CHAPTER TWENTY

“Stop.” Angus put his hands on her shoulders, gripping hard. “Stop—I don’t want to know this.”

Dylan had wanted Angus—expected him—to pry secrets from Tamsin’s head, but Angus had deliberately put the command out of his mind. He wasn’t about to do Dylan’s dirty work for him.

Angus didn’t want to hear secrets that would change things between him and Tamsin. What they had—what they’d begun—was good. Better than good. Since Tamsin had come into his life, Angus had woken from the half awareness in which he’d existed, and he’d do anything to never lose that.

“Yes, you do.” The sadness in Tamsin’s voice pierced his heart. “You need to know what you’re getting into with me, so that when Shifter Bureau is filling the syringe to tranq you to death, you know why. Or maybe you can trade the knowledge for your life.” She let out a breath. “I also want to tell you to ask you what to do. I thought this was all over and done with, but I guess it’s not.”

She trailed off, the lingering pain in her eyes enough to make the wolf in Angus want to kill whoever had hurt her.

“Son of a bitch, Tamsin, what the hell did my brother do to you?”

“To me?” Tamsin blinked. “Nothing. What he planned to do to the world was pretty horrible.”

“What?” Angus allowed himself a minuscule amount of relief. “Gavan wasn’t overly gifted with brains. What was he going to do—shed until humanity begged him to stop?”

“I wish it could be funny.” Tamsin swallowed, then she looked at him fully, as though knowing her next words could unmake all they’d found together. “He was building up an arsenal.”

The relief ebbed. “What kind of arsenal?”

Tamsin spread her hands. “How many kinds are there? Gavan was collecting and storing weapons. All kinds of weapons, from small handguns to grenades. Machine guns. Serious shit.”

Gavan had collected this? The man who couldn’t find his own pants without a map? “You’re sure? Did you see this arsenal?”

“Very sure. He showed it to me to brag about it. Gavan wanted to be a super-dominant Shifter, making all humans and Shifters submit to him. I guess he thought my seeing his guns would make me fall in love with him, want to be his mate. But it only told me he was crazy enough to kill—to kill a lot of people.”

“Shifters don’t use weapons.” Angus’s hands balled as he spoke. Shifters disdained them, because the Shifter him- or herself was a weapon. Why use a knife when your claws are sharper? Or a gun when you can launch yourself like a ballistic missile?

“I know that,” Tamsin said impatiently. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. So when we got back to the hideout, I thanked Gavan sweetly, and then took off the first chance I could.”

Emotions churned through Angus’s brain, rising and falling like ocean waves. “What about April? I can’t imagine her stepping aside so Gavan could mate-claim you.”

“She didn’t. Gavan wanted to take more than one mate, as Shifters did in the old days. He had other females in his sights as well. April was fine with it. Younger women, she said, could give him more cubs. There was enough of Gavan to go around, in her opinion.” Tamsin rolled her eyes. “I was so out of there.”

The emotion that burst to the top of Angus’s brain, surfacing through the others, was rage. He’d damped down that rage to a simmer after Gavan’s death, in order to forget what his brother had done and get on with his life. Anger at the dead didn’t accomplish anything.

But Gavan had been a first-class dickhead. In spite of his proclamations that he would free the Shifters, all he did was rain down trouble on them. Angus had barely escaped being executed as his accessory. What had saved Angus was Gavan’s vehement denials that Angus had anything to do with his plots—not in compassion for Angus but because Gavan didn’t want to share the limelight. Gavan had considered Angus a rival from the moment of Angus’s birth.

Now Angus was learning that Gavan had wanted to build a harem, one that included not only April, but Tamsin. Gavan had always liked the idea that Shifter males should be leaders of their own packs, that producing offspring through several Shifter females would strengthen them. Apparently he’d been putting theory into practice.

But then, if Gavan wanted to spread around his own sperm, why had he insisted that April bring Ciaran with her? Scared he couldn’t produce his own offspring? He’d fought against Angus taking Ciaran back, and only stopped when Angus threatened to sic Shifter Bureau on him.

Angus dropped to the ground and dug his hands into his hair, strangled noises coming from his throat. He stretched out flat on his back and yelled to the sky.

“Goddess, I hate that asshole!”

Tamsin sat down beside him, hugging her knees. “Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled with him either. That’s why I was so surprised to learn you were his brother. You’re nothing like him.”

Angus scrubbed his face. “Damn it, Tamsin, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Really?” She grinned at him. “How about You’re hot, you’re wonderful, and I want to be mated to you?”

“You haven’t said those things,” Angus pointed out. He rubbed his face one more time. “Son of a bitch. An arsenal.” He lowered his hands to study Tamsin’s face above him. “This is what Dylan wanted to know? Haider too? Why were you afraid to tell me?”

Tamsin drew herself into a tighter ball. “I had to make up my mind about you first. When I realized you were Gavan’s brother, that scared me. I didn’t know whether you’d be like him. I didn’t want to see your eyes get that predatory gleam like his did. And as far as I knew, you were dumping me on Haider and I’d never see you again—even if you so nicely arranged a pickup for when I escaped. I didn’t know that was why Haider was after me, until he started threatening to dissect me. I didn’t tell you before Dylan questioned us because I still wasn’t sure what Dylan knew until we got to the motel room, plus I didn’t want you to have to lie to him. He’d scent your nervousness and get it out of you. Or me, to keep him from hurting you. And after that . . . I had to decide how you would react.”

“I would react like this,” Angus rumbled. “My brother is a fucking shithead.”

Tamsin flashed him a faint smile then shook her head. “The real truth is that I didn’t want to think about it anymore. I didn’t want it to matter. I just want to be with you, and Ciaran, and have this.” She stretched out her arms, then lowered them. “And anyway, the arsenal might be long gone by now. That was about eight years ago.” She sighed. “But I can’t run away all my life. If I’m going to run away with you, you should at least know what you’re running from.”

“Hell,” Angus said softly. He sat up, leaning back on his hands, opening himself to the sunshine.

“I’m sorry,” Tamsin said. “You can take back that mate-claim. I’ll understand.”

She spoke glibly, but Angus heard the sorrow in her voice.

Out of nothing, they’d found each other. Angus’s brother had done one thing right in his life—he’d brought Tamsin and Angus together. In a roundabout way, years later, after Gavan was dead, and not on purpose. But in a weird twist of fate, he’d been responsible.

“I’m not taking it back,” Angus said. “We belong together. I knew it when I saw you, kicking ass at poker and being all smug about it. When you got hurt because I chased you, I knew I’d move heaven and earth to get you well again. I mate-claimed you to save you from Dylan, but I’d have done it anyway, sooner or later. Dylan just gave me the excuse.”

“Well, damn,” Tamsin whispered. “You’re going to make me cry.”

“Why? It’s the truth. I’m glad you’ve told me about the arsenal—I mean, before you got yourself killed for it. But I’m not sending you away for something my dickwad brother did. You said it might not be there anymore. Do you know for sure?”

“No. I haven’t had a chance to check on it.”

“Because you’re right,” Angus said. “It could have been found and reported by now, although I’m thinking a story like that would have made news headlines. I don’t pay much attention to the human world, but I probably would have heard that. Or it might have been plundered by others, like gangs or militant groups. Which I seriously hope not.”

“Like I said, I haven’t had the chance to look, and once Gavan was caught, I had no intention of returning to a place he’d been associated with. I didn’t have a death wish.”

Angus frowned. “Why didn’t you report him right away, or at least this arsenal? To a Shifter, I mean. I understand why you didn’t rush to the human police, though you could have made an anonymous tip.”

“And have a stock of weapons be traced back to Shifters?” Tamsin shook her head decidedly. “Gavan probably left his fingerprints and DNA all over it. What do you think Shifter Bureau would do to all Shifters everywhere if it was discovered one of them had stockpiled weapons? Machine guns and grenades? I’ll tell you what they’d do—they’d round up all the Shifters and put them to death, terrified we were more dangerous than previously thought. At the very least—and only if Shifters had good lawyers—Collared Shifters would be locked into even more restricted Shiftertowns, and the few liberties they have now taken away.”

She had a point, Angus thought glumly. No one could ever know about this, least of all the fanatic Haider and Shifter Bureau.

“Obviously Shifter Bureau heard some rumor of it,” Angus said. “Or Haider wouldn’t have wanted to interrogate you.”

“Who knows?” Tamsin’s shoulders slumped. “Maybe Gavan hinted at it when he was taken in. Maybe he thought it would save his butt or, more likely, he wanted to prove what a badass Shifter he was. I don’t know where Haider heard about me—maybe one of Gavan’s followers mentioned me, and Haider kept an eye out in case I drifted into his territory.” She groaned. “I don’t know. I didn’t tell any other Shifters about the stash, because I was as afraid of them as Shifter Bureau. What if the Shifter I told shared Gavan’s beliefs and wanted to use weapons against humans? Or even other Shifters? There’s always a dominance struggle somewhere, and living in Shiftertowns must make you all crazy. You really think Dylan wouldn’t want this arsenal for the army he’s putting together?”

Angus lay down again, suddenly tired. “I wish I could say no.”

Tamsin stretched out next to him, turning on her side to put her face close to his. “What do I do, Angus? Keep running and hope they give up? Tell Dylan and trust that he won’t blow up the nearest Shifter Bureau compound? Tell Haider and try to convince him it was a one-off, and no other Shifter would dream of doing such a thing? And hope he doesn’t use it for his personal vendetta?”

Angus let out a low growl. “Don’t know. Need to think about it.”

“See what I mean?” Tamsin brushed a piece of dried grass from his shirt. “If you want to kick me down the road and have no part of this, I understand.”

“No,” Angus snarled. “I just told you, you’re my mate. Mine. For always. This is a problem, and we’ll find a solution. Then we’ll figure out how to be together and live our lives. Even if we have to follow a human carnival run by a bear Shifter with weird fashion sense.”

Tamsin’s smile lit her face. Angus’s heart turned over every time she did that. “I like Dante. He’s amazing.”

Angus frowned. “We’re not telling him about this.”

“Of course not. We barely know him.” Tamsin exhaled, her breath touching his skin. “You know, I’ve held that secret in me so long it feels weird to have it out. I never told another living soul. Only you.”

“Mmph. I’m not sure how to take that.”

Tamsin tapped his nose, then leaned to brush a light kiss to it, her warmth comforting in the cool breeze. “You’re the only one I’ve been able to trust. Since . . . well, ever.”

“You didn’t take long to decide that,” Angus observed.

“With you, I just knew. Or maybe it was seeing how you are with Ciaran. You’d never hurt him—you were willing to throw me to the wolves, so to speak, to keep him safe.”

“Which started to kill me.” Angus gentled his voice. “I want you both safe. We have to fix this, not only for us, but for Ciaran. He doesn’t need to be hurt by it.”

“It’s another reason I told you.” Tamsin traced his cheek. “To help me figure out what to do.” Her eyes were on his, golden and thoughtful, waiting for his answer.

“Well, if you figured I was a genius who would instantly solve your problem, you were wrong.”

“Of course I didn’t think that,” Tamsin said with conviction.

“Huh. That could be insulting if I let it be.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re plenty smart, Angus, and I’m smarter. I figured two heads were better than one.”

Angus raised himself on one elbow. “If you’re smarter than me, why did I catch you so fast?”

“Because I stayed human so I wouldn’t lose all my money. And anyway, you didn’t catch me, the gator did.”

Tamsin shivered, losing her lighthearted look. She’d be haunted by the trauma of that attack for a long time.

Angus slid his hand behind her and drew her down to him. “I’d have done anything to save you. I still will.” He brushed back a loose strand of her hair and kissed her soft lips. “We’ll get through this, Tamsin. I promise you. Then you and I will say to hell with the world, and spend a long, long time by ourselves.”

“With Ciaran.” Tamsin settled down into the crook of his arm, while the September sun warmed them. “Sounds good to me.”

---

Tamsin returned with Angus to the carnival, reluctantly releasing his hand when they reached the fairgrounds so they could take up their various activities.

She could get used to this life, she thought, even as she watched Angus’s fine ass as he walked away. Working hard, being friends with Celene and Dante, moving on when each weekend was over, heading out to another town, another state. Living with Ciaran and Angus and falling more and more in love with them every day was something she didn’t want to let go. She’d been terrified that revealing Gavan’s secret would force her to do just that.

Angus hadn’t walked away from her or shouted at her that he hated her, nothing like what Gavan had done when she’d turned down his offer to be part of his ménage. Angus was furious—but his anger was directed at his brother, not at Tamsin.

Relief rolled over her in waves. Wasn’t there a saying—A burden shared is a burden halved?

But did that other person want half of your burden? When he hadn’t had to worry about it before?

Tamsin watched Angus stride to the men fixing the hydraulics system on the pirate ship ride and bend to take up a tool. The guys nodded at him, accepting his help without hesitation.

How many of the humans here realized they were Shifters? Dante had won their trust, apparently. Would that trust extend to Angus? Or should he and Tamsin leave, before this haven grew too dangerous?

Life was simpler when Tamsin only had to fend for herself, trusting to her swift feet and fox ability to get her out of any situation.

No, not simpler. Just lonely.

Angus looked up and around, focusing on Tamsin as she moved to the tent where she’d help Celene and Ciaran rehearse. She felt his gaze on her, watching, protecting, warming.

Simple was overrated. She’d take complicated and crazy, as long as she could have the big growly Shifter with the cloud-gray eyes looking out for her every day.

---

Saturday and Sunday went off without a hitch. No broken rides, no lost kids. There was an angry father of four unruly children, who decided that the ticket prices were way too high for what was offered and demanded to see the manager. Dante soothed him down with enviable swiftness. He could sweet-talk anyone, Tamsin observed. His colorful coats and hat were distracting, his large build with a hint of predator intimidating. The irate father ended up apologizing and even returning the next day, bolstered by the free coupons to a few of the booths that Dante had given him.

Dante had winked at Tamsin as he’d gone back to work, full of himself.

They tore down on Monday and moved on, heading west for Amarillo. Once there, they couldn’t set up because there was a tornado watch, and it was best not to get caught with tents and rides in a high wind. If storms hit, they’d have to hunker down and move on, eating the rent Dante had already paid to the fairgrounds.

“It’s why I don’t linger in Texas this time of year,” Dante told Angus and Tamsin as they sat in his trailer drinking coffee and waiting for weather reports. “I’m heading into New Mexico for the rest of fall, where the weather is better. We’ll hit the low deserts by November, in time for snow to start falling in the high country. More people will be in desert cities by that time anyway. Snowbirds are my friends.”

Tamsin couldn’t fault his logic. She’d never been farther west than Louisiana before she’d met Angus, and to her, every weekend brought a new adventure.

The storms didn’t brew up, so the carnival opened on time. Still, Dante watched the sky with a suspicious eye.

That weekend, around training Celene and Ciaran—neither of whom needed much coaching—Tamsin started helping out in the ringtoss booth for a small cut of the profits. She paraded around in the booth’s goofy hats and encouraged patrons to try their luck. It was easier than it looked—see?

She’d demonstrate, then everyone would want a try. The guy who owned the booth didn’t cheat. If people won, they got a prize. If a little kid did really poorly, he or she might be allowed an extra toss for free and something tiny and cheap as consolation.

After hours, Tamsin, Angus, and Ciaran retired to their RV to eat and sleep. Angus didn’t sleep on the bench anymore or spend half the night prowling. He curled up around Tamsin, and deep in the night, when Ciaran was well asleep, he made hard, silent love to her.

In their rare moments alone, Tamsin and Angus would contemplate what to do about Gavan’s arsenal.

“Where is it, exactly?” Angus and Tamsin strolled on the edge of a farmer’s field on Saturday, blue sky arching over flat land stretching for miles.

“In Louisiana. Around Shreveport.”

Angus halted, hands on hips. “Where a rogue Shifter killed Bureau agents. Was that rogue Shifter trying to get you to take him to the arsenal?”

“Sort of. He’d heard rumor of it, and he was trying to pry out of me whether it was true. He insisted on going to Shreveport, and I couldn’t risk letting him go there and poke around on his own. I was busy playing the stupid innocent when Shifter Bureau interrupted. There was a fight. Two agents died.” Tamsin closed her eyes, not wanting to think about the screams, the sharp scent of blood, the fanatic fury in Dion’s eyes. “I don’t know if they ever caught Dion. The agents were able to report in before Dion attacked them, so they described me. I tried to go to ground, and was doing fine.” She swallowed and tried to make her tone light. “But then a Lupine tracker hunted me down.”

Angus’s scowl clouded the day. “Not my choice.”

“I know. I hated you at that moment, but you’ve grown on me.” Tamsin playfully bumped into his side. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure I can find Gavan’s hiding place again. If Gavan didn’t move everything before he was caught, or others didn’t find it and steal it.”

“If it’s gone, then we might be off the hook. You can’t give up information you don’t have.”

Tamsin shrugged. “Or Haider might convince himself I’m lying about the location and torture me. I don’t want Shifter Bureau finding out about the arsenal at all, because it will blow back on other Shifters. I don’t want everyone punished because of Gavan.”

“Neither do I.”

Angus turned away, studying the sky, his rage making his back quiver. He must feel grief too—while Gavan wasn’t exactly a prize, he’d been Angus’s brother, his kin, his pack, his family.

Tamsin slid her hand into his, and Angus squeezed it.

“We should check,” he said after a time. “See if it’s still there. If not, we go on and hope Shifter Bureau forgets about it. They will, in time, if nothing is ever found.”

“And if all the stuff is still there?” Tamsin asked.

Angus looked grim. “We destroy it.”

Tamsin raised her brows. “How? Blow it up? Because, sure, no one will notice that.”

“I don’t know how.” Angus gave her an impatient look. “Break down the pieces, hide them, bury them. I don’t know. How do humans get rid of excess weapons?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea. I’d say melt them, but same problem. How do you melt explosives? I don’t know anything about stuff like that. I’d kill myself trying.”

“You’re going nowhere near it,” Angus said firmly. “You point the way, and I do the rest.”

Tamsin jerked her hand from his. “Nothing doing. I’m not going to lead you to a bunker and let you go try to disarm grenades. I’d like my mate to be in one piece, thank you very much. I think Ciaran would agree.”

Angus didn’t argue. He only stood still, looking unhappy. “We’ll have to have help.”

Tamsin shook her head until her hair danced. “That means telling people. Who are you going to trust? Dylan?”

“No. Not Dylan. Or his sons—they’d feel obligated to report to their father, or he’d pry it out of them somehow. But I know a lot of Shifters. Let me think about who we can bring in.”

“What about Reg? Your friend who gave you his SUV without question?”

“Mmm. I’d say yes, if he wasn’t second to Spence. Spence might get such a secret out of him, and I don’t trust Spence. He likes his power. But there are others. Ben.”

“He’s not Shifter.”

“Exactly. He’s ancient, smart, and as far as I know doesn’t crave power. He’s a place to start.”

Tamsin relaxed. She’d sensed good things about Ben, but ambiguous things as well. “How are you going to get hold of him?”

“I was thinking of using my phone.”

“Which might be tapped. Or traced.”

Angus shook his head. “It’s old, and I went through it when I got it and made sure there were no trackers, bugs, or any kind of doodad on it.”

“But phone records are searchable. Shifter Bureau is probably monitoring yours by now.”

Tamsin hadn’t seen Angus use his phone since they’d fled the motel and Dylan. Now he pulled it from his pocket, looked at it, and then tucked it away again. “I’ll think of something.”

Tamsin twined her fingers through his once more and grew alarmed at how much heat that simple act sped through her body. “Sorry to dump my baggage on you.”

Angus shrugged. “Everyone has baggage. It’s just a matter of what kind and how heavy it is.”

Tamsin leaned into him. “How did I get so lucky to be hunted and captured by a guy like you?”

“Because of your baggage.” Angus slid his arm around her. “Haider sent me after you for it.”

“Haider was stupid. He should have known you were kind and sweet and mushy inside.”

Angus made a face, very much like Ciaran did when an adult tried to make him eat vegetables. “Yuck. What happened to big bad wolf?”

“Oh, he’s in there.” Tamsin rubbed Angus’s chest, then leaned forward and kissed it. “Very much so.”

A growl confirmed it. Angus pulled her close and tilted her face to his for a long, commanding kiss.

Tamsin had learned how to kiss him by now, the way their mouths fit together, how the burn of his whiskers felt on her skin, how he liked to lick across her tongue.

The field around them rolled away to meet the sky, green and blue to the line of the horizon. The fairgrounds were behind them, the dusty earth Angus took her down to warmed by the sun.

It was a long time before they returned to the carnival, their clothes wrinkled and dirt-streaked from being turned into makeshift blankets on the ground. Tamsin’s hair was studded with dried bits of grass, and Angus’s hands were scraped raw.

When Dante spied them, he laughed uproariously, as though he had never seen anything so funny. Smart-ass bear.

That night Tamsin drowsed with Angus, the lights of the carnival glowing on the curtains above the bed. She wished they could stay in this bubble of calm forever, ignoring the outside world and its problems. The arsenal probably didn’t exist anymore. They’d go to Shreveport, look, find nothing, and move on with their lives.

Angus had already contacted Ben, he’d told her as they wound down from making love, and things were in motion. Tamsin asked him how, if he didn’t use his cell phone—had he found a ley line to connect to the sentient house outside New Orleans? She’d toyed with the idea of using Psychic Lorraine’s crystal ball, but Tamsin wouldn’t know how to tap a ley line, and she’d have to trust Lorraine, a plump, middle-aged woman who was a pretty good psychic, with the private message.

Angus had said, “I went into town and found a phone booth with a working phone still in it,” and then dropped off to sleep.

She’d have to wait for him to wake up to tell her what he and Ben decided, which could be a while. Angus’s snores filled the trailer, sonorous and slow.

A shadow cut the light from outside. Tamsin looked up, and then screamed as the back window filled with the silhouette of a giant tiger.