by A. C. Arthur
“I know I’m not very experienced and I’m not the type of woman that you’re used to but—”
He couldn’t let her finish but turned to see she had sat up on the bed. He clasped her shoulders and brought her face close to his. “You’re more!” he yelled. “Much more!” And as if to keep himself from saying something that he would never be able to take back, he kissed her, taking her lips in a scorching hot kiss that poured everything he’d always been too afraid to feel into her and simultaneously praying for mercy, for them both.
Chapter 9
Shya woke up coughing. Something was in her throat, stopping her next breath and she sat up in the bed, coughing until her eyes watered in an attempt to remove it. She flattened a palm to her chest, the other hand lifting to her throat as a sharp painful sound ripped free. The cat stood aside, pacing, while the heaviness of its worry added to the panic that was slowly slipping through her veins like an injection.
Water usually helped. Tossing the comforter and sheet away from her legs she climbed out of the bed, running the short distance from the bed and around the corner into the bathroom. The tiled floor was cool to her bare feet, but she ignored that and went straight to the sink, lifting the silver handle on the faucet to turn the water on. She dipped her head into the sink, her lips breaking through the flow of water as she sucked it in and swallowed. It was cool moving past whatever had been choking her. After a few seconds of drinking, she pulled back from the sink, her palms slapping onto the marble top as her chin dropped to her chest.
With her eyes closed she heaved painful breaths without coughing. Her arms began to shake, and she pushed away from the sink to relieve the pressure in her shoulders. Standing there she lifted her head, her eyes opening slowly until she could see the figure staring back at her.
Medium height, naked, bony shoulders slumping slightly, tawny-hued skin, dark hair atop her head and at her apex, slim fingers shaking. Tears streamed down her cheeks, again.
Her sickness was her weakness, always had been and despite all that everyone had done, it always would be. A sob broke free and she wrapped her arms around her chest when a chill followed. She let the tears flow, there was no use in trying to stop them. They were cleansing to an extent as she always felt depleted when they were gone. Empty and prepared to start again, that’s how she’d looked at it each time and it normally worked.
Shya had no idea how long she stood there, but her entire body was chilled now, and her hips had also begun to ache. The water was still running in the sink and she stepped closer, dropping her hands beneath the spray before bringing them up to splash some of the cool moisture onto her face. There was a bar of soap and she grabbed that too, rubbing it between her hands to build a lather, Shya washed her face, inhaling the fresh scent now sifting through her nostrils. She bent down and rinsed her face, grabbing a towel from the pole beside the sink and dabbing it against her skin.
With a start she realized she wasn’t at Oasis. She dropped the towel and stood up straight turning around to see the gray tiled walls and floor, pale pink and blue towels, glass shower door, large soaker tub, none of this was hers. On shaky legs she walked back out to stop and stare at the bed. It was too big to be hers and too messy. Shya always slept on the right side and rarely ever rolled to the other side of her queen-size bed at Oasis, so in the morning it still looked perfectly made. These sheets were all over the place because…she and Keller had been all over this much larger bed last night and early this morning.
Her pulse thumped, and she swallowed slowly. She was above ground with Keller, in this place that he’d built for the shifters. Well, this space Shya had decided, Keller had built for himself. But he wasn’t here. She didn’t need to cross the space to the sitting room on the other side of another wall because he wasn’t there. How she knew that, she wasn’t sure, but there was no doubt in her mind and she started to walk to the door to go and find him. Just as she reached out for the knob she realized her lack of attire and sighed before running back across the room to dig through her bag and find the short robe she’d packed.
She tied the belt of the robe around her waist and walked quickly toward the door again, not sure why she was in such a hurry to find him. But when she touched the knob this time, the quick patter of her heart stopped. The knob didn’t move. She lifted her hand, running her trembling fingers over the space up and down the side of the door in search of some hidden control panel, but there was nothing there.
A gasp tore from her chest and Shya turned around, slamming her back against the locked door. She looked at the windows, to the dim glaze of light on the other side of the tint and ran toward it, slamming into the glass and flattening her palms over it. Now she screamed. A gut-wrenching sound that she’d never heard before and pulled her hands back before pounding them against the window. On the other side was a world she didn’t know, but it was also a freedom she could taste in the back of her throat. If she could only get out.
Panic soared through her system like lightening and she moved to the sitting area where there was a glass table with five chairs around it. Shya picked up one of the chairs and threw it across the room until it bounced off the window. As rage tore through her body she picked up another chair and did the same thing, getting the same result. Another chair went to the door and the last one, her now clawed hands tore to pieces.
Sharp teeth pressed into her lip until she tasted blood and she turned the glass table over watching as it shattered. She whirled around, and the room was spinning, her shoulders and hips burning with pain. Suddenly hot, sweating, she ripped the robe from her body and tossed her head back to let loose a roar that seemed to shake the entire building. She didn’t care, it was too late to stop.
Shya fell to her knees, the pain from her human bones meeting the floor with such force it ricocheted through her body and she yelled out again. Tears stung her eyes seconds before she blinked them away and opened new eyes—cat’s eyes. Sharp teeth filled her mouth, her cheekbones spread, hair sprouting from the pores of her skin. She fell forward with a gasp, dropping her head down as human hands morphed into golden brown paws. Her back arched as bones curved and cracked. Power filled every part of her that had previously been in pain, warmth blanketed the chilled skin as the coat of golden brown and black spots covered her from head to tail.
With one long languid stretch the jaguar stepped up onto the bed and roared with every part of its body and every inch of its soul.
After he’d awakened and showered an hour ago, Keller stepped out of his private apartment and called Decan.
“We’re here,” he said the moment the FL answered.
“Good. I trust you had an uneventful journey since I didn’t hear any calls that said otherwise.”
“It was fine.” And there was no need to tell Decan about the extra guest that had accompanied them. His mate was Shya’s best friend, if Shya wanted Nisa to know where she was, Keller had no doubt she would tell her. Besides, he wasn’t ready to answer questions about why he’d brought her along anyway. “On my way to brief the team now. When are you getting here?”
“Thursday morning. We’ve been handling changes within the Holodeck and coordinating new tactical teams, plus also assisting the Mountain and Pacific zones since Bas and Jace have been at Headquarters with Rome.”
“Yeah, they all want to stick close to Cole Linden.”
“You think he’s gonna wake up?” Decan asked.
Keller didn’t answer right away. The comatose FL had spoken to him four times and opened his eyes three of those times. Never once did he sit up or speak more than four or five sentences, which was part of the reason Keller had never told anyone about it. The other part was that he’d wanted to keep what Cole said to himself until he figured out what to do about it, but now Shya knew, at least part of it.
“I’m not a healer,” he eventually replied.
“Well, you weren’t a babysitter either, but you did that job pretty well.”
“Not funny.
” That was said with a straight face as he stepped into the elevator. “Look, once we link into the live feed and play all the atrocities that took place in the SIC camps in the last twenty years, Gold’s gonna re-route the audio and I’ll start speaking.”
“You know what you’re gonna say?”
“I’m gonna tell the world that Ewen Mackey and his band of idiots have been committing the mass murder of shifters for long enough. And then I’m gonna tell them that it stops now, that when a shifter is unlawfully approached or attacked, we’re fighting back.” The elevator door opened at that point and Keller stalked off, turning to walk toward the room that would eventually be the lobby of this facility. A quick thought had gone to how Shya might think this space should be decorated.
Decan’s reply cut the thought short.
“And that’s the moment when this can either go right or very wrong. But we’ll be prepared either way. Zion and Jordin left to meet you there yesterday morning and were stopping along the way to check some of those weak points within the Oasis entrances that Nisa found.”
“It won’t matter after tomorrow. The shifters that want to stay in Oasis can and the ones that want to return can do that as well,” Keller told him.
“But we don’t want humans infiltrating what should still be a safe place for us. It’s the same concept at the facility you’re planning to run. Your idea that we have shifter safe houses all over the world, mirrored after those former embassies that used to protect citizens and diplomats living in foreign countries, is a brilliant one, even if you are an egomaniac renegade cougar.” The last was said with a chuckle that had Keller’s lips lifting in a reluctant smile.
“I’m the best egomaniac renegade cougar around,” he replied making Decan chuckle louder.
“I knew you were gonna say that, you’re such a conceited jerk.”
Of the three of them, Decan had declared Keller the one ladies loved, but who only loved himself. It wasn’t totally true, but Keller had gone along with it because it was easier than explaining that giving any part of himself emotionally to a woman, or anybody else, was totally off limits. He’d loved his parents with every part of his soul and losing them had almost killed the man and the cat. Keller had no intention of risking that type of pain again, not for anybody.
“I’ll get back to you after everything’s set up,” he said when he noticed Kyss already sitting at the table.
“Cool. Nisa and I will be there soon,” Decan said.
And they would both see that Shya was above ground with him. Keller frowned at the thought but ended the call without mentioning it. There were more pressing things he needed to deal with.
“Well, well, well. Where’s the cute little jaguar? Still asleep? Yeah, you look like the kinda guy to wear a shifter girl out.”
Kyss was a snarky, alluring, highly intelligent cheetah that they were all still trying to decide if they could completely trust. She’d been hanging around with them since she’d jumped in front of Decan and Nisa’s Tracer months ago and during that had provided very valuable advice as well as participated in some dangerous missions, working as an ally to them. But there was still something about her, something that just didn’t quite fit and until they figured it out, they were all game for keeping her close, while simultaneously watching her like a hawk. Problem was, Kyss was hip to their plan and watched them just as closely.
Keller didn’t give a damn; he was in charge here so whatever she thought about him bringing Shya along didn’t matter. “Where are the others? We should get started.”
“They’re coming. Security guys from a human company were here early this morning so Gold did a walk around the property with them.”
“We have our own security,” he said when he was closer to the table.
She shrugged her bare shoulders because she wore some type of halter outfit.
“Gold thinks it’s good to keep up pretenses until tomorrow. The guy drove past twice and stopped when he saw Zion and Jordin pull up in their Tracer. Persistent human, he followed them right up the walkway and Gold and I went out to greet them all.”
“But you didn’t stay for the sales pitch?”
“Nah, not my thing.” She leaned forward and drummed long red-painted nails on top of the thick wood table.
“Speaking of which, I wouldn’t have pegged Shya Delgado for your type. Now, that hot white Bengal tiger, Amelia, that’s the kind of sophisticated shifter I figured you’d like to bed.”
Keller now stood at the window looking out to see if he could spot the human security specialist walking around with Gold, but her words had him turning to meet her amused gaze.
“Who I bed is none of your business.”
Her smile spread and she tilted her head. “Yeah, I thought that would be your position…I mean, your answer.”
Gold walked in with the two Central Zone guards at that moment drawing Keller’s attention away from Kyss.
Zion Holt was a six-foot seven-inch tall jaguar with a lanky build and spiked brown hair. While Jordin Tam, also a jaguar, was much shorter than her partner, coming in around five feet three or four inches. Her jet-black hair fell in heavy waves, cupping a pretty face that prominently displayed her Korean heritage. They each wore regular clothes, jeans, t-shirts, jackets, boots or flat leather shoes. Gold even had a thick gold chain bracelet on his left arm and Keller presumed this was their keep-up-with-the-pretenses attire.
“Let’s get started,” he said the moment they were all seated.
“We’re ready to go.” Gold began after sitting in one of the chairs.
Jordin took a seat next and then Zion. Keller remained standing.
“We packed an arsenal in the Tracer. We’ll go in armed to the hilt just in case shit pops off,” Zion said.
Jordin shook her head. “There’s no “just in case”, shit will pop off and we’ll be there to handle it. They can either take our announcement and live with it or, catch some heat.”
Keller liked the spitfire jaguar; she hadn’t pulled any punches even when they’d been back in Houston. No wonder Decan had kept her on as a guard.
“Anybody feel like this may have been long overdue?” Kyss asked. “I mean like we should have taken a stand a long time ago.”
“We should have,” Gold snapped.
Keller didn’t respond to her question, but he didn’t need to, they all knew how he felt.
“We’re going to focus on the here and now,” he told them. “Their announcement is set for five p.m. at the Paradise Center. Hundreds of humans are expected to attend this rally.”
Zion shook his head. “Everywhere they go they have a lynch mob ready and available to do their bidding. It’s sickening.”
“It’s how they keep the fear going. The more they make these big spectacles, loudly declaring how dangerous the shifters are and making up statistics about human fatalities at the hands of shifters, the more humans yell for our extinction,” Keller said. “It’s how they plan to keep control of not just the human population, but shifters and any other beings that happen to appear.”
“Whoa,” Kyss said holding up her hands. “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that sexy ass lycan, Blaze Trekas, who I would follow to the ends of the earth and lick every part of his body. Don’t start throwing other species besides shifters and humans at me. I’m clearly not ready.”
Jordin chuckled and Zion stared at her like she had another head. Gold caught Keller’s gaze to silently convey their ongoing questions about the cheetah.
“Let’s just go over everything again. Every mission is planned with a built-in margin for error. We practiced it and studied every possibility, so we’re prepared for anything,” Gold told them. “This time there are a lot of anomalies at play. The Ruling Cabinet are a dangerous bunch. There are currently five of them holding down the fort while Mackey is taking his vow of silence in the Oasis prison. Tavarus Macombe is the sixth and he’s going to step in as their new leader.”
Keller moved fro
m where he was still standing close to the window and stopped to drop his hands onto the back of one of the chairs.
“He’s a fifth-generation billionaire whose family was one of the few that managed to hold onto their money after the Unveiling tore a hole into the U.S. economy. Humans had no idea that most of this country’s wealth was at the hands of Shadow Shifters and when those shifters had to abandon their jobs and businesses, the world took a hit none of them expected. But for those like Macombe and Mackey who had money, power and the strength of the U.S. military that was their time to shine. Now the world looks to them for guidance and in return, the Ruling Cabinet gives them chaos, fear and hatred.”
“In other words, they’re assholes,” Kyss quipped.
Jordin raised a hand. “I second that.”
“And I—”
Zion’s words were cut short by a roar that shook the windows and the walls. It echoed in the room and probably throughout the whole house. In addition to hearing the sound, Keller felt every timbre of its tone and his own cat responded. His fingers tightened on the back of that chair, lips pulling back from his teeth as he turned his head toward the elevators and roared back in return.
He was vaguely aware of the others at the table standing, their cats also on alert when he took off running toward the elevators. Slamming his palm into the buttons, his cat pressed painfully against his bones until he could hear them starting to crack.
“It’s her,” Gold said when he clapped a hand onto Keller’s shoulder.
Keller jerked back, his chest heaving as he stared at Gold and the others who had followed him to the elevator. “I know.”
“Is this some type of mating call?” Kyss asked just as the elevator door opened.
Keller ignored her and stepped into the elevator, lifting his foot to kick the controls so that the door would close immediately.
