Only After Dark The Boxed Set Books 1 - 4: Shifters Forever Worlds (34 page)

M
ason slipped away
from the group and made his way toward the spot he knew his former roommate Todd Scanlon and Valencia would be. Assuming Valencia made it to Scanlon, and assuming he was willing to take her challenge.

He found the room he’d first been held in.

And he found the cage that imprisoned him.

He wondered why Scanlon didn’t put this in the main room.
Maybe he doesn’t want the public to witness this? Why not?

Lights shone on the cage while the rest of the room was dim. The cage was so brightly lit, it resembled a theater stage.

And it wasn’t empty.

Valencia was in the cage, and across from her, Scanlon was pacing the fifteen-foot-by-fifteen-foot area. His arms were crossed over his chest. At least two dozen of Scanlon’s shifter staff stood behind the cage, waiting, watching, their eyes wary.

“—if I win…” Scanlon was saying.

Valencia laughed. The note in her tone made a shiver run down Mason’s spine. This wasn’t the Valencia he knew when he and Evie were together. Valencia’s eyes were such a dark crimson color, they appeared almost solid black. “You? Win?”

Scanlon nodded. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with.”

“To the contrary.” Valencia’s voice was hollow, devoid of emotions. “You do not know what you are dealing with.” Her lips curled into a dangerous smile, revealing fangs that didn’t belong on a tigress shifter. “Do you really think your little affliction will give you the power you need to defeat me?”

“You don’t scare me.” Scanlon’s manner was boastful.

Mason stepped toward the cage. “You can’t do this,” he told Valencia, his voice raised. “This is my battle.”

“I get Evangeline if I win.” Scanlon smirked. “It doesn’t matter to me which one of you is the victim.”

Valencia studied Scanlon, her eyes narrowed to slits.

What makes him think Evie will simply become his if he wins?

Mason wondered if Brahnson’s Touch made Scanlon delusional. Surely he had to know Evie was no pushover. He approached the cage, but was intercepted by his former roommate’s henchmen.

“Let them be,” one of the shifters said.

“If we’re lucky, she wins,” another one mumbled.

A third one nodded in agreement.

Why do they want him to lose? That means he’d be dead. They’d be unemployed.

Valencia glanced out the bars, her eyes meeting Mason’s. “Where are they?”

He knew she meant the rest of her family and her mate.

“Looking for you.”

“How’d you find me so fast?”

“These were Mason’s accommodations,” Scanlon spoke so lightly, as if Mason had been a guest, not a prisoner.

“More or less.” Mason looked at the sparkle in his eyes.

That fucker is dangerous.

That was what the witch had been saying all along.

“Stand guard,” Scanlon instructed his flunkies. “I don’t want any more interruptions.” He pointed to Mason. “He’s our guest. We don’t want him leaving to get the others.”

Fuck. If he kills Valencia…

In the cage, Scanlon grunted, then his bear exploded from within, as if consuming Todd whole.

One minute Scanlon was there, the next minute, the bear. The transformation was immediate.

Mason had never seen anything like it.

Is that what Brahnson’s Touch does? Makes him shift so fucking quickly?

Scanlon stood on his hind legs and roared, his huge paws flailing, more lethal than kitchen knives, his razor-tipped claws raked at the air.

Mason was starting to see what Leandra meant. And now he began to worry. He couldn’t let this happen. If Valencia was hurt…

In Mason’s head, his lion snarled and began a push. Mason didn’t hold his inner beast back. He knew what he had to do. He had to protect Valencia, at all costs.

His lion foolishly took charge, without wondering how in the hell Mason would get into the cage in his lion form.

Fur sprouted from pores, covering him. His face broadened, his jaw hurt where a lion’s canines replaced his human teeth. His bones ached as they stretched, pulling and pushing, transforming him from a man into a full-maned larger than average lion. His tendons burned where they yielded his human body to his lion.

Seconds later, but still much longer than it had taken Scanlon to morph to his ferocious bear, Mason stood in front of the cage, his roar fierce.

A piercing burning sensation struck his hindquarters. Mason swung his mighty lion head back to see what had caused the pain.

Goddammit.

His lion bellowed his anger at the Tranq dart embedded in his muscle. And the same moment, he felt the dizziness begin to strike him.

Any second he knew he’d be knocked out.

Darkness never came though.

Mason collapsed to the concrete floor. He couldn’t move his limbs or his head. All he could do was helplessly watch the scene playing out directly in front of him.

Scanlon circled the cage in his bear form, lumbering in a loose circle.

Valencia stood in the middle, no weapon in her hand, and not shifting into her tigress.

Mason had to help her. He simply had to. He tried to move his leg, but all he could see was one toe twitching for all his efforts.

“Why is he still awake?” one asked, his words a long drawn out southern drawl.

He knew the shifter was talking about him.

“You used the wrong one,” came from a voice behind him.

“I used the one we had preloaded for him,” southern accent said.

“Yeah, because Todd wanted him conscious, but unable to fight.”

“I’ll shoot him with another. Give me your weapon.”

“Fuck no, moron. You give him another dose, you may kill him.”

“That’s not so bad, is it?” he drawled.

“It is if Todd didn’t say to kill him. And he didn’t. So, no. No more Tranqs.”

Mason tuned out the two shifters talking behind him and tried to focus his now blurry vision on the cage and the snarls coming from within.

As if they were in a fog, he watched Valencia’s skull widen, her face took on a mix of tigress and human features, as if frozen in a mid-shift. She snarled, revealing teeth that were definitely vampire-like in a face that remained in that blended feline and human form. Her eyes were blood red. She emitted a low hiss.

Mason blinked his lion eyes, hoping to clear his vision, to better see what the hell she was. She stayed in a human body but wasn’t human.

She leapt toward Scanlon’s bear, did some type of contortion of her body, then was on his back, her fangs buried deeply into his flesh.

She twisted her head, moving it back and forth, ripping his flesh into shreds.

Behind him one of the shifters gasped.

Another one said, “What the fuck.”

“She’s a hybrid,” a voice with an European accent said. French or Austrian, if Mason were taking a guess. “I saw one in Europe. Scanlon doesn’t stand a chance.”

Relief flowed through Mason; hopefully Valencia would prevail. He wanted to step in, to do something. Anything. He didn’t even have enough of his strength to shift back to his human form. How long was this damned Tranq going to last?

Valencia leapt off Scanlon’s bear, her face dripping with blood. She wiped it with her hand, smearing it in scarlet streaks across her unusual hybrid features.

Scanlon’s bear rushed her, knocking her backward. Instead of falling, she rolled, twisted, and leapt to her feet with the ease of a gymnast. Scanlon stood on his rear legs, flailing at her, blood pouring from his shredded flesh.

Valencia sidestepped and landed a kick into his knee. When Scanlon dropped his bear’s head to look at his knee, she took the opportunity and was back on him, this time almost riding him in a bizarre, circus-like maneuver. Her claws were out, long and lethal, deadlier than a tigress’s. She buried them into his shoulder while she latched on to his neck with her teeth.

For what seemed like a second, but could have been an eternity, Mason’s eyelids became too heavy to lift.

W
hen he opened
his eyes again, Scanlon’s bear was deadweight on the floor, the room was brightly lit, a scream was ringing in his ears, and he was in his human form.

Mason raised his head. The screaming stopped, but not before he caught the source of the screams.

Evie!

Behind her, Lézare, a blonde Mason didn’t recognize, Alexa, Reese, Theo, the witch. Rory was sprinting in front of them, running toward the cage.

Mason focused on the cage again.

Valencia was opening the door. Her face was totally human, but streaked with blood, as was her clothing.

Rory wrapped his arms around her. “You’re killing me. Do you know I was worried you were dead?” He licked his thumb and began to clear blood from her cheek.

Behind Theo, shifters were streaming in, all in human form. From their stance, it was clear they were Theo’s men. Scanlon’s men were in a tight group watching the flood of shifters striding in the double doors.

Evie ran toward Mason. She leaned down, balancing on one knee. Her face was tear-streaked. “Are you okay?”

Mason sat up and nodded, not trusting his vocal chords to relay the information without sounding like gibberish.

“You—you—I—we were concerned about you.” She rose. “I need to check on Valencia.” Her voice was choked up, tears barely at bay.

E
vie fidgeted
with the bottled water in front of her. She, her siblings, their mates, Theo, Leandra, and of course, Mason, were all assembled at a conference table in the underground facilities of the now dead Todd Scanlon.

Todd’s shifter henchmen were in cages, waiting for the Shifter Supreme Council to send Compliance Enforcers to collect them and to see that they were tried for their roles in abducting shifters for Todd Scanlon’s underground fighting ring.

Valencia had put on clothing that wasn’t bloody, confiscated from Todd’s guest quarters. Rory refused to let her out of his sight, even when she went to change.

Her hands still shook from the stress and adrenaline. She fought looking at Mason, fought the urge to drink in the sight of the handsome lion shifter. Seeing him lying on the floor, not sure if he was alive…

She let out a deep breath, then noticed no one was talking.

They were all staring at her.

She chanced a peek. Even Mason was staring at her.

“What?” She looked from face to face. “What’d I miss?”

“Alexa asked how you were.” Lézare frowned.

“I’m fine. I’m not the one that killed a bear shifter and walked away without a scratch.” Evie looked at Valencia. “And I still don’t understand it.”

Valencia’s smile was tight. “It’s complicated.”

Everything seemed complicated. Lézare was with Natalya. Alexa and Valencia were mated to the Nielsen twins. Theo now had a witch for a mate.

And they wonder why I’m confused?

“I’d like a moment of your time.” Mason’s features were drawn into a frown.

He was still hot, still the man she couldn’t get over.

“Now? Here?”

God. I can’t discuss this shit with him publicly.

“No, it can be in private, when we’re done.”

Valencia cleared her throat. “Before you go…” She bit her lip.

Evie thought of the way her sister had looked when they’d first entered the room, right after she’d killed Todd. Her sister looked nothing like the magnificent tigress or the beautiful curvaceous woman Evie knew. She resembled a creature designed to kill, one designed to petrify.

Valencia had explained that she’d shared blood with a vampire, that it had changed her, made her what Leandra called a hybrid.

“Before you two go, I think I should let you know something Scanlon told me in private. He boasted that he had a picture photoshopped.”

Evie’s gaze snapped toward Mason, then back at her sister. “That can’t be.”

Mason looked puzzled.

“It’s true,” Valencia affirmed, her face serious.

“What pic is this?” Mason looked from Evie to Valencia, then back to Evie again.

“It’s…” Evie felt the flush of anger rising to her face.

“It’s private,” Valencia asserted. “For when the two of you talk alone.”

Mason nodded. “And that will be when…”

“After we get matters settled here,” Valencia said, then looked at Lézare as if remembering he was the alpha.

Evie studied her baby sister. She had changed. Gone was the carefree woman she used to know. Gone was the happy-go-lucky Valencia. In her place was a woman who was more than ready to step into an alpha position.

Hell, she acts as if she already is an alpha.

“We should get back to Arceneaux Point.”

“Did I miss the rest of Escape Weekend?” Evie hadn’t seen the sun nor a cell phone since Todd Scanlon brought her down here.

“There will be other years.” Alexa touched Reese’s hand.

Lézare turned to Theo. “Can your men handle this until the Enforcers arrive to take custody of Scanlon’s men?”

Theo nodded. “Scanlon’s body has been removed. None of these shifters know who Valencia is. I recommend she get out of the area before the Enforcers find out there’s a hybrid here. They’d have to hunt her down.” Theo’s dark eyes were trained on Valencia. “Sorry.”

Valencia’s lips curled. Evie wasn’t sure if it was a smile or a self-deprecating smirk. “I understand. That won’t be a problem, though. I don’t have plans to be here. I have to leave the area.” She turned to Lézare. “That includes Arceneaux Point.”

Lézare frowned. “I’m not tracking.”

“What do you mean?” Alexa’s voice had risen an octave in concern.

“Let’s talk about this when we get back,” Rory declared.

“I may have a solution,” Leandra glanced at Theo.

Theo nodded.

Lézare’s growl was audible.

What is his problem with her?

Evie suspected it had more to do with the typical animosity between shifters and witches.

“Evie and Mason can ride with us,” Alexa said. “We can catch her—them—up on everything that’s happened during Escape Weekend.”

“Let’s go to my cabin. It’s not spacious, but we can gather on the porch to discuss matters. It’s a safe neutral place. And there will be no interruptions.”

“I’ll be out there in a moment. Let me give a final instruction.”

“We’ll wait with Leandra until you come out.”

“I ’preciate it.” Theo’s gaze was dark and full of yearning for his mate. He started toward the room holding Scanlon’s shifters prisoners in a cage. “Be out there in a moment.”

The rest of the group filed through the dark hallways toward the entrance, a hidden door in a warehouse in the midst of the industrial district.

Evie shielded her eyes against the brightness. Graffiti peppered the walls of the warehouse designed to appear abandoned. Outside, the roads and alleys were nearly empty of vehicles. “Where did the people watching the fight park? How did their cars not attract attention?”

“They had to park elsewhere and were brought here in a bus. Scanlon took extreme measures to keep the place a secret,” Lézare explained.

“How did you find it?”

Lézare and Reese exchanged a glance, then her brother answered. “We have mutual acquaintances who found it in their best interest to help us.”

Reese nodded in agreement.

Why do I get the feeling there’s a lot more to this than I’m hearing?

She followed Alexa toward her car.

Valencia and Rory got in theirs.

Leandra stood with Alexa and Evie, waiting for Theo.

“I’m worried about Valencia,” Evie said, watching her sister and Rory in the car. “She’s very different.”

“She’s at a crossroads, in many ways.”

“But deep down, she’s still the same,” Alexa said. “Just a little more intense.”

Evie didn’t want to say she felt like it was a lot more than just a little, so she nodded.

“I’ll catch you up on everything while we’re driving home.” Alexa put her arm around Evie.

They both watched Mason who was talking to Reese and Lézare by Lézare’s car. Natalya had already gotten in and was waiting for Lézare.

“You have a lot to catch me up on—like you and Reese. Lézare and Natalya—”

“Yeah, that one caught me off-guard,” Alexa confessed.

“Everything’s catching me off-guard.” Evie couldn’t take her eyes off Mason.

Photoshop.
The idea that maybe he’d never been unfaithful, that all this time she had made a decision on misinformation weighed on her. An anger burned within her toward Todd Scanlon even though he was dead.

Mason, all six-foot plus sexy of him was walking her way. The darkness in his gaze told her they had unfinished business. The dilation of his pupils made her heart skip a beat and then begin a rapid tempo.

Broad shoulders that tapered toward a hard stomach, thighs with quads so pronounced they strained the fabric of his pants, his sleeves pushed up, showing off the forearms she’d always found sexy…

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, cautioning her tigress to step back before both of them decided to jump on him the moment they were alone.

And then a thought struck Evie—a very sobering thought.

What if Mason doesn’t want me. Sure he looks like he’s interested in me, but what if that’s just his lion for my tigress. What if he wants nothing to do with me because I never told him why I was ending it?

The visage of him began to swim in the tears that filled her eyes. She looked down, swiped at her eyes furtively, then turned away from him so he wouldn’t see the naked emotions in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” Alexa’s touch was gentle on her arm.

“I’m fine.” Evie plastered a smile on her face.

“It will work out.” Leandra’s silver blue eyes glowed.

Evie climbed in the back seat.