The Promised One (The Turning Stone Chronicles) (16 page)

“Rhys’ first time was with Sylvia, when she mimicked me.”

Eli’s ruddy face paled. “Then she’ll be after him. If she sways him tae the evil side, we’ll have one giant battle facing us. No one—and I mean no one—in the entire history o’ the Turning Stones has ever been able tae body shift with a ring much less without a ring.”

“So are we soul mates?”

“Depends on who he twas thinking aboot.”

“He thinks it was me.”

“Then most likely ye are soul mates. ‘Tis a rare thing with shifters tae find a soul mate. The soul mate part ‘tis not important, but that he can mind shift without his own ring. Only a Promised One could do that. Shifting bodies with another ‘tis one of the final proof tests of a Promised One. Ye have tae get him back.”

“But I can’t,” Alexi wailed. “I called the captain this morning and asked him to assign me another partner. I couldn’t face working with Rhys after breaking it off with him.”

“Then ye have tae tell him ye changed yer mind.”

“I threatened to resign if he didn’t comply.”

“If ye have tae grovel tae get him back, do it.”

“I don’t grovel,” she said firmly.
To no one, and especially to a man.

“Dinna ye understand the magnitude of this, lassie? Ye can have yer man back, and ye can get the ring without repercussions, even if ye have to kill to get it. The joining of two potential Promised Ones, as powerful as ye and Rhys are, could start a new line as strong as the one yer mither and faither had.
This
is yer destiny, Alexi. Tae make the man ye love a Turning Stone member.”

She liked the sound of this destiny. Could such a thing really be possible? Hope flared in her and then fizzled out. “It won’t work. The world doesn’t react well to shape shifters. They think werewolves and vampires. He’d never go for it.”

“Did he like it when ye switched?”

“Not at first. He told me it freaked him out in the hotel room, like it did me when he and I were together. But he kept trying to convince me it meant we were soul mates. He actually wanted it to happen a second time. He promised me I’d get used to it.”

“And ye will. Ye just have tae give it time.”

She wasn’t sure the world had enough time left before Armageddon struck to convince him, but she couldn’t wait to get him back in her life. “So when should we tell him?”

“Not till we have Baron’s ring. Ye have tae get him back first, before Sylvia discovers yer apart and makes a move on him.”

And she would
. Despite the loose promise she’d procured from Sylvia under pressure, Alexi had no doubt the woman would come after Rhys the first chance she got.

She had to get him back, even if it meant groveling.

Chapter 28

Captain Williams placed his meaty hands on the stack of papers on Rhys’ desk. “What did you do to her, Temple?”

Rhys yanked a file out of the pile. “Who?”

“Jordan. Did you screw her and jilt her?”

His head jerked toward the captain and he pinned him with an angry stare. “If I screwed her, that’s none of your business.”

“It is now. She called earlier and asked for a new partner.”

Wasn’t it bad enough she jilted him? No one would know that anyway, but asking for another partner was a public snub. He didn’t take that lightly. “What reason did she give?”

“Some bull about irreconcilable differences. Sounds more like a divorce court excuse.”

“What did you tell her?”

The captain jerked his thumb toward his office door. Rhys scraped his chair back and followed.
This day keeps getting worse.
Could he convince the captain to keep them together better than he’d managed to convince Alexi?

Williams settled his bulk onto his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. “What’s the real story here, Temple?”

“We’re just going through a rough patch, that’s all.”

“Too rough to keep working with her? Because she sounded pretty determined to work with someone else.”

After what happened this morning, he didn’t doubt that.

“What the hell did you do to her?”

“I cared too much.”

“Hah!” The captain clapped his hand on the desk blotter. “You did screw her. I win.”

So, we’re back to the office odds.
You blew that too, Temple
. But there was no way he would admit it. He stared the captain down across the desk. “Caring doesn’t always lead to screwing.” The captain cocked an eyebrow at him and Rhys backed away. “Okay, maybe in my past. But it’s not like that now.”

“Somehow I’m having trouble believing that.”

“Believe what you want, but it’s different with Alexi. I don’t want a one-night stand with her.”

“And she did?”

“Let’s just say we wanted different things.”
More different than I realized if she’s asking for a new partner.

“She’s one hellava cop, Temple. If you’ve done anything to mess with that I’ll have your hide.”

“The only thing that will mess with it is if you give into her request. We’ve been together so long we read each other. You don’t want to lose that.”
I don’t want to lose that.
“It’ll take years for her to get that tight with someone else. I need some time to work things out.”

“You’re not going to get it. She said if I can’t honor her request, she’ll quit the force.”

What? Alexi loved being a cop.
Does she hate me that much, or love me too much to bear being around me?
He couldn’t wrap his mind around either idea, but the possibility that she might still love him cheered him. If so, how could she dump him? Frustrated, he raked his hands through his hair. Women didn’t make any sense.

The desk phone rang and Williams answered it. “Wait a minute, I want detective Temple to hear this, too.” He punched the speaker button. “Go ahead, Murphy.”

“We responded to a call this morning from Le Gran’ Jewels. The clerk said a regular customer, Patrick Pawling, forced his way into the store as she was opening this morning and stole the cash bag, an entire case of jewelry, and when the other clerk came in, Pawling shot him. He was DOA when they got him to the hospital.”

“Sounds like we’ve got an open and shut case,” Rhys said.

“You’d think so with such a positive ID. The guy’s on the security tapes and there’s an eyewitness,” Murphy said.

“So what’s the problem?” the captain asked.

“Patrick Pawling was in an early board meeting this morning with a dozen people who are vouching for him,” Murphy said. “He’s got an airtight alibi.”

“Alibis are meant to be busted,” the captain said.

“So he’s got a twin,” Rhys suggested.

“Checked that already. Pawling is an only child. And get this, the clerk followed him out of the store so she could tell the cops which way he went. He disappeared when he went around the corner. We’re handing this one off to homicide.” Murphy barked out a laugh. “Good luck. I think you’re gonna need it.”

The captain punched off the speaker. “Sound familiar?”

Rhys dropped onto the chair in front of the captain’s desk. “That’s one more robbery by someone who can’t possibly be the perp. So far we got a dead man mugging, stealing jewels, robbing a bank and disappearing into thin air in the john—”

“Not just any dead man,” Williams said. “Jordan’s dead uncle. And now this Pawling guy is in two places at the same time.”

“There’s no connection between Pawling and Baron. Pawling’s not dead.”

“My gut is telling me something about this one.” The captain reclined back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. “I’m going to let you give Jordan the good news.”

“That we think her dead uncle has gone on a crime spree?” That idea was bizarre at best.

“No, that I’m putting her on a case I believe has some connection to Baron’s murder. She’s been awful gung-ho about that.”

“You sure that’s wise?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll have her back. I’m keeping you two together.”

At least he’d won one battle today, or rather a skirmish. The real battle would probably come when he told Lexi. “That ought to go over like a ton of bricks.”

“Get the file from burglary and let her know.”

“She’s not in yet.”

“She took the day off. Something about a family member coming in to visit Baron.”

Rhys opened his mouth then clamped it shut. To the best of his knowledge, Alexi didn’t have any family now that Baron was gone. What was she hiding?

“Rhys is on his way over.” Alexi hung up the phone, a mix of fear and elation slugging it out in her stomach like prizefighters.

“Do ye ken what he wants?”

“He didn’t say. Just that it was important.” What could be so important that he’d come back after the way she’d jilted him?

“Here’s yer chance, lassie, tae git yer man back.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Dinna be afeart.”

“I’m not afraid, I’m scared witless. I’m going to try to get him back just so he can reject me when he discovers what I am.”

“What ye both are.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Dinna forget what is at stake here.”

“My heart. That’s what’s at stake.” She paced the floor. “What do you say to get a man back after you’ve told him you should have never been together in the first place? I don’t know what to do, Eli.”

“Has he said he loves ye?”

“Yes.”

“And do ye love him?”

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t have sent him away.” Fear won the first round in her stomach. “Are you absolutely sure I need to do this? What if he says no?”
If the situation were reversed I’d say no.

“He’ll no refuse ye if he thinks yer soul mates.”

That might work.
He’d used the same argument to try to convince her. She stopped pacing and faced Eli. “But are we? You never said the body swapping thing meant we’re soul mates, just that he’s a Promised One—a very powerful Promised One.”

“And so are ye. And as such, the two o’ ye are meant to be together. Dinna doubt that.”

That was an evasive answer. Nevertheless, she wanted to believe they were soul mates. Even if she persuaded him to come back to her, she doubted she could convince him to accept a destiny she’d been fighting against. A destiny that would complicate his life immeasurably.

Fear KO’d the remainder of her elation. Why did everything keep getting harder?

Rhys eyed Eli when he spotted him lurking in the front hall. “Is he the
family
you told the captain about? I thought you said last night he was an old friend of Baron’s.”

“Next to Baron, Eli is the closest thing I have to family.”

Jealousy surged through him.
I should be the closest thing you have to family.
“Didn’t take any time for you to get cozy, did it, old man?”

“Leave Eli alone, Rhys. He hasn’t done anything to you.”

He wondered about that. Things had gone to pot right after the Scotsman arrived last night, everything except the sex.

“What’s this about, Rhys?”

“Police business. Specifically, Baron.” He nodded his head toward Eli. “This conversation needs to be private.”

“Anything you have to say about Baron can be said in front of Eli.”

“You’ve known this guy less than twenty-four hours and you trust him with everything?” That really ticked him off.

“It’s complicated. You’ll just have to trust me on this one.”

Rhys stepped toward her. “Like I trusted you when you said you wouldn’t be sorry in the morning?” he whispered.

“Eli, would you leave us alone for a minute?”

“Aye, lassie. Take yer time. I’ll be out in yer garden sniffing the roses.”

“She doesn’t have any roses, old man,” Rhys shouted as Eli exited through the patio door.

“Come in, Rhys.” Alexi waved him inside. “We need to talk.”

“I’ve heard that line already today. Didn’t like it too much.”

When he didn’t move, she tugged on his arm. He shrugged her off. She couldn’t just kick him out, ask for a new partner, let a virtual stranger into her life, and then expect him to accept everything like nothing had happened. He had his pride.

“Please, come in.” Her hazel eyes pleaded with him. “I need to tell you something and I don’t want to do it on the front stoop.”

His anger melted some and he followed her inside. Contriteness on her part might make it easier when he told her they were going to remain partners. He expected she’d argue about it.

She sat on one end of the sofa and patted the cushion next to her. Obstinately, he chose the far end, placed his Stetson on the back of the sofa, and set the file from the office between them, a flimsy manila barrier to protect his heart.

She looked across the length of the sofa, her face drawn with anxiety. “I’m sorry, Rhys. I handled this morning very badly.”

He snorted derisively. “That’s an understatement.”
Wild, soul-melding sex and then less than eight hours later, I’m getting the heave ho.

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” Alexi rubbed her brow with her fingertips.

“Make what easy? I don’t even know where you’re going with this conversation. If you’re planning to tell me you want a new partner, you’re too late. Captain Williams already did the dirty work for you.” When she had the good grace to appear ashamed he felt vindicated. “Where did that come from, Lexi? You said we could remain partners.”

“I didn’t say that, I just nodded.”

“Are you going to split hairs?”

She hugged her arms close to her chest and shook her head, staring at the sofa cushion. “I’m sorry. I did lead you on, but just because I had to get you out before I changed my mind.” She stared deep into his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about what happened. I just want to make it go away.”

“Like you wanted me to go away?” Rhys gathered the file and stood. “The captain sent me here to tell you that we have to continue to work together, but if this is going to be your attitude, I don’t want any part of it.”

Alexi jumped to her feet and blocked his exit. “I don’t mean I want you to go away. I just wish I hadn’t said anything this morning.”

He stopped. Tears brimmed in her eyes.

“I do love you, Rhys. And I’m sorry about what happened.” She bit her lip and looked down at the floor.

They stood so close together he could see the muscles at the corner of her eyes twitch and hear her anxious swallows. The smell of her perfume tinged with sweat wound around her. What was she afraid of? What other horrible things did she have to tell him? Rhys braced himself for more heartbreak.

“I want you back, if you’ll have me.”

His breath caught and then hissed out like a leaking balloon. He’d expected a confession of infidelity or that he’d driven her to become a lesbian because of last night. Instead, she wanted him back.

“Rhys, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard. I’m just not sure I believe. Convince me.”

She took a deep breath then the words poured from her like an open tap. “I thought I couldn’t live without you, and I couldn’t bear to be near you and not be with you, that’s why I told Captain Williams I wanted a new partner. And I lied about the partner thing because I knew I couldn’t be just a partner or a friend, and being friends with benefits was out because we both wanted more.”

“You’re rambling,” Rhys said, trying to keep the smile beginning to curve his lips under control.

She inhaled, then blew the air out in an exasperated sound. “I think you were right about the soul mates. Because after you left I
knew
I couldn’t live without you. And I
knew
I’d made the biggest mistake of my life letting you go.”

“And,” Rhys prompted as he let his smile grow.

Alexi’s fear left, crowded out by pride.
Great. He’s going to make me grovel.
She forced the next words out. “And you were right and I was wrong.”

Rhys’ smile broadened. “That’s a good start. What else have you got?”

“Last night was the best sex I’ve ever had?” she said, uncertain what he fished for.

His face split into a grin. “Now you’re getting close.”

“But that doesn’t mean I want to do that all the time. It’s really creepy.”