Unraveled: A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Capricorn (Dark Khimairans Book 2)

by Decadent Kane

  Monty headed toward his stall, coming to a stop when he reached the enclosure. Levi hopped off his stallion and walked him the rest the way into the lean to barn built for one. "I'd take you buddy, but it would be too long a trip on a horse." Monty snorted at Levi but headed into his stall to munch on some hay. Levi unhitched the saddle and bulled it from his horse, patting Monty down with his palm. Monty’s tail swished as Levi latched the gate behind him. "No back talkin' now. I should be home before bedtime, sooner if I can help it." Monty didn't respond.

  Pushing the button in his pocket to lift the garage door, Levi headed for his truck. He pulled the driver door open and slid into the leather seat. With one hand on the wheel and a boot-clad foot on the brake, Levi turned over the engine. It roared to life like a lion letting the world know it was there. Levi backed out of the garage and headed down his driveway to the main road. This would be the longest twenty-minute drive he'd had since the last time he went back. If the magic surrounding the enclave actually let cell signal through, he wouldn't have bothered heading to the enclave. He glanced out the review mirror and left his ranch behind, hoping his Khimairan kin could help him save the life he loved.

  ***

  Levi parked his truck beneath the makeshift hideout, mostly broken tree limbs, a little bit of magic, and some bushes so humans didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary. His potions worked on people and inanimate objects. He pulled a clear vile from the secret stash under the seat of his truck—he never knew when he might need it—and let a drop fall onto his truck. The Dodge camouflaged before his eyes, matching the green tree leaves just starting to bud this cool spring. He didn't generally let others know he could make objects and such go invisible...he didn't want people going around doing bad things that no one could see. He kept that little trick to himself. He tucked the vile into the pocket of his jeans and headed for a cave pushed up just beyond the dirt road. The countryside was quite beautiful in the morning light; at high noon it would start to heat up a bit more and the wind might even grace the land, but for now all lay mostly quiet. Levi ducked beneath the crack in the hill. Green light shined from the hieroglyphic portal on the back wall of the medium size cave. He had to remove his hat so the ceiling didn't knock it off as he walked toward the portal. The magic of the portal recognized him as a Khimairan, and Levi felt the buzz of heated magic as he looked upon the entrance to the enclave for Carter Mountain. The portal itself was an arch etched into the rock, along with glyphs from the constellations that set in a semi-circle around the entrance.

  He glanced behind him, to be sure he wasn't followed, not that it mattered too much as humans couldn't get through the portal, but safety first. Confident all was well, he placed his hand in the middle of the portal and green magic swirled out, crawling along his skin. He had to wait for the warm acceptance of the portal before he could walk through. The tiny hairs on his arm stood on end and he shivered. Even as a shifter, he hadn't gotten used to the magic traveling. Once the magic warmed along his arm, he walked through the portal.

  Chaos.

  That was the only way he knew how to explain what lay before him. Several white tents had been pitched near the portal. People moaned and cried. Almost like all those old human movies where nurses ran around trying to bandage up soldiers wounded in war. Only this wasn’t a movie and none of the wounded were soldiers. How in the hell had so many of his kin gotten hurt? They were an immortal race, frozen at twenty-one years, a prime time, yet here fifteen or so other Khimairans lay on makeshift beds, recovering from some unknown attack. Spurned into action, Levi stomped toward one of the tents. He'd help if he could.

  "Levi!" A baritone male voice rang out. Jace, the head of the Khimairans’ Wyoming branch waved a muscular arm at him.

  "Jace, what in all the gods happened here?" Levi headed for the burly, dark-haired male, sidestepping people moving about carrying water and bandages.

  "Bellers."

  "How the hell did they get in?" Levi could hardly believe Bellers had breached the enclave. There was powerful magic keeping all humans out, and Bellers were human.

  "They didn't. We were protecting the portal guardian. Fuckers took her, injuring a lot of us in the process. They want our enclave. She may not be a shifter like us, but we have to save her. Preferably before they torture and kill her for information." His grimace said much about how he thought the operation would actually go. "You here to help?"

  "I can if you need me but I actually came to get some help myself. Where's Riva?" Levi looked around the area, hoping to spot the female.

  "She's around here somewhere. She just barely returned with another healer and a tracker."

  "A tracker?" This could work to his advantage.

  "Yeah, Bastien. Do you remember him?"

  Levi shook his head. He hadn’t gotten to know many people in the enclave, even when he had to live here as a young Khimairan shifter.

  "Doesn't matter, he'll be able to help us find the guardian. So, what did you need help with?"

  "You first. What can I do?" Levi took another glance around at the bustling people, unsure where he might start.

  "Honestly, not much. The healers have most of it in hand. We’ll get a rescue party going as soon as we can. Bastien was out at the guardian's house searching for clues. He's the best in all three enclaves. He's got an affinity for tracking like no one I've ever seen and it's gotten better through the years, I hear." Jace rubbed his palm over his chin.

  "If you can't help me, maybe the tracker could lend a hand? Look, I got dead animals on my hands." Jace rose an eyebrow. Levi straightened his shoulders and continued, "I know it seems irrelevant given the circumstances here, but the truth is, I got ten dead carcasses in one week and literally no clues as to what's causing it. Their hearts are ripped from their chests, no other signs of damage, and no smell."

  "No smell you say?" Jace's brow furrowed.

  "It's as if the very presence of a smell has been purged from the air. I've never experienced it before. It's a sensation, an uncomfortable one. I think whoever or whatever is doing it actually wants me to find the animals, but I'm at a damn loss and you know my area relies on herd grazing and hunters. I got people backing out already." Levi ran fingers through his dark hair and shuffled his hat on and off his head several times within a few seconds. His gut twisted. What if Jace refused to help? Levi hadn't really been around much to help the enclave. He couldn't blame the guy if he said no.

  Jace pointed a finger at Levi. "I'll tell you what. You can take Bastien for a day, see if he can get you set on the right path. It will take me that long to get some skilled fighters healed enough and put a rescue crew together. Then he comes back with us to find the guardian. We stick together, and whatever is causing havoc on your lands clearly means harm, and if I'm not mistaken, wants to play with you. You think it could be the Bellers?"

  "Honestly, I get no smell. No human. No animal. No shifter."

  Jace looked over Levi’s shoulder and waved his hand. " Look here. Bastien, Levi needs some help on his property. Ten animals dead in a week with no smell left behind."

  A broad-shouldered male with black hair wiped his hands on his shirt and pulled up next to Jace and Levi. He sniffed the air. "You got blood on you?" He pointed at Levi.

  "Oh. Yeah. Wiped the animal blood on my handkerchief."

  "Let me see it." He held out his palm face up.

  Levi pulled the cloth from his pocket and handed it to Bastien. Bastien's pupils dilated, his blue eyes nearly turning all black, before returning to normal. He licked the blood. "You have a problem."

  "I know that. What I don't know is how to fix the problem or what it is exactly."

  A female voice rang out from behind Levi, "Someone hurt over here?" The sound pulled at his insides, a lilting sing-song voice half weary but still hopeful. Levi turned and ran straight into a petite little thing with semi-straight goat horns protruding from her golden-haired head.

  The warmth from her hands on his
chest invaded his skin, lingering, creating a fire beneath his flesh so intense, yet his body completely accepted the feeling. The heat rolled over and over inside him, crashing into itself. His stomach fluttered and his heart ramped up in a race with the heat spreading throughout his limbs. Burning pain stung at his chest etching in his Taurus sign.

  This little-horned female had invoked his zodiac mark.

  She belonged to him.

  Chapter Three

  Sadie couldn't breathe as heat lanced through her system inflaming every part of her.

  Skin tingled. Legs weakened. Heart slammed inside her chest over and over.

  The heat intensified, crashing into itself repeatedly igniting her flesh until a burn scorched her zodiac sign into her chest as if a star were being born inside her.

  Her mate mark. A mark she never thought she'd have and wasn't sure she wanted.

  Their eyes met. The world faded into nothing but him.

  Is this how it happened for everyone? They just run into their mate and poof, they’re taken? She didn't even know this guy’s name. And yet she couldn't look away and she sure as hell couldn't make the mark disappear. She should say something...anything. "Um..." His hazel gaze held hers with a fierce sense of ownership. A faint copper sent wafted off him. Was he bleeding through his blue flannel somewhere? The thought of touching him more had her insides quivering. She licked her lips.

  "Whoa! Guys, get a room!" Riva's voice broke through the haze. He looked away first. "I think a mark has been invoked. Am I right?" Riva moved from behind Sadie and slipped her arm into the crook of Sadie's bent elbow. Sadie pulled her hands away from the male’s chest. By the gods, didn’t Riva know when to shut up? Riva grinned so big, like an alligator smile. Amusement lit up the female’s dark eyes.

  Immediately a blush burned its way up Sadie's neck. She looked down at the dirt floor, then over at Riva, and avoided any kind of eye contact with the male she didn't know.

  "Riva, it’s good to see you." The male’s deep voice calmed Sadie more than she wanted. As if a wave of warmth wrapped her up inside a magical blanket and soothed her emotional turmoil. His words invaded her walls, and curled around her embarrassment taking it away. Sadie chanced a look at him. His gaze darted to her and then back to Riva.

  Sadie cleared her throat.

  "Levi, this is Sadie. Sadie, meet Levi. I'm sure you two will be splendid together." Riva's voice rose, and others turned in their direction. “Told you cowboys were fun.” She sounded entirely too happy with herself.

  Sadie elbowed Riva in the ribs. Damn the female. She had to be enjoying embarrassing her. Couldn't she just close her mouth? Riva barely acknowledged the elbow.

  "Pleasure to meet you, Sadie." He glanced up at her horns. The image of his surprise would forever be etched into her mind. This is why she hated being around others.

  She'd nearly forgotten about her deformity. Her cheeks blazed again, and she tugged her arm free from Riva’s grip. Her body still warmed. How long was the invoking effect supposed to last? The sensation was like her limbs were falling asleep, and the heat in her cheeks wasn't helping. Her knees nearly buckled. Sadie clenched her fists and through tight lips said, "Does anyone need a healer over here?" She glanced around. Jace, Riva, and Levi shook their heads no. "Then I'll be on my way. I was about to head out anyway." Which wasn't a lie. She'd just leave sooner than she anticipated. Sadie turned around, the other three shifters standing there silent while everyone else moved about changing bandages and water. Her hands shook, and when she looked down her, head spun. Her left hand had taken on the shape of a goat hoof while her right hand had taken on the shape of a flesh-colored fin.

  "Hold up," Levi said.

  Sadie didn't turn and she sure as hell wasn't stopping. She deliberately ignored him and kept walking forward, praying to the gods she didn't completely half shift right this second and fall flat on her face. She needed out of this tent and as far away from everyone as possible. She couldn't risk anyone knowing about her half shifting issues. Sadie tucked her hands under the front of her shirt.

  "Sadie, wait," Levi called out again.

  "We can find each other later. I've got people to help." Like herself at the moment. She kept her shoulders straight as she moved forward at a faster pace, wanting to put as much distance between her and everyone else as she could. She'd been here a little more than a day. Riva's place was in the main part of the enclave, set up like the downtown of what she'd seen in human cities. Not quite as big though and not paved. Just dirt, trees, homes, and a few trading outlets. Nothing big or grand. The main drawback...the people. Khimairans wandering around everywhere. Some in their human forms, others in beast forms. She missed Mt. Chapin and her quiet surroundings.

  She couldn’t be free here.

  Here everyone, like Levi, noticed her goat horns. Gods, did he have to look so blatantly at them? Sadie stomped passed all the tents set up near the portal leading to the human side of the mountain. The fact humans couldn't come to the enclaves was as close to safe as Sadie could feel. Unless, of course, they had Alpha blood. Sadie shook the memory away of the Bellers coming through the portal down in Currence. She had been terrified but couldn't show it. Her alpha, his mate, and her people needed her at the time. If it weren’t for Dante's mate, they'd all likely be dead now. Whatever magic she'd pulled as a main portal guardian had taken away Beller memories. The guys had let them loose somewhere outside the enclave where the humans dwelled. They didn't remember anything, so everyone assumed they could do no harm. Sadie wished she could believe that but Bellers had already used Khimairan blood and dark magic to twist their souls. They could torture guardians and Khimairans for information and actually get it sometimes. What would they do with Bellers who had forgotten?

  Sadie stared at the well-traveled path leading through the towny area of this enclave. She'd been to Riva's place several times throughout the day to rest and to eat, and she naturally just headed for the small little home set just beyond some trees off the main path. This place was so different than her enclave in Colorado. Sadie’s home was set as far away from others as possible back on Mt Chapin. It wasn't as if she didn't like people. She just didn't like how they looked at her. She didn't want to answer questions about her horns.

  When she healed people, her horns didn't matter. Her ability to help was all she or anyone else concentrated on. Which worked just fine for Sadie. She liked getting lost in healing, using her magic to help someone else. Sure, it drained her like an all-nighter drinking party with a hangover the next day, but it always ended up being worth it.

  As Sadie opened the front door to Riva's place, she stopped before crossing the threshold. Levi... Damn.

  There had to be more than one Levi, right?

  He couldn't be the Levi she was looking for, could he?

  In her haste to leave, she hadn't considered he would be the same Levi she needed to help her out. Sadie chewed on the side of her thumb, thankful it had shifted back to human flesh as a fin would have startled her bad habit. Wrapping her head around leaving her home, finding a cure for her issues, watching all the people staring at her, and finding a mate was nearly more than she could bear. She wanted to curl up on a bed and sleep until it all went away. She wished she was the kind of person who could do that, just let it go. But it wouldn't solve a damn thing.

  Khimairans spent most of their lives looking for a mate, the one who would help ground their human side so the beast within didn't take over. Why wasn't she happier she'd found hers?

  Sadie shook her head and stepped into Riva's home. She needed a break, to sit and think about what direction she could go next. She hadn't expected to run into the potion expert before she had her wits about her and a set plan of action to see if he could help. She'd known about him, but she wanted to do some local research to find out more before she approached him. It looked like from here out she wouldn't need to talk to anyone. They were true mates. She'd have the rest of her life to find out more about him. A
nd yet that look when he stared at her horns wouldn't leave her mind.

  "Are you just going to stand in the doorway all day or do you plan to let me in?" Levi's voice came from behind Sadie.

  She jumped and spun around, half disbelieving. "You followed me!" Her voice rose higher than she wanted. How dare he. Sadie felt the change come over her. Maybe she partially called it, but the change seemed more like it responded to her emotional state. Her fingers curled down and shaped into hooves as hair rose from beneath her skin. She expected the same from her back legs, but instead she slid along the tiled hall flooring. She glanced back with her goat head.

  A fish tail!

  The beast inside her struggled to grasp the human thoughts. Sounds came from her lips, but they were complete animal nonsense, which only made things worse inside her head. She couldn’t communicate this way. The spiritual goat inside her rejected Sadie’s try to turn back into human form and her hooves lashed out toward Levi in fight or flight she couldn’t control.

  Chapter Four

  Levi gaped at the female before him. She'd shifted within seconds—and not just into one creature but two almost meshed together. A goat and a fish. Her back tail flopped around and her hooves stomped on the floor. Her clothes lay shredded around her. Her eyes displayed panicked before closing, and as fast as the change had come, she turned human again. Except her goat horns.