FireStarter (5 page)

A smile tugged my lips as
pride filled me. “You’ve helped catch others though, haven’t you?”

She shook her head a
little. “Three. I’ve helped bring three
firestarters
to justice, but the one I really want is this one. The one that lights fires
leaving no trace of how it was lit. This one is the one that wiped out Red Gum
Springs. And I hope it’s not Clayton. I truly do, but if it is? I won’t stop
until he’s put away.”

“
Well, it’s a good thing
it’s not me then, isn’t it?

I tensed around Penny as
she recoiled at Clayton’s voice. Damn, I hoped my brother was going to explain
things more than that.

Chapter Five

Clayton

I was so glad I could now
tell them the truth. Well, most of it at any rate. I’d been listening in to
Penny and Marshall for several minutes before I entered. Their conversation was
too important to interrupt. Especially since Marshall had never told me his
story. I’d just assumed he’d been removed after being physically abused like
I’d been.

Pushing my nerves aside, I
moved to stand behind Penny, not quite touching but close enough to feel her
body heat. Her presence soothed my jag like nothing ever had before.

“
I promise you both, I am
not a
firestarter
. I went to see our Alpha this
morning, and he’s given me permission to share with you both what I do. Well,
some of it at least.”

I paused to inhale her
scent, allowing it to fill my senses. Where should I start? I stepped away and
paced across the room.

“
What’s going on, Clay? Just
spit it out already.”

I glanced over at Marshall,
who’d turned Penny so her back was against his front. I wanted nothing more
than to go over there and cuddle against her so she was safely sandwiched
between us, but then I’d never get this story told.

“
I was older than Marshall
when I was taken from my birth parents. I have vivid memories of what they did
to me. None of it was good. It carved a hole in my soul. A pit of darkness
inside me that never went away.

“
Marshall eventually found
an outlet for his darkness. But I didn’t for a long time. I just bottled that
shit up, and it was poisoning me. I stayed away from everyone, stayed quiet to
keep my toxicity from infecting anyone else. I refused to be like my birth
parents and hurt innocents.

“
Then, a couple of years ago
the Alpha approached me to be part of a new taskforce.
It’s
top secret, and I’ve been sworn to not talk to anyone about it or my role
within it. That’s why I couldn’t even explain things to you, Marshall, before
now.”

Marshall held his palm up a
moment to stop me talking.

“
A couple of years ago was
when all that shit went down with Tim. Was this proposal in response to that?”

I nodded while Penny
frowned and tilted her head. “Tim?”

Marshall spoke up before I
could. “A human man, Tim was dating a woman, Tilly. They were out hiking when a
jaguar shifter scented that Tilly was his mate. He attacked Tim and kidnapped
Tilly. Tim recovered, but then years later he interfered with another shifter
mating. He came close to taking three lives, all because the original situation
was never dealt with or had any justice delivered.”

I waited as Marshall
scooped Penny up and moved to sit on the edge of the bed with her sideways on
his lap before I spoke again.

“
Sweeping things under the
rug rarely ends well. The Alpha didn’t want anything like that repeated. But it
wasn’t only shifters clashing with humans that concerned him. He wanted a
justice system that could cope with shifters and any other paranormal entities
that show up. So, together with some other high ranking officials, he created a
taskforce called the Paranormal Assessment & Containment Taskforce, or PACT
for short. I’m one of their hunters. We have different people that do different
jobs, but I can’t go into that. I can only tell you that I was at the
fireground
chasing the
firestarter
.
I’m not so different from you, Penny. I found my purpose in chasing down
criminals and making the world safer for others.”

“
So you’re telling me this
firestarter
, the one who killed my parents, is not human?”

“
Yes. He is a shifter. The
paranormal world is no different from the human one. There’s good and bad. But
before PACT was set up, there was no way to adequately police it. Human
authorities have no chance with shifters. We’re fast, strong, and well, most of
the police force doesn’t believe we even exist much less running around
committing crimes.

“
Too many were getting away
with too much. For example, domestic violence would rarely get looked into by
human authorities due to the rapid rate we heal. Most victims were dead before
the issue was ever noticed. I help with all sorts of crimes. But I do it all
quietly and in the shadows. Naturally, there are rumors about us, but nothing
has ever been confirmed. That’s how the top men want it to stay. The Alpha has
a few higher ups from the police on board, and we’ve been given the authority
to make arrests where it’s needed.”

Penny straightened and
stood from Marshall’s lap to face me.

“
So why did you take me?
There wasn’t anyone else at that scene besides you and me.”

I gave her a sad smile. “He
was there. He knows you’re tracking him, and I believe he’d followed you there.
He doesn’t normally visit the scenes of his fires so soon. He stayed in hiding
until after I knocked you out. He showed himself to me then. Let me see him
looking at you before he left. This
firestarter
knows
I’m a hunter, and now he knows what you are to me, too.”

“
How? How would he know? I
don’t even know! I thought you were only protecting me because Marshall cared
for me.”

I moved to stand in front
of her. My gaze taking all of her in. From her cute baby blue toenails to her
sleek blonde hair, she was so beautiful. She was fired up and confused, but she
wasn’t hiding. No, she was standing tall and tackling things head on.

“
Brother, is there a reason
you’re standing so close to my mate?”

My palms itched to touch
her, but I forced my hands to rest on my own hips to prevent myself from
reaching out to her.

“
Penny, sometimes in our
world, a woman has more than one mate.”

Her face paled a little.
“What do you mean? More than one? Like I have to choose?”

“
I mean, you have two mates.
Marshall and I are your co-mates. We’ll both take care of you and love you for
the rest of our days. You don’t need to pick one of us over the other, and we
don’t go out back and fight to the death for your hand. Thankfully those days
are over.”

Marshall burst up from the
mattress and wrapped his arms around Penny, pulling her in tight against him
and further from me.

“
How long have you known?
Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

I risked taking a step
closer. When neither Marshall nor Penny pulled away, I lifted my fingers to
stroke her cheek.

“
I worked it out just before
you declared you were going to leave her alone. When you told me that you
refused to claim her because you didn’t want to taint her with your darkness, I
figured that included me. I’m more damaged than you, so if you weren’t good
enough, I sure as hell wasn’t.”

“
You never considered taking
her for yourself without me?”

I shook my head. “I’d never
be so cruel to you, brother.”

****

Penny

This was too much. Two men?
Forever? I liked living on my own, having the freedom to do what I wanted when
I wanted to. Sure, I felt a connection to both men, but it sure as hell didn’t
mean I wanted both of them permanently in my bed and life!

“
Penny, the reason I took
you was because the
firestarter
knows you’re mine. If
I’d left you behind, I could have caught him. But I chose you. He knows I made
that choice, that I put your safety over catching him. As a shifter, he also
knows I’d only ever do that for my mate.”

I glared at him as I pulled
away from his caressing fingers. “Seriously? How could you! You should have
left me there and gone after him. He’s going to go on to light more
fires
now. Potentially kill more people! You could have
ended it all right there.”

I stilled when he cupped my
face in both of his palms, my anger and fight just vanishing at his gentle
touch. “No, Penny. Your safety always comes first. We will catch him, but it
will not be at the expense of your health and wellbeing.”

Awareness of him flowed
through me from where he touched my cheeks all the way down to my toes, just
like it had when he’d caught me out on the fire field. Part of me wanted to
cuddle up to him, to get more of the calm he radiated to flow through me.

“
Ah, you said
we
will catch him. Does that mean you’re
going to let me help? Because to do that, you’re going to have to set me free.”

He shook his head. “I’m
sorry for keeping you locked up, beautiful. I couldn’t tell you why you were in
danger, so I did what I had to be done to keep you safe. Now that you know, I’m
sure you won’t take any unnecessary risks with your safety so you’re free. I
promise I’ll never lock you away again.”

Oh, he was melting me. Now
he’d explained it all, how could I possibly stay mad at him? He really had been
protecting me. And both these men seriously needed to quit believing they were
cruel like their fathers.

“
I can’t understand how
either of you could believe you’d be like your fathers. You’re both caretakers.
Look what each of you has done for the other, and now for me. There’s no
cruelty in your actions.”

Marshall’s grip tightened,
and Clayton leaned in to press his forehead against mine.

“
I’m not real kind to the
criminals I take in, beautiful. I have cruelty in me. I just channel it at the
bad guys.”

“
And I make sure I regularly
vent my anger and frustration either cooking in the kitchen or out on the rally
tracks.”

“
You
rally
?”

“
Yeah, baby. Most weekends
I’m off somewhere tearing through the bush in my WRX.”

Wow. I didn’t see that
coming. A chef and rally driver. It was almost as shocking as the fact that
both these men apparently rejected me all through school for my own good. I
wanted to roll my eyes. They were both so stupid some times. But they were men
… even if they could shift into cats. They apparently still had male brains.

“
So, back on the original
topic. You’re going to let me help you catch this guy?”

Clayton nodded. “Yes, I
have permission to share this case with you. I’ve requested we make you part of
the team for arson investigation, but that’ll take time to get through
management. For now, we have this case to work together.”

The last of the tension I’d
been holding onto bled out of me. I was going to be set free, and be allowed to
officially help catch my parents’ killer. It was a better outcome than I dared
hoped for. Clayton’s gaze moved to focus on my mouth, and he licked his lips.
Of course, I’d never dreamed of getting two men as part of the outcome either.
Although I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing yet.

Clayton lowered his mouth
toward mine. My breath caught a moment before his lips brushed against mine. So
soft. Clayton was tall and muscular, his body hard and defined. But his lips …
they were so soft. A moan slipped free from my throat, and he took that as
permission for more. Keeping a firm hold on my face, he devoured my mouth. I
lifted my hands to touch him, hating he wore a shirt. I tugged at the hem until
I got both palms beneath and against his hot skin. Another moan left me when he
shuddered as I ran my fingers over his ribs. Lips pressed against my shoulder,
and suddenly it was all too much. I was on sensation overload and began to
panic. I needed time to think, to process what they’d told me. Just because
they said they’re my mates, didn’t mean I was going to fall into line and do
whatever they said I should. I certainly wasn’t going to agree to anything
tonight.

With a whimper I pulled
free from between them and moved across the room. The open door caught my
attention, and I slowly padded over to it. With a hand on the frame I turned
back, barely able to believe they’d let me simply stroll out to freedom.

“
I mean it, Penny. I will
never lock you away again. But I do ask that you not be reckless with your
safety. This
firestarter
is dangerous and wouldn’t
hesitate to harm you. Actually, before you leave I want you to promise to
always keep this with you.”

I stood motionless as
Clayton removed a knife and ankle holster from himself before he approached me
with it. I tensed, unsure if he was going to pull me back in to lock me away.
He’d promised not to, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure he meant the words
yet.

“
So, this just slips on like
this and your pants hide it completely. The Velcro holds it firmly in place but
is easy to get off. Promise me you’ll always wear it, especially when we’re not
with you.”

My mouth was suddenly too
dry to speak. His fingers brushing over my shin had me wanting to jump on him.
I nodded before taking a step over the threshold, away from his distracting
touch. I barely contained my giggle of excitement as I made my way down the
stairs to the lower level of Clayton’s home. As my mind went over all the
information the men had told me, I decided running outside like a lunatic
probably wasn’t the best idea. Instead, I wandered around and ended up in the
kitchen. On the table in a clear plastic tub was the rest of the cake. I hadn’t
actually gotten to eat the slice Marshall brought me earlier.