Twisted (Rogues Shifter Series Book 3) (27 page)

When we left, we
took our time walking back up the road to the house. The sidewalk was brightly lit by streetlights and there were too many cars whizzing by for my liking. I was really hoping that we’d find a hidden spot, somewhere a little more private, where we could share a kiss before we made it all the way back.

We’d
just walked around a corner when I noticed that there was a section of the woods that butted right up against the sidewalk with a narrow path snaking in to disappear into the darkness. William was oblivious, but as soon as I yanked on his hand and started to back up the path he followed me without protesting.  I pulled him about twenty yards from the nearest streetlight and then turned around to face him.

He took both of my hands and smiled. “Did you read my mind, cheetah?” I shook my head and laughed as he ran his knuckles along my jaw. “I’d like to see you in cheetah form sometime. I heard you practically ripped Kennet’s throat out. I wish I could have been there.”

“I tried at least. You’d really like to see me shift? I could do it right now for you.” I took off my coat and threw it at him, then started taking off my shoes.

“What are you doing?”

I have to strip before I change. It’s no big deal.”

“Stop Bridgett.” His voice sounded a little panicked.  I looked up at him curiously, my shirt almost over my head.

“What’s wrong? Shifters and weres are naked around each other all the time when they shift form.” Since he seemed so uptight, I pulled my shirt back down.

He pointed to his chest.
”Vampire here.  A healthy male vampire who’s very attracted to this particular female shifter.” His eyes were sparkling with silver and his fangs were starting to poke out.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I’m such an idiot.” I held onto his arm while I put my shoes back on then he stood behind me to help me into my coat. I felt his breath on my neck and my heart started to beat like a snare drum
.

He leaned in right next to my ear and whispered, “Such a beautiful shifter.” He turned me around and put his hands on my waist under my coat, pulling me really close, and then kissed me. This kiss was very different and I found myself melting into his arms and pressing against him. After a few amazing minutes he pulled away from me. “We have to go back. I’m losing it here and I can’t do that. I could hurt you and Garrett will kill me if I bite you.”

“Just take a little.” I sighed.

“I don’t think I can stop myself.”

“Here...” I stuck my finger in his mouth and tried to stab it on one of his fangs, but he pushed my hand away and backed up several steps.

I was surprised to see how angry he was
. “Sometimes you don’t have a lot of common sense. You need to hear what I’m saying. If I lose control out here in the woods, who’s going to come to help you?”

“But you
wouldn’t.
”

“I wouldn’t
want
to, but I’m a relatively new vampire with very little control when it comes to shifter blood. I’m sure you remember what happened before. So no blood unless we’re somewhere safe, agreed?”

“
I’m sorry.” I looked down at the ground feeling embarrassed. I seemed to be messing up everything lately. “You’re right, I don’t listen. I just do what feels right without thinking it through first. I could have put us into a dangerous situation.”

I hadn’t heard him move closer, but his delicious scent was everywhere. He lifted my chin and his light blue eyes were clear of silver when he spoke. “I’m crazy about you, common sense or no common sense.” He kissed me again, this time it was gentle and perfect. We walked back to the house hand in hand and went upstairs
to my room to order the complete set of Star Wars movie DVDs.

Chapter Fifty-two

Jackie: 9:45 PM Sunday

I was waiting in the kitchen with Garrett, Sasha and Heinrich for the rest of the team to show up. We’d brought in extra chairs and an extra table which we pushed against the regular one so people could spread out and eat while we talked.  I had Bridgett’s fajitas warming as well as a pot of Liam’s chili and rice and beans on the stove.  I knew that Aaron and Ralph were coming with the house plans at around 10:30 and they were
always
hungry, as was Ethan and Kyle. I wasn’t hungry, just anxious about a few things.

How would everyone take the demon news?  Ethan, Kyle, Garrett & Bridgett knew. It would be a shock for the rest. Also, how were Sinc, Ethan and Sasha going to react to each other?  I paced back and forth a few times as the three vampires watched. I couldn’t help it. If we didn’t have a meeting tonight, I’d have grabbed Garrett and insisted we drive up to the mountains to hunt. I just couldn’t sit still.

“Jackie, no one’s going to care, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Garrett was his usual cool self. Sometimes it bothered the hell out of me.

“I’m not really worried about that, I’m just…
I don’t know—anxious. I’m going to sit on the patio for a few minutes.” I slipped out through the patio doors only to find that Garrett had followed me.

Because of Sasha and Heinrich’s enhanced hearing, he sent,
“Tell me.”

“I really don’t want to talk about anything. I mean at the meeting. They’re all going to want to know the gory details and I can’t…I’m not ready…”

He took my hand and pulled me next to him.
“No one will push you to talk about anything. You can sit there the whole time with your mouth zipped shut and no one will bother you”.
I crossed my arms and glared at him.
“I’m not making fun of you, I’m serious.”

His grin turned teasing.
“How’s this, if they ask you anything at all about your time with Kennet I’ll hiss at them. I’m very good at it.”
I felt the corners of my mouth curl up against my will.
Garrett pulled me into his
arms for a comforting hug and a lungful of his chocolate orangy-ness
. ”Try to relax. These are your friends and your team. If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t. It’s fine."

I
walked back inside, telling him without turning, “
You’d better warm up your hiss, buster
.” I heard him laugh behind me.

Bridgett and William had arrived as had Kyle and Ethan, who sat at the opposite end of the long table from Sasha
. Big
surprise there
. Bridgett and William sat in the middle across from me and Garrett. When Sinc arrived she took a look at the available seats: one next to Kyle and one next to Sasha. She sighed and took the seat next to Kyle, even though he turned away from her when she sat. Ethan ignored her too, although I gave her the same smile I’d given everyone else. Rob sauntered in last, taking the last available seat.

We’d decided
to get my info out of the way first, then the shifters could eat while we talked about cases. I stood and first thanked everyone for all they’d done to help find me. Then I gave a brief description of what I’d discovered about myself through Isaiah and how I was now able to travel the ley lines as the Fae could and would be learning more about my powers when Isaiah visited two months from now. I sat down to a completely silent room.

The three vamps looked like they’d just been sucker punched. Heinrich looked from me to Garrett and said, “Garrett, you are the luckiest bastard I ever met. Excuse my language please, Jackie.” William and Sas
ha were pretty much speechless.

“I
won’t argue the point.” He squeezed my hand. “The team’s potential effectiveness has increased enormously with Jackie’s new skill.” He turned to look at Rob and Sinc, the only other two who hadn’t known.

Rob spoke up, “Amazing. I always knew there was something about you that seemed more than shifter, but had no idea it was dem
on. Do you know what level?” Nothing ever fazed Rob, he just took any new information thrown at him and tried to figure out how to use it.

“I don’t know the names for the various levels. I have a birthmark behind my left ear, an ellipse. Isaiah’s is a crescent. He’s from the noble classes and he says I’m a level up from him. Of c
ourse, he’s a full blood demon.” I shrugged and looked at Sinc.

She shook her head, looking a little bewildered
. “Whatever. As long as you don’t eat us.”  We exchanged smiles. I was just happy that she seemed to have forgiven me for the punch.

“One bite of you and she’d be battling food poisoning for a week.” Kyle muttered.

Sinc turned on him and gave him a good shove, knocking him off of his chair. He sprang back up and moved toward her, clenching his fists, so she stood quickly and said, “What is it Kyle? You want to beat on me too? “ We watched her hands change to paws with very long sharp claws. “Lets go outside and I’ll be happy to let you try.”

“You bitch, I’d like nothing better.” He took another step toward her.

“Sit down, both of you.” Garrett was furious, silver dots already shining in his eyes. The two leopards continued to stubbornly stand and glare at each other. “I’ve had it with you two acting like Jr. High School delinquents. I’m going to lock you together in a room and let you beat the crap out of each other. And when you’re both a bloody mess I’m going to kick you the fuck off of the team, because we’ve all-had-enough."

They'd finally twisted to look at him, both of them taking a step away from the table, surprised by Garrett's fury. "
When this meeting is over, you two, Rob and I are going to have a private talk in my office. Now-sit-down.” His voice had lowered to a dangerous level.

They started to sit down slowly, all the while watching the other
one. Ethan let out an exasperated sigh, stood and moved Kyle over to his chair and sat himself between them. He shook his head and shrugged.” In their defense, Garrett, they never behave this way when we’re on an assignment. They worked hard to find Jackie.”

“Thank you Ethan, I understand that. And I also understand that we’ve all been under an incredible amount of stress the last few weeks. Still, we’re having a
business
meeting and we have some serious subjects to discuss. If the infants can’t control themselves, then they can wait outside.”

“I’m cool, sorry, Garrett.” Kyle looked as embar
rassed as he ever gets. He tended to shrug off his moody behavior as 'just his personality-so deal'.

“I also apologize
. I shouldn’t let him get to me.” Sinc glanced at Rob who frowned and shook his head slightly. He’d been there for her when her werewolf parents had dumped her into the shifter community. She lowered her eyes and looked at her hands with their perfectly manicured nails, then moved them into her lap.

Despite Garrett’s anger, something about Sinc and Kyle fighting made me feel like things were back to normal again. I caught Ethan’s eye and he smiled at me, probably thinking the same thing.

Bridgett and I served up dinner for anyone who was hungry then we listened as Sasha presented some cases for us to consider. Apparently, most of the emails and letters stacked on Garrett’s desk weren’t things that we would normally handle so they’d been referred to other supernaturals or agencies.

The first two were ruled out as either too dangerous or simply impossible.  Number
one involved a sorcerer in Washington State who was summoning demons to teach him more powerful spells. We decided to tip off the Pacific Coast Sorcerer's Guild as well as Isaiah when he returned in two months. We'd definitely be staying the hell away from any dude crazy enough to make all of those demons angry with him. We'd suggest to Maya that she could contact the shifters in the area about warding their community with strong defensive spells and that we could recommend a witch for the job if they needed her services.

Number two involved a haunting by a nasty poltergeist wreaking havoc in a Portland Oregon Community Center. None of us knew anything at all about ghosts, so again we’d have to recommend the services of someone, but who? We decided to call Angel and hand it off to him. He probably knew a Necromancer and
since  they were paying very well, he might be interested.

The next two were right up our alley. Some teenaged boys had gone missing from a were pack in Los Altos .  Sinc’s ears perked up at the mention of Los Altos. She looked at Garrett. “Quentin’s pack?” Garrett nodded and Sinc slumped in her chair. “This is one freakin’ wonderful day.”

“Will this be a problem for you?”

Sinc sighed. “I’ll work the case, Garrett, but I want to have as little co
ntact with Quentin, Katrina and—you know—as possible.”

“I haven’t decided whether to put you on the case or not, Sinc. You and Kyle might be sitting out for a while.”

“Whatever you say.” She looked down again at her folded hands. This news had upset her more than she'd let on. I watched Ethan ball his hands into fists to keep himself from reaching for one of hers. It was second nature for him to want to comfort her.  I felt so bad for both of them.

This was obviously the pack that Sinc had been adopted into and then kicked out of when she’d sh
ifted for the first time. Her adopted parents, both werewolves, had been hoping she’d choose to be bitten and join the pack. That couldn’t happen to a shifter, so she was given a car, a house and plenty of money and then sent to Rob. They never called her again. If it wasn’t kids missing, I’d probably tell them to kiss my ass, but that’s why I wasn’t in charge.