by A. C. Arthur
Minutes later, after they’d just begun to gather their wits, Nivea rolled off of him as they were startled by the loud voice coming from the television. Apparently when they’d come out of the bathroom from their earlier shower, their hands and mouths still affixed to each other, they’d forgotten to clean off the bed. The television remote control was what Nivea had rolled over when she’d moved, turning on the TV unintentionally.
“The Advanced Technology of Defense Convention seems to come to the capital at a time when defense discussions are most needed. With the recent uptick in violence throughout the city and the continental U.S., it is apparent that we are not doing everything we should to protect our citizens from our own, not to mention not protecting us from international threats. Hopefully, this weekend’s joining of top defense experts will develop some new strategy to the unknown evil that has recently plagued our streets.”
They’d both paused and listened to the reporter standing outside of the Gaylord National Convention Center located at D.C.’s National Harbor. As she spoke there was a huge banner advertising the ATD National Conference—a conference to discuss defense techniques with all the world leaders.
“Oh no,” she whispered, sitting up in the bed.
“Oh yes,” Eli followed, rising up beside her. “That’s what this has all been leading up to. It’s why those hybrids are here and most likely so is Crowe.”
“He’s going to sell the hybrids to the highest bidder,” Nivea continued, a hand raking through her hair.
Eli nodded. “And Boden will finally get his chance at revenge.”
“Boden?”
“Yeah.” Eli sighed. “He’s the middleman. Dammit! I should have seen it sooner. Crowe doesn’t have the resources to pay Cannon for the shifter specimens. Hell, he wouldn’t have even had a clue as to where to get them. Only someone—only a shifter—would have known about the children being taken from the Gungi. And only a sadistic shifter with a grudge against the entire tribe would know what was going on with those children and not open his mouth or try to save them. He would hold that information until it was of use to him, until … the time was right.”
“I don’t understand,” Nivea said.
“Boden had a box delivered to my shop with a necklace that was meant for his mate, Acacia. She’s the Lormenian that Ezra and I were involved with. I told the others about the necklace, but I didn’t mention the note that was also inside. He said the unveiling was coming soon.”
Nivea was no longer looking at the television, but was staring directly at Eli now. “The unveiling of what? The hybrids?” she asked.
“The unveiling of the Shadow Shifters,” Eli told her, the vision flashing through his mind as plainly as if it had just been on the TV screen. “He plans to tell the world about us and take out as many of the Shadows as he can so that he will become the new leader. That would be the ultimate revenge for what the Elders did to him so long ago.”
“Then he would become the rogue leader,” Nivea added.
Eli shook his head. “Not as long as I live,” he told her with a certainty that had his cat roaring deep inside.
* * *
This time in the conference room, Eli did not stand behind Rome. He was sitting next to Nick, Nivea on his left. Ezra sat across from his brother, X on his right, Caprise next to him. Rome and Kalina were at the head of the table. Baxter and Elder Alamar both sat at the other end of the table. Priya and Bas were there in person this time. Jace and Cole were on speaker.
“How is Boden Estevez connected to Crowe and these hybrids?” Nick asked.
Eli shook his head. “I believe he’s the one that connected Cannon to Comastaz.”
“So Crowe could get the shifters and the money he needed to continue with the Genesis Project,” Rome added, solidifying what Eli had told Ezra the night they’d rescued Nivea’s sisters—that Rome and Nick had gotten some information out of Cannon, but hadn’t told them.
“Right,” Eli said, deciding now was definitely not the time to question the Leader about his tactics. “But Boden’s no middleman. He’s in charge, of this operation at least. My thought is that all of this spawns from the fact that a dominant shifter like Boden would hold a grudge against the Elders and the tribe for running him out of the jungle. He would want to get back at them, just as he’d want to get back at Ezra and me for what he feels we took from him as well.”
“So whoever helped my father escape did so for a reason. I’m guessing they needed him to get more unwanteds so they would be prepared for Boden’s big showdown,” Nivea added when everyone in the room was looking at Eli, trying to digest all that he’d just told them.
Eli and Nivea had been up most of the night talking about how they would approach the Assembly Leader and lay out the plan they had to thwart whatever efforts Boden and Crowe planned to make at the conference. He waited a beat for any questions or comments, but they all remained silent.
“It makes perfect sense that Crowe will be at the ATD conference this weekend,” Eli continued, looking at X. “Can we check with the hotel to find out who is registered to attend?”
“Maybe not the hotel since the attendees are bound to be high-level security officials, U.S. and foreign. They may not even be privy to that information. I’d have to reach out to someone at the Department of Defense maybe,” X told him. “But what Crowe is doing may be totally off the grid. This isn’t something he would keep to himself. A hybrid supersoldier would draw bids from all across the world.”
“So the bastard has an auction planned at a national event. Clever sonofabitch,” Nick added.
“Not clever enough,” Nivea told them. “They have no idea that we know about this convention or their plan. We have the upper hand.”
“So what do we do now? Do we try to stop Crowe before this event starts?” Jace asked.
Priya, who had been typing on her tablet while they talked, looked up then and added, “The Gaylord has two thousand rooms. Its atrium overlooks the Potomac River. Three thousand, one hundred and twenty-three people are expected to attend the ATD conference. There are also two weddings booked for this weekend, which will probably bring in another thousand guests. Collateral damage would be huge.”
“It’s exactly what Boden wants,” Eli said. “Thousands of people, humans, to see what he wants them to see about us.”
“He’s a shifter too,” Cole interjected.
“He is a rogue,” Elder Alamar replied. “He should have died years ago.”
“Like the unwanteds,” Rome said slowly. “The Elders ordered him killed and he survived to come back years later and threaten all that we have built. You segregated him because he was different and instead of protecting the tribes from him, you left us all vulnerable to the monster you created. He can hurt us more than anyone else because he knows exactly what we are and what we’re capable of. He also knows our weaknesses, which he plans to exploit.”
“What are you saying?” Alamar asked, flattening his palms on the table.
“He’s saying you fucked up!” Nick said, frowning as Rome gave him a warning glare.
“The Elders protected the tribes in the forest the best way they knew how,” Baxter began quietly. “The rules are different in the forest than in the States. I admit they realized that too late.”
“Good of you to admit it,” Nick chimed in again.
“That’s enough,” Rome said this time.
“We know now that unity is key. Magdalena has already predicted that you will need to band together to get through this,” Baxter insisted.
“Magdalena is also in the forest,” Rome said. “If we’re going to rely on any Seer’s powers and predictions, it’s going to be Eli’s.”
There was silence once again in the room. Nivea reached for Eli’s hand as he watched the other faces in the room, hoping the announcement was well received. Then again, Eli didn’t really give a damn how anyone accepted the announcement. It was simple, he was a Seer. He had embraced that fact as well as h
is mate. Anybody who didn’t like that could go straight to hell, exactly where he planned to send Boden’s sorry ass.
Still, when Cole replied with an enthusiastic, “Amen to that!” Eli relaxed a little.
“The conference begins tonight,” he said, getting back to the business at hand.
Not that he dismissed the wrongdoings of their ancestors, or the right they probably assumed they were doing. It happened in history over and over again. Leaders made decisions based on the information they had at the time, the remedies the situation call for in that moment. Years later, the next generation had to deal with the fallout. It was what it was and now they would do what they needed to do.
“We’re not going to have a chance to strike before it begins. I think we need to find out the schedule, figure out when and where Crowe is likely to appear, and meet him head-on.”
“And what about Boden?” Ezra asked, his expression that of restrained rage. “When do we get a chance at his ass?”
Eli shook his head. “I know that he’s planning something, I just can’t pinpoint what. I can’t see it, but I feel it.”
All eyes were on him now as the new Seer. They probably wanted to rely on his visions now, to be guided or forewarned by them. But Eli hadn’t had one of this particular incident and he’d convinced himself that it was better not to try and force it. He would wait to see what would come to him, letting his senses do what they needed to get him the information that was required to help the shifters.
“He will be there,” Eli said with confidence. “What he will do I do not know. We just need to be prepared. And once we take Boden and Crowe down, the rest of the Genesis Project will crumple.”
“We should go in heavy,” Nivea began, squeezing Eli’s hand beneath the table. “Four teams on Crowe, four ready for Boden, and additional backup for the unexpected. Everyone should be versed in how to take down the hybrids and whether or not to take Crowe dead or alive. We need to hit hard and fast to keep exposure to a minimum.”
“There’s a picture of the lion found at the police station on YouTube,” Priya told them. “Three-million-plus views already.”
Nick cursed.
“She’s right. We go in hard and fast, conceal what we can but remain focused on the ultimate goal of taking Boden down once and for all. As for Crowe, we take his sorry ass alive because he’s a human,” Kalina stated. “There’s really no other choice.”
Caprise nodded. “I agree.”
Rome had visibly flinched as Kalina talked about the plan and Eli knew exactly what the shifter was feeling. He’d felt it too each time he’d looked at Nivea and known without any doubt that she planned to be a part of this battle, regardless of how he felt about it.
“Baxter, send the jet for Jace and Cole. I want them here ASAP. Bas, Nick, and X will work with Eli to sort out the teams. Ezra, you and the Sanchez brothers get down to the Gaylord and familiarize yourself with the layout. Priya or X can get you blueprints I’m sure. I’ll meet you down in the training center in half an hour,” Rome said, standing from his seat, his hand extended to Kalina.
She looked at him with mild questioning, but stood anyway, taking his hand. When Rome was gone, Nick’s heated glare went to the end of the table where Baxter and Elder Alamar still sat.
“You two are something else,” he said. “All this time you’ve known that this day would come and you never thought to tell any of us. Aren’t you supposed to be overseeing Rome’s safety? How could you let this sneak up on him?” Nick asked Baxter.
The older, thinner man stood slowly, squaring his shoulders as he met Nick’s tumultuous glare.
“I have done everything in my power to prepare him for this very day. That was my job all along. You, of all people, should not doubt him now,” Baxter said vehemently.
Nick stood then as well, Ezra immediately standing beside him.
“I don’t doubt Rome for one minute, nor do I doubt what this newly formed Assembly can and will do in the face of danger. But I would have never kept this from him. Part of the preparation should have been to tell him that this would one day become an issue.”
“That is not how life works, Mr. Nick,” Baxter said in his solemn yet authoritative voice. “I have watched the three of you grow and learn, make mistakes, and grow some more. That is what life is all about. This situation will take Mr. Roman to another level.”
“It may get him killed,” Caprise added quietly. “Did anyone ever think of that? Rome will no doubt want to fight right along with his guards. What will happen if he is killed? What if this is Boden’s ultimate goal? He would not only rule the rogues, but all of the shifters worldwide.”
Nivea nodded. “That should be one of our main priorities: protecting the Assembly Leader at all costs while we are on the battlefield.”
“I’ve always guarded Rome with my life,” Eli stated firmly. “Nothing will change that.”
“And Nick and I have always had his back. That stays the same,” X added.
“You must think and act as one,” Alamar spoke loudly. “Every plan you make, every step you take, as one, united. Or you shall all founder.”
The older man left, the material of his billowing black robe swishing around his legs with each step. He left the room and Baxter followed at a much slower gait. The others simply looked after them and then to each other.
“Training center in thirty,” Nick said sternly. “I have to make sure Ary and Shya are safe here. I’ll speak to Rome about moving the females down to the tunnels.”
“I’m going with you,” Caprise told X as they neared the door.
He turned on her quickly, his face a rigid frown. Then she shook her head as if to say “don’t even try it” and X stormed out, his beautiful and courageous mate behind him.
Eli stood, staring at the door, the intensity of Nivea’s gaze almost burning holes in his back.
“I know you plan to fight with us,” he said without turning around. He inhaled deeply, letting the thought of her going into this dangerous situation cement itself in his mind. He didn’t like it. His cat didn’t like it. His heart thumped wildly at the memory of his dream where she was attacked and killed … by Boden.
“I want you to fight by my side,” he told her, the words coming slowly and unsteadily.
When she touched a hand to his shoulder, Eli warmed instantly, his heart stilling a beat.
“I would be honored to fight by your side, Eli,” she said. “And I will protect you with my life.”
Eli turned quickly then, taking her face in his hands. “Do not leave my side and do not do anything foolish. Do you hear me, Nivea? Just don’t even think about it! If something were to happen to you … if you didn’t make it through this … just—”
Nivea kissed his lips to silence his words. “I’m going to make it through this, Eli, and so are you and all the other Shadows. This is what we’ve been trained for, what we do. We will protect the humans and the Shadows. We will be successful. I promise.”
* * *
“It’s probably for the best,” Ary told Kalina as they sat at the smaller conference room table in the suite she shared with Rome.
“I know it is, but I don’t have to like it,” she replied. “I’m as much a part of this Assembly as anyone else and I’m trained in gun battle.”
“And you are the First Female of the Assembly and carrying the first heir,” Ary said matter-of-factly. “Not to mention the twenty-seven stitches currently healing at your side.”
Kalina sat back in the chair, still not liking the situation but knowing that Ary’s words were only solidifying what her mate had already told her.
“You will not fight, Kalina. And that is all,” Rome had said the moment they’d entered their suite. When she’d opened her mouth to reply he’d silenced her with an urgent kiss that relayed all the fear and trepidation he was feeling at that very moment. Even if she’d thought she had a leg to stand on, she hadn’t wanted to argue with him, not at that moment.
&
nbsp; Nick, Ary, X, and Caprise had come in minutes later and the consensus had been the same. Ary and Shya would stay with Kalina. Jax would take them to the tunnels that had been completed just a couple of weeks ago. They ran beneath Havenway and into Alexandria. There were provisions and space in the tunnels for at least a thousand shifters to live temporarily. The cabinets were stocked with food and health supplies, there were generators and sewage lines and everything they had above ground.
The others would go to National Harbor and defend the shifters’ secret. Kalina knew it was the right thing to do but hated that she would miss all the action. Still sulking, she reached into the pocket of the jacket she’d been wearing to answer the buzzing of her cell phone. Her lips spread into an instant smile when she read the words: Eli and I are going to be joined!
* * *
“I thought you didn’t believe in mates and joining,” Ezra said as he was once again in Eli’s room handing him another bow tie.
It was pink this time, a color that Eli would have never picked out for himself. But after Nivea had stopped hugging him so tightly he thought he might not breathe normally again, she’d said she had a great pink dress to wear and that he should find something to match it. They were pressed for time and needed to be in the training center in half an hour, but with all they were facing, after all that they’d both been through, there was no way Eli was going to tell her she couldn’t have what she wanted, no way in hell.
Eli and Nivea had been coming from the conference room holding hands, when he’d suddenly stopped moving. He could hear Nivea calling his name but it sounded like she was a distance away instead of right beside him. Then he was surrounded by trees and the call of toucans and the laughter of monkeys. There was no sunlight and the air was damp, the crisp, fresh scent of the water cascading over the rocks. He’d taken a step, a branch cracking beneath his feet.
