Rise of the Jaguar

by Elizabeth Kelly

  “I’m not worried about that,” Emerson said. “I’m worried that Clay is out there right now trying to save his brother on his own.”

  “Emmy,” Kat reached for her hand, “what is going on with the two of you? He’s covered in your scent. Why did you mark him? We only mark if we’re trying to keep another female away from our mate.”

  Emerson stared at their clasped hands. “I went into my heat while trapped at Clay’s cabin with him. I didn’t have my purse, which meant I didn’t have my meds.”

  “Holy shit.” Kat’s hands tightened on hers. “You haven’t had a heat in over a year, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “How did you stop yourself from going after the human?” Kat said.

  “I didn’t. I mean, I tried to at first, but after I nearly froze to death in a blizzard, Clay -”

  “Wait? What?” Kat squeezed her hands again. “You need to start from the beginning, Em. Tell me exactly what happened in that cabin with Clay.”

  Kat wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. “I can’t believe you fucked a human during your heat, and he survived it.”

  She grimaced. “Sorry, that came out wrong. I just meant -”

  “I know,” Emerson said. “Trust me, I’m still a little shocked by it. I always bite and scratch my partners. It used to piss off Ira so much. So, I was positive I would try to scratch Clay, but I didn’t, even though it was a terrible heat, Kat. It really was. The need was intense and overwhelming, but Clay just… handled it. Like it was no big deal. Like he always fucks a woman ten times a day.”

  “Maybe he does,” Kat said. “You don’t know a lot about him.”

  Emerson shrugged. “You didn’t know a lot about Ronin the first time you slept with him.”

  Kat opened her mouth, then closed it, then said, “Okay, that’s fair.”

  Emerson laughed, and Kat grinned at her. “I’m glad he helped you, Emmy, really I am. I know the agony you must have been in. You really didn’t try to bite or scratch him?”

  “There was once at the beginning where I tried, but he’s super quick, and he caught my wrists before I could. And the only reason I wanted to scratch was because I thought he was going to stop fucking me.” She chewed at her bottom lip before staring at Kat. “After that initial attempt, my jaguar stopped wanting to hurt him. Every time the idea of biting or scratching him popped into my head, my jaguar, she… she just refused.”

  There was silence for a few minutes before Kat said, “Em, why are you sleeping with him again? Why are you scent marking him?”

  Emerson shrugged. “I like sleeping with him, and I scent marked him because it was the only way to soothe my jaguar. She wanted to mark him with her claws.”

  “Does your jaguar think he’s your mate?” Kat’s face was carefully neutral, but Emerson could smell her anxiety.

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter if she does. I’m terrible at relationships, and Clay made it clear he isn’t interested in a relationship.”

  She decided it was prudent not to share with Kat the knowledge that Clay would sacrifice Emerson to save his brother if he had to make a choice. If Kat knew that, she’d tear Clay apart the next time she saw him. But Emerson understood why he’d said it. As far as Clay was concerned, Owen was all he had, and it made sense that he would be Clay’s priority.

  While she might be cultivating some deeper feelings for Clay – and once Emerson was no longer in fear of being murdered by her boss, she needed to talk to her therapist again about her terrible taste in men – she knew she meant nothing to Clay beyond sex. She knew that, and she was okay with it.

  Are you sure that’s all you mean to him? He didn’t have to come back to you, Emerson. He told you he missed you. He didn’t care that you scent marked him. He said he was yours.

  Because she was about to slice him open. It was self-preservation, that was all.

  “Emmy?” Kat tapped her on the forehead. “What are you thinking about all up in your head? Are you contemplating how to make a kidnapping mercenary fall in love with you?”

  She grinned at Emerson, but Em’s cat hissed in irritation, and Emerson was annoyed too. “He’s a good man, Kat. And before you say anything, yes, I’m aware he’s killed people. Trust me, I know what he’s capable of. But you’ve killed people, and so have Ronin and your coworkers. Hell, now so have I.”

  “Because we had to,” Kat said. “We didn’t do it for money, Emmy. Clay does. He kills people for money, and I know you want to believe he’s a good guy, but -”

  “He hasn’t taken a job since before he started working for that Wyatt guy. He saved you and Ronin and your friends, and he saved me,” Emerson said. “Does that not wash away some of the blood on his hands?”

  Kat sighed. “I don’t know. All I know is that you’re my big sister, and I love you, and I’m terrified of losing you. Being with Clay could make you a target against men he’s wronged in the past.”

  “Like being with Ronin made you a target?” Emerson said.

  Kat wrinkled her nose at her. “I really hate your ability to make dating a mercenary sound almost normal.”

  “We’re not dating,” Emerson said. “No matter what my jaguar thinks. We’re just fucking.”

  “Nothing wrong with that.” Ronin leaned against the doorjamb. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your sex talk, but I’m starving and want to discuss dinner options. Also, if Clay needs any tips on how to bang a sexy jaguar shifter without being clawed to shreds, tell him to call me.”

  Emerson flushed bright red as a grin crossed Kat’s face. “You’re embarrassing her, Ronin.”

  “Hey, it’s not my fault your sister marked Clay so much even I can smell it.” He grinned at Emerson. “We bird shifters have a terrible sense of smell, but we make up for it with our lovely singing voices and our big di -”

  There was a puff of wind, and Kat nearly fell off the bed when Clay appeared in the bedroom. Emerson’s jaguar trilled with happiness, and her heart banged against her ribcage. She would have worried that something was wrong if it wasn’t for Clay’s relaxed body language and the little grin on his face like he knew that Kat was gonna shit her pants because he’d shown up again.

  “What’s wrong?” Kat reached for Emerson’s hand again, staring suspiciously at Clay.

  “Nothing’s wrong.” Clay made a show of glancing at his watch. “I’m here to pick up Emerson like you asked.”

  “I said just before midnight. It’s not even seven-thirty,” Kat said.

  “Huh,” Clay glanced at his watch again. “Guess I need a new watch.”

  Emerson and Ronin laughed, and Kat rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”

  There was a moment of silence, and then Ronin said, “Clay, do you like Greek food?”

  “Are you seriously inviting him for dinner, Ronin?” Kat said.

  “A man’s gotta eat, Kitten,” Ronin said.

  “I could go for some moussaka,” Clay said.

  “Perfect. Kat, you and Emerson relax in the living room for a bit,” Ronin said. “Clay and I will order dinner.”

  “So,” Ronin pushed his empty plate away and stretched an arm across the back of Kat’s chair, “what do you think the odds are that Granger still has your brother at his house?”

  Emerson could have leaned across the table and kissed him. And not just for his obvious willingness to help Clay rescue his brother. She’d thought dinner would be excruciatingly awkward, but Ronin had kept things light. Despite what Clay had done to them, Ronin truly seemed to have adopted a forgive and forget attitude. One that she hoped Kat would as well.

  Why? What does it matter? You and Clay are never going to work. Even if Kat could forgive him, Clay isn’t going to stop killing people for money, and he isn’t magically going to want a relationship.

  “Strong,” Clay said.

  “Why do you think that?” Kat used her fork to make tiny swirls in the leftover tzatziki sauce on her plate. “You’ve bee
n inside his house now. Even if he believes that you still can’t teleport, he’ll know the serum will wear off soon. He wouldn’t keep Owen someplace where you can simply zap in and take him.”

  “Zap in?” Ronin said with a grin. “I like it… makes it sound very sci-fi.”

  “Because saying ‘teleporting in’ doesn’t?” Kat said.

  “You make a good point,” Ronin said.

  “I’ve only been inside Wilson’s office. He knows that I can’t teleport anywhere else in his house without seeing it first,” Clay said.

  “Right. You saw Wilson’s office because you bugged my sister without her knowledge or consent,” Kat said.

  “Katarina,” Emerson said.

  Her sister just shrugged. “It’s true.”

  “You’d do the same if it were me that Wilson was holding hostage,” Emerson said.

  “Ooh, she’s got you on that one,” Ronin said.

  “Do me a favour and stop pointing out all the ways I’m irrational, would you, honey?” Kat said.

  Ronin laughed, and Kat cupped his jaw affectionately when he leaned in and nuzzled her neck. “I’ll make it up to you later.”

  “Gross,” Emerson said.

  “Oh please,” Kat said, “how do you think I feel smelling your scent all over the human? If I have to picture you banging Clay, you can picture me banging Ronin.”

  “Holy shit,” Ronin said. “Clay’s blushing.”

  Emerson glanced at Clay sitting beside her. He was blushing, a dull flush that covered his cheeks and made him look younger and – her jaguar purred happily – weirdly sexy.

  “Aw, the big bad mercenary gets embarrassed by a little sex talk at the dinner table,” Ronin said. “Buddy, if you’re going to be a part of this family, you’ll need to toughen up. When these two get together, you wouldn’t believe the stuff they just blurt out to each other. Pretty sure Kat’s told Emerson the exact length and girth of my di -”

  “Ronin!” Kat said.

  “She’s told you, hasn’t she, Em,” Ronin said.

  “Yep,” Emerson said.

  “See?” Ronin said to Clay before grinning at Emerson. “On a scale of one to ten, how impressed are you by little Ronin?”

  “Five and a half,” Emerson said.

  “I’ll take it,” Ronin said before holding his glass of water up to Emerson. She clinked it with her own, and they both took a drink. Kat had already moved on to looking at something on her phone, but Clay studied her with a bemused look on his face, the blush still lingering faintly in his cheeks.

  Wanting to see it flare back to life, she leaned over and said into his ear. “I’d give yours a solid nine.”

  She purred quietly to him as that delightful blush deepened in his cheeks again. To her surprise, he smiled that sexy grin and said, “Guess I have some work to do to turn that nine into a ten.”

  “Gross,” Kat said and set her phone down. “It’s getting late. Can we get back to discussing how we’re going to save Owen?”

  Clay made a low grunt of surprise. “What?”

  “Emerson, you’ve been to Wilson’s house. How much have you seen? Can you draw a rough guide of the layout of the house?” Ronin said.

  “Hold on,” Clay said. “What do you mean ‘we’re going to save Owen’?”

  “Christ, it’s a damn good job you’re cute,” Ronin said. “It means we’re helping you save your brother.”

  “Why?” Clay said.

  “Because Emerson is important to us, and you,” Kat hesitated, “are important to her.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I work alone,” Clay said.

  Kat rolled her eyes, but Emerson turned in her chair to face Clay. “Clay, you can’t save Owen by yourself. You know that.”

  “I have Saul,” he said.

  “Who’s Saul?” Ronin said.

  “Some computer hacker guy who works with Clay.” Emerson turned back to Clay. “But he didn’t exactly do anything or look for you when we were stuck in the cabin, did he?”

  “He’s not a soldier. Hell, he’s barely out of his teens,” Clay said.

  “Which is why you need us,” Emerson said. “You don’t have to do this alone. Not this time, Clay. I promise.”

  She held out her pinky finger. Clay stared at it, and when he didn’t move, Emerson said, “Owen can’t keep doing what he’s doing. He hates what Wilson is making him do, and he misses Jonathan. Don’t make him suffer any longer, Clay. Not when we can help.”

  He reached out and hooked her pinky finger with his own.

  She smiled at Clay as Ronin said, “If I can get Owen out of the house, you could teleport us the fuck out of there, right?”

  “Yes, but there’s no way you’ll get him out,” Clay said. “Wilson has the house on lockdown. It’s surrounded by men outside, and there will be more in the office and around it.”

  “How do you know that?” Kat said.

  “I went back to his house,” Clay said.

  Kat growled under her breath. “Did they see you?”

  “Probably. There were guards on the roof.”

  “So, we need to assume that Wilson knows you can teleport again,” Kat said. “Which means he’ll most likely have moved Owen.”

  “He won’t,” Clay said. “Wilson is arrogant, and he wants my abilities as well. He’ll keep Owen at the house as bait.”

  “But even if we could get into his place, Owen won’t leave. Not willingly,” Emerson said.

  “Right. Because they have his boyfriend,” Kat said thoughtfully. “So, what we actually need to do first is find Jonathan. As well as any information on when Wilson ships the serum.”

  “Wilson probably keeps any information about his drug smuggling at his house,” Ronin said. “Which leads us right back to problem number one – getting into his house.”

  “You really think he has all the info about his illegal activities on some computer at his house?” Clay said.

  “Hey, it’s a digital world now. He probably has it all on a hard drive on a fucking keychain or something,” Ronin said.

  “Or a phone,” Em said slowly.

  Clay glanced at her. “His phone?”

  She nodded. “Wilson has two phones. One of the phones, he’ll let me enter stuff in his calendar, add contacts, stuff like that. But the other one…” she glanced at Ronin, “he doesn’t let me touch it. Ever. I bet it’s the phone he uses to deal with his illegal clients.”

  “If we could get that phone, even for a few minutes,” Clay said, “Saul could remotely download an app onto it that would allow him access to everything on the phone.”

  “Right, because it’ll be super easy to get Wilson’s phone,” Kat said.

  “What’s today?” Emerson said suddenly. She grabbed her phone and checked the date. “Holy shit. It’s this weekend.”

  “What’s this weekend?” Kat said.

  “The Healing Hands charity gala. Wilson goes to it every year. The company always makes a huge donation to Healing Hands, and Wilson always attends the gala.”

  “He might not this time,” Ronin said. “Not with all the shit that’s gone down.”

  “He will,” Emerson said. “He never misses it. Plus, they’re giving him a special commemorative award for his years of faithful donating. I wrote the damn speech he’s giving.”

  Excitement uncurling in her belly, Emerson said, “It’s a huge event, lots of people, crowded. It would be easy to separate him from Dax and any other security he has there. Easy to take his phone from him.”

  Kat shook her head. “It won’t be that easy. Trust me, not when he has that much at stake.”

  “Your boss like ladies or men?” Ronin said.

  “Ladies,” Emerson said.

  “He’s single, right?” Ronin said.

  “As far as I know.”

  “So, we find a lady who can distract him and take the phone without him noticing. She hands off the phone to Kat, who connects it to a computer so that this Saul kid can do what he
does best.”

  “That could work,” Emerson said. “Wilson always has the phone with him in his inside jacket pocket. He’ll bring it to the charity gala.”

  “Are you forgetting one thing?” Kat said. “We don’t know anyone who can seduce Wilson and pickpocket his damn phone without getting caught.”

  “I might know someone,” Clay said.

  “Might?” Kat arched her eyebrow at him. “Either you do, or you don’t.”

  “She may not be willing to help.”

  “Why not?”

  “She’s a shapeshifter, and she doesn’t like to get involved in human issues.”

  “You know a shapeshifter?” Emerson said.

  Shapeshifters were incredibly rare, and they avoided humans and most of the other paranormals like the plague.

  “She’s not going to help you. Shapeshifters hate humans,” Ronin said.

  “I saved her life once. She owes me,” Clay said. “I’ll get in touch with her tomorrow.”

  “All right, so we have a plan that just might work to stop this asshole from shipping the serum across the country,” Ronin said. “But we’re no closer to helping Owen. Unless Wilson keeps the info on where he’s hiding Jonathan on his phone.”

  “Doubtful,” Clay said. Emerson could smell his worry and his fear.

  Kat’s phone buzzed, and she picked it up as Ronin said, “Any idea where Wilson might be hiding Jonathan, Em?”

  Em shook her head. “No, he could have him anywhere.” She squeezed Clay’s leg under the table. “I’m sorry, Clay.”

  He nodded his gaze on Kat. “Is there a problem?”

  “No, Mal’s just letting me know that Hudson is here now.”

  “How many people do you have?” Clay said.

  “Enough,” Kat said. “But it’s getting late. You should take Emerson back to your place in case Wilson’s men get cocky and decide to attack earlier than we think.”