Guardians Of The Shifters (10 page)

   In The clear

                                  
 
Chapter 1

It has been four months since I walked out the doors of the supposed safe haven leaving everyone behind, including Caden. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I know that he would be safer for it, which was the only thing that mattered. I no longer sit and wait for the assassins to strike, I Cora Jones, hunt them down and take them out. Now it is their turn to know what it feels like to be the hunted. And boy are they ever in a tizzy. They know me not as a guardian gone rogue, but as a hybrid shifter that isn’t afraid to die.

Over the past few months I have taken out over twenty of them, I always knew when they were following me and I always pretended that I didn’t know. There has been a few times that a couple of them have gotten away. I’ve tried following them to see where their hide out was but they always managed to elude me. When I wasn’t out and about I was in my hotel room working out and working on my techniques.

I’ve learned a lot of different things, most times they just come to me naturally, like they were meant to be passed down. Almost like a part of my brain unlocked them. When I wasn’t working out or hunting, I was doing research on the last hybrid shifter before me, but most of it came to a big fat dead end.

I sat outside at an all-night diner in Miami Florida, sipping water and watching people as they walked by. Occasionally I would take a small bite of my chief’s salad and look at my musty old book that I had with me open on my lap. That way it looked like I was reading while people walked by, but in reality, I was waiting for my sixth sense to kick in (so to speak). The kind that would let me know when someone was watching me. It was eight at night and that was usually when the assassins liked to come out and play.

Lifting the fork up to my mouth ready to take another bite, I felt a tingly sensation run down my neck lifting up the hairs. Setting the fork down, I grabbed a few bills from my coat pocket and tossed them on the table. Closing the book and standing, a slow smile curved up my lips. As I walked down the street people moved out of my way as if they knew that I was something other. They should be sure of one thing, I wasn’t out here for them, and I would never hurt a human. Not if they are all clad in black and trying to kill me, other than that they have nothing to worry about.

With my keen sense of hearing I could hear their feet occasionally scuffing the sidewalk which told me that there were two of them. My smile grew, twisted…I know. I lead them three blocks from the all-night diner and down a side road that I knew would be empty. There were mostly abandoned and broken down houses in this part of Miami. Nobody came near this place, good for me and bad for the people following me.

I quickly ducked between a nearby shed and tree, I knelt down so they couldn’t see me and I waited for them to be a few feet from me before I jumped out. Adrenaline pumped its way through my body, it wasn’t the scared-flee-now-and-save-your-ass type of adrenaline, it was the excitement kind. With my sword in hand I rolled out of my hiding spot and jumped up to my feet making them both turn from the sound.

The shorter and skinnier of the two backed up with wide frightened eyes, he looked too young to be a trained killer, and he looked maybe fourteen or fifteen. The bigger and stockier one narrowed his eyes at me and pointed. “You.” Was all he said before he charged at me. I easily dodged his attack by stepping aside and doing a side kick catching him in the back with my foot. He stumbled forward and caught himself before falling. In that short time period, I had already decided that I was going to prolong this fight for a little bit longer than my normal. I usually let them get in a few shots before I go all hybrid like on their asses.

He turned around to face me and growled, he literally freaking growled. I couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled up my throat. It always amuses me when they get frustrated to the point of growling. It makes them sound funny. I think it’s more because of the fact that I’m shorter than they are. He made his way towards me kicking and punching at me and I let a few of them get through just to make it fun for him. When he ran at me again I kicked my foot out catching him in the chest making him fall back and onto his ass.

He slammed his hands on the ground out of frustration, I smirked at him. “Awe…did the big man fall and go boom?” I taunted. He jumped back up to his feet with a sword in hand. Now we are getting somewhere. I reached my hand up and pulled out my own sword from its sheath between my shoulder blades. I caught movement from the corner of my eye, the smaller guy stood watching, it looked like he was ready to bolt and I couldn’t really blame him if he did.

My opponent and I brought our swords down at the same time and the sound of metal clashing echoed through the air. With a quick flick of his wrist his blade got through and jabbed into my shoulder. I couldn’t show any signs of pain on my face because he would take that as a weakness and that’s one thing that I’ve learned, never show your enemy any signs of weakness. I could feel a trickle of blood run down from my shoulder and that seemed to get my hybrid side to want to come out and play. Apparently the hybrid part of me was done staying put.

As always my vision tinted an intense shade of amber and heat flooded through and around my body. The semi darkness lit up from the flames that surrounded me. My opponent’s eyes widened as he took a step back. He faltered for a minute before attacking. He didn’t make it very far. My sword went straight through him and came out through his back. Blood spurted from his mouth and he fell backwards sliding off the sword and landing on his back motionless.

I turned slightly to see the younger assassin running away, I could have gone after him but it didn’t seem right killing a young kid, besides, I had to take care of the body that lay at my feet. It was doubtful that anyone would come to the abandoned part of town, but just in case I dragged the body into one of the run down houses. I took his weapons since he won’t be needing them anymore.

I done lost the book I had but I wasn’t all that worried about it anyway. After my hybrid side went back to sleep, I left the fighting ground and headed back to my hotel room. I needed sleep and a much needed shower. There was an ache in my shoulder where the sword got me and I did my best to ignore it. There wasn’t much that I could do until I got back to the room.

When I walked through the doors of the hotel I dropped a fifty dollar bill on the counter top as I walked by, not even looking at the person behind the desk. The receptionist knew better than to question me about the constant state of my dirty and blood soiled clothes. He should just be happy that he’s being paid to let me stay here. I caught his eye before the elevator doors closed, concern was in the depths of his eyes but there was no need for that.

The doors slid open as the elevator came to a stop, I closed my eyes as I stepped off and headed to my room. A small sigh leaked past my lips at the thought of being able to relax soon. Sliding the key card in the door, I waited for the light to turn green before pushing the door open. My senses went on instant alert and my dagger was already in my hand. Someone was standing in the living room area with their back facing me. He was tall and muscular, something about him seemed familiar and that was all I could tell about the person standing in my room.

I don’t know who he is, what he wanted or even how he got in here. I clutched the dagger tighter in my hand as I moved close enough to have the tip of the dagger poking his back. “Who are you and how did you get in?” His body shook with his deep rich chuckle as he slowly turned around to face me.

“Is that any way to greet an old friend?”

I stepped back from him in shock and a bit confused on how he found me. I would recognize this person anywhere. “Caden?”

                              Chapter 2

Caden stood there with a goofy grin on his face staring at me, his eyes flicked to the dagger in my hand. My arm dropped to my side and I put the dagger away in one movement. All I could do was stand there and stare at him, I was too shocked to do much of anything really. One question came to mind, how the hell did he find me? I honestly thought that I’d never see him again, I guess that’s what I get for thinking. Besides, it didn’t look like he was going to say anything either.

His eyes looked around the room and I knew what he was looking at, I see it every time I come back to the room. Clothes littered the back of the couch and floor, in one corner were a few stacks of books, in another corner was work out equipment and on the coffee table were a couple weeks’ worth of take-out containers. Papers littered the end tables and there were a few pieces of paper under it also. They were my notes for how much I’ve learned about the hybrid shifter before me. Caden’s nose wrinkled as his eyes landed back on me.

“A bit messy are we?”

I scowled at him. “Well I’ve been busy, not really time for much else.”

“So I’ve heard.” My eyebrows arched up and he took that as me being confused and so he decided to explain. “Word travels around you know? A hybrid shifter making the assassins run scared. When I first heard about it two months ago I figured it was a hoax, but word got to me again three weeks ago, so I figured I’d set out on my own and see what all the fuss was about.” He paused for a minute. “No matter where I went I kept hearing the same thing and well.” He spread out his arms. “Here I am.”

I could listen to him talk all day in that British voice of his, I’ll admit, his voice still does funny things to me even after four months. I never really realized how much I missed it until now, not just his voice but him as well. He folded his arms across his chest.

“You have nothing to say about that?”

I shrugged. “Nope.”

He chuckled humorlessly. “Of course not.”

Stepping farther into the room I un-strapped my daggers and dropped them on the couch. I gritted my teeth as I shrugged out of my light jacket and of course Caden didn’t miss it, he was still as caring as ever.

“You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.”

His voice took on a softer edge. “Let me look at it.”

I gave him an amused look. “I’m sure I can manage, I’ve been looking after myself for the past four months.”

His eyes flicked to a wicked looking scare on my wrist. “How’d that happen?”

Glancing down. “Got a little too close to a shark.” He didn’t share in my joke. Letting out a sigh. “How do you think? Got it by the enemy.”

“Looks like it needed stitches.”

“That’s because it did.”

His eyes flicked back up to mine. Oh yeah, the attraction was still there, I could see it in the depths of his eyes. I momentarily forgot about the pain in my shoulder when he brought his hand up and lightly trailed his fingers down the side of my cheek. Heat spread and expanded through my body with that light touch. Before I knew it, our mouths came together and our tongues did a dangerous dance that was all too familiar. A moan bubbled up from my throat causing him to pull me closer and deepen the kiss.