Seamus stiffened. Bree rubbed her hands over his arms and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Keep it together, she willed silently. You’re all right.
Sean continued speaking for the group. “You have DNA tests now, don’t you? To tell you who was at the scene? The DNA of every Shifter is on record, you know. Samples were taken way back when we were first rounded up.”
Spots of red burned in Reder’s cheeks. “We haven’t been able to isolate the Shifter DNA yet. It’s not as easy as it looks on TV.”
“Ah. Maybe there’s none there to isolate,” Sean said.
“We’ll see.” Reder sounded confident. “All other evidence points to Shifter. That’s why I’ll have to take you all in until we discover what’s going on.”
Crap. At a police station, with everyone getting strip searched and the like, Seamus wouldn’t be able to maintain the pretense that the Collar was real. They’d also find out Seamus wasn’t from the Austin Shiftertown at all when they began going through records. Sean Morrissey might be good at verisimilitude, but Shifters couldn’t work magic.
A chair scraped as Tiger climbed to his feet. Reder started and took a step back, then another as Tiger rose to his full height. The two uniformed cops swallowed, hands on weapons.
“What is he doing?” Reder asked nervously.
Tiger, in his fatigue pants and black T-shirt looked like a war-experienced soldier you did not want to mess with. His mixed black and orange hair went well with his hard face and unmoving golden eyes.
“Shifter Bureau,” Tiger said calmly.
Reder watched him nervously. “Shifter Bureau what? What are you talking about?”
“Shifter Bureau must be notified if any Shifters are taken in,” Tiger said. “There is a procedure. Call Major Walker Danielson, the commanding officer.”
“This isn’t a military thing,” Reder snapped. “It’s first degree murder. On my watch.”
Tiger shook his head. “All police involvement in anything to do with Shifters must be coordinated with and cleared by Shifter Bureau.”
Reder looked to Bree, of all people, for confirmation. Bree shrugged, leaning down again to rest against Seamus. It felt natural to cradle him, as though they belonged together.
Dylan broke in. “Tiger has a point. Put in a call to Shifter Bureau to confirm if you want to. You have to wait for their okay.”
Reder’s temper was on its last frayed thread. “To hell with Shifter Bureau. I’m arresting all Shifters in this room on suspicion of murder. I’d read you your rights, but you don’t have any. You two.” She pointed at Bree and Nadine. “I’ll need you to stay in town, where I can put my hands on you and question you if necessary.” Reder nodded at her two uniforms. “Cuff them.”
The uniformed cops didn’t want to do it, Bree could see, but they reluctantly took cuffs from behind their backs. None of the Shifters moved, including Seamus, who was tense as a coiled rattlesnake.
It was interesting to see that both uniformed cops tried to go for Sean first—he seemed the least threatening. Sean found it interesting too, apparently. He grinned and started backing away from them.
Reder, furious, went for Tiger.
Tiger reached out, and without changing expression, took the cuffs from Reder’s hands and broke them. Reder shrieked, one of the uniforms spun around, drew his weapon, and shot Tiger.
Tiger just stood there. He didn’t even look down at the red hole that blossomed in his side nor did he try to touch it.
The man who fired went sheet white. Reder drew her gun and found it plucked from her hand by Tiger’s big one. Another shot rang out, this one grazing Tiger’s arm, but Tiger still didn’t flinch.
Tiger said, “Dylan,” then his clothes were splitting, and an enormous man-beast with Tiger-striped fur filled the kitchen.
Bree expected the cops outside to come charging in, alerted by gunfire and Reder’s shouts, but she saw and heard no sign of it.
The uniforms aimed again. “Stop!” Dylan’s voice rang through the kitchen. “Don’t provoke him. Call Shifter Bureau. Do it. Now!”
“I’m on it,” Sean said.
“Seamus,” Dylan said. “See what’s happening outside.”
“No one leaves this room!” Reder shouted desperately.
“I think you’ve been outranked, honey,” Nadine said. She tapped a cigarette on the counter and put it between her lips. “Better let them find out why your backup isn’t coming.”
Reder snapped her fingers at one of the uniforms and grabbed the radio he handed her. “Gonzales, Smith, respond.”
No answer but the crackling of static.
Bree reluctantly slid her arms from around Seamus as he got to his feet to obey Dylan. He started for the living room, but Bree went with him, because Seamus wouldn’t let go of her hand.
***
They had to get out of here. Seamus’s skin was roasting hot, crazy images tearing through his head, his body starting to shift of its own accord. He clamped down on the need to become lion, holding himself in human form with all his strength.
Watching Tiger taking the shots, breaking the pistol and the cuffs, and then bursting into his between beast, had surged Seamus’s adrenaline high. Tiger was nearly feral, unstoppable, un-Collared, and the feral inside Seamus responded to that.
A glance out the front window showed the cops and the cars were still there. But the two uniforms were talking quietly, not looking at the house, obviously hearing nothing.
“Huh,” Bree said beside him. “Maybe something is jamming the signals.”
One of her fake cat’s ears brushed Seamus’s arm. A deep shiver went through him, a need so strong he knew he’d not contain it for long.
Bree had no idea how good she looked in the skirt that hugged her ample curves, the makeup she’d already smeared, even the silly cat’s ears. Seamus wondered why every male in the roadhouse last night hadn’t tried to carry her off.
The thought made him rumble with growls. Even the briefest image of another Shifter touching her had Seamus’s anger soaring.
To hell with Dylan and his tame Shifters, to hell with the human cops and the hunters. Seamus needed Bree—didn’t want to be without her, ever again. Anything else going on in this house right now was irrelevant.
Seamus grasped her arm. “Come with me,” he said, his voice barely working.
Bree’s blue eyes behind the black paint widened. “Come with you where?”
“Out of here. Away. We’ll go far from here, hole up, stay together.”
Bree’s mouth formed a round O. Seamus expected her to look terrified, to yank herself from him, to fight him with the courage he’d seen in her.
No fear filled her eyes. Instead, Seamus saw interest, curiosity, and longing.
Then Bree’s face fell. “I can’t. I can’t leave my mom to deal with Shifters and the cops by herself.”
No, she couldn’t. Bree’s family might be very small, but Seamus had seen the fierce loyalty between mother and daughter, the shared grief over the brother, the way they took care of each other.
“Bring her,” Seamus said. “I’ll protect her too. But I have to go, now that I’m healed. I have no choice.”
Bree’s mouth dropped open again. “Wait, you want me to run away with you and ‘hole up,’ as you said ... with my mother?”
“We will take care of her. It’s the Shifter way.”
“The Shifter way is the crazy way.” Bree’s smile held incredulity. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. We’ll never get out past the cops.”
“I can.”
“Yeah, I bet you can.” Bree looked him up and down. “But I can’t.”
“I’ll work on it. Bree ...” Seamus couldn’t help touching her, skimming her hair back from her face. The headband snagged on his fingers. “There’s so much I need to tell you. But I have to get away from here, now, can’t be arrested. It’s important.”
Bree’s expression was serious. “Did you really kill the hunters?”
&
nbsp; Confused memories beat into his brain. The blood, the pain, snarling, screams, the smell ... “I don’t know. It’s ... unclear.” Seamus took Bree’s hand again, pressing down. “Now that I’ve found you, I can’t let you go. I can’t. I never would have healed this fast if not for you.”
“You said that last night. But if you needed to leave so bad, why didn’t you go? I mean, this morning before we woke up? Before the Shifters came. If you’d gone in the night, they might not have found you.”
Seamus was already shaking his head. “Because I didn’t want to leave without you. I wanted to convince you to come with me.” Humor trickled through his frustration. “I was stupid. Which is also down to you—my brains went out the window when I landed in your truck and laid eyes on you. There’s things I have to do. I have to know they’re safe—Goddess, please let them be safe—but I’m running out of time.” His words tumbled out, his worry escalating.
“If you really need to leave,” Bree said. “I can distract them. You’re Shifter—I’m pretty sure you can be gone faster than they can think to start looking for you.”
Seamus pulled his attention back to what she was saying. Offering to stay behind, to take the wrath of the police so Seamus could slip out and go. Sacrifice.
Did Seamus have a choice? Either way, he lost. If he left without Bree, he’d likely never see her again. If he stayed, he’d fail his mission and those who counted on him. Can’t have both.
What the human cops and Shifter Bureau didn’t understand was that Shifters were more than animals. Eons ago, when Shifters had been created as fighters for the Fae, those Shifters were more primal. If he’d lived back then, Seamus might have said to hell with his responsibilities and Bree’s family, grabbed her, and headed off. They’d go somewhere remote, lose themselves, never return.
But since then Shifters had learned about communities. Didn’t matter about Collars, no Collars, or what species each Shifter was—another thing humans, and even the Collared Shifters, didn’t always understand. Seamus could be as protective of those in his community—the Lupines, bears, and Felines not remotely related to him—as he was with his own family.
Who were all gone. Kendrick’s band of Shifters had been made up of those left on their own. Kendrick had known how to draw them together so they formed one big clan, no matter what their origins.
Now the clan had dissipated, each Shifter having his or her designated responsibilities to carry out before they reunited. Kendrick seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth for now, but it didn’t matter. He’d be back. He always came back.
Come away with me. Seamus wanted that more than anything. For Bree to become part of his family, part of his pride.
Seamus opened his mouth to tell Bree he had a better idea when a huge noise sounded behind the attic ceiling in the stairwell above them.
With a rush and a roar, the plaster and boards of the ceiling came down, along with a deluge of water, the entirety of it crashing into the stairs and the floor below.
Chapter Nine
Bree screamed. Dust, boards, sheetrock, and water poured down the stairs, and Seamus slammed himself over Bree, feeling debris pound his back. He smelled dirt, water, blood.
Tiger was the first one out of the kitchen. He was a full tiger now, giant paws sending up plumes of water as he bounded across the flooded living room, shoving aside wood and pieces of wallboard to get to them. Once they were free, Tiger stood over them, staring down with intense yellow eyes.
Bree was coughing, but unhurt. Seamus felt a sting on his face and wiped away blood, but it was only from cuts from the exploding pieces of wallboard and plaster.
“We’re all right,” Seamus said.
Tiger turned from them and leapt up the stairs. Dylan and Sean had emerged after Tiger and had already started for the attic. Reder was close on their heels, slipping on the now soaked rugs and floorboards. One of the uniforms followed, his weapon drawn, Nadine coming behind. What had happened to the second uniform cop was unclear.
“You won’t want to go up there.” Nadine called after them as Reder and the cop headed upstairs. “It’s dangerous.”
“Whoever is up there is coming down,” Detective Reder declared.
“It’s my son,” Nadine said. She’d stopped at the foot of the stairs, resting her hands on the newel post.
Reder glared down at her. “Then you tell him to come out quietly.”
“Can’t. He’s passed. Killed in action. I mean it’s his ghost. He’s watching over us.”
Reder’s face was a mixture of sympathy and anger. “I’m sorry to hear about your son, ma’am. But whoever is up there is no ghost.”
She turned away leaving Seamus, Bree, and Nadine alone.
“Mom.” Bree signaled her mother over and spoke in a rapid whisper. “We need to go. Me and Seamus. He has things he has to do.”
Seamus brushed debris from his shirt. “Bree doesn’t want to leave you behind. Come with us.”
Nadine looked him over in surprise, then she gave a snort, her short curls bouncing. “Like I’m going to go running through empty lots or hiding in the back of Remy’s pickup. You do what you need to, but—” She stuck two fingers against Seamus’s chest. “You look after my daughter. Bring her home in one piece. You got me? I know you didn’t kill those men, so you prove it. Now go.” Nadine glanced at the ceiling and smiled. “You know why their radios are jammed? It’s Remy, messing with the signals. That was his job in the army, remember?”
She turned and started up the stairs. Above, the Shifters were scrambling into the attic, Reder demanding to know what they saw.
Seamus took Bree’s hand, led her through the kitchen, and out the back door.
***
Bree already knew that going for the pickup would be impossible. Remy’s truck was parked in front and currently surrounded by cops. The uniform who hadn’t come out of the kitchen was out there with the other two, explaining what was going on.
Bree had grabbed her purse from the kitchen counter as they’d sped out, and now she tucked the bulky thing under her arm. “Well, you wanted a distraction,” she said to Seamus. “This way.”
She led him out of their small yard and across a field to a strand of live oaks growing thickly along a creek. The creek was low, only a trickle in it, but the damp bed and the trees gave them cover. Bree was glad she hadn’t put on spike heels to complete her groupie costume. She’d grabbed plain flats instead, needing to hurry through the house.
She worried about leaving her mother behind, but one thing Bree knew about Nadine Fayette was that she could hold her own. She’d raised two kids by herself after their dad died, had dealt with a hell of a lot of stuff. A Shifter like Dylan might be powerful, but Bree doubted he’d had to deal with anyone like her mother.
After they’d hiked about half a mile, Bree in the lead, she said, “All right, Seamus. We have a little time as we run for our lives. Tell me what this is all about. You said you didn’t know if you killed the hunters. How could you not know?”
Seamus didn’t speak for a moment and was so quiet Bree feared he’d slipped away and left her. She quickly turned around, but he was a step behind her, sunlight touching his dark hair and glittering in his eyes.
“Everything is a blur,” he said, his voice a low growl. “I was being chased, I thought by the hunters. But when someone attacked me, I thought it was Shifter, and I didn’t hold back. I couldn’t see clearly, and scent was one mass of confusion. I never would have killed humans like that. I could only have done that if I’d gone feral.”
“Or you really were fighting a Shifter, and he killed the hunters.”
“I’ve considered that too.” Seamus let out a heavy sigh. “But I don’t remember.” His voice went even more growling, as though he longed to shift into his animal form. “Things were flicking in and out all night. I changed safe houses, because I swore we were being stalked. I went back to the first safe house to ambush the attacker, to draw him to follow me
. Everything after that ... I can’t be sure. Until I saw the hunters were dead, and I ran, getting shot along the way. I saw you sitting in your truck and headed for it.”
“And then what?” Bree jumped a small trickle of water, grateful for Seamus steadying her on the muddy bank. “Everything suddenly cleared up?”
“No.” Seamus gave a short laugh. “I was being chased by hunters and in the car with a crazy woman.”
“Not crazy ... well, not much crazy.”
“I was half passed out with pain,” Seamus said. “But everything since I met you, I remember. I haven’t faded out again.”
“That’s good. Where is this safe house? Is that where we’re going?”
“Only if we can make sure we aren’t followed.” Seamus paused to push a branch out of her way. It was quiet back here, and humid, Bree’s hair already damp. “I have to get there, check on it, but I can’t risk leading anyone there. It’s very important.”
“I’ll make sure,” Bree said. “I didn’t exactly have an angelic childhood.”
Seamus didn’t respond to that, and Bree glanced behind her. Seamus was following closely, and again, he put out a hand to help her keep her balance.
“So what do you think happened in my attic?” she asked as they trudged along. “Water pipe bursting? A leak would explain the shorting light you saw.”
“I don’t know.” Seamus sounded troubled. “I didn’t like the smell.”
“Yeah? I have a feeling you don’t mean like an animal that crawled in there and died.”
“No, it was sharper,” Seamus said. “A scent no Shifter wants to smell in his lifetime. If your house is on a ley line, it could be a gate into the Fae lands. The scent wasn’t strong, so the opening might be weak. But if your house is on a ley line, I want you to move.”
“Oh, right. I don’t think my mom will go for that. The house is paid for.” Bree navigated over a boulder, clinging to Seamus’s strong hand. “I’ve heard Shifters talk about the Fae. They made you a long time ago, right? And now you hate them?”