Stalked (Rogues Shifter #2) (14 page)

I sighed. “I thought that after Eleanor, we’d be free to have a more normal life, but I guess that was just a fantasy.” I felt a flash of sadness roll off of Garret. I didn’t mean for it to sound like I was unhappy with our life together, but I realized that it might have sounded that way. Seeing his sad expression, I crawled carefully into his lap. My arms snaked around his waist and I inhaled his wondrous scent as he buried his face in my hair and clung to me tightly.

“I didn’t mean to sound like I don’t love my life with you. I love every second of it. I’m just worried that I’ll let everyone down.”

“Welcome to my world,” he sighed. I lifted my chin so I could lose myself in his sapphire eyes. He whispered
as he stroked my hair, “I wish I could be with you the whole day.”

“We just have to make more
of the time we have together.” His lips were cool and soft. Kissing Garrett was like eating a delicious dessert. You savored every single bite, every mouthful of sweetness, because it would be gone and you’d still want more. I always wanted more of Garrett’s kisses.

He stroked my face and sent.
“Tu es mon ange.
Je t'aimerai toujours
.
You are my angel. I will always love you.”

“Mon ange
sombre,”
I answered, smiling, as I wove my fingers in his hair and pulled his lips back to mine.

Chapter Thirteen

At
11:00 AM, after only six hours of sleep, I called Kent Brownlow with our phone number. He was busy, so someone else wrote it down. I was just as happy not to have to speak to him. I dragged my sleepy butt into the shower, dressed and ate two bowls of cereal with Ethan. At noon Kyle and Sinc arrived with the new weapon which would, hopefully, protect me from Kennet.

“
I brought three different prototypes. They’re all usable like this but I’ll be making adjustments. Here, Jackie, catch!” He threw a small can at me of what looked like travel sized hair spray. I caught it and took off the top. “Don’t spray it in the kitchen. If Liam or Caelen visit, they might have a reaction.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a lead spray. You’d spray his eyes, nose or mouth."

“Cool.
”

“It should incapacitate him long enough for you to get away. The main problem is that
you have to get close to him. This next weapon should be worn in the open so you can get to it quickly.” He brought out a long silver colored chain coated in something shiny. It looked like jewelry and could definitely be worn doubled up as a necklace or even a belt. Kyle handed it to me and I looped it twice around my neck. I looked in the mirror hanging on the wall by the phone.

“The chain is designed for throwing and wrapping around its target. It’ll take a little practice, but it won’t take you long
to master it. There’s a fast-opening clasp for easy access. You can throw it at his neck or around his wrists or ankles, wherever there’s some exposed skin. It’s coated with a strong lead solution that makes the chain look more like jewelry, but seriously burns the skin of a fae. Again it won’t kill him.

“This last weapon is serious, and I can’t honestly swear that it won’t do permanent damage.” He handed
me what looked like a pack of chewing gum. “Each piece is a little lead grenade. As long as they’re in their slots, nothing will happen, but as soon as you pop it out, you need to throw it. When it’s exposed to the air for 10 seconds, a lead infused mist will cover an area 6’ square. Sinc helped me with the formulas for all of these.”

“And you have
these weapons for silver sensitive races as well?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah.
As I said, these are prototypes, not the finished products. I probably won’t be spending a lot of time developing them because, let’s face it, we’re usually trying to kill who we're fighting, or knock the crap out of them, not just keep them from chasing us. These are great for what they are, but I’ll take a silver crossbow shaft or a silver bullet over these toys any day. She should be carrying a serious weapon with her at all times.”

“She’s got her big brother to protect her.” Ethan grinned at me.

“Thanks, bro, but I don't know if even your amazing talents could stop a fae lord in his tracks.”

“I bet he could stop a f
ae
lady
in her tracks,” Kyle teased.

Ethan put his arm around Sinc, who was busy glaring a
t Kyle. “I’m not interested in fae females.” He kissed her gently and she leaned against him, smiling.

After the weapons were
tucked safely away, we heard Bridgett's car pull up and park on the street outside our house. We’d told Kyle and Sinc to stick around so they could meet Bridgett and give us their feedback. There was a tentative knock on the door and Ethan loped over to open it. I heard him invite her inside and lead her into the kitchen where we were all sitting around the table.

When she saw us there she stopped and looked around
, unsure. “If you’re in the middle of something important I can come another time.“ She looked down at the ground.

Sinc jumped up and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the empty chair next to me. “Come and sit down
, Bridgett. I’m Claudia and that’s Lucas. We’re really good friends of Sammy and Melanie.” Sinc got Bridgett a coke and then sat down across from her.

Kyle mouthed to Sinc behind Bridgett’s back,
"
Lucas? Really?"
Sinc just smiled.

Bridgett’s eyes narrowed and her mouth twisted in irritation as she moved her gaze from Sinc to Kyle to Ethan to me. "I
'm not an idiot. I know who all of you are. You’re Sinclair, he’s gotta be Kyle, Sammy is Ethan and Melanie is Jackie. You’re a shifter team of some kind.”

I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth twitching
just a little at her self-assured attitude. I preferred this bright and confident Bridgett over the meek and frightened one.

“Have you told anyone?” asked Kyle. His dark eyes took on a threatening look as he leaned forward over the table.

“No.” He looked skeptical. "I know you guys can kick my ass, but I'm not scared. I've grown up with wolves. It's just her vampire..." She indicated me with a flip of her head. "That's kinda another story. I don't want to end up someone's blood slave, so I'm keeping my mouth zipped tight.” She made the motion across her lips and then looked toward me for support.

I shot Kyle an irritated look.
“How is it that you live with a wolf pack?”

“I was adopted. My mom and dad didn’t know they’d adopted a shifter. It wasn’t their
happiest moment when I changed.” She stared down at her hands, obviously remembering that day.

Sinc asked, “And they kept you after your first shift?”  Sinc’s adopted were
wolf family had thrown her out when she'd shifted. Rob had taken her in and trained her like he had the rest of us. Sinc’s family had set her up with a house, car and plenty of ‘guilt money’ to live on, none of which took away any of the hurt.

“They loved me, they wouldn’t just kick me out. My mom died
, so now it’s just me and my dad."

Kyle spoke up again, "Your pack's been causing shifters in the area a lot of problems."

She didn't deny it. "Yeah, well I guess we all have our rogues." They glared at each other again. "Look, my dad has a lot going on right now. He can't keep track of every single pack member. We're in the middle of a situation..." She stopped speaking abruptly, suddenly realizing that she'd said too much.

I grabbed her hand and said. “I want you to trust me.” I nudged at her wall and she let me in.

Her eyes were like huge saucers.
“If I tell you any of our private business, they’ll flip.”

“I can protect you.”

“There’s nothing you can do.”
She slammed up her wall and stood. Ethan and I jumped up at the same time, afraid we’d lost her.

I said, “Don’t leave
. We won’t ask you about it again.” She stayed where she was for a few moments, then nodded curtly and sat back down. She took a sip of her coke and then twisted the can around distractedly, trying not to look any of us in the eye.

Sinc
asked in a friendly tone, “Do you like movies? I just got a few new ones in the mail. They’re in my car. We’ll pick up some pizza too.”

“Sure, that would be fun.” She didn’t look too happy about the others being here, but I needed their opinions on what to do about her. I was feeling torn between the success of the mission and helping the shifter girl in trouble. Maybe I could accomplish both, as well as k
eep Kennet off my back. I slumped in the chair and sighed in frustration.

“Ethan, Kyle, let’s go.” Sinc got up and the boys obediently followed her out the door giving me a supportive smile on the way out. I’m sure they were curious about what I’d be asking Bridgett while they were gone, but they knew I'd have more luck if I was alone with her.

Samson padded over and curled up at my feet. I scratched him behind the ears and Bridgett leaned over to stroke his back. I asked, “Can you come over after school tomorrow to talk to my teacher, Maya? She can help you with the ley line magic. She’s a cheetah too.”

“I guess so. You call it magic? Isn’t it telepathy or something like that?”

“Some of it, and it’s powered by magical energy from the lines. Most shifters don’t have this ability: only cheetahs. Do you know who your birth parents are?”

“No.”

“We may be able to help you find them. Maya is helping me. I was raised by humans.” I didn’t go into detail about how many human families had been tasked with my upbringing.

“They dumped me with a bunch of fucking werewolves. Why would I want to have anything to do with them?” Bridgett stood angrily and walked to the patio doors, looking out at the pouring rain. It pounded away at the slate slabs, washing off the coating of dust that had accumulated on everything with the current heat wave. “Since I transitioned, I’ve had to hide what I am. If the rest of the pack knew I was a cheetah and could read their thoughts, they’d beat the crap out of me. Or they’d use me as a tool to dig information from other people.  My dad’s a powerful Alpha and he protects me from them. He got a spell from a witch to make me smell like a Jaguar instead of a cheetah. It works on everyone except you.” She smiled wryly then turned away and sighed. “My adopted mom was killed by a fae five years ago.”

She turned again to meet my gaze, then hesitated before continuing. “I know what happened last spring at the lodge. Your team killed my uncle, the pack leader of the Pine Ridge Pack. He kidnapped and tortured your vampire and was probably going to kill him.”

Her words set off alarms in my gut so I stood up slowly, never taking my eyes from hers. “My uncle deserved to die, working with that black witch. She did some sick stuff like torturing animals to work her spells.” She didn’t seem to realize that the witch, Miranda, had also killed humans, giving her spells triple the strength.

My expression must have startled her because she took a step backwards. As much as I liked Bridgett, I wasn't going to allow her to leave here and tell her dad what she’d just told me. I moved slowly toward her, creating my mental shield and pulling energy in from the lines to hold ready, just in case.

She backed against the wall, lo
oking a little scared. ”I won’t—I won’t tell anyone.”

I took her hand and reached into her mind. She wasn’t prepared for me, her wall was down and her frightened e
xpression made me feel guilty. I didn’t like to force my way in, but I couldn’t take a chance. I saw it all laid out. She’d secretly listened to her dad’s conversations with weres from her uncle’s pack and put two and two together, but so far, she hadn’t told anyone. The Brownlow Pack was still trying to figure out what exactly had happened that night.

“I need you to swear to me that you won’t talk about this to anyone else, not even one o
f my team. There are people who might want to silence you. Do you understand?”

She nodded qui
ckly as her complexion paled. I wasn’t exactly lying, just bending the truth a little. I didn’t think anyone would kill her, but her carelessness could put all of us in danger. Hopefully this little scare would encourage her to keep her mouth shut.

Still
, I felt badly about my sudden invasion of her mind, having been a victim myself. She was smart and resourceful, having deduced the truth faster than many others could have managed. I was curious about this girl.

She looked upset. An apology was in order.
“I’m sorry. I had to make sure you hadn’t already told anyone that—theory of yours.” I sent a little of my healing energy into her mind and I saw her relax her shoulders and close her eyes for a moment. When I released her hand she jerked away.

“You frightened me.” Her expression changed to anger. “I thought we could be friends. Are you full of shit
, too?” Her hands were in fists. Bridgett had a short fuse. I could relate.

“I'd like to be your friend, but the fact is that we’ve just met each other. You have information about me and my team that could put us in danger, which ironically, puts you in a dangerous situation too. I’ll do anything in my power to protect m
y team and especially my mate.”