A Lion's Heart

by A. C. Arthur

  “One who has a problem with boundaries,” Amelia immediately added.

  Nisa knew exactly what Amelia was referring to and again wondered just how long Jace and Amelia had been “friends”. There was a definite connection between them. Not like she’d seen between the joined shifter couples at Assembly Headquarters. The ones that Nisa called her aunts and uncles, shared a much closer bond. One that was instantly noticeable by their fierce protection of each other, and their shared scent. The calor was the scent that engulfed companheiros once they’d mated. It was distinct to each couple, but the basic spicy aroma was a telltale sign that the two were a couple, which equated to no poaching on either side or things would get rough pretty fast.

  There was no scent between Jace and Amelia, yet there was something, Nisa was certain of it.

  “She possesses an interesting ability to obtain information,” Jace continued. “That’s all that matters.”

  “And how do we know we can trust her?” Nisa countered.

  She’d been sipping from her piping hot cup of tea as she sat back in her chair listening to the conversation that flowed around her. Now, she set the cup on the black lacquer table and waited for their response.

  “You said she can get information,” Nisa continued when the silence remained. “The holodeck I created is comprised of virtual docks that gather around one central source. The main databases are kept on the central source. Specific information pertaining to the corresponding zones in the US and the different branches internationally, sprout from the central source like branches on a tree. Central Zone does not have a complete holodeck infrastructure—that’s why I’m here now—but it has the central source and a few docks dedicated to this zone’s operations. There was only one dock compromised. One which was clearly marked classified and contained an access code with the faction leader prefix.”

  She paused, letting both hands rest in her lap now, her back straight, her gaze zooming in on Jace.

  “The dock that contained classified information on all the Faction Leaders and their security hierarchy. That’s the one that was breached,” Amelia stated evenly.

  Nisa nodded, but never took her eyes off Jace. “That’s correct. So, whoever broke into that dock knew exactly what they were looking for and how to obtain it. The system is set with alarms to signal hacking at any level. None were sounded. Which means this person had the access code. They got in and they got the information they wanted, on the specific shifters that they wanted.”

  “What are you saying?” Jace asked, his hands fisting on the table.

  Nisa wasn’t totally comfortable with what she’d uncovered and she was even less comfortable with the fact that she was delivering this information to a Faction Leader, before and instead of to her father. It was a serious accusation she was about to make. One that even Shya was nervous about as she’d expressed during their earlier phone call. According to her best friend, if something like this was going on and Nisa was the one uncovering it, she would be in danger. No question about it. And if that were the case, the safest place for her would be at Assembly Headquarters behind the security laced steel walls Rome had created and the top level guards that he’d trained. Nisa disagreed. Her place was here and if there was danger it was to all the shifters. She would not hide just because she was the one uncovering the infiltration.

  “In the months before the Unveiling there was chaos with Captain Lawrence Crowe and the Comastz Lab attempting to develop a super soldier using shifter DNA. There were casualties and as the unfortunate situation escalated more shifters were lost. In addition to the Blaez Trekas notes, the information that was accessed through the database was on two shifters in particular—Jacques Germain and Cole Linden. Now, who better to have betray the Assembly than another shifter? An unlisted Croesteriia with nothing to lose.”

  Jace cursed and Decan frowned.

  “What do you suggest?” Amelia asked Nisa.

  Nisa looked at Amelia and exchanged a slight nod. She’d taken Amelia’s advice last night and found the leverage she needed. Amelia seemed pleased with that fact.

  “I suggest we do as Decan had the forethought to do earlier. Keep Kyss with us. My father always taught me to keep my enemies close. Kyss definitely has information and can easily get more. For us, or from us. Until we figure out which way she’s more likely to swing, we keep her at our side. It’s much easier to dispatch a threat that’s in arm’s reach, than searching one out,” she said.

  “True. And if she goes to the gala someone can watch her to see who she speaks to, watch her move and listen to her conversations. So that we know everything she does,” Amelia continued.

  “Exactly,” Nisa added. “We also need the element of surprise on our side. The members of the Ruling Cabinet would never expect. Someone they’ve never seen before.”

  “They don’t know I’m a shifter,” Decan told them.

  Nisa looked to him in surprise because she had been referring to herself.

  “The reason I was able to stay above ground for so long after the Unveiling was because they thought I was human,” he continued.

  Amelia crossed her legs and rubbed a finger over her chin.

  She wore white today, a skirt that barely touched her knees, a silk camisole, waist length jacket and yellow five-inch heel sandals that made her legs seem never ending. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, diamond studs sparkling at her ears.

  Nisa nodded in his direction. “You were honorably discharged from the US Marines six years ago. After that time—”

  “After that time,” Decan interrupted, his brow furrowed as he sat up and leaned closer to the table. “I went to a place where there were some humans who assumed they knew. They died. No one that will be at that gala tomorrow night knows who or what I am.”

  “Which is why Rome knew you were the one for this job,” Jace continued.

  His anger held a potent aroma, one that alerted her cat and had feelings of protectiveness riding close to worry. Dismissing the feelings quickly, Nisa cleared her throat.

  “Then we’ll both go,” she announced. “They don’t know who we are so they won’t be expecting us.”

  “You do not know how to handle them,” Decan countered. “I was trained to do what I do above ground. You were not. Once they realize who and what you are, they will attempt to kill you.”

  “One,” Nisa stated as she met his glare, “I am not a helpless cat. I’ve been tactically trained all my life. I can defend myself. And two, we would have guards, just as my father assured I had guards to accompany me through the tunnels.”

  “This is not what you were trained for,” Decan insisted.

  “But it is what I’m prepared to do,” Nisa stated.

  “It is what will be done,” Jace finished the dispute. “I’ll assemble the guards myself. Decan, you be prepared to speak to them and go over some tactical scenarios in preparation. Amelia, you and Nisa go over the floorplan of the hotel and all the players scheduled to be present.”

  Nisa knew not to look triumphant, no matter how much her feet wanted to tap a happy dance along the white glossed floor. Instead she gave Jace a solemn nod and stood when he did, in preparation to leave the room.

  “Nobody else is to know about this,” Jace stated. “No other family members or friends. No one. Do you understand, Nisa?”

  Jace knew how close she and Shya were. He knew that because of the shifters they’d been born to and the specific dangers each one had faced growing up, that they had a special bond, a trust that could not be matched. If Nisa’s knowledge and this assignment put her in danger, telling Shya more about it would rope her in as well. Nisa wasn’t on board for risking her friend’s life, especially not after Shya had been fighting so hard to live.

  “I understand,” Nisa told him.

  Amelia went over to say something to Jace, and Nisa headed for the door. Decan was right behind her, grabbing her arm to stop her departure.

  “You have no idea what you’re
walking into,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “And I’ll never know until I walk into it,” she replied. “I can do this, Decan. The question is, can you?”

  “You know damn well I’m better trained for this than you are. They’re humans, Nisa! They will kill you the second they see your eyes shift.”

  “I’m not an idiot, I don’t plan to walk into the room purring and growling, Decan.”

  She pulled away from him at that moment because the spot where his fingers touched her skin were on fire. She barely restrained a hiss of relief when he dropped his hand and did not attempt to touch her again.

  “I know what I’m doing,” she reiterated when he continued to stare angrily at her.

  “You don’t,” he insisted. “But I do. And I don’t plan to let you out of my sight for one minute.”

  “Is that so?” Nisa asked with an arch of a brow. “Then I’d suggest you get your horny cat in line. If it’s growling and moaning every time you touch me now, it might be the one to give us away.”

  He looked as if he doubted her words, as usual. Nisa tried not to be offended, anymore. He didn’t trust her training, just like her father. She was going to prove them both wrong.

  “What the hell are you wearing?”

  Decan asked the moment she opened the door. He’d come to her room earlier than they were scheduled to leave for the gala because he hadn’t been able to find a moment alone with her since Jace gave out the assignments at breakfast yesterday. It was late into the evening by the time Decan had finished with all the impromptu training sessions and the private briefing with Jace. Then Gold had appeared at his door and when he’d finally left, Decan had convinced himself that going to Nisa’s room at that time of night wasn’t going to end well.

  It probably would have ended with him on top of her or some other version of him being buried deep inside of her. Which on the surface may have sounded—and most definitely would have felt—good, but would only further complicate this situation.

  “It’s called a dress,” she replied and attempted to move past him.

  “It looks like you don’t know what size you wear,” he continued, ignoring her sarcasm and concentrating instead on the slip of black material they were referring to. Clasping his hands at her waist he pushed her back into the room and stepped inside with her. Kicking the door closed behind him he looked at her once more as she huffed.

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Really,” Decan replied when she pushed his hands away from her.

  The hem of the dress was so high up her thigh, it rode a fine line between immediate arousal and should be prohibited for fear of producing a cardiac event. Thick straps wound behind her neck, leaving her shoulders bare. The same material hugged her generous breasts, but left the stretch of skin between her breasts and almost to her navel bare.

  “You’re practically falling out of it,” he snapped.

  “Good,” she replied and cupped her breasts, moving them in a motion as if to lift them higher. “That’s the intention.”

  That wasn’t necessary, Decan thought. Not at all. They looked high and plump and tasty without any effort. She offered him a brilliant smile and Decan’s teeth clenched tightly.

  “We need to go over the ground rules.”

  Because he’d be damned if he was going to walk into a room full of human males who would no doubt be gaping at her. Until they found out she was a shifter and then they would be pulling their guns and aiming to kill her. Decan was prepared to kill in either instance.

  Nisa surprised him by backing up and leaning against the desk across the room. She folded her arms over her chest and crossed her legs at the ankles. The action drew his attention to the strappy sandals she wore with her neatly painted toes peeking from the black leather. She’d done something different with her hair too. It was twisted back on one side leaving fluffy curls to lay neatly on her forehead and in the back. Her lipstick was a dark burgundy color, and her eyes looked bigger, sexier with the make-up she’d applied there. In short, she was breathtaking and Decan was struggling to keep it together long enough to say what needed to be said to keep her safe.

  “Go,” she prodded with a nod when he was still standing there quietly.

  She smelled of pure confidence and sex. Yes, she was aroused. No matter how cool and collected she appeared, her body would always give her away, especially to him. There was some consolation in knowing that this nagging urge wasn’t one-sided. However, it didn’t make it any easier to accept.

  “We’ll arrive at the party separately. It’s better if nobody gets their first glimpse of you with me,” he said.

  He’d come up with that on his own. Jace had insisted Nisa stay with Decan, but that wasn’t going to happen. No way was he putting her in the type of danger that would fall upon her if any of the humans found out who he was.

  “Gold will stay with you. You think whoever accessed those records is a shifter, so you’ll be checking for any other shifters in the room. Use your comlink to snap a picture of them if you can and run it through the database. Keep a mental list of each one you spot and we’ll do deeper research on them when we return.”

  “What are you going to be doing?” she asked.

  “I have a meeting with Jace’s contact,” he told her.

  She nodded.

  “So, no matter what I bring to the table, you’re still determined to keep me out of what you’re really doing.”

  Decan was wearing slacks, a black button front shirt and black jacket. Together they looked as if they were in mourning. Or they were a couple working an undercover case for some covert agency in a blockbuster movie. Both scenarios had him frowning.

  “You have your assignment and I have mine,” he told her. “That’s how it’s been since the beginning.”

  “Oh right, you and my father decided you would come along with me as a sort of bodyguard, when really, you were coming here to what? Help them find Cole? Is that what you are? Some type of shifter investigator? Is that why there’s no record of you beyond articles of birth and contact information for the members of your tribe?”

  He’d slipped one hand into his front pant pocket as she was talking, but at those last words he stilled once more. He told himself she couldn’t help it. She had an inquisitive mind. The records on her—the ones marked private and kept in one of those classified docks on the holodeck which he had access to as a Senior Enforcer—said she’d been that way since she was a little girl. She’d done everything early, walked, spoke, even shifted. Always in a hurry and always looking for the answers. He wanted to admire that about her, to revel in the fact that he was inquisitive as well. But he couldn’t because in Nisa’s instance, her natural persona might be what got her killed.

  “I am not at liberty to discuss my job with you.”

  “Then what about the rest? Are you not at liberty to tell me anything about yourself other than your name?”

  “You know something else about me,” he said.

  One elegantly arched eyebrow lifted as she asked, “I do? What’s that?”

  “You know that I like the taste of you and that I spent all last night dreaming of when I could put my mouth on you again.”

  She’d been prepared for a quick retort. Something snappy. Another question maybe. A criticism of him and his assignment. Something. Anything, other than what Decan had said. That caused her lips to snap closed tightly, her arms sliding slowly down to her side. She didn’t speak when she pushed away from the desk, but walked slowly, taking deadly sexy steps to the bed where she picked up a small purse. She continued until she was face-to-face with him.

  “That was fun,” she spoke when she looked up at him. “But I’m guessing you’ve done better.”

  She lifted a finger then, running it over his bottom lip before dropping her hand once more and walking around him. He wanted to curse. No, he wanted to grab her and toss her hot little ass on that bed. If she felt like being sassy then he’d spank her until she thought
better of doing so again. Or maybe he’d give her smart mouth something to wrap around so that no more stinging words came forth. Either, or, would suffice, because the basic truth was that Decan wanted to spend his night inside of her, deep and long, hard and wet. Then she’d know better than to push him.

  “Are you coming?” she asked from behind where he still stood.

  She’d opened the door and was walking through when Decan finally turned around. He closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath before following her out.

  This job was turning out to be a big mistake. One, Decan wasn’t sure he’d rebound from, no matter how many times he’d done so before.

  CHAPTER 10

  This was the world Nisa did not see often enough. It was the place her father had been sure to keep her away from.

  Upon emerging from a different door that had led into yet another heavily forested area, Nisa, Gold, the two Central Zone guards, Jordin and Zion, climbed into a black vehicle that had been waiting for them. The top of the vehicle lifted slowly, revealing six captain’s chairs. Once inside, Gold waved his hand over the shiny silver steering wheel and Nisa watched with wide eyes as the entire front dashboard came alight in a neon green color. It resembled her holodeck with its screen-like appearance and different modes of control. He reached an arm forward and touched a button on the screen. Seconds later there was a clicking sound and Nisa felt herself being forced back against the seat. While she could still move her arms and legs, the rest of her body was momentarily stilled as she suspected the automated seat belts were engaged.

  She hadn’t seen any wheels on the vehicle when she’d first approached but now she heard them as they began to move, the spheres screeching over the dirt terrain. They traveled quickly even though there was no sign of motion except for the flash of lights along the cityscape as they moved further away from Oasis, deeper into the human world. Nisa tried not to ogle the fluorescent light. The blue, pink and white that seemed to glow from every building. The sky was pitch black, something she’d noticed on the times she’d come above ground. Her mother used to talk of clouds and stars, a sky filled with emotion when she’d lived above ground. Yet, Nisa had never seen any of that.