Passion's Prey: The Shadow Shifters (28 page)

Nick shrugged. “Take it as advice from someone who’s not real used to losing in the courtroom. Build your case and find the real killer. In the meantime, leave my client the hell alone. We clear?”

“Get your house in order” was Wilson’s response to X as they moved to leave the office. “I’m coming for your ass.”

“Then you better come correct,” X said, unable to contain another ounce of restraint.

When they were gone and the door to the office was closed, Nick sat down with a huff. “Fuck!”

X echoed that sentiment as he turned to stare out the window. When he awakened this morning it had been after a night with no nightmares, a night when he’d thought light was penetrating the dark that had stalked him for so long. Now, as clouds moved slowly over the sky, he felt as gloomy and dour as the weather. This was his fate; he should have known better than to believe otherwise.

Chapter 24

Nivea Cannon was a twenty-eight-year-old shifter whose parents owned a nonprofit organization that provided aid to underprivileged children—with a good deal of those children being shifters. She was the younger of two sisters and the only sibling to leave New York in search of her own life.

Those were the specifics as Nick had read them from a data file he kept on his laptop. In addition to his duties as a commanding officer, Nick was also head of security for the Eastern Zone. More often than not his security upgrades reached out to the remaining Zones as well. About an hour ago Eli had met with Ezra, Rome, Nick, and X. The topic of discussion was of course Sabar and what they were now calling his gang of Rogues down at Athena’s. It had been decided that at the moment the shadows could not take a more active role in ridding the world of these cretins without bringing more heat on the investigation against X.

“They’re building a circumstantial case against him,” Nick had said from his seat beside Rome. “I can blow holes in every theory they have right now, but more dead bodies will only give them more ammunition.”

To that announcement X had growled, his fists pounding on the table. Eli understood the man’s frustration. There was nothing worse than being wrongly accused—he could so relate to that.

“Agent Wilson seems to be really gunning for you,” Rome said to X. “Any ideas why?”

X shook his head. “Never dealt with the man until I came across his name in Kalina’s files. I think his fixation is with the three of us since he was behind the initial investigation into the firm.”

Rome nodded. “You’re probably right. He couldn’t find anything on me so now he’s connecting the dots.” Rubbing a hand over his chin, smoothing the neatly trimmed goatee, the FL looked like he was in deep concentration. “I want to know what he knows before he tosses it in our faces again,” he said solemnly.

Nick picked right up where Rome left off, which was normally the case between these two.

“We need twenty-four-hour surveillance on him. Two guards, not males. The way he was eyeing me and X, I sensed him putting together similarities. In light of all the suspicions and investigating of our kind, I don’t want this guy piecing anything together. Females will work better because he won’t suspect them,” Nick said.

“Nivea Cannon’s good,” Ezra said immediately. “She’s been in battle with us twice now and holds her own.”

“I agree,” X commented. “She escorted Caprise down to Athena’s the other night and gave those nosy-ass peeps a fright when she almost toppled them with the Dumpster.”

“Did you find out who they were?” Rome asked with what seemed like an afterthought.

“Nivea found a card on the street right outside the alley. A reporter named Priya Blake,” X said with a frown.

Eli hadn’t been terribly surprised by that revelation. These stripper murders were making headlines. Assumptions were being made about the possible connection to the females who’d died in that apartment building and to Senator Baines and his daughter. It was no wonder the sharks were out with all the blood that had been spilled so far.

“That’s just what we need,” Ezra stated.

“Who else? I don’t want Nivea tailing this guy alone,” Nick said. “Find another female, give them rotating shifts. They’ll report directly to you, Eli.”

Eli nodded, not totally thrilled with the assignment but resigned to take it anyway. He and Nivea had history. Of course that meant it wasn’t good history; that would be too much like right.

“As for the reporter, Ezra, you get somebody to research her. I want to know where she works, eats, and sleeps. And I definitely want to know which paper she’s writing for,” Rome told the guard.

“No problem” was Ezra’s quick and smooth response.

Eli had wanted to elbow his twin. Nothing bothered Ezra, ever. He was the easygoing twin, the suave and totally-in-control one. Eli was the one with the rough edges, the youngest by two and a half minutes, and the one who was always trying to find his place. Lead Guard for the Eastern Zone wasn’t a bad place to be. Personally guarding a commanding officer was just as prestigious but sometimes Eli wanted something that was just about him, based solely on the man he was, not the shifter he became.

He was thinking like that and hating himself for doing so as he walked into Havenway’s gym where he knew he would find Nivea.

And sure enough there she was, tearing up the track on the treadmill, her small feet eating away at the rubber belt as if she was on a mission. Nivea was always on the move, always volunteering for training sessions, always ready to go into battle. She was like the shifter GI Jane with better breasts.

Straight coal-black hair streaked with bronze strands was pulled back into a tight knot. For a moment Eli stood and simply watched. She was dressed in spandex shorts and sports bra, with a significant amount of her pecan-toned skin visible. Eli stared, enjoying the sight, because first and foremost he was a Shadow Shifter and that package came complete with a ferocious sexual appetite. Said appetite never failed to go into overdrive when Nivea Cannon was around.

“You gonna just stand and watch or are you planning to do a little work yourself?”

It took him a second to realize she was not only looking directly at him, but asking him a question.

“I kind of like watching,” he told her with a shrug.

“I’m sure you have better things to do,” she retorted, her arms moving in stride with her feet.

She wasn’t even winded, although the treadmill had to be on the highest speed because Eli had never seen it moving that fast. Admittedly, he didn’t do the treadmill when he came to the gym, stayed pretty much to free weights. He preferred to get his deeper workouts by running. Moving out here to the park had been a godsend, giving him more than enough room to get his daily exercise outside.

“Actually, you’re on my list of things to do.”

The way her head snapped in his direction and the shocked look on her face had him backtracking fast.

“I mean the commanding officer sent me to find you,” he corrected.

She was visibly relieved and he felt only mildly deflated. It brought back memories, ones they both swore never to speak of again.

“Arggghh,” she groaned. “Nick or X? They probably want to chew me out for not trying to stop Caprise from leaving the other night.”

He shrugged. “Caprise is not easy to stop,” he said. “X actually backed you up in that regard.”

She looked surprised. “So it’s Nick that wants to lecture me.” She sighed. “I swear I’ve heard enough lectures to last me a lifetime.”

“People are trying to guide you in the right direction,” he said simply.

“I know what the right direction is for me, thank you very much.” She switched off the machine and did a running step to climb off. “I’ll get a shower. Where does he want to meet?”

“Actually, you’re meeting with me, and it’s not about the whole Caprise thing. You stay dressed and I’ll change, meet you by the back entrance in fifteen.”

He was batting a thousand with her today because she looked as if what he’d just said was not what she expected from him. When she opened her mouth like she was going to question him he shook his head.

“In fifteen, Nivea.”

She nodded in agreement. When Eli walked out of the gym it was with the feeling that this assignment wasn’t going to go as smoothly as he planned.

*   *   *

Two days later the headline in the news was the raid on Athena’s, with Priya Blake reporting.

In addition to the raid, two guard jeeps had been found on the outskirts of the city, deserted. Things were changing and not for the better.

Rome called a meeting of all Faction Leaders, and this time Elder Umberto Alamar had also been included. The conference room table in Rome’s suite was almost full with Kalina, Nick, X, Ary, and Caprise. Each of their guards was also in attendance—Eli, Jax, Ezra, Zach, and Leo. X had assumed responsibility as Caprise’s guard for the moment. Nick wanted to assign her someone else but X had been adamant that Caprise stay with him at all times. Nick, wisely, hadn’t argued the matter further.

Out of the corner of his eye X saw Baxter standing off to one corner. He’d already set glasses of water in front of everyone seated. He’d pulled the small shutters down on the slim windows in the room and rechecked the locks on the door. Baxter had also been the one to get Alamar on the phone, as if Rome wasn’t privy to the Elder’s telephone number. Again, X wondered about the older man and his protectiveness of Rome and the
Topètenia
as a whole. There was definitely something there, something he doubted any of them knew about specifically.

“There were a lot of drugs found on the premises,” Cole Linden, Central Zone Faction Leader, said through the speakers centered on the conference room table. “Enough that CNN picked up the story; that’s how I knew what happened before you called.”

Rome sat at the head of the table, his face grim.

“There were pictures of the plastic bags with the symbol on it. So we can breathe a sigh of relief that some of the savior drug is off the streets,” he said.

“What if there’s more?” Ezra asked. “I can’t see that Sabar would be stupid enough to keep all his drugs in one place.”

Nick nodded. “He’s right. There’s got to be a stash house somewhere.”

“Most likely outside the city,” Eli added.

“The more pressing question is, were any Rogues arrested in the raid?” X asked.

“Right. That would not be good if they were being jailed. Who knows how they’d act under those circumstances,” Kalina said.

“They would have scented the cops coming,” Rome said with quiet authority.

It still amazed X how easily his friend had migrated into the role of leading all the stateside shadows. As he sat with squared shoulders, nondescript facial expression, hands clasped in front of him in all seriousness, he oozed power and control.

“I doubt anyone of importance was still in there by the time the raid was executed. Which means our guy is still out there.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Bas asked. “My team has killed a total of twelve Rogues in the last week. They seem to be growing in the trees here, making their appearance known throughout the night, pacing around the resort like they’re planning a feast. We shut them down quick and without question because I’m not willing to risk one of my guests being hurt.”

“You’re all but secluded out there,” X told him. “We can’t make kills like that in the city.”

“X is right,” Nick said, sending a closed look at X. “We’re already under a microscope here. We can’t afford any slipups.”

“They are settling in,” Elder Alamar said in his quiet, raspy voice. “We knew this time would come.”

From the corner, Baxter took a step forward as if the Elder was speaking specifically to him. “Yes, we knew.”

Everyone else in the room and on the extended lines went absolutely quiet. Until finally Rome spoke.

“There seems to be an outside conversation going on here. You two want to tell us what’s going on?” he told them.

Baxter looked at Rome with somber eyes, his usual glare.

“Now or later, it will eventually come out,” Baxter said.

“As we knew it would” was Alamar’s reply.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Nick roared. “If you two have something to say—”

His words were cut off by Rome, who raised a hand and gave Nick a level look.

“Now is the time to tell us everything. Humans are dying. Shadows are dying. Rogues are multiplying. If either of you gives a damn about this tribe you will tell me what we’re dealing with so I can counteract.”

Again with that cold power, that ominous tone Rome possessed naturally that fell like a thousand boulders in the center of the room.

“We were all as one hundreds of years ago. Our existence remained a secret because we remained together in the forest, in solitude. There were five tribes, all living as one because there was no choice,” Alamar said clearly.

“After a while there became turmoil. Lions wanted to lead. Cheetahs wanted to run. Tigers wanted to feast. Cougars and jaguars wanted to kill. The peace once harbored came apart. The separation would come
tarde o temprano
.”

Baxter continued when Alamar grew silent. “He speaks of the different tribes—the
Topètenia,
the
Lormenia,
the
Croesteriia,
the
Bosinia,
and the
Serfins
. We were all once a community of shifters, a group of those that were different. It was those differences that kept us together but ultimately pulled us apart.”

X sat up, leaning his arms on the table as he watched Baxter coming closer. Everything about the man was still the same, and yet it was different. X wasn’t looking at a devoted employee of the Reynolds family any longer. No, what he was seeing right here, right now, was a revelation. One that was going to either make or break Rome, judging from the wary look on his friend’s face.

“You’re saying that cougars, cheetahs, lions, tigers, and jaguars once lived together,” Kalina clarified. “Somewhere in a South American rain forest there was a legion of shape shifters that eventually separated and migrated to other parts of the world.”