“Yeah, I figured we were going to have to make a run for it. I don’t really know the best way out of the city though, or where we should go. I mean, with enough distance between us and Emerald Isle, he won’t be able to do anything. I just don’t have any designated crash houses these days.”
Chase shuffled up behind her. Where he had acquired sweat pants, she had no idea, but they rode low on his hips and gave her… urges. Too bad they didn’t have time to act on those urges. He was peering at Vesper, his eyes still blurry. “I have a place. How far can you teleport people?”
He was rewarded with a very condescending expression. “Well that depends. How far do the Heavens reach?”
Rhetorical questions really only worked when all parties knew the answer. Chase knew jack shit about Heaven. “Uh, no idea dude. I think you’d be in a better position to answer that one.” Obviously he knew the answer was basically “I can teleport you as far as you need,” but he couldn’t resist ruffling the angel’s feathers.
Vesper’s face settled into an icy mask of annoyance, his fists clenching and unclenching. “Just tell me where you want to go, you insufferable pain in my ass.”
Chapter Twelve
Chase just stood there, his arm wrapped protectively around Mercy’s shoulders, while his sister did her best to verbally flay him. He couldn’t say anything – she was right, it had been a shitty thing to do. Diana, although four years younger, couldn’t help but keep saving his sorry ass. Getting him out of the Coliseum was just the latest in a series of incidents. He would rush into crazy situations, unconcerned about personal safety, while Diana stood back, watched, and formed a plan. Hopefully now that she’d found her mate, she would start letting him fall on his face a little more. It could be good for both of him.
A voice cut through his thoughts – a very annoyed voice. “You haven’t been listening to a word I’m saying.”
Chase pulled out his best ‘aw shucks’ smile and beamed at his sister. “Of course I have! I’m irresponsible and you’re not rushing in to save me again, or something like that. Right?”
Diana shook her head at him. “I swear, I don’t know why I’ve stuck around all these years. The lecturing ended a good twenty minutes ago. Remember when I said ‘Okay Chase, I’m done with the lectures, we need to talk about something more important’?”
He thought back. There had been something. He’d come out of his daydream, looked at his sister, and then Mercy had walked into the room. And all coherent thought had fled his mind. She was stunning – he had only ever seen her in her fighting garb, naked, or in that terrible slave outfit. Okay, the slave outfit had been great, but he couldn’t get past the context of such a thing.
But now, she looked… normal. Like a happy, well-adjusted woman. Worn blue jeans hugged her legs, and a chunky oversized sweater covered the rest of her. Her hair was loose, messy, and didn’t look like it had any weapons concealed within its tresses. The look was perfect on her, and gave Chase hope that she would be able to get past her terrible past and create a new life. One with stability and love and family. With him.
Diana’s fingers snapping in his face brought him back to reality. Again. “Hellooooo? Earth to Chase? Can you manage to focus for like five minutes?”
Sighing, he fixed his sister with a very pointed gaze. “Yes, most beloved sister. What do you want?”
“You have met our host, and actually noticed, right? Diesel? Tiger shifter? Nice guy? Builds motorcycles? Owns the house we’re staying in free of charge?”
Now she was just being a brat. “Yes, of course I have noticed Diesel. What about him?”
“He’s got issues. Basically he thinks someone has it out for him. Little things. Someone’s been following him. Weird happenings at night – fighting noises, but when he comes out no one is there. Anyways, since we’re new in town, he was wondering if we could snoop around, see if anyone’s talking. You game?”
Chase had, admittedly, gone back to staring at Mercy. But at least this time he listened. Catching his mate’s gaze, he asked her opinion. “What do you think? Wanna go meet the fine upstanding citizens of Hovenweep?”
Mercy clasped her hands to her chest and batted her eyelashes. “Ooo, sounds like fun. I’m definitely going to have to kill some people!”
This earned her a dirty look from her adoring man. “We really need to find you a new hobby. I blame Vesper.”
She frowned, her eyes troubled. “He’s around, right? I’m worried about him. Hasn’t seemed himself lately.”
Chase had a good idea why – all that Catholic guilt was finally boiling over. “Uh, yea, he’s here somewhere. Or he was. I think he just has to… mull a bit. He’ll come around.”
Mercy smiled at him, the worry in her face almost erased. She was too happy to worry about Vesper today. “Yea, you’re probably right. So, we going to go bash some heads? Should I put my armor on?”
Diana shook her head as the pair walked away, Chase fruitlessly trying to explain that a recon mission required less murder and more subtlety. Mercy had better treat her brother right. She seemed genuine, but she WAS a psychotic murderer, after all.
Epilogue
Zelloth leaned back in his chair, fuming over that fucking tiger and his insolent whore. Diesel had been the Coliseum's biggest draw - losing him had hurt. Still though, it didn't feel quite as personal as this did. Chase had escaped, not just once, but had the balls to come back and escape again. It could not be tolerated. Zelloth would get another tiger to fight if it killed him. Unfortunately, all three of the tigers he knew about were now sequestered in the festering hole of a city that was Hovenweep. He would need an army to get them out of there, and even that probably wouldn't be enough. The city itself had a nasty reputation for eating outsiders.
Something was bothering him about the whole situation. It would seem that Draven had been responsible for Diesel's escape, considering that he was hiding out at his place. And since he'd run off immediately following Chase's "death", one could only assume he had a hand in that as well. Diesel was easy though - that succubus bitch had gotten him out, Draven probably just smuggled them out of the city. Well within his talents. Faking someone's death though, that was tricky. And it was an outstanding fake - Zelloth employed the very best doctors to tend to his fighters. The healthier they were, the better they fought. Who would be skilled enough to craft that caliber of death spell?
Of course. Draven's brother was a renowned scientist, who studied exclusively shifters. He also had a goddess who hung around his lab - Hecate. Witch. Together, they would certainly be able to come up with such a spell.
Word on the street was that the Isoba twins hated each other. Zelloth wondered why Theron would have helped his brother. Maybe because he felt some empathy for an enslaved tiger? Maybe because Draven had some choice blackmail material? The tiger shifter gene wasn't passed on by birth, but it wasn't unheard of for two family members to have it. Besides, the Alpha tiger's main goal was to amuse himself - he might have thought it funny to curse twins that hated each other.
Even if Theron wasn't a tiger that he could force into the pit, Zelloth was angry enough with Draven that he would delight in anything that might hurt him. If the brothers were cooperating enough to free his slaves, there might be some affection there. He would capture Theron, and he would make someone pay.
* * *
Lily paused in her methodical dusting, wondering for the umpteenth time why she chose to hang around this place and read the incubus' twisted mind. She sighed, knowing full well why she did it. For occasions just like this, when she discovered something that might save another. Not that they would listen to her. The magic beings might think they'd drawn the shortest stick in this new world, but they had no idea what it was like to be a G.H.O.S.T.
Oh well - if she warned the guy and he refused to listen, she could still sleep easy at night. She did her part to save these naive fools, the rest was on them.
Time to track down Theron Isoba. A large part o
f her really hoped he wasn't a tiger. Something about shifters freaked her out. Then again, a mad scientist with the witch-goddess as backup could be much, much worse than a tiger.
Sighing even louder, she trudged down the stairs, headed for the dark city streets.
Ready For More?
The Hunt isn’t over, not by a long shot. The next book in Cass’s Emerald Isle Tigers is Scholar. It’s the story of Theron and Lily, and their journey to find happily ever after…
An Excerpt From Scholar…
Lily ignored the fact that the kid and Hecate were now staring at her, no doubt do to her reaction to the snake, and let her eyes land on the object of her mission. Theron. One of the privileged elite, mad scientist, friend to Gods, and possible crazy tiger shifter. And holy shiiiit, definitely one of the hottest men she had ever seen.
She let her mouth hang open a bit, not really caring if he noticed. She could always erase his memories if it got too embarrassing. Seriously, the dude was smokin’.
Dark hair was cut in messy waves, giving him that irresistible “just rolled out of bed” look. He seemed like the kind of guy who would keep his hair criminally short, to avoid the boyish look that came along with overly-long locks. But then, there were dark circles under his eyes and a definite aura of weariness about him; maybe he just hadn’t had time to get it cut lately.
Speaking of his aura, it was intensely gold. Of course. Shifter, through and through. Of course, she couldn’t tell what he would shift into from his aura – maybe it would be something cute and little and harmless?
Lily knew it was bad to lie, even to yourself, but if she let herself think about the fact that this man was a terrifying predator, she would just run screaming. Better to go back to ogling his body.
He was tall, had at least a foot on her petite five foot two. If he wanted to kiss her, she would have to go on tip toes, and even then he’d have to stoop…
Not that I want to kiss him. Lily tried to get her thoughts in line. She absolutely did not come here merely to jump the bones of the guy she was trying to save. Even though it would feel so good to run her hands down those hard biceps, and press her lips against his… Stop it. She mentally slapped herself. Even if she did want to get involved, she knew she didn’t have a chance in hell. Dude was obviously shacking up with a sexy-as-sin goddess. And Lily was the last person who wanted to get involved with a goddess’ plaything. She would do what she came here for and get out. Hopefully he wouldn’t just blow her off, but if he did, so be it.
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All The Amelie Hunt Presents Series
Ophelia Bell’s Black Mountain Bears
Clawed
Bitten
Nailed
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Howl
Growl
Prowl
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Spark
Ember
Blaze
Maeve Morrick’s Arctic Station Bears
Snowbound
Snowman
Snowfall
Cass Reynold’s Emerald Isle Tigers
Scoundrel
Soldier
Scholar
About Cass Reynolds
Cass Reynolds is the author of the Emerald Isle Tigers series.
Cassidy is a paranormal romance author who wants to write urban fantasy when she grows up. When she's not writing, she can probably be found reading a book, making desserts, or playing fetch with her kitten. Yep. The cat plays fetch.She was a military brat growing up, which instilled a severe case of wanderlust in her soul. Her favorite authors include Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, and Lisa Kleypas. She writes in a poor attempt to transcribe her daydreams in the hopes that they will entertain others as much as they entertain her.
For more information….
@cassidywrites
AuthorCassReynolds
cassreynolds.com
[email protected]
About Amelie Hunt
Amelie Hunt is the hottest new purveyor of sexy shifter stories. Feisty, passionate, and romantic, Amelie draws on the best paranormal romance authors to bring you incredible tales of sexy shapeshifters, star crossed lovers, and hard-fought happily ever afters. With five incredible series under her belt, Amelie’s always on the prowl for something new, spicy, and sweet to bring her devoted readers...
For more information, find Amelie online!
@ameliehunt
authorameliehunt
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Soldier (Emerald Isle Tigers Book 2) Page 5
