by A. C. Arthur
“Stay close to me,” he told her instead.
“I’ll make sure they’re safe,” she told him, as if to say she was going to do whatever she had to do regardless of what he said.
“Nivea, please,” Eli attempted.
She shook her head, holding up a hand to stop his words. “This is my family, Eli. My sisters and my mother. I’m going to get them with or without you.”
Her words burned through him like a torch and Eli gritted his teeth. There was no “without” him as far as he was concerned. He was not only going in there with her, but he was going to be on her like a second skin making sure she was safe, whether she liked it or not.
“Let the Sanchez brothers go up to the house first. They’ll scope out the grounds, see what security we’re dealing with,” he told her.
She looked at him impatiently. “They’d better make it fast.”
“Eli, can I see you a second?” Ezra called to Eli from outside.
“I’ll knock when they’re back,” he told Nivea.
She nodded tightly and Eli moved in closer. He wanted to kiss her, to promise her this would be better and that once it was over he would … they would … what? Live happily ever after? Walk blissfully into the light of joining and be mates forevermore? What the hell was he going to say to her when all of this bullshit was over? More importantly, how was he ever going to walk away from her?
“Go,” she whispered before looking down at her phone in her hand. “Just go.”
He did as she said because if Ezra was interrupting him, it was for a good reason.
“Okay,” his brother began the moment he was out in the early morning air. “Slakeman makes guns. He works with the military. Crowe is a Marine.”
“Nivea’s father was sending money to Comastaz and probably sending them shifters as well,” Eli offered.
Ezra paused, lifted a brow, and Eli continued.
“He’s been getting kids from the Gungi for years, selling them or killing them himself. Crowe couldn’t get Shya and he used the one shifter he had in custody to make his first hybrids. We were wondering how he’s been producing others. I think Cannon’s been giving him those children.”
“Sonofabitch!” Ezra cursed. “She’s known this all along and she never said a word?”
His brother pointed toward the truck, his eyes blazing green with fury. Eli stood right in his face. They were the same height so they were eye to eye. “The Sanchez brothers and I followed the GPS origination signal that we lifted off the hybrids at the charity event. It was to another one of Slakeman’s houses. In his office there was a letter from Cannon. That’s how Nivea found out about her father’s connection to Comastaz! And it was just a couple of weeks ago.” Eli was only partially lying to his brother, but he felt like he had a good reason to. He had to protect Nivea.
“Then she should have told us a couple of weeks ago! Or you should have told us, Eli!” Ezra yelled back in his face.
“Why? So you could put her in a cell like you did her father? Hell no! She’s not at fault here. She had reasons for what she did and I stand by her.” No matter what, Eli thought.
“You stand by her lying to us, betraying us?” Ezra inquired angrily.
“Just like Dawn lied to you back in Sedona,” Eli snapped back.
Ezra clamped his lips shut, fury still vibrating through him. But Eli knew the argument had ended. Dawn knew about the existence of the Shadows long before Ezra told her and she’d kept her mouth shut. She also knew that Crowe, her ex-boyfriend, was doing some type of developing with damiana at the Comastaz Labs. So there was no way his brother was going to stand in his face and even consider going after Nivea. No. Fucking. Way. And if he did, Eli was prepared to take him down.
“This is not over,” Ezra told him. “Rome and Nick are going to be livid when they find out.”
Eli still did not waver. “If they don’t already know.” When Ezra looked at him quizzically Eli continued, “They’ve been down there questioning Cannon more times than I can count and they never take either of us with them. You think Cannon’s keeping his mouth closed? He’s a worm, a shifter that has never been trained, never wanted to be any part of our tribe. I’ll bet he’s told them everything and Rome and Nick are just keeping it tight until they have a game plan ready. And if he hasn’t, it doesn’t matter, I’ll tell Rome and Nick the same thing I just told you. I stand by Nivea.”
Ezra shook his head. “Yeah, and being mated to you might be the only thing that saves her ass.”
Eli didn’t bother to tell Ezra that they weren’t mated, that he simply understood why she’d done what she felt she needed to. He’d never tell them the reason she remained quiet, would never betray her that way.
“Nobody’s guarding the outside,” Caleb said, coming up behind Ezra. “There’s an alarm system but I think they tried to yank it right out of the wall when they went in. I can see it hanging with wires exposed through the front door.”
“So we can go in hot and go in now,” Aidan suggested.
“We don’t know where they are, Aidan,” Brayden added. “Maybe we can have Nivea send her sister another text.”
“No!” Eli said emphatically. “Enough of that. They’re not driving now so they might see her texting, or they’ve probably tied her up and that’s why she stopped texting in the first place. Let’s just go in like Aidan said.”
“He’s right.” Ezra sided with Eli, which was a slight surprise considering their most recent conversation. “We go in hard, Nivea can get to her sisters, and we can take those bastards dead or alive.”
“Remember, a live one would be good,” Eli started. “But don’t hesitate to kill every motherfucker in there to get those women out safely.”
When all the men nodded, Eli knocked on the back door of the truck and Nivea immediately came out.
“Let’s go!” she said, moving quickly between all of the guys and heading up the small incline to the house.
* * *
“The rogue scent is stronger here,” Ezra said, looking up at the deck that covered the entire length of the back of the house.
“We’ll go in the front and handle the hybrids,” Aidan announced.
The brothers ran around the other side of the house while Eli, Ezra, and Nivea stayed in the back.
“They aren’t expecting us, not this soon anyway. We’ll get in and get out,” Eli announced. “Stay close to me.”
The latter was directed to Nivea who didn’t spare him a glance of agreement, making Eli think she didn’t plan to do what he asked. No matter, Ezra was right behind Nivea, nodding to Eli. So the shifter took that as his cue. Lifting one arm up, he let the claws that had just extended dig into the house’s siding. He did the same with the other arm and was soon scaling the side of the house, heading for the windows where lights were on. When he was at the top he hurled himself through the window, landing on his feet in the middle of an empty bedroom.
“They’ve been in here,” he said, looking around and inhaling deeply.
“This way,” Nivea yelled from where she stood already at the door and disappearing down a hallway.
Ezra shook his head as he moved past Eli. “Yeah, that’s all on you, bro.”
Eli frowned and followed them out. As he entered the hallway, he came to a stop right behind his brother. Standing just a few feet away, blocking any further access into the house, was a white Bengal tiger, teeth bared and ready to attack.
Ezra looked back over his shoulder at Eli. “Just like old times, huh?”
Eli shrugged. “We kicked their asses back then, we’ll just have to do it again.”
With that, both jaguars shifted and battled the Lormenian just as they had been taught in the Sierra Leone rain forest.
* * *
Nivea heard the growling and knew there was a battle going on behind her. With her heart pounding, she stood, conflicted for about two seconds before deciding that she needed to find her sisters and her mother. Eli and Ezra were well-train
ed. They could handle themselves until she was able to get back to help them. First and foremost, she needed to get to her family because none of them had been trained to fight rogues—or any other entity, for that matter.
As she followed their familiar scent, Nivea absolutely hated her father for denying all of them their heritage. Her sisters could shift and so could her mother but none of them had been taught any of the survival skills they needed to defend themselves against rogues or those damned hybrids. They’d act on instinct, Nivea hoped, and would at least shift into their cat form, but then what?
She ran, almost hopping down the steps to get to the room where she suspected they were. Their scent was too potent for them to be locked away, they were out in the open, right down this way. Moving through the downstairs of the large house, she came to a stop in the living room where four of the biggest, ugliest beasts she’d ever seen circled around her sisters and her mother.
“Whoa.” Caleb extended an arm that landed right at Nivea’s neck, blocking her from going any farther. “Stand back,” he told her. “We got this.”
Nivea swiped his arm out of her way. “This is my family, I’ve got this!” she yelled at him.
“Nivea!” Amina called to her. “Thank god you came!”
She couldn’t see Amina’s face, only heard her voice and saw between the gaps of the hybrid bodies that she was tied together with Serene and their mother. Without hesitation Nivea charged forward only to be lifted off the ground and turned away. As she cursed Caleb for interfering again, the hybrids moved.
Each of them came forward, as if a switch had just been turned on in their heads. They moved in perfect sync toward Nivea and Caleb. Aidan and Brayden came up behind them, extending an arm and latching onto a hybrid’s neck with their claws. Caleb jumped forward, doing the same with the one closest to him. There was another and it was coming right at Nivea.
She knew how to kill them, but this one was much taller and wider than the others she’d seen. She had to get up close enough, high enough to sink her claws into its neck. Too late, he picked her up by the neck, pushing her back until she slammed into the wall, all the air in her lungs expelling in a quick whoosh that left her dizzy.
With futile efforts she swatted at the hybrid’s arms but it was too strong, her blows going without any real impact. She lifted a knee and groaned when it only reached its lower chest. Her eyes were watering as he continued to choke her. She wanted to shift but wasn’t sure she had enough air in her lungs to do so. When she felt herself falling forward she had only seconds to realize it was because Caleb and Brayden were attacking the hybrid at the legs from behind. The big bastard tilted back, taking Nivea down to the floor with it, still holding her by the neck. She’d just managed to come up on her knees, staring down into the ugly face of the hybrid. She was preparing to propel herself forward when the splash from its mucus guts pouring out slapped her in the face. The hands let go of her neck and Nivea fell backward. Climbing down off the hybrid quickly before it turned to ash she wiped at her eyes and headed to where she could see her sisters huddled in a corner.
She ran to them, yanking quickly at the chains that were wrapped around them. When Amina and Serene were free they both hugged her so tightly she stumbled back, tears streaming down her face and emotion welling in her chest. All that she’d done, all that she’d endured to keep them safe and this is how they finally end up, captured by hybrids and rogues, and for what?
“Why did they take you?” she asked immediately. “What did they say when they came to the house?”
Serene was shaking her head, crying inconsolably. Amina kept her arm wrapped around her as she replied, “Nothing. I mean, I didn’t hear anything. When I sent you that first text it was after hearing Mom yelling at them. I think she let them in.”
Nivea immediately looked to Michele Cannon who was wiping down the front of her wrinkled pantsuit as if this were just a bad fall.
“Did you let them in?” she asked, but the question was never answered since there was yelling from the other side of the room.
“We got one!” Aidan yelled. “The others are down. Get them out into the first SUV and we’ll be right behind you.”
Nivea still had questions for her mother but wasn’t about to stand in this house a moment longer trying to get the answers. “Let’s go!” she told them, pushing Amina and Serene in front of her, then reaching a hand out for her mother. Michele looked at her hand, then away, and moved quickly behind her two older daughters. Nivea didn’t let it bother her, at least she didn’t think she had. She ran quickly in front of them, opening the back door to the SUV she and Eli had ridden in together. She was just about to slam the door closed when Michele slipped back out, extending her hand and slapping Nivea across the face.
* * *
Eli’s chest was heaving as he’d just finished loading the tranquilized rogue into the middle seat of the second SUV. He’d grabbed sweatpants and shoes out of one of the many duffle bags they always kept in the trucks just in case shifting became absolutely necessary. Only he and Ezra had shifted this time and Ezra had pulled on jeans and shoes as well. They were going to ride in this truck with the rogue, along with Caleb. Brayden and Aidan were going to drive the females. He’d been all set to climb in so they could get moving when out of the corner of his eye he saw a woman hit Nivea.
He was in motion instantly, hearing bits of the conversation.
“It’s all your fault! You ungrateful brat!” Michele Cannon was saying, both of her hands going around Nivea’s neck. “All we did for you, all we gave you and this is how you repay us! You’re nothing but a backstabbing whore!”
Nivea had grabbed her mother’s wrists, not having to use much of the strength Eli knew she possessed to push the woman back against the truck. She pulled her mother’s hands away from her neck easily and stared into the woman’s face.
“He’s an animal,” she told her in what to Eli sounded like a dangerously calm voice. “You chose to protect an animal over your own daughter.”
“You’re the animal!” Michele spat back. “Wanting to run around with that whole tribe, changing into beasts and walking on all fours. You never wanted to stay in the place we made for you, never wanted to be what we were.”
“You are what I am!” Nivea yelled back. “You are a Shadow Shifter just like me. We share the same blood!”
Michele shook her head. “I don’t share anything with you, ungrateful bitch!”
Michele lunged again but this time Nivea grabbed her arms, wrapping them behind the older woman and keeping her in a choke hold.
“How is refusing to be abused by your father being ungrateful?” Nivea asked her. “How can you stand here and say these horrible things to me after all I sacrificed, all I did to keep you and them protected!”
“Don’t … need … your … kind of protection,” Michele sputtered through the little bit of wind that Nivea was allowing to get through to her lungs. “Don’t … need … you.”
Nivea’s entire body vibrated with those words, her eyes staring ahead, past Eli. She wasn’t seeing but she was definitely hearing and she was steadily choking the life out of her mother.
“Let her go now,” Eli said, coming around to stand beside Nivea. He tapped her arms. “Let her go, Nivea.”
“I needed protection,” she was saying. “I needed protection from him. My mother should have protected me.”
“You’re right,” Eli said, still trying to unravel Nivea’s hold on Michele. “You are absolutely right, she should have protected you.”
“I always had to fend for myself, always had to do whatever was necessary to make myself happy,” Nivea continued, her head shaking back and forth.
“Baby, don’t do this,” Eli pleaded. “Let her go, Nivea. Please.”
Her arms began to shake from holding so tight and Michele’s fighting began to cease.
“Nivea!” Eli yelled. “Let. Her. Go!”
He knew he was loud, knew that the fierce edg
e to his voice was enough to scare an entire forest of shifters. As for Nivea, she simply turned her head to face him, her eyes filled with tears that seemed to refuse to fall. “She didn’t protect me.”
Eli nodded. “I know, baby,” he said slowly and caught Michele as Nivea abruptly let her go.
She walked back to the second truck without saying another word and without turning back to see if Michele lived or died.
* * *
Eli put Michele Cannon into the truck and made sure the woman was still breathing normally. The sisters had looked shocked by what had taken place and when they tried to assist their mother, she’d pulled away from them, shrinking into the corner of the seat. With a shake of his head, Eli slammed the door and walked to the second truck, wondering how Nivea was doing. How she’d been able to keep all this bottled up inside over the years without completely breaking.
They drove for about a half hour before Eli reached out a hand to touch Nivea’s leg. She pulled away so abruptly he yanked his hand back as if he may have hurt her.
With a frown he tried something else. Turning sideways in the seat he looked at her, using a hand to smooth down the back of her head. She stiffened.
“Don’t,” she said simply.
“Listen, I know what you were feeling, Nivea.”
She shook her head vehemently, her gaze still focused on the tinted window. “No. You don’t.”
“I do.”
“No!” she yelled. “There’s no way you can know how I feel because you’ve never endured what I did.”
“You are right about that. I’ve never been abused by one parent and deserted by another. But Nivea, I do know about feeling helpless to stop the rage boiling inside. I know exactly how it feels to have shit happen to you that you don’t deserve,” he told her.
“But you got over it, right?” she asked. “You found some cure and you were better and your life moved on.”
“No,” he told her quietly. “You’re wrong.”
