To Love a Shifter: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (112 page)

“I have no idea what both of you are talking about,” Lucian said dispassionately.  He leaned back in his seat and turned toward the window, staring at the scenery like he had never seen a desert in his entire life.

Eager to lose myself in humor and forget about all the bad stuff, even temporarily, I bit back a smile as I let my fingers walk on Lucian’s shoulders.  “You fit the bill of my ideal guy, though.”

He swatted my fingers away.  “Stop talking nonsense.”

Dyvian and I succumbed to laughter.

“You two have gone insane.”

That got his brother laughing harder, but all his talk about nonsense and insanity made me remember another issue, one that had made me seriously doubt my own sanity…till today.  “Lucian?  Did The Voice tell you I was in danger?”

“The voice?” Dyvian echoed.

Lucian made a strangling noise while pulling on the collar of his shirt.  “The Voice?”

I smiled knowingly.  “No point denying it, Lucian.  The Voice told me you can hear him—it—too.  Don’t you?”

“Ah, yes.”  Lucian seemed to have a hard time meeting Dyvian’s eyes or mine.

Poor guy.  He was probably still struggling with the same doubts I had about my sanity.  “It’s okay, Lucian.  You’re
not
crazy.  The Voice is real.”

“Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?” Dyvian demanded.

I was more than eager to explain.  “It’s a new ability of Evren, Dyv.”

“A what?”

“Deli,” Lucian groaned in a pained tone.

I scooted forward again to squeeze his shoulder in sympathy.  “I know, Lucian.  It’s hard to adjust to, but you will in time.”  I met Dyvian’s questioning eyes through the rearview mirror and, adopting a professor-like tone, I explained, “It’s like this, Dyvian.  You’re like Evren version 1.0 and I’m Evren version 2.0 so I have better features so to speak.”

Dyvian smirked.  “And you think Lucian believes—”

“Of course, he does!”  I spoke up before Lucian could even open his mouth.  “Because he hears it, too.”

“Riiight.  One question, though—hasn’t it occurred to you that if I’m what you call Evren version 1.0,” his voice made it obvious he was still smarting at the term since Dyvian hated anything that made him less than fashionable, “then Lucian would qualify as something like Evren version zero, don’t you think?  He’s older than me, after all.”

I hated it when people came up with smart points like that and I had no back-up answer.  “Well,” I stalled and looked outside my window for inspiration.  The road sign at my right told me that we were just minutes away from Vegas, but I didn’t know how that could help me.

“It’s because I made her.”  Lucian was also staring at the scenery outside when he said the words.  I guess the scenery was of more help to him than it was to me.  “That’s why I share this, ah, new ability of hers.”  His voice was low and strained.  Poor, poor guy.

“Because you were the one who turned her Evren?  You’re saying you have this special connection to her, and that’s why you can hear this voice as well?”

“Yes,” I answered when Lucian didn’t seem inclined to speak.

“What does it sound like?”  Dyvian glanced back at me, his brows furrowed in suspicion.

Lucian stiffened in response just about the same time I froze in my seat.  Was this the right time to admit about The Voice sounding like Lucian?  “Well,” I stammered.

“Lucian?” Dyvian insisted.  “What does it sound like?”

Lucian cleared his throat, and I knew right away he was hiding something.

And then it hit me.  Oh, my God, what if Lucian’s Voice sounded like mine?  What if The Voice borrowed the one you’re destined to fall in love with or something like that?

But my attention veered away from the possibility when in front me, Lucian’s shoulders suddenly jerked.  “Are you okay?” I asked right away, worried that his fight with the Zekan might have done him more damage than he had let on.

“Alien,” Lucian barked out, startling Dyvian and me.  He cleared his throat and lowered his voice.  “It sounds very, ahh, very much like an alien, the words all garbled up.”

“Oh.”  Since I very well knew I didn’t sound like an alien, Lucian’s response definitely killed my theory.

“How about yours, Deli?”

“Something like that, too,” I lied, still feeling dispirited.

Dyvian was slowing down to drive into a crowded automobile service center.  “This is me then,” he declared as he unlocked the doors.  “I’ll take care of things from here and meet up with you later on at—”  Already halfway out of the car, Dyvian turned to raise a brow at Lucian.

“Caesars Palace, probably,” Lucian replied after a moment.  “As we’re here, we might as well enjoy it.”

Dyvian grinned.  “Now, we’re talking.”

Watch me,
I mouthed to Dyvian before gushing, “Oh, Lucian, you mean it?” and throwing my arms around him from the backseat.

Dyvian didn’t even blink.  “I’ll leave you guys to celebrate in private.”  He walked away, whistling.

“Deli.”  In spite of Lucian’s even tone, the threat in his voice was unmistakable.

I released him, laughing.  I could sense the memories of this morning fade, losing their tormenting sharpness, and I laughed even louder.  Lucian and I got out of the car.  I moved to Lucian’s evacuated seat while he went around the pick-up to take the wheel.

Waving goodbye to Dyvian as Lucian pulled out of the service center’s driveway, I turned to Lucian when he spoke my name.  “Yeah?”

“It’s better not to talk about, err, The Voice, to anyone, you understand?”

“Duh.  Who do you think I can talk to about it?”

“You know we’re not the only Evren in this world.  And then there are the Zekans, of course.”

“Oh.”

“It’s a new ability, as you said, and other people not knowing about it could come in handy when you’re in danger.”  Lucian’s forest green eyes darkened.  “Not that I’m intending to leave you to get into trouble again.”  He tipped my chin up.  “Do you understand?”

I nodded.  “Crystal clear.”

“Good.”

Silence resumed inside the car.

“Voice,”
I ventured.

It took several seconds before The Voice answered.  “
Yes?”

It still sounded like Lucian, and I didn’t know whether that was good or bad. 
“Do you know what you sound like when you’re talking to Lucian?”

There was a moment’s hesitation before it replied,
“Yes.”

“What do you sound like then?  Do you really sound like an alien when you’re talking to Lucian?”

The length of time it took for The Voice to respond made me wonder what could be so important about my question that it would make The Voice unnaturally hesitant.

“Voice?”

“It sounds…”

I held my breath.

“Like you.”

I collapsed on my seat as air whooshed out of my lungs.  I stole a look at Lucian but he still had his eyes firmly fixed on the road.

“Are you sure, Voice?”

“Yes.” 
It sounded more like itself now, responding matter-of-factly.

“But why did he lie?”

“I am not in a position to answer that.”

“Right.  Sorry.  But…what about its significance?  Why do you sound like me when you’re talking to Lucian?”

Again, a note of hesitation before The Voice replied,
“The voice I borrow belongs to the person you care for the most.”

When I realized that having The Voice inside my head didn’t mean I was insane, I considered myself lucky because I had such a unique, smart, and understanding “companion” only few others, humans or Evren, had.  Me being me, of course, I never considered having The Voice inside my head could have any negative consequence.

“You’re oddly quiet,” Lucian observed as we stepped inside the ornately designed elevator together with several other hotel guests.

“Oh?”  My voice cracked.

He raised a brow.  “Is something the matter?”

I shook my head quickly.  “Nothing.”  How could anything be wrong when I had just found out that Lucian cared for me?  It was a thought I fully embraced, especially as it temporarily allowed me to ignore the other not-so-nice-things in my life.

The elevator chimed as it reached our floor, and I followed Lucian out.  Even in his less than immaculate clothes, he still made heads turn—a fact he seemed unaware of.

I tried to duplicate his indifference.  People were gawking at me, too, but only because they didn’t understand how I could’ve gotten past the doorman with my windswept-slash-broomstick hair, dirt-streaked skin, and torn clothing.

Staying confident while being everyone’s object of unfavorable amazement was not an easy thing to do, and by the time we reached the hallway leading to our room, I felt about two feet tall.

“We’re here,” Lucian murmured with a glance over his shoulder before turning to the door on his left.  I was okay with washing up in any of the hotel’s public restrooms, but Lucian had insisted on getting a room instead.  That jackpot of his must be beyond huge.

I moved to step past the housekeeping attendant and her cleaning trolley, pretending not to notice how the pretty brunette gave me a dismissive once-over, her lip curling upon seeing my less than perfect appearance.  My self-esteem further diminished, I now felt eleven inches tall.

“Excuse me.”  There was no way I could pass without either bumping the trolley or Lucian.

She ignored me, continuing to ogle Lucian shamelessly.

This
was so not what I needed.  After battling it out with a Zekan, I was by no means letting a rude hotel employee get the better of me.  I took a deep breath.

“Baby?”

The woman and I both turned to Lucian in surprise.  Who was he calling “baby?”

Lucian touched my cheek.  “Let’s go in, baby.”  He gestured to the door he had just unlocked.  His eyes gleamed, and I knew instantly he had known all along about the silent war I had going with the other woman.  Calling me “baby” was his way of letting her know whose side he was firmly on.

A smile broke out on my face.  “Oh,
baby
, sure.”  I hugged him quickly, turning just enough so I could gloat at the woman.  Her envious glare was manna to my eyes.

“And you know what, baby?  I’ll forgive you for—”  I couldn’t say anything more because Lucian had already dragged me inside the room with him.  He let go of me with a little frown.  I frowned right back, irritated at him for not letting me finish gloating.

“It was overkill,” he told me, as if reading my thoughts.  Lucian sighed and ruffled my hair briefly.  “You didn’t really think I’d let you get away with acting like I’m your lapdog, did you?”

I pouted.  “I wasn’t treating you like a lapdog.”

“A trophy boyfriend you have around your little finger then.”  He took his hand away.

The loss of physical contact between us made me feel even more irritable.  “But—”

Lucian quelled the rest of my sentence with a curt shake of his head.  He waved toward the door across the suite.  “That’s your room.  It has its own Jacuzzi so go ahead and take your time freshening up.”

Seeing the familiar, busy look on Lucian’s face and knowing it more or less meant he was thinking about a million problems and maybe trying to find a solution to global warming along the way, I turned away with a sigh and did as told.

~~~

Lucian was right.  There was a Jacuzzi.  I smiled wistfully as I let my fingers trail the smooth cold surface of the black and gold marble tiles. 
This
was what I had envisioned an Evren lifestyle was all about.  But I would give it all up just to have my family back.

Well, to have my family back
and
the Chevalier brothers.

When the Jacuzzi was adequately filled with warm, scented, foamy water, I took off my clothes and got in.  I closed my eyes, my body relaxing gradually against the tub’s slick walls.

I remembered my conversation with The Voice and it made me smile.  But soon, my memories turned ugly as I relived my encounter with the Zekan.  They turned uglier still as I recalled the night I lost my parents and Davie.

Tears and not water soon wetted my cheeks.

Questions I had never dared ask myself suddenly rose to the fore.

What could I have been thinking, acting like everything in my life was normal, going to school and crushing on a tall, dark, and silent hottie?  My parents were dead—no, they were murdered.  My sister was in a coma.  The creatures that had harmed them were still on the loose.

What was I doing to avenge them?

I grabbed a tissue from the box behind me and blew my nose.  I switched off the tap, having lost pleasure in lounging around in the Jacuzzi.  Without the whirling buzz of water, the bathroom was once again encased in silence.  I rubbed myself dry before padding toward the bed.  I was only planning to rest, but I drifted off to a dreamless sleep as soon as my head hit the pillows.

~~~

Dyvian’s loud angry voice woke me.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t have figured it out?  Did you really think I was that stupid?  If you thought it had taken me too long to realize what you’ve been doing, it’s only because I couldn’t believe you’d do something like that.  How can you be so manipulative, dammit?”

Lucian’s reply was muffled, and I shook my head groggily, unable to completely comprehend what I was hearing.

“You’re being unfair.  How long will you continue hiding this?”  Incredulity and contempt underscored Dyvian’s tone, making me wonder what Lucian could have done to make Dyvian so furious.  He always took perverse pleasure in irritating Lucian, but there was no hiding how much he worshiped his brother.  I had never heard him speak an ill word against Lucian till now.

The fight was more than enough to waken me fully.  I got off the bed in a hurry and grabbed the bathrobe hanging on the door, shrugging into it and securing it with a tightly knotted belt around my waist as I crossed the room.

I opened the bedroom door just in time to hear Lucian reply, “It’s not how you think it is, dammit.  I had no bad intentions when I first did it.  It took me completely by surprise and then—”

“Deli,” Dyvian sputtered, his eyes widening when he saw me in the doorway.  Disconcerted surprise briefly crossed his eyes, so fast that I could have imagined it.

Lucian spun around at the sound of my name, his face pale but inscrutable.

I approached them anxiously.  “What’s happening?”

“It’s nothing,” Lucian said very firmly.

“It’s not nothing,” Dyvian retorted, fury rekindling in his eyes.

“We will not talk about this in front of Deli if you know what’s good for you.”  His eyes were hard on his brother’s face.  “What’s good for all of us.”

“What are you guys talking about?” I burst out, the tension in the room reaching almost palpable heights.

Both of them ignored me.  Dyvian stared back, his eyes just as hard.  “Then I want you to explain why you did it.”

Lucian’s response was a jerky nod.

“Now.”

Lucian stiffened but he nodded all the same.  He glanced at me and said with perfect politeness, “Will you excuse us for a minute, Deli?”

“I…”  My voice trailed off and I ended up nodding instead, realizing that at the moment, nothing I could say would prevent them from having the face-off both of them seemed to want.

Dyvian stormed toward the balcony while Lucian followed sedately, closing the glass doors behind him.  I stiffened in nervous anticipation, dreading what a dragon battle between two strong Evren like the Chevalier brothers could result in.  Honestly, why couldn’t boys just learn to fight like girls and resort to subversive tactics and backstabbing?

When minutes passed and no blood was spilled, I began to relax.  Maybe, those two were smarter than other members of their sex.  They were certainly smart enough to keep their voices too low for me to eavesdrop, even with the benefit of Evren hearing.

Lip reading wasn’t one of my talents either, forcing me to make my own conclusions based on what I could see.  Dyvian was speaking in a furious rush, pacing in an agitated fashion, his hands clenched at his sides.  Lucian, however, looked as calm as he always did, but his mouth was tight, biting out each word he spoke.

“Well?” I demanded when they walked back into the living room.

“Were you worried, little sister?”  Dyvian flashed me his usual charming smile.

I couldn’t make myself smile back just yet.  “Is everything okay now?”

“Of course it is.  Big bro and I just had a little misunderstanding.  But it’s all okay now.”  He winked at Lucian.  “Isn’t it?”

Lucian didn’t answer as he reclaimed his seat on the sofa.

“Aww, come on.  Don’t be such a spoilsport.  Everything’s okay now, isn’t it?”

Lucian stared at him.  As the seconds ticked by, my trepidation increased.  Didn’t Dyvian know he was skating on very thin ice?  Why was he so bent on provoking Lucian when he was in this kind of mood?

When Lucian finally spoke, I expected him to bite Dyvian’s head off, but all he said was, “Yes.  It’s okay.  Satisfied?”

My jaw dropped.  Lucian’s voice was colder than usual, true, but it was the only indication he showed of his displeasure.  Lucian never let Dyvian have the upper hand in their arguments, so why was he giving in to Dyvian now?

Something smelled fishy here, and it stirred up my protective instincts.  I took an aggressive step forward to Dyvian, tiptoeing so I could look him in the eye.  “Are you blackmailing your brother?”

He choked.  “What?”