by A. C. Arthur
Ezra nodded. “Feeling like something’s about to jump off. Yeah, I’m getting that vibe too.”
On the other line Eli sighed. “Something is if there’s a freaky-ass robo-shifter running loose. You didn’t kill it so I’m guessing you’re planning to dissect it and see what the fuck it is.”
“I suspect that’s what Bas and his crew are going to do.”
“What about you? Now that you know what’s going on out there, you coming home?”
For a minute Eli sounded eighteen again. He sounded like the slightly younger twin looking to his older other half for answers. Once, Ezra had given the wrong answer. He’d led his brother right into the clutches of a madwoman and he’d watched as Eli had been slowly absorbed into her fold, day after day, until it had almost been too late.
“Not just yet,” he replied, knowing there was no point in lying. “I still need concrete intel from Comastaz that this ADAM thing originated there. Then we need to find out who masterminded this monstrosity and kick his ass around a bit.”
Eli agreed and then went silent.
“You okay, man?” Ezra asked, already knowing the answer.
After a few silent seconds that seemed much longer, Eli finally answered. “I’m different,” he said in an even lower voice.
Holding the phone tightly to his ear Ezra clenched his teeth. He’d known this was coming. Hadn’t he been trying his best to deny it the last few weeks, months, if the truth be told? He should have known that if he was feeling it, Eli would be as well. They were two sides of a coin, one experiencing everything the other did, from the time they were born. The good, the bad, and the unholy.
“It’ll pass,” Ezra lied. No, he hoped.
“It’s getting worse, not better. It was supposed to be better.”
Squeezing his eyes shut tight Ezra agreed, “That’s what he said.”
Eli erupted. “He lied! He fucking lied to us! Blowing that black smoke up our asses the same time we inhaled it through our noses. He said it would be better and it’s not and now … now,” his voice trailed off.
“Now what? Eli? What’s going on with you? Tell me what’s happening.”
Eli remained silent. The way he had been doing since they’d left the Sierra Leone, and even more since the incident at that bar. His brother had been irrefutably changed after their experience and Ezra was deathly afraid there would be no turning back for him, that the man he’d grown up with, had loved with every fiber of his being, would be forever lost. And that it would be his fault.
“Nothing,” Eli stated finally. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Look, I’ll wrap up here as soon as I can and I’ll come home. We can work through this then. Just sit tight until I get there.”
“I’m not a kid anymore, Ezra. Neither of us is. We can’t go back and undo the past, I know that,” Eli told him. “All we can do is live for the future, right?”
Ezra had told him that the night they’d left Dagar’s cave. The night they’d felt rejuvenated and empowered. The night before they’d killed Acacia and her men.
“Yeah, that’s right. We live for the future,” he said to his twin, hoping this time he was right, hoping that this time the solace they’d sought would prevail.
Because if not, then the creation of this ADAM was going to look like small potatoes compared to the wrath of a betrayed shifter.
* * *
Sunrise was more her time. She believed it was her mother’s time also, hence the name Dawn.
It had been a simple name that had meant so much at one time. Then she’d changed it. With a few hundred dollars to some sleazy creep she’d met at a bar, she’d changed her name and hence her life.
And now all of it had come full circle.
She ran her fingers over the buttons of her cell phone, absently, because her mind was hundreds of miles away as she sat on the balcony of her room. It had been early but they’d answered the phone at Sunset Brooke, and they’d confirmed her father was still there, resting peacefully.
Peace, she thought with a wry half smile, that’s all she’d ever wanted. Now, she would never have it. She knew that with certainty. Because even if by some twist of fate, Ezra and Mr. Perry and his men were able to deal with Larry and the charges against her, she would still never be free.
Ezra and the desire she had for him was just another trapping, another shackle to her already laden feet.
Yet Jewel didn’t sigh with defeat, she didn’t waddle in the pity pool. No, she thought, she strategized, she had to figure out how to make this all work for her, for them.
“Now is probably a good time for us to talk.”
Of course it was, she thought without turning to see him standing behind her. He hadn’t left her room last night, but he had ceased touching her. After giving her the most intense orgasm she’d ever experienced. He had quietly left her alone in her bedroom, where she’d tossed and turned most of the night, trying like hell to stop the persistent need that he’d initiated.
“Bas and Priya will be here at six. I’d like to hear your story before then,” he continued.
“Why?” she asked without thinking. It was so unlike her to be evasive and yet, so the norm it seemed for whenever she was near him. Whenever he was the one hurling the questions at her. She detested that fact with a deep inhale and quick release. “It’s not like we’ll form a united front.”
He moved then, walking past where she sat so she could see his sock-clad feet, pants riding at his hips, unbuttoned, and impossibly gorgeous bare chest. Taking the chair next to hers, he sat down and simply replied, “We could.”
She turned to him instantly. “We’re not. United, I mean. You don’t know me and I don’t know you.”
He nodded. “Okay, let’s try this. My name is Ezra Preston. I’m thirty-one years old and I work as a security supervisor at the Reynolds Building in Washington, D.C. I’m single, have a twin brother, and detest the taste of spinach. Despite my impressive build.”
Jewel didn’t want to smile. She didn’t want to sit up and act as interested in the facts he’d just revealed about himself as she truly was. She did, however, like his reference to Popeye the strongest man, and at least gave him a tilt of her head in thanks for attempting to make this moment less awkward than it really was.
It was then that she knew she had a choice. Once again, in her life, she had to decide whether to sink or swim. A united front was what she’d said, the words coming from her mouth, not his. What if that was the way out of this? What if aligning herself with this man, for reasons beyond the annoying sexual desire, was why he’d been brought here, why now of all times part of her secret had been revealed?
“My name is Dawn Montgomery,” she said before she could think of a reason to stop herself. “I like my spinach raw, in a salad, not cooked.”
When he sat back in the chair she couldn’t tell if he was intrigued or disbelieving.
“I went to private schools from first through tenth grades. Played some basketball and thought one day I might play in the NBA,” he said.
She nodded. “I could see that, with your height and everything.”
He didn’t reply. It was her turn.
“I wanted to be an actress, but my mother thought I should have more practical career training, so I took business classes in my trade high school.” She shrugged with the memory. “I guess her advice paid off.”
“Your parents still together?” he asked.
“My mother is dead,” Jewel stated with a finality that left a weird silence in the air.
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “It was a long time ago. I’ve gotten over it.” But she hadn’t and neither had her father. They probably never would.
“My parents are in Italy. They have a house there now that they’ve retired. I try to visit at least twice a year,” he told her.
“What about your twin? Does he go with you? Are you identical?” Too many questions, too quickly asked. She bit her bottom lip
hoping she didn’t sound as interested in the answers as she really was.
“Eli is two and a half minutes younger than me. We look enough alike, I guess that people instantly know we’re twins. We’re really close.”
He said that last sentence with a touch of sadness that she wondered about. Were he and his brother on the outs? Is that why he’d come to Perryville?
“I’m an only child,” she offered instead of asking the questions really nagging at her. You could catch more bees with honey, had been one of her mother’s favorite sayings.
Jewel needed to catch more than bees. She needed an ally. Ezra with his tall, broadly built body and lethal looks, would be better than nothing. No, he would be the best. She knew that without a second’s hesitation.
“My parents were only children as well,” she continued.
“So you don’t have any family. You’re all alone?”
She couldn’t tell him. That was her first, instinctive thought. She could not tell him where her father was or that he was still alive. While she believed Ezra and Mr. Perry and Jacques were good guys, she’d been wrong before. In the end, she only needed him to keep Larry off her back long enough for her to sneak away again, for good this time. She didn’t need to be totally honest with him, she didn’t need him to understand why she’d done what she had. She didn’t need him to like her.
“And you ran away from a man who hurt you.”
He’d said the words and for a moment she hadn’t comprehended. She’d been so busy convincing herself that what he thought of her personally had no consequence. Then she blinked and looked at him, recognizing instantly the look he was giving her.
“I can take care of myself,” she told him. “I’m not a victim.”
He nodded, a consolatory motion that kind of said, “Yeah right.”
“I got out when I’d had enough. Most women don’t do that. They stay until it’s too late. I didn’t,” she ended, wringing her hands in her lap.
“That was a very smart thing to do,” he told her, reaching out a hand to rest on her knee.
She resisted the urge to pull away, to keep him at a distance the way she’d been telling herself to since day one. Warning bells rang in her ears each time she was near Ezra, growing louder when he kissed her and last night … last night the warnings had been silenced. She had no idea why, or rather maybe she did. Maybe it was because desire and pleasure combined had blotted them out. Maybe it was because his touch had been so all-consuming, the orgasm tearing through her senses, her defenses, every part of her so completely she hadn’t remembered the situation at hand until she finally drifted off to sleep. And Larry visited her dreams.
“Do you know what that thing was last night? Where did it come from?” she asked quickly, before he could ask anything else about her story.
A small part of her wondered if she should just lay everything out for him and let him decide how he would be involved. But that would never work, she knew. He would never understand if she told him. Nobody would.
He looked like he was contemplating the answer when she turned to him. The knock at the door stalled his answer and she thought he might actually be relieved by that. With a sigh she stood from the seat, ready to head to the door and face whatever judgment Sebastian Perry and his girlfriend, Priya, had for her.
Ezra’s hand to her elbow stopped her progress.
“Whatever they say, know that I am behind you one hundred percent. I won’t leave you until we get to the bottom of this,” he said seriously, his eyes darkening as he spoke.
She was beginning to be able to tell a lot about this man by his eyes alone. They changed, seemingly with his moods, and not through contact-lens enhancement as hers had. Speaking of which, she was in full Jewel costume—red shoulder-length curly wig, green contacts, and a bright, cheerful outfit—and Ezra hadn’t said one word about it.
Right now he was deathly serious, his grip on her almost too tight to be casual, his gaze intent. In that moment panic slapped at her, memories of the same type of look, the same fierce need to beholden her to him, to chain her to him through guilt or gratitude. She pulled away from his grasp quickly, ready to tell him she didn’t need his consolation or confirmation, for that matter. She didn’t need him to stand by her because she could stand alone.
Those words didn’t slip out but she’d definitely been thinking them as the knock sounded once more, a touch more persistent this time.
“I have to get that,” she said as her excuse to get away from him as soon as she possibly could.
He didn’t reply but let her go, following so close behind her as she walked that she could still feel the heat of his presence like a cloak against her back.
* * *
When the Faction Leader and his mate walked into the room, the atmosphere shifted. About an hour ago Ezra had awakened from the uncomfortable night on the couch, his restlessness a result of the events of the previous evening compounded by the desolate sound of his brother’s voice.
He’d taken a shower, letting his head lower beneath the hot spray of water as he wondered how today would play out. Would Bas call Rome and tell him about ADAM, and the details that led them to its discovery? Would Jewel a.k.a. Dawn tell him the truth about what was going on? Would Eli ever get over what happened to them in the jungle? And lastly, with more reluctance than he even wanted to consider, were Dagar’s predictions correct? Would the shield they’d requested from the shaman eventually wear off, leaving him and Eli both vulnerable to the pain of their past, until someone—a female—came into their lives with the power to change it?
The latter had enraged him. Ezra didn’t believe in that prediction. He’d always thought the shaman was overplaying his powers by predicting something like that. While it was natural for all Shadows to mate, creating an unbreakable bond and scent that would empower the couple for the rest of their lives, he’d never seen himself in that position, had never even wanted it. Being a twin had not afforded the opportunity to feel lonely, to crave another partnership, when he biologically already had one.
Now, he stood with his hands thrust into his pockets, eyeing Bas and Priya as they came inside and took a seat in the sitting area. His defenses were up as he watched Jewel close and lock the door before joining them. She hadn’t told him the complete truth. That was at least one answer to his questions of the day.
“Before we get started, let me just go ahead and tell you that I performed a thorough background check on you the moment you walked onto Perryville property three years ago,” Bas said, looking directly at Jewel.
To her credit, she stood with her back straight, shoulders squared, ready for this confrontation. He didn’t scent any anxiety or fear, only the remembered scent of the plump folds of her pussy, the dampness that her arousal created. His dick hardened at the memory even as he moved closer, stopping at the spot right behind her. It was a look of solidarity, he knew, a show of his unwavering support. For that, Priya raised an inquiring brow.
“I didn’t know that until recently,” Priya offered.
Ezra remembered the first time he’d seen Jewel; she had been having drinks with Priya. He’d assumed at the time that Priya was pumping Jewel for information about the so-called “cat people” she’d been investigating. But during the time he’d been here he’d also seen the two together at the spa, having dinner at the restaurant, and sitting at the pool chatting. They’d obviously formed some type of friendship, which was now even more obvious by Priya’s subtle apology.
“The point is we know your name is Dawn Montgomery and that you were accused of stealing millions of dollars in diamonds from a Captain Lawrence Crowe. You disappeared three years ago and showed up here as Jewel Jenner. I knew you were running from something, some type of danger perhaps, because I never believed that you were a thief,” Bas finished, taking a deep breath.
“In all the time you’ve been here you’ve been an exemplary employee. Both Jacques and I trust you with a good amount of privileged informa
tion. We do not dole out that type of trust lightly.”
Ezra didn’t like where this was going. Bas’s even tone may have seemed conciliatory to some, but he knew better. He knew the FL was about to lower the boom and lifted a hand to touch Jewel’s shoulder just before he did so. Just to let her know he was right there.
“So,” Bas continued, “with all of that said, I’m going to ask you one time and I’m relying on my current knowledge of the person you’ve been since you’ve been here, that your response with be truthful.”
Jewel had stiffened at his touch, holding her body so rigidly still, cold waves emanating from her skin. He frowned, hopefully inwardly, at the reaction.
“Did you steal the diamonds?” Bas asked evenly.
“Yes. I did,” was her immediate reply.
The room grew silent. She did not continue with an explanation. Bas wanted one but he may have actually been shocked speechless, which wasn’t his norm. Priya, who Ezra had learned always had a question, even had to blink a couple of times before finally sitting up straighter, about to speak.
Ezra beat them both to the punch.
“This isn’t about a robbery. It’s about some fake-ass cops barging in here and illegally detaining her. They took her to an abandoned station house and would have continued to hold her hostage there if we hadn’t shown up,” he said.
The rest, the arrival of ADAM and what they’d had to do to get the thing down, he did not mention. Jewel had asked about it and he’d been saved from answering by the knock on the door. So he wasn’t about to walk into that discussion at this moment and prayed like hell Bas didn’t want to either.
“I need to know if I’m harboring a criminal,” Bas argued to Ezra. He didn’t look at Jewel this time.
That was as Ezra wanted it. He wanted to be her shield, to stand in front of her the next time anyone tried to take a swipe at her. Even if that someone was one of his kind. What he didn’t want was the stretching of his cat, the pressure from the animal within to stake an even clearer claim, to make it known that she belonged to him.
“You knew exactly who you were harboring when you let her stay here despite all that you found out about her. It’s a little hypocritical to go back on that stance now, don’t you think?” he replied vehemently.
