Topaz Goes Downunder (Jewels Cafe Book 18)

by J. E. Cluney

  “Damn, multiple mates. Heard that was a thing in some species, didn’t think it would be for you guys though,” Kev whistled.

  “There was a botched spell involved,” Darcy murmured.

  “How’d you all meet?” Lachy asked.

  “I’ve been friends with T since we were young, Tyler used to bully us actually back at school, guess he outgrew it. He was actually meant to become T’s mate when she turned twenty-one, back when we thought he was still a dick. One hell of a mess there,” Darcy clucked his tongue as he remembered how this all started on my birthday.

  “What was this botched spell?” Kev asked, intrigued by the idea.

  “We found out a latte got spelled with a mating potion, Topaz drank it. Ended up with all three of us mated to her,” Darcy summed it up quickly.

  “Damn, bet that was a mindfuck,” Lachy chuckled. “What about you, how’d you guys meet?” he turned to Jackson.

  “They hit me with their car,” Jackson stated, causing Lachy’s eyes to widen before he began laughing madly. Even Kevin was chortling away.

  “You guys are one weird little bunch, aren’t you? Mated to your bully, damn, didn’t see Tyler being like that,” Kev sighed once he’d regained his composure.

  “He changed,” I murmured as I checked my phone for the millionth time. No response.

  “Yeah, he grew up,” Darcy agreed.

  “So, three guys, one chick. How does that work anyway?” Lachy mused.

  “How you’d expect it to,” Darcy smirked.

  Kev and Lachy went dead silent, and I just knew their minds were reeling as they pictured countless scenarios.

  “I mean, I guess there’s three holes…” Kev muttered.

  “She’s got hands too,” Lachy murmured.

  I couldn’t contain my stupid grin as I listened to them murmur away as they shared their thoughts on how it would work while Lachy piped up to give directions.

  “We sometimes share, sometimes take turns,” Jackson finally said when Lachy started suggesting maybe I took two in the one canal.

  Yeah, like I’d fit two dicks in my…

  “Damn, and you’re all okay with that?” Kev asked, his brow furrowed.

  “We have to be,” Darcy said firmly.

  “Well, can’t say I’d share Kira,” Kev stated. “Nah, definitely wouldn’t.”

  “It’s not that bad, me and this friend of mine both did this hot blonde Sheila, I mean, it was a little weird, since she was on all four and he was doing her from behind while she sucked me off, you know, trying not to look at each other while doing it. Seeing another man orgasm though, definitely interesting,” Lachy shared his experience, and I turned to look back at him with an arched eyebrow.

  “Yeah, that’d be weird, do you guys find it weird?” Kev asked.

  “Again, no, we’re fine with it all,” Darcy sighed as he shot me a defeated look.

  Well, speak for himself. Tyler still had some issues.

  “Actually, there was this other time — right here — where a chick I was dating wanted a threesome. Fuck, can’t believe I forgot about it, guess I really didn’t want to remember the balls in my face…” Lachy trailed off as he got lost in thought, and Kev looked rather concerned for his friend.

  I was a little curious about why he had balls in his face to begin with.

  “Right here, on the left!” Lachy suddenly said, and Darcy had to slam on the brakes a little too hard to slip into the driveway.

  “A little warning next time,” Darcy growled as he shut the engine off.

  “Sorry,” Lachy said sheepishly as he undid his seatbelt.

  I clambered out of the SUV, waiting for Lachy and Kev to lead the way.

  “He’s a good guy, just a little… eccentric,” Lachy said with an odd smile.

  I shot Darcy a concerned look, but we followed the pair to the front door.

  Weed.

  Yep, that was the odd scent I’d caught when I’d climbed out of the car, and now that we were at the front door, it was stronger.

  Great, our witch was high.

  Lachy knocked on the door, and I heard the chuckles from within as someone stumbled to the door.

  “You sure this guy can help us?” Jackson asked in disbelief as the door swung open.

  Dear God, mother of Mary.

  This witch was high as a kite, eyes bloodshot, stinking of weed and grinning ear-to-ear.

  “Evan!” Lachy greeted the witch with a big hug, and the witch beamed at all of us.

  “Hey guys, you brought friends, come on in, help yourselves to food,” Evan beckoned us in, and I scrunched up my nose as I tried to ignore the stench of weed.

  “Actually, Evan, we need a hand with something,” Lachy said quickly as Evan plopped onto the couch and dug into a bag of crisps.

  “If it’s getting you some magic mushies, no can do, they cracked down on that,” Evan stated as he shoved a handful of chips into his mouth.

  “Nah, but that sucks,” Kev muttered.

  “No, we need you to track a phone,” Lachy said as Evan picked up a brownie from his plate on the coffee table. There was an assortment of snacks on the table, but I had a sneaking suspicion they weren’t normal brownies either.

  “Why, Brenda ignoring your calls again?” Evan chuckled.

  “Nah, we split, caught her cheating,” Lachy stated.

  “Ouch. Bitches man,” Evan sighed, before shooting me an apologetic look. “No offense.”

  “None taken,” I murmured.

  This was a terrible idea. This guy was not going to be of any help to us, not like this.

  At least he had the air-con on in the house.

  “So, whose phone is it?” Evan asked as he wiped the brownie crumbs off his tank top and stood up. His ashy brown hair was a mess, and he looked like he’d slept in the top and denim shorts.

  “Her boyfriend’s. He went missing,” Lachy flicked his head at me.

  “Damn, think he’s up to no good?” Evan smirked.

  “No, I think something went wrong, we’re on holiday,” I said as I folded my arms, fighting off the need to get cranky with this pothead.

  Tyler wasn’t unfaithful, and the fact that this stranger was insinuating it pissed me off.

  “Well, guess I can find him, what’s his number?” Evan sighed as he reached for a can of coke as Lachy sat down on the couch beside him and helped himself to some crisps.

  I gave him the number, which he punched into his own phone before sitting the phone on the table.

  “Give me a minute,” Evan said as he rose and headed off down the hall.

  “You brought us to a pothead?” Darcy said in disbelief.

  “Weed isn’t that bad, besides, he’s good at witch stuff,” Lachy said with a shrug as he reached for a brownie.

  Kev snorted at this, and I ignored the pair as I waited for Evan to return.

  Minutes ticked by, and I clenched my teeth as I checked my phone yet again.

  I dialed Tyler, cursing as it didn’t even go to voicemail. His phone was probably dead.

  Great. Could Evan even track it if it was dead?

  “Where is he?” I growled.

  “I’ll see what he’s doing,” Kev sighed as he headed off down the hall.

  I couldn’t help it, I followed after him, curiosity and stress winning out.

  “What are you doing?” Kev asked as he stepped into the kitchen.

  “Potions,” Evan muttered.

  I just blinked in the dim lighting, the curtains drawn as Evan shuffled around the kitchen chaotically.

  “What about tracking the phone?” Kev reminded him nicely.

  “I’m on it, just needed a few things,” Evan said softly as he picked up a bowl of assorted ingredients he’d put together. Herbs, powders, odd things that I didn’t recognize.

  “I’ve got some other potions brewing that I had to check too,” he explained as he quickly stirred a boiling pot on the stove and sniffed another that was simmering with an odd purp
le smoke.

  He then headed back out, and Kev just shrugged at me before following the odd little witch.

  I rejoined the others in the living room, and remained quiet as Evan set up his ingredients on the table and mixed a few in the bowl.

  He then dialed Tyler’s number on his phone, held his hand over it, and closed his eyes.

  “He’s on Tibro,” Evan finally said with a perplexed look.

  “What the fuck is a Tibro?” I demanded.

  “It’s a mountain,” Kev answered.

  “He’s on a fucking mountain?!” I gaped.

  Of course he was on a mountain. Why not? Tyler fucking Harrison. So help me, I was going to castrate him when we found him.

  Why a mountain?

  “It’s about forty minutes from here, I’ll show you how to get there,” Kev offered.

  “Why is he on a mountain?” Jackson muttered.

  “Because he’s a dickhead, that’s why,” Darcy growled.

  “Guess someone’s going to be in a bit of trouble,” Evan smirked. “Hope you find him safe.”

  My stomach tightened at this, and I thanked him, oddly impressed that he’d actually come through for us.

  I watched as he found a Playstation controller under the pillow next to him and switched the console on.

  Guess that was our cue to leave.

  As we headed back to the car, I prayed Tyler was just on a dumb little adventure.

  Not something worse.

  7

  Jackson.

  Topaz was really worried. She was normally so laidback, but I’d noticed she’d been getting more stressed lately and on edge.

  Maybe that time of the month was coming. That would make sense. Her emotions always went funny around then.

  But I could’ve sworn she’d had her period just before we left.

  Yep, she definitely had, because I distinctly remembered her crying on the kitchen floor because the microwave stopped working and she wanted to melt the icing on a piece of mud cake.

  Tyler had found it funny, which had only made it worse, and I’d had to sit on the floor and hold her while Darcy used a lighter to melt the icing.

  I was sure Tyler would be fine. He’d just gone off on his own. Although I knew Topaz was going to lose her shit when we did finally find him.

  Going missing at home is one thing, but going missing on a holiday in a foreign country? Yeah, not good.

  To be honest, he’d never really gone missing at home either.

  Well, there was that one time which we hadn’t told Topaz about.

  When she’d stayed with her mother for a few days due to her being sick, and Tyler had gotten hammered when we’d had friends over.

  We’d found him naked in the woods almost a mile from the house.

  But a mountain? This was a whole new level, and it made me wonder if it was just a little unplanned adventure.

  “Doesn’t anyone have the number for the Bruce guy?” I spoke up. I had a feeling we’d already asked the kangaroo pair earlier, but I just wanted to be sure.

  “Nope, no one knew him, just happened to join our little camp last night,” Lachy admitted.

  Topaz glanced at him from the front seat, and from the thin line of her mouth, I knew she was unimpressed by our companions.

  Not to mention Lachy had eaten those brownies, and I was sure they were starting to affect him now as he peered out the window.

  Darcy turned the radio on when an uncomfortable silence fell over us, and I stared out the window, hoping Tyler hadn’t gotten himself into any trouble.

  Just what we’d need on our holiday.

  8

  “Which mountain?” I asked as the Glasshouse Mountains came into view. That’s what Kev and Lachy had called them. At least they weren’t huge mountains.

  “The one that looks like a gorilla,” Lachy said as he pointed out the window at it.

  “Right,” I murmured. He wasn’t wrong, it did look kinda like a gorilla.

  But where on earth was Tyler on it? Maybe Evan should’ve been more specific.

  Lachy gave directions to get us to the foot of the mountain to the walking trail, and I was grateful I’d thrown on my sneakers with my shorts and top.

  We pulled up, and I scowled at the high fencing all around the base of the path. No other cars were in the area, just us.

  “Looks like it’s closed,” Kev pointed out as we climbed out of the SUV.

  “You don’t say,” I muttered.

  “Closed for maintenance for a few months. Honestly, the amount of people who fall and die should’ve had this closed years ago,” Lachy mused as he read the large sign on the fencing.

  “Well, we still need to find Tyler,” Jackson said as he began stripping down.

  “What are you doing?” Lachy asked, bewildered.

  “Easiest way to track him is by scent,” Jackson stated.

  He was right, we knew Tyler’s scent, and in our shifted forms, we’d find him quickly.

  “Right, well, you guys do that, we’ll follow. Make sure no one sees you though,” Lachy said quickly.

  I stripped down, ignoring how Lachy shot me a glance as I yanked my top off before slowly looking away.

  Some men just couldn’t help themselves.

  I shifted, my body cracking and changing as my orange and black fur sprouted forth.

  Darcy shifted too once he’d pulled the fencing open, which was rather easy since it was mounted on small cement blocks and some parts weren’t actually joined together.

  We slipped through, the two kangaroo shifters following after us.

  We spread out, sniffing and searching the area, trying to lock onto a scent.

  So many unrecognizable scents of wildlife and plants, but I ignored them, sifting through all the scents as I searched for the one I knew well.

  We started up the trail, weaving and padding around with our heads low.

  Jackson snarled from up ahead, and Darcy and I bounded over, drawing in the familiar scent.

  Tyler.

  Thank God, he was actually here.

  I took off, following the dirt trail as I drew in his scent.

  Fuck, it was hot, especially with all this fur.

  The earth was a little too warm beneath my pads, and I stuck to the shade if I could as I followed the scent.

  Darcy and Jackson bounded after me, and I knew the pair of kangaroo shifters were jogging somewhere behind us to keep up.

  The path grew steep, and I grew more cautious as I carefully made my way after Tyler.

  There was another scent here too, familiar.

  The shark shifter? It did smell like the ocean a bit. And tuna.

  I panted as the sun beat down on me, and I wished one of us had had the foresight to bring some ice-cold water.

  Or maybe I’d come across a small rock-pool or something. A refreshing swim in this heat would be perfect.

  But even though I was hot and thirsty, the nagging feeling that something was wrong kept me focused on Tyler.

  I faltered in my step as the scent suddenly grew weak, and I circled the area, sniffing the ground and looking for his trail once more.

  Darcy nudged me gently and made a soft sound of uncertainty as the two kangaroo shifters caught up, panting and sweaty.

  Jackson paced around, his sleek black coat glistening in the sun as he panted and drew in air.

  He moved off the track, searching around before snarling once more.

  I joined him, finding Tyler’s scent strong here.

  Jackson took the lead this time, and Darcy and I followed after him, making our way through the shrubs and bushes, our paws slipping on the steep, uneven rocks.

  We came out into a clearing of large rocks, and Jackson carefully made his way over them quickly as I kept right behind him.

  Jackson lurched backwards, bumping into me and making me growl softly.

  Until I looked past him and my heart nearly exploded.

  Tyler’s scent was strong here.

/>   Right at the edge of a cliff.

  Jackson nudged forward and peered over the edge, and I carefully eased forward to have a look as well.

  Fuck, it was a long way down.

  My breath caught as I spied the body, and my heart began hammering.

  God no, please…

  Jackson roared, and Tyler groaned and turned his head, a wave of relief flooding through me. He was alive. Although I had no idea if he was hurt.

  But how on earth were we going to get to him? He was on a ledge at least six yards below. How had he gotten there?

  Maybe we could climb down? No. Too steep.

  One wrong move and we’d miss the ledge and fall to our deaths.

  Fuck.

  I backed up with Darcy and Jackson, finding that the two kangaroo shifters had followed after us.

  We shifted back, and Kev offered us our clothing which he’d shoved in a plastic bag. Guess he’d thought ahead.

  We quickly dressed as Lachy asked what was going on.

  “He’s on a ledge, I’ll go see if I can talk to him. We can’t reach him though,” Jackson said as he ran a weary hand through his sweaty hair.

  “We could call SES? They handle rescues on the mountains all the time,” Lachy suggested.

  “He’s a shifter, better not risk it,” Kev said quickly, and Lachy grimaced before nodding.

  “Let me come too,” I said as I lurched after Jackson.

  “Nope, too risky. You stay here, I don’t want you so close to the edge,” Jackson murmured as he caught me and gave me a sweet kiss on the forehead.

  “Maybe I don’t want you so close to the edge,” I murmured.

  “I’ll be fine, you guys figure out how to get him up here,” Jackson said gently as he tucked my hair behind my ears.

  A soft breeze was coursing through the area, although it did little to fight off the sweltering heat.

  I watched after Jackson, my heart in my throat.

  God, why were we on a goddamn mountain? I hated heights.

  No, scratch that. I hated falling.

  “Well, we could go get some rope,” Kev suggested. “Pull him up.”

  “That’ll be a long way back down the mountain, then getting rope. He’ll need water too in the meantime,” Darcy sighed as he massaged the bridge of his nose.

  I listened to them debate on what to do while also listening to Jackson calling out to Tyler. He was not getting much of a response it seemed.