by A. C. Arthur
When Rome approached the podium it took only a few seconds for silence to fall over the room like a drape. His presence beckoned obedience throughout. Maybe it was because of the pure power his six-foot-two-and-a-half-inch stature exuded, or it could have been the calm that emanated from him regardless of the situation. Whatever the cause, the guards sat straight in their chairs or stood with legs partially gaped, hands clasped in front of them, eyes focused on their leader, waiting for his command. He stood strong, Kalina standing right beside him. She’d been clasping and unclasping her hands until he reached down and laced his fingers through hers.
“We’ve just been alerted that Seth Jamison is dead. As many of you may already know, Seth was attacked earlier this morning. The attack was not by a human.”
Collective sighs, curses, and gasps sounded immediately. Rome lifted a hand to silence them.
“His vehicle was recovered. We’re reviewing the video that was picked up from his dashboard camera. Preliminarily I will say that it was a shifter of unknown variety.”
More comments and some slamming and stomping filled the room. Jax stepped even closer to Kalina.
“For now, we will stand down,” Rome continued.
The crowd did not like those words.
Rome spoke even louder, so that it sounded like his voice would break every speaker in the place.
“I said for now,” he reiterated, taking a slow, deep breath before continuing. “But we will find out who did this and when we do, he and whoever he’s connected to will pay.”
Now there was applause. From her peripheral vision she could see that even Nick clapped. At that Rome stepped to the side and nodded to Nick.
The butter-toned shifter who stood about an inch above Rome was dressed in a navy-blue suit, crisp white shirt and sky-blue tie. On his left hand he wore a diamond-encrusted wedding band. On his right wrist was a Tag Heuer, its face glistening in the spotlight that had been lit on the podium. And when he spoke, as with Rome, there was complete silence, absolute obedience. This could be attributed as much to Nick’s volatile nature as his sculptured good looks and lethal candor.
“We will increase the patrols around Havenway. Jamison’s parents will be brought here to stay for the burial ritual. Five troops will head into the city and form a perimeter around Athena’s. Reports are to come in hourly on who goes in and who comes out. If we get a visual of Seth’s attacker from the video we’ll email it securely to all the guards on duty.” Nick paused for a minute, both his hands gripping the sides of the podium as if he were holding on to the last bit of his control. “We will not immediately attack to kill. If at all possible we want this bastard alive … at least for a while longer,” he said.
There were murmurs, disagreements, of course.
But Nick continued. “This is the mandate of our Assembly leader. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, is to deviate from these orders.” There was no mistaking the seriousness to Nick’s tone. While he may disagree with the way Rome decided to handle certain things, he had nothing but respect for the man as their leader and would gladly dish out a tremendous beat-down to anyone who dared go against him.
Kalina stood back, watching the crowd, listening to the words being spoken, but it didn’t seem real. Just last night she’d seen Seth and Lucas, the teenage Topètenia who’d come back to the States with them after they’d visited the Gungi to find Ary. Seth had been training Lucas, giving him kickboxing lessons and teaching him how to handle different weapons. He’d said Lucas was a fast learner, and Kalina could tell the man had received much joy from sharing his knowledge with the teen. Seth would lead one day, Kalina remembered thinking. He’d definitely have his own guard team very soon; both Rome and Nick had noticed the young’s man abilities, which was why they’d entrusted him to guard Caprise.
And now he was gone.
Her heart ached at the thought of how his parents must feel, how any parent would feel at such a loss. And for a moment she wondered if her parents—her real parents, the ones who’d been born and lived in the Gungi—had felt the same loss when they’d sent her away.
As the meeting ended she was once again escorted by Rome, with Jax and Eli pulling up the rear.
“I didn’t see Lucas,” she said when they walked out of the gymnasium heading toward their rooms.
“He’s probably still in the medical center. Once he heard Seth had been hurt he raced there and wouldn’t leave Ary’s side as she and Papplin worked on him.”
Dr. Frank Papplin was a shadow who had obtained his medical degree from a human college. He worked at a human hospital, when he wasn’t here at Havenway assisting Ary in the medical center and teaching her all he knew about Western medicine. Ary, in turn, was teaching Papplin about healing shifters as a curandero. Together with the small staff Ary had acquired, they were both making Havenway’s medical center a safe and knowledgeable place for the shifters to receive treatment.
“I want to see him,” she said insistently the moment they stopped in front of the door to their rooms.
Rome shook his head. “Not right now, Kalina. We need to get X back here. Somebody has to tell Caprise. Nick and I have to coordinate the teams to go out tonight. And I need you to find out what the cops know about the incident.”
She was torn, once again, between her duty as the wife of a shifter leader and the instincts of a woman who’d lived her entire life trying to belong. Kalina didn’t know why, but she’d gotten the impression that Lucas was a loner, even though he was born and raised with the tribe. No one had claimed him, no one had argued when Rome said he was coming with them. She wondered why.
“Rome, he’s new here. Baxter’s been teaching him English but he barely understands what we’re saying, let alone watching the man he’d come to adore as a trainer die. He doesn’t need to be alone.”
Rome was opening the door to their room when he looked over his shoulder. “I hear what you’re saying, baby. But this is the priority. Once we’re finished here you can go to him.”
Kalina knew what he was saying was right, she just didn’t like it. “Tell Baxter to get him some food and let Lucas know I’ll be there shortly,” she said to Jax as she followed her husband into their room.
The suite of the Assembly leader and the First Female were of course the grandest in Havenway. They actually consisted of five rooms adjoined by computer- and sensor-locked doors. There was the bedroom, which was the largest of all the rooms; their private bath; a small kitchenette that connected to the living room; Rome’s private office; and on the far end a small conference room. That’s where they were headed now. Only seconds later Nick and Ezra joined them.
“Call X,” Rome said. Eli immediately went to the phone, which sat on a side table in the room.
Kalina took a seat next to the chair at the head of the table. She always sat on Rome’s right. Nick would take the seat on his left. If X were here he’d sit next to Kalina. Their guards would normally sit at the table with them. Today Ezra stood right behind Nick’s chair. When Eli finished initiating the call he would move to stand behind Rome and Jax would return to take his stance near Kalina. They were now officially on high alert.
The room was quiet, everyone lost in their own thoughts as they faced what would be called their first shifter loss since the battle with the Rogues began.
“He’s not picking up his cell,” Eli said.
Nick frowned. “Call Bas,” he told him.
Caprise was with X. She’d had sex with him and now they were both in Sedona, thousands of miles away from where Nick could either punch X or shake Caprise for what he believed was their madness. Kalina was silently grateful for the distance. The last thing they needed right now was fighting within the ranks. Even though she was almost positive Nick and X would put the Assembly and the shifters before their personal rift, the tension would still be a huge weight for them all to carry.
“Sebastian Perry.” The voice sounded throughout the space as Eli initiated the speaker that sat i
n the middle of the conference room table.
“Bas, we’ve got a situation. Is X with you?” Rome said immediately.
“I’m here,” the heavy male voice said. “What’s going on?”
Despite the urgent nature of this call both Nick and Rome grew quiet, but only momentarily.
“Seth was killed this morning. Some type of attack by another shifter.”
Both X and Bas cursed, with X rebounding first.
“What the hell happened? Where was he?” X asked.
“He was on watch at Athena’s. He’d already called in to say he was on his way back when he was attacked. We’ve got footage from video in the truck but—” Rome paused and looked at Nick.
“But what? Who the hell did this to him? Was it a Rogue?” From the sound of X’s voice he was ready to come through the phone line to get to Seth’s killer. This situation was so not good.
Kalina clasped her hands and tried to take slow breaths. Her eyes stung each time she thought of Seth and his young face but manly build. But she wouldn’t cry. She was a leader now, she had to set the example. Instead she sat with her shoulders squared and let her husband do his job.
“It wasn’t a Rogue,” Rome said slowly.
“It wasn’t Topètenia,” Nick added.
Complete silence filled the room and the phone line.
“Where is Caprise?” Kalina asked finally. “She has to be told. I can talk to her on a separate line.”
“No!” X yelled through the connection.
Then they could hear a throat being cleared, and Kalina suspected it was his. Interesting.
“I’ll tell her,” he said.
“Kalina’s going to see what the cops know about this, and Nick and I are organizing teams to go back to Athena’s tonight. I need you back here to analyze this video. I know you’ve trained some guards to do computer work, but I’d feel better if it was you,” Rome said sitting back in his chair.
He looked tired, as if the boulder he’d been carrying on his back had finally tipped over the edge. Kalina reached for his hand, then gave him a small tense smile when he took it and held on tight.
“Did you get what you needed from Hernandez?” Rome asked quietly.
“Yeah, I did. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. Send the jet, we’ll be ready to fly when it arrives,” X said.
“Where’s Caprise?” Nick asked.
“She’s in our room,” X said.
There was an awkward sort of pause in the conversation. Bas spoke up, saying, “We had some action here this morning as well.”
Nick leaned forward as if that would somehow get him closer to X or his sister. “What kind of action?”
“Rogues. Three of them taunting at the perimeter of Perryville. We took them out but it’s not a good sign,” Bas told them.
“We? Please don’t tell me my sister was hurt,” Nick said, a tortured look on his face.
“She’s fine,” X said. “I don’t think she’s ever fought another cat and—”
“Caprise was fighting? She shifted and she was fighting? What the hell, don’t you have enough guards for that, Perry?” Nick’s calm was quickly shattered.
“The important thing is that she’s all right,” Rome interrupted. “Eli’s already called the pilot. You two get back here as soon as possible. Bas, do you need help following up with your Rogue problem?”
“No. I’ve got teams out searching now. We’ll handle it. Keep me posted on what you find out about this new attacker,” Bas told Rome.
“Will do. Let’s plan to talk to all the FLs later this week. I’ve got a feeling whatever we uncover now will soon affect us all,” Rome said.
“I agree” were Bas’s final words before the line was disconnected.
When the room was silent again Rome looked to Nick. “You have to get a grip on this thing with X and Caprise. She doesn’t need you two butting heads when she comes back to find out her guard is dead.”
“You don’t understand,” Nick started to say.
Rome continued to look brutally serious. His compassion, even though Kalina was sure it was there, was carefully masked by the serious nature of their current situation. “Look, X is our friend. He’s our brother.”
“And she’s my sister, Rome. Tell me you wouldn’t feel pissed the fuck off if it were your sister he was with. You know how he is.” And in return Nick’s frustration filled the room like a huge gray cloud.
“I know what and who X is and I trust him with my life. With Kalina’s life,” Rome stated finally.
Nick shook his head. “This is different, Rome. It’s so different.”
“It’s life, Nick,” Kalina chimed in. “We don’t get to pick and choose who we mate. It just happens.”
“That’s the problem. They’re not going to mate. That’s not the type of man X is. Rome knows this and I know this. And that’s why I have such a problem with this whole situation,” Nick said only a fraction calmer than he’d just been. Worry was clearly etched in the shifter’s eyes, in the slump of his shoulders. This wasn’t easy for him—especially so soon after his ordeal with Ary. It was a lot for anyone to withstand, but if anyone could get over it and move on, Kalina was sure Nick Delgado could. He simply had to want to move forward. That was the hard part. She was quickly learning how stubborn these male shifters could actually be.
Still, Kalina wasn’t 100 percent sure of what Nick was talking about. There seemed to be a lot left unsaid between him and Rome. But what she did know without a doubt was that the sound in X’s voice when Caprise was mentioned was not that of a man who had no feelings for that woman. X probably hadn’t figured that out yet—and if she knew Caprise, as she was sure she did, Kalina was certain she didn’t know it, either.
The two of them were in for a stark surprise.
Chapter 18
Her limber body moved in ways X had never seen before. She bent at the waist, flattened her hands on the planks of the patio floor. Her knees did not bend and she rested there for what looked like an uncomfortable amount of time. When she returned to a complete standing position, she leaned to the side, her entire torso bending like a flower in the wind. She circled and arched her back. Then she came up on her toes and did some sort of spin that left him breathless. She lifted a long leg, planted her ankle on the railing of the patio, and leaned over so that her head touched her knee, her hand cupping her foot.
His dick was hard, his body alert to every sexual tendril sifting its way slowly down his spine. His chest constricted when she stood straight and turned, her gaze immediately finding his.
Caprise had sensed his presence. From the doorway, he could see her nostrils flaring, her eyes darkening, and her nipples growing to ready peaks beneath the thin white T-shirt she wore. She’d scented him.
X inhaled deeply, picking up a warm musky scent himself, one he’d never smelled before. Then, because this was the only way he knew how to do this, he took a step toward her and said, “Seth’s been killed. He was attacked by another shifter. Not a Topètenia.”
Of all the things X accepted himself as being, a psychic was not one of them. So there was no way for him to predict that Caprise—of all the women he knew, on legs he’d admired when she’d danced on that pole and when they were wrapped securely around his waist—would crumple to the ground.
With a curse he took another step, caught her before her head hit the railing, and lifted her into his arms. Her eyes remained closed as X held her there, like a baby in his arms. He didn’t sit down, didn’t have to because he doubted she weighed more than 130 pounds. He made a mental note to see that she ate more. With her head resting against his shoulder, the scent he’d smelled upon entering the room was even stronger. It was intense and played with his senses as if he were a kid in a candy store. He wanted so much and then that didn’t even seem like enough. This shit was making him angry.
“Caprise.” He said her name because he needed her conscious. Needed her to talk to him, argue with him, whatever t
o keep his mind off what the hell was going on with his senses.
“He’s dead because of me,” he heard her say in the barest whisper. “It’s my fault.”
“You weren’t even there” was his reply. “We need to get packed so we can go back.”
She shook her head then. “I don’t want to go back. I should never have come back.”
“Why do you say that?” X asked, thinking of what had made her run away in the first place. “Why shouldn’t you have come back to your home?”
“It’s not my home. It’s Nick’s home and my parents’ home. I don’t have a home.”
She sounded like a teenage girl, and when X looked down into her face he almost thought she was one. Her eyes were open, barely, teardrops teasing her long lashes, as if waiting for permission to fall. And as X surveyed the rest of her face his gaze lingered on her lips. He’d kissed those lips that morning when they were in the elevator. The significance of this act—X had never kissed another female before. It was too intimate, a word he had long since dissociated himself with. And yet he’d kissed Caprise without a second thought. Why he was thinking of that right at this moment, he had no clue.
“Your home is Havenway,” he heard himself saying even though X would swear his mind was taking a walk down the carnal hall of fame. He wanted her again, his entire body ached for her. And yet he stood perfectly still, holding her like a baby, talking to her in a calm, solid tone he didn’t even know he possessed.
She shook her head, still not willing to believe him. And as if that were a cue, X did something else that was so not in his repertoire. He kissed her forehead—just a light brush of his lips over her forehead where wispy tendrils of hair lay quietly.
“He was only twenty-five,” she said. “And he was assigned to protect me. I should have protected him.”
“That’s not how male shifters work. Seth was doing his job.”
