But the Shifter who looked into the window wasn’t Tiger. He had a shaved head and tattoos down his neck and a look of fury in his brown eyes. Spike.
Behind him was Sean, then Ellison with his cowboy hat. The large bear Ronan was approaching the other side of the SUV with Dylan, and Carly’s rearview mirror showed her Liam walking nonchalantly toward her out of the darkness.
* * *
Tiger stopped, scenting the Shifters well before he saw them surrounding the SUV that waited in the spot Walker had chosen.
Liam, Dylan, Sean, the trackers. Tiger also smelled an airplane, far away, but near enough for Tiger’s enhanced senses to catch the scent. That explained how the Shifters had managed to be there first, in the plane that had flown over them. Tiger hadn’t known enough about airplanes, and it hadn’t flown low enough, for him to recognize it as Marlo’s.
Tiger shifted to become his human form, sliding his now-loose belt from his waist. He went to Walker. “I need you to take care of Carly,” he said before Walker could speak. “And my cub.”
“I’ll get you to safety,” Walker said in a low voice. “But we have to go now.”
Tiger shook his head. “You’ll be too slow. Promise me. Don’t let them hurt her, or take the cub.”
Walker assessed Tiger, then gave him a nod, not an argument. “I promise.”
“Thank you, Walker Danielson.”
Tiger put his hands on Walker’s shoulders and pulled him into a quick embrace, Shifter fashion. Walker’s scent betrayed his discomfort, but he took the hug, thumping Tiger on the shoulders in return.
Tiger resumed his belt and pouch and shifted to the Bengal again.
Every one of Tiger’s instincts and his heart fought him as he turned and slunk off into the darkness. But the best way to help Carly was for Tiger to disappear. Liam would see that Carly came to no harm, and so would Walker. Tiger had to take care of what he needed to, as much as it killed him to do it.
* * *
“We’ll find him,” Liam said to Carly.
Carly sat on the open back bed of the SUV, arms folded, Rebecca the bear Shifter next to her. Liam stood with his hands in the pockets of a leather jacket, the desert night having turned cold. Rebecca had laid a blanket around Carly’s shoulders, but Carly barely acknowledged the gesture.
“Where’d you leave him, Walker?” Liam asked. His voice was quiet, but Carly sensed the anger behind it, tight, ready to strike.
Spike and Ellison had found Walker in the desert, striding toward them, the man alone. Walker gave Liam a stoic look now and pointed into the darkness. “Over there. But he’ll be long gone by now. He’s not an average Shifter.”
Liam nodded in agreement, but he peered into the desert as though he could see behind every tumbleweed, which he possibly could. “Ronan, Dad, Spike. See what you can do.”
The three Shifters at once walked away into the dark, without looking at Carly. Spike was furious with her, she knew, though he’d not said a word. After his first glare of rage, Spike had stepped back, out of the way, and let Liam take over.
Liam swiveled his gaze to Carly. “Where is he heading?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Carly said. “We planned to meet up here, and beyond that, we hadn’t decided.”
Liam made a noise that was a cross between a grunt and a growl. “Damn it, Carly, I’m trying to help him.”
“The last time Tiger heard, you wanted to either put a Collar on him or kill him,” Carly said. “Real helpful.”
“And last time I checked, this guy wanted to lock Tiger back into a research center.” Liam jerked a thumb at Walker, who remained as silent as the Shifters. “And now he’s Tiger’s best friend?”
“Walker changed his mind,” Carly said.
“And you trust him?”
“If he’d been lying to Tiger, Tiger would have known.”
“Aye, that’s true enough. But shite.” Liam turned on Walker. “Why didn’t you come to me? Tiger’s my responsibility. Anything he does can have a backlash on all Shifters, everywhere.”
“Not really my problem,” Walker said. “I want to find out what Tiger is and what he can do, what his original mission was.”
“Why?” Liam asked. “Why so interested? Other than following orders from the Shifter Bureau?”
“I have my reasons.”
Walker could be as stubbornly obtuse as Liam. Carly believed now that Walker didn’t wish to see Tiger locked away again, but he kept going on about wanting to know what Tiger had been made for. Walker wanted Tiger away from the Shifter Bureau, true, but for his own agenda. He’d said nothing about his motives during the ride, and neither had Tiger, but whatever he’d told Tiger must have satisfied.
“Rebecca,” Liam said. “Can you give me a minute alone with Carly?”
Rebecca rose, obedient, but she gave Liam a warning look as she walked away. “Don’t hurt her or upset her. Kim gave me those orders. Don’t make her mad at me. Hey, Walker.” Rebecca smiled at the man and slid her hand through the crook of his arm. She was taller than he was by about an inch. “How about a moonlight stroll?”
Walker’s stance became suddenly nervous, but he walked away with Rebecca. Ellison followed them, limping a little, still recovering from being shot, while Sean moved off into the desert, watching the darkness.
Liam settled himself comfortably next to Carly, resting his hands on his knees. With his worn jeans, leather coat, and dusting of unshaven dark whiskers, he might be a biker sitting back for some rest before continuing on the road.
“Do you know how we tracked you down?” Liam asked, his voice calm.
“I know you’re going to tell me,” Carly said.
“Connor was watching the morning news. There was a local story about a man who’d gone into a convenience store and stopped a robbery in progress. The hero broke the robber’s gun into about ten pieces, knocked the guy down, and then broke his hand. And knocked him out. The amazed clerk described his rescuer as a very large man, hugely strong, and wearing a baseball cap. And then this superhero disappeared. Tiger was gone, no one knew where, and you’d vanished out of your gallery—don’t think Spike didn’t get an earful about that. How brainless would I have to be not to figure out who this hero was?”
“He couldn’t help himself,” Carly said. “It’s who he is.”
“The clerk, who’s now Tiger’s biggest fan, volunteered to me that he saw him getting into a dark SUV. Easy for our Sean to look at traffic cams for that hour and find likely SUVs and their plates. Easy for him to hack into the title records database to find that Walker Danielson had bought a vehicle with that description only yesterday.”
“I got pulled over on the freeway,” Carly said, her voice flat.
“Aye. I asked my friends in counties all over the state to look for the SUV but not to make it official. And not to arrest anyone, but to tell me where the SUV was and where it was heading. Another friend at the Bridge of the Americas gave me another clue, and my Shifter friend Eric has access to a plane.”
“Who else did you tell?” Carly asked. “The Shifter Bureau?”
“Now, why would we be doing that?” Liam gave her an incredulous look. “No, lass, I told no one.”
“And no one will wonder why half of Shiftertown left Austin tonight?”
“The few of us here are a long way from half of Shiftertown. Most of Shiftertown goes out at night anyway. Bars, dance clubs, the fight club. It’s not unusual to have Shifters prowling the town until two thirty in the morning, which is our curfew. Many of us come from nocturnal breeds.”
Carly listened impatiently. “What about the Shifters who want you to put a Collar on Tiger?”
“Carly.” Liam rubbed his hands on his thighs. “I agreed to look after Tiger because I felt for him. No one should do to a Shifter what was done to him. I’m trying to protect him. And I’m trying to protect him from himself.”
“Mmm hmm.”
“I know you don’t believe me, lass.
He can wind you around his finger, can Tiger. He’s got a way with him, as my mum used to say. But what happens if he attacks someone, like he did the robber? If I’m not around when daft humans try to arrest him, what will Tiger do to them? Or the authorities might try to kill him, which would cause even more havoc. I’m not in favor of putting a Collar on Tiger, or terminating him either, trust me. But we need to control him somehow.”
“Why do you need to control him at all?” Carly demanded. “Why can’t you leave him alone?”
Liam blew out his breath. “If you haven’t noticed, Tiger is dangerous. Look at the havoc he’s wreaked only the last few days.”
“All in self-defense and in defense of others. He told me that if you put the Collar on him, it will probably kill him.”
Liam looked off into the distance of the starry night. “I admit that when we tried the first time, I thought it would kill him. That’s why I took it off.”
“And you want to put it back on? What kind of logic is that?”
“Mmm.” Liam fell silent for a long time as the cool breeze from the desert and the hills beyond flowed to them. The SUV’s settling engine emitted a pop and a small hiss.
“I’m going to tell you something,” Liam said. “I need to swear you to secrecy on it, but if it helps get you to believe me and help me, then it’s worth it. I’m trying to find a way so that no Shifter has to wear a Collar ever again.”
Carly gave him her grudging interest. “How are you doing that?”
“Experiments. Me and Dad and Sean. On ourselves—not anyone else. I’d like to get Connor out of his before his Transition. I made Tiger a fake Collar, which was good enough to fool the humans. So far, we haven’t been successful at removing Collars, but what I’d like to do is see if we can make one that’s even more realistic, say delivers a mild shock or the show of one when a Shifter starts an attack. Tiger would be perfect for this. I could learn how to tone down the Collars, or make better fake ones, and the other Shifter leaders would get off my back about Tiger.”
“Experiment on him,” Carly said.
“Yes, but in this case, I’d be searching for ways to not hurt him.”
Liam argued a good case, and his charming voice made Carly want to believe him.
“That’s all very nice,” she said. “But still, all I’m hearing is about how people want to use Tiger. Walker is helping him, but he’s still trying to figure out what Tiger is and how he can be useful. You think Tiger’s the perfect guinea pig, and you believe you’re being nice by taking him home and sitting on him while you try out your Collars. You all want him for your own benefit. You don’t want him for himself.”
“I like him, Carly,” Liam said in a patient voice. “I want to see him happy. I can’t believe he’ll be happy running wild in northern Mexico, having to hunt for his food.”
“How do you know?” Carly glared up at him. “Have you ever once asked Tiger what he wants?”
Her eyes blurred with sudden tears. Having Carly near him had made Tiger calm and happy. Knowing she’d started a cub had made him happy.
“He’s a hard one to understand, I admit,” Liam said. “I truly want to find him to keep him from harm. And to keep others from being harmed by him.”
Carly wiped her eyes. “He won’t attack. Not unless someone deserves it.”
“And how can we be sure he’ll understand whether someone deserves it? Or when that line won’t be clear for him?”
“He knows.” Carly met Liam’s gaze without fear, and she spoke with conviction. “You could trust him, Liam. Let him go. Let him be free.”
Liam let out another long breath. “Love, if the humans find out I’ve lost a Shifter, hell will rain down upon me.”
Carly had no sympathy, not anymore. “Liam,” she said, “suck it up.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Liam stared at Carly in shock, then he started to laugh. “Are you related to my wife, by chance? When Kim knows she’s right, can she ever scold.”
“Are you saying I’m right?”
“I’m saying you can shake your finger in a man’s face and get your point across.” Liam stood up. “Sean,” he called, “bring back the others, will you?”
Sean turned around from the edge of the brush, moonlight shimmering on the sword slung across his back. “Why? Do we know where he’s gone?”
“No, we don’t. Go get Marlo, will you? Pass on the word that we’re going home.”
Sean stopped in surprise. “We are? You didn’t answer me why.”
“We’re letting Tiger go.”
Carly jumped up from her seat, shedding the blanket. “Thank you, Liam.”
“Go?” Spike snarled out of the darkness and then appeared, stark naked from a shift and covered with tattoos. “Are you saying you brought us all the way out here, away from our cubs and mates, to hunt him, and now we’re going to let him go?”
“Yes,” Liam said calmly. He shot Carly an amused glance. “Suck it up, Spike.”
“Shit.” Spike turned around and walked away, his back as covered with tatts as his front. The dragon across his back was impressive.
“I’m thinking Iona won’t be best pleased,” Sean said.
“I know,” Liam answered. “I expect I’ll get more scolding from her. But Carly has shamed me. Tiger needs to be left alone, without interference from any of us, to be his own . . . tiger. Besides, you think we have a snowball’s chance of finding him when he’s alone and not wanting to be found? If any Shifter can take care of himself in the wild, it’s Tiger.”
“Shite,” Sean said softly. “I’m already worried about him.”
“Me too. But I have the feeling that if he wants to be found again, he will be.”
“Damn it.” Sean started to walk away, off to find the others.
“Sean?” Carly called after him. “Rory? Really? He didn’t like the name.”
Sean turned around, walking backward while he spoke. “A bit of a joke.”
Carly held her thumb and forefinger up, half an inch apart. “A little bit.”
“’Twas what Andrea said.” Sean chuckled as he turned around again and vanished into the desert.
* * *
Marlo, a lanky man with thin hair who looked every bit as dangerous as any drug runner, flew them back to an airstrip outside of Austin in his small plane. All except Walker.
“I’m going to keep looking for him,” Walker told Carly in his quiet way before she let the others take her to the plane.
Carly stared at him in dismay and anger. “I just talked Liam into letting him go. Why can’t you leave him alone?”
“Because I need to ask him for his help. If he can give it.”
“Help for what?”
Walker gave her an evasive look. “I have unfinished business. Tiger might be able to help me, I don’t know. Not until I find him.” When Carly continued to glare, Walker spread his hands. “I can’t hurt him, Carly. Not even with this.” He patted the pistol on his belt. “He can kill me a damn sight faster than I could him.”
That was true. Carly dropped her anger, stepped to Walker, and touched a kiss to his hard cheek. “If you find him, tell him I love him.” She sank back and squeezed his hands. “And don’t go AWOL.”
“Hope I don’t have to.”
Walker left her then to start up the SUV. He drove away, the headlights cutting through the darkness. His red taillights grew smaller and smaller, but could be seen for many miles, glowing back at them.
* * *
What was normal? Carly couldn’t find it anymore.
Normal wasn’t waking up alone in her house, brushing her teeth, donning her cute dresses, and driving to work. It wasn’t collecting money for her wrecked car from her insurance company and having Althea help her pick out a new car. It wasn’t pizza after work at what Zoë called the house of the Weird Sisters, or even meeting up with Liam’s mate, Kim, at a coffee house and catching up on how the Shifters were doing.
They’d never heard
anything from Tiger. After a week, Walker returned, came to Carly’s house, and told her he’d never found a trace of him. While Carly was glad for Tiger’s sake, her hunger to hear something of him turned to stark sorrow. She knew she’d never see Tiger again.
Walker returned to his unit to be chewed out by his commander, because the tiger-man had disappeared while Walker had been on leave. Liam Morrissey was called in to the Shifter Bureau and questioned, and his house searched, but finally the Bureau concluded that Liam was as stumped as they were. Tiger had vanished, and Liam had no idea how he’d gotten out or where he was now.
That at least was true. Carly heard all this from Kim on one of their coffee visits, but it didn’t make her feel better.
Carly’s heart remained like lead in her chest, and about four weeks after Tiger’s disappearance, her morning sickness started, confirming Tiger’s claim that Carly was pregnant. Her doctor doubly confirmed it, but Carly decided not to announce the pregnancy just yet.
Yvette’s car, fortunately, had still been in the parking lot, intact, when Carly had returned to Austin, and Carly had driven it to Armand’s, leaving before she could do more than give the stunned Yvette the keys. Carly took the car she and Tiger had liberated to the Barton Creek Square mall and left it in a heavily crowded parking lot, walked away from it, and took a taxi home.
She’d thought Yvette would tell Armand to kick Carly out on her ass for taking her car and bolting in the middle of a busy workday, but Yvette never did. Carly didn’t find out why until she went to work one morning about a month after her return, fighting her morning sickness with soda crackers and weak tea. In an hour or two, however, she knew she’d be ravenous.
“You did it for a man,” Yvette said as she stirred her latte, the odor of the coffee making Carly’s nausea rise. “During my modeling days, when I was in so much demand from all the photographers and fashion houses, I met Armand. He was poor, a struggling artist—he had nothing. I had everything—career, money, luxurious apartment, rich boyfriends. But I’d never met anyone like Armand. I was enchanted with him. I posed for him, and he told me his troubles. We became friends and then lovers. But because he was so very poor, he did jobs for the wrong people, put himself in debt to them. He tried to pay with his art when they came to collect, but they were philistines and did not want it. Armand came to me one night and said he had to leave the country. He wanted to go to America, and wanted me to go with him. We’d change our names so the bad people wouldn’t follow him. Start fresh.” Yvette shrugged. “So I did.”
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