by Welsh, Hope
“Okay, let’s go through what’s up here. This place gives me the willies,” Cole joked, hoping to take her mind off things. He gave a very exaggerated shiver.
It worked. Lana chuckled. “Right. I’ll start over here, and you can start over there,” she said, pointing.
Lana had made the comment that her mother had been a bit OCD, but he didn’t think that would make their search much easier. Organized or not, he didn’t imagine she would go as far as to label a box ‘Secret things I don’t want anyone seeing’. He could hope, though, couldn’t he?
Fifteen minutes and eight boxes later, Cole found something of interest in a box labeled ‘Junk’. He turned to look at Lana, who sat cross-legged with a box of photos in front of her and one photo in her hand. She had probably forgotten their reason for being here, but he didn’t have the heart to chide her for it. “Lana,” he said, his tone soft.
She set the photo down and turned to look at him questioningly, her eyes misty.
“I think I found something. It looks like a journal,” he said as he carried it over to her. If it turned out to be a journal, then that made it private, and he’d let Lana have a first go at it. She would tell him if anything seemed off or wrong. Plus, if he asked, he knew she’d let him read it.
Lana held her hand out for the journal and traced a finger over the intricate design on the cover. “I didn’t know she kept one still. She had mentioned starting one after she got pregnant with me and kept writing in it for a few years after my birth. But she used to tease me by saying I was such a little terror, she hadn’t had much time for one after I turned three.”
He could see that. His mom would tease him in a similar manner. He watched her open the small book and start to read and it was obvious she was no longer paying attention to him. While she read, he continued looking for anything else he thought might be of interest. For all he knew, she could have filled pages with writing about her cravings or morning sickness. As much as he loved women and wanted to find out more about them, some things a man just didn’t need to know about. Even he wasn’t brave enough to venture into territory that dangerous unprotected.
While Lana occupied herself by studying her mother’s journal, Cole continued searching the boxes, hoping to find some clue as to why she’d obviously kept the room a secret from Lana.
“What exactly is it that you’re doing, Cole?” she asked when he started to make banging sounds.
“Just looking for secret doors or panels,” he said. The look she gave him made him feel foolish. “Okay, so it was a bit of stretch, but what have we got to lose?”
However foolish he felt, the last thing he expected was Lana to hold her sides from laughing so hard. His eyes narrowed. “And just what is so funny?”
He watched as she struggled to speak without laughing. “It’s just that on the way here, I had a similar thought. Of course, I kept the thought and the urge to search for one to myself,” she said, her eyes hazy from unshed tears.
“Well, hell,” he said, exasperated at being laughed at for trying a different approach. “It was worth a shot, wasn’t it?”
He didn’t know what look he had on his face when he’d said that, but it sure started Lana laughing her ass off again. Well, at least she thought it was amusing. Honestly, he was pleased she could laugh, but still his reply showed mild irritation. “Oh, go back to reading that damned journal, would you?”
Her shoulders shuddered as she tried to hold in another fit of giggles, but she obeyed—barely—and started reading again.
Ten minutes later, Cole ended his search in vain. He found nothing else he could think of that would help answer any of their questions. Unless Lana discovered answers in the journal, they would be stuck at square one. Hell, he thought bitterly, with them getting only more questions, they weren’t even at square one.
“Lana, have you read anything of interest?” he asked, hating to interrupt her. She seemed so enthralled.
She sighed and shook her head, the movement causing curls to fall over her shoulder. “No, not yet. We might as well head back to my place. I can read more there.”
He nodded. “Okay, but there’s one thing I want to do before we leave.”
“What’s that?”
“I want to check out the rest of the house by myself—without you around as a distraction.” The look on her face as she stood told him she didn’t like that idea. “Look, we’ve got your mother’s death, someone breaking into your house and someone who broke into this one—though we have no way of knowing exactly when that happened. I’ll tell you if I find anything.” She opened her mouth, but he added, “And don’t argue with me.”
“You know, I wasn’t going to. I believe in coincidence every now and then, but I’m not stupid. I can add up the signs here and I can see they’re not looking good. So don’t you get all macho on me,” she snapped and stepped closer to him. “This is my life on the line, and don’t you for one second think I don’t know what the stakes are. And, for the record, don’t you go and give me orders like I’m your pet, either.” She poked a finger in his chest. “It’s the quickest way to make sure I’m dead set against it,” she finished on a huff of breath.
“Feel better now?”
Lana glared and tilted her chin. “Maybe I do.”
Cole watched her for a moment, noticing the pink that crept into her cheeks when anger set in and thought about how sexy it looked on her. He didn’t know what it was about a woman’s temper that turned him on, but it sure as hell did.
Shaking his head, he put one arm behind her back and pulled her to him. With his free hand, he caressed the nape of her neck, wrapped his hand in her hair, and lowered his mouth to hers, hot and hungry. As her lips parted, he shuddered and deepened the kiss.
His pulse hammered when he finally released her.
With wide eyes, she looked up at him. Her swollen lips curved into a knowing smile. “And what was your excuse this time?”
He couldn’t say that he wasn’t pleased with her reaction. “Because I wanted to. Do you have any idea how sexy you look when you’re pissed off?”
“Leave it to a man,” she muttered and shook her head. “Go have your search. I’ll fend for myself and just meet you on the porch in twenty.”
“Don’t forget the journal,” he reminded her. She sent him a wry smile and bent down to pick it up, giving him another glimpse of her ass. It sure looked good in jeans. Damn good.
“I’ll see you in a few,” she said as she positioned herself to climb down the ladder.
Cole waited until he heard her footsteps grow faint and the front door closing before he changed into a mouse. It wasn’t the animal he preferred, but at least it was small and quiet. At least in this form, if she came in and saw him, she wouldn’t freak out. A dog might have been a little hard to explain.
After a quick search of the house, he found nothing of value and no other secret rooms or hiding places—and once more no strange scent.
It seemed Lana’s mother’s journal would be the only clue they had to help them figure out this mess.
Time to leave, he decided, and switched to human form then went to find Lana.
§§§
Lana relaxed on the porch swing until she heard Cole’s footsteps trampling down the stairs. If she was hungry, then she would bet Cole would be too. It’d been several hours since breakfast. Maybe they could stop for food on their way back to her place.
“Ready to go?” Cole asked when he reached her.
Lana turned to smile at him, and then brushed the dust off her pants. “Yup.”
As they started down the porch steps, Lana’s jaw dropped, and she froze.
A tawny wolf with red eyes sat a few feet from the steps. It hadn’t been there just a second before.
“Go back inside, Lana,” Cole demanded as he tried pushing her back through the door.
“I—I’m not leaving you.”
“Run!” he shouted at her.
Her legs wouldn’t move,
even though she tried commanding them to. She stood, glued to the spot.
Cole looked at her, an odd expression on his face. “I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes on hers.
Before she had time to question his words or his actions, he started to change.
A look of pain flashed across his face for an instant, and then it contorted, stretching and changing. Clothes began to dissolve into white fur and black stripes.
In the span of a few seconds seconds, Cole transformed from man to white tiger.
§§§
The Evil One had been waiting for them. It was true, while the shifter was with her he could not sense the woman’s presence, but this was the logical place for them to be.
He could have gone into the house at any time and caught them off guard, but what fun would that have been?
He did not come here to cause either of them harm—no, that would come later. He just wanted to get a good look at the woman and her shifter companion. He had yet to understand how the shifter shielded her, but it was of no consequence.
For a brief moment, the woman seemed confused. He had thought she would have expected him, or at the very least known of him. This was a disappointment. It would be too easy. Through the years of his confinement, he had expected a battle with an opponent worthy to fight. Killing this woman would be all too easy.
Even though he found himself dissatisfied, he did take pleasure in seeing the look of sheer fear and panic on her face. It had been too long since he had felt the thrill and pleasure of causing fear in a human.
What he loved more than her panicked expression was the anxiety and confusion when the man beside her began to shift before her eyes. Well, well, he thought. So, she had not known that the one that blocked her from his senses was a shifter. Interesting.
He wondered if the woman even knew of shape-shifters. He shrugged the thought aside. Whether she did or not was of no consequence to him.
She knew now. When he came for her, he would cause that look of fear on her face again, hundred-fold, and he would taste her blood.
Her fear, and now knowledge of him, would only make the kill that much more satisfying.
CHAPTER FIVE
Instinctively, Lana took a step back. She’d been terrified to discover a wolf at her door—literally.
It snarled at her and took one menacing step forward.
Terror paled in comparison to the confusion she felt when Cole had changed into a tiger before her eyes.
Lana locked eyes with him for an instant and noticed his eyes stayed the same vibrant green as before. She would have recognized him even if she hadn’t witnessed the change.
“What are you?” she demanded, though it came out as only a whisper. Could he respond, even if he wanted to?
Cole, in his tiger form, leapt off the porch and landed in front of the wolf, growling.
With all the jolting changes that had happened in the last few weeks, confusion had been a constant companion and his transformation had done nothing to relieve that. Every time she turned around to find an answer, it seemed there were only more questions to be found.
Lana wanted to scream or run, she wasn’t sure which. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for something to use as a weapon. On the ground, a few short feet from where the tiger and wolf circled each other, lay a thick stick.
Did she dare move? She had to.
Slowly, she crept down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible, and bent down to retrieve her makeshift weapon.
As she started to straighten, the wolf spotted her. It stopped circling, bared yellowed teeth, and saliva dripped from its mouth.
Her breath froze in her lungs when the creature turned and ran toward her. She lifted the stick, prepared to fight. Before she had the chance, the tiger jumped in front of her just as the wolf leapt and knocked it to the side.
Lana took a step back and fell, scraping her arm against the porch railing.
She spotted the place where Cole had knocked the wolf, but it was gone. Still in tiger form, Cole paced back and forth over the spot where the wolf had landed.
Wincing, Lana rose from the ground and glanced around. Where did the wolf go?
She opened her mouth to ask the question aloud, but stopped. Cole’s appearance started to alter. The change back to human form, she discovered, occurred much more quickly.
“It disappeared,” he told her.
“But….”
“It’ll be ok—” he broke off as he peered down and the saw scratches on her arm. “What happened?”
She ignored them and his question to ask one of her own. “What are you?” Fury made her voice rise. Idly, she thought she should be afraid, but she wasn’t. Pissed off, yes. And angry that he hadn’t told her the truth. Furious because he’d asked for her trust repeatedly, and yet he hadn’t shown her the same consideration.
Had she been wrong to trust him so soon and with so little reason? No. She read people, and she did it well. If he’d had bad intentions, she would have noticed something. Wouldn’t she have?
“I’m a shape-shifter, just like the wolf.”
“Oh, is that all? A shape-shifter?” Lana shook her head and started to walk away.
He quickly maneuvered himself to stand in front of her, blocking her path. “Don’t.” He tried to grab her and she dodged out of the way, jerking her arm back. “Don’t touch me. Not yet.”
His arms dropped to his sides, and a pained look came into his eyes. Why he looked hurt, she didn’t have the slightest idea. He was a shape-shifter. He was the one who’d lied. He didn’t have any right to be sad—she did. Or, as she chose, infuriated.
“I expected you’d react this way. I wanted to tell you,” he started, but broke off at her knowing glare. “Okay, fine, I didn’t. But this is exactly the reason why. You’re looking at me as though I’ve grown another he—” He stopped, realizing his choice of words wasn’t the best under the current circumstances.
“Head? Yeah, but you did do just that, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I suppose I did. Look Lana, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, damn it.”
“Oh, no you don’t!” she yelled, jabbing her finger into his hard chest, as if it would cause any harm. “You don’t get to play the wounded hero here, Cole. You lied. You meant to. And you had absolutely no intentions of telling me the truth.”
She watched the play of emotion on his face and felt it at the same time. She knew he wanted to lie to her.
“No,” he admitted, making her give him an ‘I-told-you-so’ look. “I didn’t. And I have good reason.”
“Oh? What would that be? Please, explain it to me, Cole. I couldn’t possibly understand that you might be afraid I’d fear you or reject you. Oh, wait,” she said sarcastically. “That’s right, I do understand, don’t I? Yet I still trusted you enough to tell you about me, and I had less of a reason to!”
Okay, she had been a little scared when he’d turned into a tiger. But it wasn’t so much a fear of him as a fear of the situation. Wasn’t a woman entitled to be a little surprised when someone turned into a tiger before their eyes?
Maybe that particular emotion wasn’t justified, but it was there. She didn’t like it, either, but she couldn’t change the facts. Regardless, it was only fair to expect the same in return.
Lana looked at him closely and saw the turmoil in his eyes. She felt his regret and his frustration. No way would she forgive him just yet.
“Lana….” he said, his tone quiet as he took a step forward. He stopped when she put her hand up.
“Just…give me a few minutes, Cole. I need to think about this.”
Lana sat down on the porch swing. She could have gone inside, but the weather was warm, and she needed the air.
He probably thought she was afraid of what he was. But that wasn’t the case at all, not really.
She, of all people, could understand what secrets did to others. With her mom’s own secrecy and now this new development, she felt very betrayed.
§§§
Cole began to worry. She hadn’t said a word to him in over five minutes. Hell, she had hardly moved a muscle in that time.
He didn’t know what thoughts ran through her mind—though he had a pretty good idea.
Hopefully she didn’t think he was in league with whoever was behind her mother’s death and the break-ins.
A freak. That’s probably what she thought of him now. And who would blame her? He wasn’t ashamed of what he was. He accepted it for what it was, mostly due to having a strong family who had made it seem almost normal.
He had a gift. If it hadn’t been for that, he wouldn’t have become nearly as good at what he did. He still would have made a good private detective, but this gave him an added edge.
Was she going to trust him after this? He thought it unlikely that she would be okay with his being a shape-shifter. Even if she was okay with it, he had lied to her. No, he corrected himself. He hadn’t lied, really—he just hadn’t volunteered the truth about what he was. Well, he’d just have to gain back her trust. He was patient and determined, especially with a shape-shifter after her for some unknown reason. Just because it hadn’t attacked either of them didn’t mean they should let their guards down. If anything, it gave them another reason to make sure they were more careful.
He cast a glance to where Lana sat. The sun reflected off her hair, varying its color from rich reds to highlights of gold. The gentle curls spiraled down her back and rested on her slender shoulders. God, she was beautiful.
“Lana? I know you’re mad at me, but I think we should go.” With the other wolf pulling its vanishing act, he didn’t feel like sticking around any longer than necessary.
“Fine. You can drop me off at my house,” she said without looking at him.
“Can we talk on the drive back?”
She stood then and turned to look at him, her eyes flaring with temper. He knew she was pissed at him. He’d settle for that. He could handle anger better than seeing the look of panic and fear in her eyes.
