by Tami Lund
“So for now, we’ve beefed up security and my nerves are shot,” Tanner said, draining the glass of amber liquid in his hand.
“I want to go check on our pup. I know you trust this youngling who is watching him, but I have a strong urge to be an overprotective sire at the moment. If you’ll excuse us.” He nodded to them each in turn and then he and Olivia hurried away, heading for the main staircase to slip upstairs. Adora doubted they would make another appearance again. Neither would be comfortable leaving their child so soon given what just happened to Olivia and their worry for the safety of the residents of the coterie.
“I’m impressed,” Matt said after they left. “I honestly thought my shoes would be ruined by now.”
“If you hadn’t been massaging my neck, I’m sure they would have.”
He grinned. “My pleasure. Let me know anytime you’re feeling nauseous. I’ll be sure to rush right over and be your personal masseuse.”
The images flashing through Adora’s mind had nothing whatsoever with being nauseous, and everything to do with massages. She flushed and took a step away, encouraging him to drop his arm.
“Hey there, big guy.”
Matt turned around and both he and Adora watched as Shay walked toward them on a pair of sexy high-heeled knee boots. She offered him one of the drinks in her hand.
“Sorry, I didn’t bring another,” she said to Adora. “I’m Shay, by the way.” She offered her hand.
Adora shook it. “Adora. Nice to meet you.”
Shay cocked her head to one side and studied the other woman. “I’ve met a Lightbearer and a human, so I know what they look and smell like. But you…you’re different.”
Adora nodded. “I’m a Cupid.”
Shay’s gaze cut to Matt. “Cupid? As in pups with wings and bows and arrows?”
Matt tried unsuccessfully to hide his lip twitch while Adora managed fairly successfully to hide her sigh of annoyance.
“Not quite. Yes, we are matchmakers as the legends suggest. But we do not actually start matchmaking until our twentieth year, after we’ve completed Cupid School. And no one uses bows and arrows anymore.”
Shay studied her as if she were a specimen under a microscope. “Fascinating. And what is a Cupid doing at a shifter shindig?”
Adora cleared her throat. “I’m, ah, Matt’s Cupid.”
Shay’s eyes widened. “You’re playing matchmaker for this guy?” Her gaze roved over him in a proprietary manner that Adora hated instantly. “Got any takers yet?”
“A short list,” Adora said curtly.
Shay turned toward Matt, effectively putting her body between him and Adora. “Hey, listen, this morning it sort of felt like, I don’t know, like there was something. And then you turned all cold on me. I was wondering what I did to offend you?”
Adora watched as Matt sifted through the memories in his head, trying to recall the conversation with this woman.
“He’s worried you’re interested because of his status within his pack,” Adora supplied helpfully. Whether she was trying to discourage or encourage Matt wasn’t entirely clear, especially when he scowled at her for bringing it up.
Shay’s eyes widened in understanding and denial. “That’s so not true,” she insisted. “I mean, I guess I was impressed that you’re the pack master’s cousin, but that’s it. I don’t care about status. In fact, I prefer to fly under the radar.”
As the woman did her best to convince Matt her intentions were pure—or at least that they were not connected to his status as Josh’s cousin—Adora watched as Matt slowly came around and decided to believe her. Within short order, they were engaged in a conversation about something specific to being shifters, and Adora had become a third wheel. She reminded herself that was the way it was supposed to be, as she quietly slipped away. And she wondered why she did not feel better about the situation.
Matt was clearly exhibiting signs of being interested in the woman. He’d already informed her that he was finally willing to find a mate, so she could complete her assignment and keep her wings. This was the most viable potential mate so far.
Why did that bother Adora so?
Chapter 5
BREAKFAST the next morning was a busy affair. Besides Josh, Rachel, Adora, and the various members of the pack who popped in and out, there were also the assorted guests from the coterie: Tanner and Olivia and their infant son, Tanner’s mother Beth, and Olivia’s parents, Sander and Genevieve.
Someone in Jeannine’s family had fallen ill, and she’d asked for the day off so she could tend to them. Adora took it upon herself to make breakfast for everyone, as a thank you for Josh and Rachel’s hospitality. Considering she’d spotted Matt and Shay leaving the party together last night, she suspected her time there might be rapidly coming to an end, and she needed to express her gratitude before that point.
While she was in the kitchen whipping up omelets, French toast, slabs of thick Canadian bacon, and a bowl full of fruit (because she knew Rachel was partial to fruit), Matt wandered into the room.
“Good morning,” she said as she tipped the whipped egg and milk mixture into a small omelet pan and used her magic to flip the grilling toast in a pan on another burner.
“Hey,” he said as he stepped up beside her and began flipping toast with a spatula. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, admiring how comfortable he appeared in the kitchen, in his jeans and T-shirt, hair still damp from what she assumed was a recent shower. Whoever he ended up mated to would be a lucky, lucky woman, to wake up to this man each and every morning.
“So how did last night go?” she asked, unable to resist. How close had he and Shay gotten after they left the party?
Matt gave her a sideways look as he shifted the cooked toast from the pan to a plate. “Are you asking if I got laid last night?”
Adora flushed and he laughed.
“No, I didn’t. I walked Shay to her car, said good night, and didn’t really feel like going back into the party so I went home.”
Adora couldn’t decide if she was happy or disappointed. Actually, she could decide, but she knew which one she should feel. Something about Shay set her on edge, but she wasn’t entirely certain it wasn’t her own jealousy. Which was ridiculous, of course. Not to mention foolish and very, very dangerous. If Adora wanted to retain her wings—which she did—she needed to get over feeling proprietary about Matt.
He was an assignment, not a potential lover. Cupids didn’t take lovers. If they did, it was in the Procreation Chamber, with another Cupid, and it was perfectly understood that while the act might be pleasurable, there was a distinct purpose: to create life. To bear baby Cupids who would carry on the tradition of seeking love and happiness for everyone else in the world.
Not for themselves. That’s not how their world worked.
“I guess this one gets scratched off the list?” She nearly winced at the hopefulness in her own voice.
“Not necessarily. We’re going to get together later today. Going for a hike.”
“Oh. That sounds romantic.”
Matt laughed again as he pulled a tray of bacon slices out of the oven. “Really? Is that your idea of a fun first date?”
“Well, not hiking precisely. Flying, remember?”
“I remember. And yes, we’re still doing that. How about right after breakfast?”
Adora beamed at him. “That sounds lovely.”
They carried platters of food into the dining room and the occupants attacked it like vultures. The room fell quiet as everyone concentrated on eating. The two of them filled their own plates and headed to the long wooden dining table. With Matt seated next to her, Adora tucked into her food, until Rachel made a noise of distress.
“Oh no,” she said, using her fork to point at the newspaper laid out on the table in front of her. “There’s been a murder, not too far from here. An entire family, found dead in their beds.”
“Shifters?” Josh
asked as he leaned over the newspaper to read for himself. “If it was someone from the pack, I surely would have heard by now.”
Adora felt Matt’s gaze on her, but she was too busy fighting off the nausea to acknowledge him. This propensity toward a weak stomach at the slightest mention of blood or violence could be terribly inconvenient at times.
She felt something warm and calloused touch her shoulder blade and then smooth up her neck. Glancing to her left, she noted Matt appeared engrossed in whatever Josh and Rachel were discussing, yet his hand was on Adora’s neck, massaging…soothing away the nausea. While she had no interest in eating anything at the moment, neither did she think she would lose her cookies, not anymore. Whatever it was about him, Matt’s touch managed to balance her, to ensure she wouldn’t puke all over the pack master’s dining room table.
“Humans,” Rachel announced, pulling Adora back to the conversation at hand. “Not shifters. It’s just shocking when it hits so close to home. Things like this don’t happen in this neighborhood.”
“Death doesn’t care where someone lives,” Tanner commented.
“No, but this sounds like murder. And stereotype or not, this neighborhood does not see a great deal of murders, and certainly not an entire family, all at once, while they’re sleeping,” Rachel said.
Josh furrowed his brow and scanned the rest of the article. “There’s no indication that shifters might be involved,” he said. “It says they all died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Shifters don’t make it a habit to carry around firearms.” He sounded distinctly relieved that the murders were likely not linked to one of his own.
“But they don’t have any leads,” Rachel pointed out. “Which means the murderer is still out there.”
“Which means you are no longer allowed to go anywhere alone until this person is caught,” Josh told her sternly.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “I’m constantly surrounded by big scary shifters. I hardly see a human looking at me as a potential target. They’d take one look at you or Matt or any of the other rather large, muscular men in my presence and run the other way.”
“Large muscular men?” Josh repeated. “You notice other men’s muscles?”
Rachel’s lips twitched as she said solemnly, “No, dear. Only yours.”
Olivia tried to cover a snicker by coughing into her napkin, which prompted a glare from her mate. Matt glanced at Adora, who offered him a weak smile.
“If you guys will excuse us,” Matt said, pushing away from the table and hooking his hand under Adora’s elbow. “We’re going to get out of here for a while.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rachel asked worriedly.
“We’ll be fine,” he assured her. “We have magic, remember? If it’s humans behind these murders, they won’t even be aware of our presence. We don’t plan on staying in human form for long,” he said with a wink for Adora’s benefit.
They walked into the foyer together and Adora said, “I need to go upstairs and get a coat. I’m not used to this cold climate.”
She hurried up the staircase and returned, her typical gauzy, short dress replaced with a pair of fleece pants, a ribbed turtleneck, and a fleece jacket. The heated look in Matt’s eye was one she might have assumed would be reserved for her cutesy, flirty dresses, and she tugged at the zipper on her fleece, uncomfortable with her own errant thoughts.
Thoughts that involved Matt stripping her out of the clothing she’d just donned.
“Much better,” she said, stepping outside into the cool autumn air.
“What’s it like in your homeland?” Matt asked as they walked across the lawn, heading toward the lake.
“Quite tropical, actually. It’s usually eighty degrees or so and the sun is almost always shining. When it does rain, it pours for a short time and then the clouds clear and it is immediately sunny again. Like the plants were all thirsty and demanding drinks, and the sun obliged them but was impatient to return.”
Matt returned the smile she gave him. “Sounds like a great place to vacation.”
Adora laughed. “If only. Unfortunately, only Cupids can reach Cupid’s Plain, and then only in this form.” And with that, she leaped into the air, her translucent wings appearing on her back, beating furiously, until she grew smaller and smaller and then faded into the form of a group of sparkling, glittering lights. The trail of lights wound round and round Matt until he laughed and shifted into the form of an eagle, beating his wings and soaring high in the sky.
A moment later, the trail of lights was by his side, dipping and dancing and having a jolly good time. The eagle let out a great screech and then gave chase, and the trail of lights obligingly zoomed away, staying just out of the bird’s reach.
They played like that for over an hour, letting go of their stresses and worries and undoubtedly giving any humans below an impressive show, as they likely couldn’t even see the sparkling lights, but could clearly see the eagle, which was a rare enough sight without watching it dip and dive and swirl and generally act like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn—in the sky.
Finally, with a nod at the dancing lights, the eagle nosedived toward the ground, and shifted into human form just as he was about to touch the earth. Adora shimmered into human form at his side a moment later, although her wings continued to flutter slowly, keeping her feet dancing an inch or so off the ground.
“That was fun,” she enthused.
“It was,” he agreed. His glowing eyes reaffirmed he had, in fact, thoroughly enjoyed himself. She was unaccountably pleased to have shared something so pleasurable with him.
“And just so you know, I could have caught you at any point.”
She laughed. “I don’t think so.”
They argued good-naturedly as they headed back toward the lake, and the house beyond. Suddenly, Matt grabbed her arm and pushed her up against a tree, effectively trapping her between his back and the tree trunk.
“Did you hear that?” he asked sharply, his gaze darting around, scanning the landscape.
“Yes. It sounded like a noise of distress. Like someone is injured. Over there,” she said, pointing over his right shoulder.
“Stay close,” he ordered, and he set out toward the sound, checking over his shoulder every few seconds to ensure Adora was doing exactly as he said. She was about to point out that she could transform into the shimmering lights again if that would make him feel better, when they came upon Shay, sitting on the ground, a grimace on her face and her hands wrapped around her right ankle.
“Shay,” Matt said in surprise as he immediately relaxed his stance and rushed to her side. “What happened?”
Her grimace intensified. “I fell. I think I twisted my ankle. I wanted to warm up a little, before our hike.” She blushed. “I’m not really into hiking, actually, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t make a fool of myself in front of you.” She waved at the offending ankle. “Now I’ve only made it worse.”
“You aren’t making a fool of yourself. And if you aren’t into hiking, why did you agree to do it with me?”
Her cheeks warmed even more. “Because I got the sense you liked it. And I guess I was trying to impress you.”
Adora stood a few feet away, observing the interaction. Matt, with his sincere concern for Shay’s injury; Shay, with her silk sweater and tight jeans, perfect makeup and hair looking as if she had just returned from the salon. She had been out here practicing for their hiking date? In the exact place where Adora and Matt had been flying and then walking through the woods?
In that getup?
“Why aren’t you wearing hiking boots?” Adora inquired. Matt glanced up at her and back at Shay’s feet, which were encased in a pair of designer boots with three-inch heels.
A flash of irritation crossed Shay’s face, before she smoothed it over and said, “Stupid choice number two, I guess. I’m afraid I’ve ruined our date before it even started.”
“That’s
okay. We can figure out something else to do. Come on, let’s get you back to the house. Hopefully Tanner and Olivia are still there. Olivia’s a healer. She’ll have you set up as good as new in no time.”
Shay shrank away from him as fear skittered across her features. “N—no,” she said hurriedly. “I—Really, I just want to go to my brother’s house. Honestly, I don’t want to waste her time.”
“You’re afraid of her,” Matt said flatly.
Shay blew out a breath. “Okay, maybe a little. I’ve just never seen anyone get healed before. It makes me—it makes me uncomfortable, okay? I know that’s wrong and—”
“Don’t be hard on her, Matt. It is entirely normal to be hesitant around new species, especially if you have been raised to shun them. I can tell you’re getting upset about her opinion of Lightbearers—”
Spurred by an inborn inclination to try to ensure everyone got along, Adora found herself defending the hapless female shifter. It was abundantly clear she was interested in Matt, and Adora’s own irrational jealousy was just that—irrational, because she had developed something of a crush on her handsome assignment. But he was exactly that—an assignment, and she could never forget that. Otherwise, she would never be able to go home again.
“I’m not getting upset,” Matt argued, as if she had insulted him.
“You don’t agree with her reasoning,” Adora pointed out diplomatically. “So therefore you are upset.”
“I’m not—”
“It’s just a twisted ankle,” Shay interrupted. “A little ice and elevation and I’ll be as good as new. Maybe you could help me to your truck and take me to my brother’s house? I’ll be fine, I swear.”
Adora watched the emotions war with themselves on Matt’s face. It was fascinating, really, the array of expressions, each one more handsome than the last. He would make beautiful babies someday. Adora hoped his future mate realized how lucky she was—and she selfishly held out hope that Shay was not the one.
