storage space—other than to assure himself that it was empty. Only then did he throw wide the doors of his mind.
Ransom saw her as vividly as if he was in the room with her. She was short and slim, with a lithe strength to her small frame. An acrobat’s build. Her face was elfin, her tousled hair dyed in a streaky rainbow.
She didn’t look anything like the women who got on the covers of magazines, with her boyish body and sharply angled face. But she had something those women lacked: she was alive. A feeling of intensity, of vivacity, of presence radiated from her.
As Ransom drank her in, he knew things about her.
Her name was Natalie.
She was Merlin’s friend who’d left the circus.
And she was dying.
He pushed his vision to widen, and then he saw that she was in a doctor’s office.
“So,” Natalie said. Her voice was high and clear, and surprisingly calm. “I have a year to live.”
“I know this is a lot to take in,” said the doctor. “But you need to focus on what you can do for yourself, to make sure you get that year. The electrical shock that damaged your heart left it too weak to cope with any kind of excitement or surprise. So no playing sports, no scary movies, no wild parties, and absolutely no stress. Try not to get excited or angry or frightened—those kinds of strong emotions could be very dangerous for you.”
“Are you saying I could literally drop dead if I do anything fun?” Natalie asked.
“I wouldn’t put it that way,” said the doctor. “There’s plenty of fun things that wouldn’t strain your heart. Think of it as bringing peace and quiet and serenity into your life. I recommend that you take up some kind of gentle exercise, like tai chi.”
“That’s really not my style.” Natalie stood up. “Thank you for your honesty.”
“Wait, wait,” said the doctor. “We’re not done yet. I need to set you up with more specialists, and more testing, and lifestyle counseling, and a support group, and—”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass,” Natalie said. “I have to get going. I’ve got a lot that I want to do, and I don’t have much time.”
She headed for the door.
“Are you—wait, you can’t just walk out!” The doctor jumped up. “Where are you going?”
Natalie tossed back her rainbow hair and grinned at him. “To ride a rollercoaster!”
The door banged shut behind her. It sounded like a gunshot going off next to Ransom’s head. The impact flung him out of the vision and back into his body.
He slowly became aware that he was kneeling on the floor of the storage room, his mouth dry, his hands shaking, drenched in cold sweat. The pain behind his eyes felt like a hammer trying to break his skull from the inside.
But he could take it. If he’d been at the office, he’d have waited for his hands to stop shaking and changed his sweat-soaked shirt, then walked out like nothing had happened. He didn’t have a change of clothes here, but he could go out the back and be gone before anyone noticed he’d left the party.
One of these days, they’re going to notice, growled his inner hellhound. Then they’ll know how broken you really are.
Ransom might have argued with his hellhound, but he had something much more important to think about.
Natalie.
The vision of her haunted him. She was like a splash of color in an ash-gray world. The lock of blue hair hanging into her eyes. The arch of her feet in their bright red ballet slippers. The stubborn thrust of her chin. The frustrating way that shadows had played over her face, making it impossible to discern the color of her eyes.
I have to find her.
The thought startled him. But it wouldn’t let him go.
I have to meet her.
It wasn’t that he was attracted to her. Or, well, it wasn’t just that. Sure, she was beautiful. But with her rainbow hair and “seize the day” attitude, not to mention that she was a target girl in a crime circus, she was the opposite of a match for him. If he even had a match, which he didn’t.
But beyond the mere biological fact of sexual desire, he was fascinated by her personality, her dire situation, and the way she’d reacted to it. When faced with death, the ultimate terror, she’d spit in its face and laughed at it.
She was so alive.
He’d never met her, and yet it broke his heart that she was dying. It was so unfair. And it made him feel helpless. He wanted to save her, but what could he possibly do to heal a damaged heart?
Nothing, growled his hellhound. For all you know, she’s dead already. You’ll never even get to meet her. It’s hopeless.
Usually his hellhound’s words just ground him down. But this time they kindled a spark of defiance in his heart.
Oh? Ransom returned. Let’s see about that.
It was sheer contrariness that gave him the strength to try. His power, never easy or enjoyable, got harder and more painful and more debilitating if he used it too many times too close together. Normally after a vision like this, he’d try not to use it at all for a few days, and certainly not for anything even remotely as difficult as what he planned to attempt.
You can’t do it, growled his hellhound. It’ll be excruciatingly painful, and you’ll fail anyway.
Ransom tuned him out. His focus narrowed as he bent his concentration to a single question:
How can Natalie can be saved?
He threw open the doors of his mind.
Information battered him like an avalanche, tossed him about like a flood. It felt like his head—his entire self—was being torn apart, his mind scattered like confetti. The pain was beyond bearing, and the sense of being a tiny speck in a vast and uncaring universe was worse.
But he held on until he had all the answers he needed. Only then did he try to get out.
He couldn’t find the way out.
The doors wouldn’t close.
He was lost inside his mind.
An eternity passed, or maybe just a second.
Then Pete was there, calling his name. Pete held out his hand, and Ransom grabbed it like a lifeline.
And then he was back in reality. In the store room. With his entire team standing over him or crouched around him. He and Pete were sitting on the floor, and Pete gripped his hand.
Ransom yanked his hand back, horrified at the thought of what Pete might have seen.
With a gentleness that belied his words, Pete said, “I didn’t look at anything inside that mess of a head of yours. I just found you and pulled you out.”
Looking into his teammate’s straightforward gaze, Ransom knew it was true. If Pete had learned his secret, he sure as hell wouldn’t have touched him.
“What the hell, Ransom?” Carter demanded. “We had to break down the door! What were you doing in here?”
Ransom couldn’t answer. He felt exactly as bad as he’d expected, and from the way his vision was going black around the edges, he was probably going to pass out at any second.
But it had been worth it. He had his answers.
Natalie could be saved... and only he could save her.
He didn’t know how he could do it, nor was it at all certain that it would happen. It was only a possibility, and a small one at that.
And along with that possibility came a certainty: if he and Natalie met, his team would learn his secret.
Would he give up everything he had and make everyone he cared about hate him, just for a tiny chance at saving the life of a woman he didn’t even know?
He tried to speak, but saw by the puzzlement on their faces that even with their sharp shifter hearing, his voice had been too weak for them to understand.
Forcing himself to speak more loudly, he said, “A pen. I need a pen.”
Roland produced a pen from his pocket, then uncapped it for him. Ransom’s hands were shaking badly, but he managed to scrawl down the thing he most needed to remember across his forearm: Natalie’s current address.
A Note From Zoe Chant
Thank you for reading Defender Raptor! I hope you enjoyed it. It’s the second book of the Protection, Inc: Defenders series. The first book is Defender Cave Bear. The next book, Defender Hellhound, is coming soon.
Protection, Inc: Defenders is a spinoff from the seven-book series Protection, Inc. The entire series is available now on Amazon. It begins with Bodyguard Bear. If you read the whole series, you’ll catch the first appearances of the Defenders characters.
If you enjoy Protection, Inc. and Defenders, I also write the Werewolf Marines series under the pen name of Lia Silver. Both series have hot romances, exciting action, emotional healing, brave heroines who stand up for their men, and strong heroes who protect their mates with their lives.
If you’d like to be emailed when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list. You can also visit my webpage, or join my VIP Readers Group on Facebook!
Please consider reviewing this book, even if you only write a line or two. Hearing from readers like you is what keeps me writing!
Also by Zoe Chant
Protection, Inc.
Bodyguard Bear
Defender Dragon
Protector Panther
Warrior Wolf
Leader Lion
Soldier Snow Leopard
Top Gun Tiger
Protection, Inc: Defenders
Defender Cave Bear
Defender Raptor
See Zoe Chant’s complete list of books here!
