Blood Brothers (Turning Stone Chronicles Book 2)

by C. D. Hersh

“A wedding gown?”

  “No, more of a long white dress. Wedding gowns take too long to buy.”

  “I could come with you, and we could have something to eat afterward. Maybe dessert at my place?

  “No.” The word burst from her. Alexi would be shifted. How could she explain shopping with another woman for Alexi’s dress?

  “Sheesh,” he said. “You don’t have to be harsh. I get it. You don’t want to see me tonight.” He sounded petulant at her refusal.

  Delaney reached for his arm. He was wrong. She wanted to see him every night. “It’s not that. I promised Alexi I’d spend the time with her. Most women take months to plan a wedding. She’s only got a day.”

  “I don’t see why she has to rush into it.”

  “For the same reason I rushed into sleeping with you.” She clamped her hands over her mouth to stop further confessions.

  The words made him roll away from her desk. “Are you regretting what happened?”

  Heat rose in her belly at the memory of their sensuous night together. “No, not in the least. I’ve never seduced a man before.”

  “Why did you?”

  “Fear. Alexi and I both are rushing because of fear.”

  “What’s Alexi afraid of?”

  “Losing Rhys.”

  “You don’t have to be afraid of losing me.” Standing, he stepped to her desk, resting his hip on the edge. “I told you I’d stay with you until we figured it out. I want love also, Delaney.”

  “Fear of losing you isn’t what made me sleep with you. I’m afraid of taking chances. My daughter dared me to take a chance on love.”

  “Our night together was a dare?”

  “No, not at all. I was attracted to you the minute I saw you. Wanted to-” She captured his gaze. “You know.” The heat of a blush rose as his eyes twinkled at her reference to their lovemaking. “You are a chance, Harry Williams. A big chance. A chance which scares me to death.”

  “But you took it anyway.” He caressed her cheek. “Makes me feel better, even if I do think you’re trying to avoid me.” He grinned. “I think you’re worth waiting on. Don’t keep me waiting too long. Okay?”

  “I won’t.” If she had any chance at happiness, she’d have to take it while he still offered it. Sooner or later, he’d find out all her dirty little secrets. Secrets that would send him running.

  Chapter 22

  Right after Gladys left, Sylvia cornered Rhys, her shifter sensation tingling across him as she neared. He shuddered, trying to ease the creepy crawly feeling. How long would it take to get used to this?

  “I’ve got something you might be interested in,” she said as she sidled next to him. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”

  “We can do any police business you have to conduct right here, Agent Riley.”

  “Not police business. Have you ever driven a Porsche Boxster?”

  He laughed. “On a cop’s salary? You have to be kidding.”

  “Want to explain this then?” She slipped him a photograph; a shot of him in a red Porsche Boxster.

  “Where did you get this?”

  “I took it. The car was reported as stolen.”

  He shoved the photo at her, anger bubbling to the surface. “Don’t even consider trying to blackmail me with this, this Photo-shopped piece of trash.”

  “You misunderstand me completely,” she said in a saccharine tone. “I’m not blackmailing you. I know this isn’t you, but if this photo should get out, well, it might not be as easy to prove your innocence.”

  “Sounds like blackmail to me. What do you want?”

  “I have someone I want you to meet. Someone important.” She shoved the picture into her oversized handbag.

  “When and where?”

  “Now at my hotel?”

  Inwardly, he cringed. Her hotel, where she had seduced him as Alexi, was the last place he wanted to go with her. “How can I be sure you’re not going to trick me again?”

  “You’re a hot-shot Promised One.” She tapped her handbag. “So is he.”

  His shock at her declaration must have shown clearly, because she beamed like a cat with a bird. “Scan me. I’m telling the truth.”

  Another Promised One was roaming the city streets in a stolen Porsche? His curiosity piqued. To concoct such a story, she must want him to go with her bad. Scanning her as requested, he saw she was telling the truth.

  Rhys glanced at his watch. “I’ll give you one hour. Nothing more.”

  “An hour will be plenty.” Her mouth curved into a small, cunning smile, making him regret his decision.

  Alexi would kill him if she found out.

  As Sylvia opened the door to her hotel room, Rhys did a double-take. A shifter sat on a chair, beside the window. A carbon copy of himself. He scanned the man’s aura, red and green with streaks of black. A rogue shifter, no doubt. He probed through the shifter sensations coming from the man. To the best of his ability, Rhys could not sense any mimic.

  Shutting the door with a bang that made him jump, Sylvia said, “Rhys Temple, meet Roc Decker, Turning Stone Promised One and, very possibly, your brother.”

  He wheeled around at Sylvia’s statement. “Brother? Are you nuts? I don’t have a brother.”

  “That you know of, but that’s going to change.”

  Legs suddenly rubbery, Rhys leaned against the wall. When he’d agreed to come to her room, he was ready for seduction, ambush, or kidnapping. But a brother? Twin brother, no less, was not on his radar.

  Roc rose and shoved his chair across the room at Rhys. “Take a load off. It’s a bit of a shock, I know.”

  Her gaze swung between the two men. “Amazing. You even sound alike.”

  Rhys took the proffered chair and dropped onto it, his senses reeling. “Who are you?” he asked his double.

  Hooking a thumb toward Sylvia, Roc replied, “Who she said. Who are you?”

  “Definitely not your brother.”

  Roc crossed the room. “I’m not sure I’d write off our relationship so easily. Listen to the proof she has, then make your decision.”

  The shifter sensation grew as he neared, coupled with something else, a new emotionally charged awareness. “Stop right there,” he commanded.

  “I feel it, too,” Roc said as he complied with the command.

  “What is it?”

  “A brotherly bond?” Roc suggested. “Our blood calling out to each other?”

  More hocus-pocus mumbo? Rhys was having enough trouble adjusting to all the Turning Stone magic. Now this person wanted him to believe their blood recognized one another? “That’s a load of crap.” He rose and backed toward the door.

  “Take some time to absorb it,” Sylvia said, “but don’t discount what you feel.”

  “I don’t know what I’m feeling,” he said as he grasped the door handle. “But I’m going to figure it out.”

  “You do that, Rhys. When you have, your brother and I will be waiting.”

  Outside the elevator, he leaned his palms against the wall and tried to sort through what had happened. Couldn’t deny the uncanny resemblance Roc and he shared. They could be twins, physically, but if Roc was in cahoots with Sylvia the resemblance ended there.

  What was the second sensation coming from Roc? She had introduced him as a Promised One. Was Roc trying to pull his life force or probe him somehow?

  The elevator dinged. On autopilot, Rhys walked forward as the doors opened and nearly ran into the people coming out. Shifter sensations awoke him, and he stepped to the side as two burly shifters came out, ushering a smaller man between them. The shifters gave him the once over, then scuttled out of his way, ducking their heads in deference.

  “Sorry, sir,” one of the men said. “We didn’t see
you there.”

  He scanned the trio. Definitely two rogue shifters from their blackened auras. The man in the middle showed no signs of distress so he waved them on. They moved down the hall toward Sylvia’s room, the shifters glancing over their shoulders at him expectantly.

  Rhys stopped the elevator door from closing with his forearm and stepped inside. Odd behavior for thugs, but if they thought he was Roc-and Roc was the rogues’ Promised One-their behavior made sense. Apparently, his look-alike was already commanding a lot of respect, or fear, from his followers. Something Rhys couldn’t lay claim to yet.

  He punched the button for the next floor, got off, and headed for the stairs. Eli planned to send him undercover to find out what she was up to, and she was up to something with this brother act. She’d given him the perfect opening. He’d use his shock as an excuse for running. Hell, it was true. Undercover or not, he was curious. Was Roc as powerful as him, or were they luring him into something because they needed his power?

  Rhys shifted forms before opening the stairwell door, then hung out in the same window alcove where he’d spied on Alexi last month when she sneaked into Sylvia’s room as her alter ego, Garrett. Alexi had secrets then. This time he would be the one with secrets.

  About twenty minutes passed before the shifters and the mortal man exited Sylvia’s room. Rhys waited until they’d entered the elevator, then he shifted into his own form and knocked on the door. She answered.

  “Didn’t expect to see you here so soon,” she said, sweeping the door open. “Change of heart?”

  “Questions,” he replied. “Lots of questions.”

  She shut the door behind him. “I may not have all the answers, but if you give me some time I’m sure I can find them.”

  He didn’t doubt that. Whether they’d be truthful or not was another matter. “What’s your birth date?” he asked Roc.

  “October 20. Yours?”

  “The same. How old are you?”

  “Thirty. You?”

  “Thirty. How did you get involved with her?” Rhys jerked his head toward Sylvia.

  “I could ask you the same thing, since I know we’ve both slept with her.”

  Rhys’ head swiveled toward her. “Sleeping with her was a mistake, and a trick. Did she trick you?”

  Roc smiled slowly and gave her a lascivious grin. “No mistake, brother. I meant to do it.”

  His words made Rhys nauseous. They were no kin. He was certain.

  “He mind shifted with me,” she said. “That’s why I believe you are brothers. Very powerful brothers.”

  He thought about the mind shift that happened the only time they had sex and she was shifted to mimic Alexi. To explain what happened, Sylvia told him they were soul mates. What a pack of lies. Alexi was his soul mate. The shifter powers he’d displayed to Sylvia had landed him smack in the middle of the Turning Stone world. Alexi was right. She was after him. He had to be very careful.

  “What happened then isn’t the question. How did you meet her?”

  “She’s my mentor.”

  Like Eli was his? Didn’t make sense, unless Roc didn’t know he was a Promised One either. “How long have you been part of the Turning Stone Society?”

  “As long as I can remember. My adoptive parents are shifters.”

  “Then why do you need a mentor?”

  Roc laughed. “You really are a rookie at this, aren’t you? Even Promised Ones get new mentors. They have to be tested and proved before they can be pronounced a True Promised One.”

  “Trust me,” she said. “From what I’ve seen of you two, you are the ones.”

  “There can only be one Promised One,” Rhys said.

  “You’re wrong.” She motioned Rhys and Roc to the overstuffed chairs beside the small table next to the window. Roc leaned against the wall instead. Rhys tipped his Stetson back on his head and remained standing. Shrugging at their refusal to sit, she continued, “The way I figure it, you two are twins. Identical twins from the same egg. Which makes you both The Promised One.”

  “That would make our bid to control the world a stalemate,” Roc said. “Unless we joined forces.”

  “Whose forces?” Rhys asked.

  “Ours.”

  “You’re joking, right? You want me to join forces with her?”

  “With me,” Roc said. “I needed her to get to you. She’s only along for the ride and my pleasure.”

  A stifled cough told Rhys she didn’t think so. Roc scowled at her.

  Plastering on a demure expression, she hooked her thumb at Roc. “What he said. He’s The Promised One, not me.”

  “Look,” he said, “I don’t expect you to buy into this idea without getting to know me. I wouldn’t if I were you.”

  The first thing his brother said that made any sense. “Good to know.”

  “I suggest we take a little time to get acquainted: talk about the past, the future, and anything else you want to. Then you can make a decision.”

  “If I decide to part ways with you?”

  “I guess we’ll have to duke it out globally if we both are crowned monarchs of our respective worlds. But I’d rather rule with you than fight against you, brother.”

  Brother? He’d always wanted a sibling, but his parents, who had been unable to have children, thought he was enough. Adopting cost, and they couldn’t afford another child.

  The thought of a twin intrigued him, but only if he could sway him to his side. There would be no our side as long as Sylvia was involved and, from the way Roc’s eyes devoured the woman, he wasn’t about to let her go. Still, this was the best invitation into Sylvia’s plots he could have ever received. He held out his hand to Roc.

  “Okay. We’ll try it.”

  Shock waves surged through Rhys’ arm and chest as Roc took his hand. The blood ran hot in his veins, searing into his heart. He peered into Roc’s eyes. They rounded and then his eyelids shuttered over them, hiding his emotions. He broke contact, but not before Roc squeezed his hand. Roc had felt it, too. What, Rhys didn’t know, but it was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. He backed toward the door.

  “I’ll be in contact, Roc.”

  Roc reached for his arm, but Rhys moved out of range.

  “You can’t tell anyone about us,” Roc said. “Not for a little while. Okay?”

  “Who else knows?” Rhys asked.

  “Me, you, and Sylvia. I want to keep it that way.”

  “Seems a little lopsided to me. You’ve got a rogue confidant. I should have one of my own.”

  Roc studied Rhys, his eyes narrowed in uncertainty.

  “That’s a deal breaker,” he said. No way would he let them get by with thinking he’d keep this secret to himself. Lopsided leverage was too dangerous.

  “Not Eli,” she said. “Someone on my level to keep the playing field even.”

  “I agree,” Roc said.

  Who was on her level? Delaney? Rhys didn’t know her well enough to trust. If he told Eli the old man would probably come after Roc wielding his sword. If Roc was his twin he’d have to protect him, and he had no desire to go against Eli. Have to be Alexi. She was the logical choice anyway. She needed to know he had a double, in case Roc had been in on the murder attempt or tried to enter her house pretending to be him.

  Rhys nodded his agreement. “When we meet, it’s only the two of us.” He gave Sylvia a warning glare. “On our own, on undisclosed turf, or there is no deal.”

  “Deal,” Roc said, casting a warning at her. Retrieving a card from his wallet, he handed it to Rhys. “You can reach me here. I’ll come when and wherever you want. But I’ll need to come shifted.”

  “As long as you’re not a woman.” That would keep Alexi on an even keel.

  “Why?” Sylvia ask
ed, cocking a questioning eyebrow at him.

  Mind racing to fabricate a reason that wouldn’t make her suspicious, he blurted out, “Gladys. Since Alexi is dead, my coworker thinks I belong to her.”

  Roc laughed. “Looking for an office romance?”

  “No. Gladys runs the precinct office. Cross her and you get squat done.”