CHAPTER NINE
Nick did a quick visual survey of the room and shook his head. “Well, you can’t stay here. This place is trashed. Sorry.” He turned to meet her gaze, almost afraid of what he might see there. Would she be afraid of him now?
“Is it really over?” she whispered, seeming to crumble a bit now that the danger was over.
Nick put a supportive arm around her shoulders. “You’re still Sullivan Lane, Hollywood’s latest it girl. You still need protection. And Hastings will be debriefing Tony. He’ll let us know for certain if Tony was behind all the…uh…threatening things found on your property lately.” He meant the dead squirrels but didn’t want to say it out loud, considering she might be in a fragile state now that the immediate danger had passed.
“It has to be him, doesn’t it?” she asked in a shaky voice. “I mean, dead squirrels… Wolves… It makes sense, right? Dogs chase squirrels all the time.”
“I’ll go out on a limb and say that I believe Tony was most likely responsible, but Hastings will get confirmation for us, just to tie it all up in a nice little bow.”
She was trembling, but she also wasn’t leaning on him as much as he’d expected. His woman was strong.
“So, what now? I still don’t want to go back to that rented mansion. It was way too big for me anyway.”
“And you can’t stay in this room. I’ll have to arrange for repairs before the rental term is up.” He looked around again at the destruction. Damn. This was going to be expensive.
“I think I’d like to camp out on the couch for now and try to calm down. I’m not sure I’ll be able to go back to sleep,” she said, turning her head toward the door.
He took her cue and let go. She reached for a pillow off the bed and a blanket that had somehow made it through the fight unscathed. Rolling them into a big ball she could carry in her arms, she made her way out to the living room. Nick followed, wondering how she would integrate the things she had learned tonight with her established beliefs about the world. He suspected she’d have a bunch of questions for him about shapeshifters once she had time to settle down and think.
Sal went into the living room and set herself up on the couch. Pillow, blanket and the remote control for the TV, in case she wanted it. All she needed now was a little peace of mind. And maybe a cup of tea. She turned to the kitchen area and found that Nick was already there, putting the kettle on the stove.
“You’re a mind reader, too?” she asked, chiding him.
“Knowing your fondness for tea, I thought it was only appropriate to make a pot,” he replied, sending her a smile that settled her nerves just the tiniest bit.
No matter if he had turned into a furry, scary, even-bigger-than-he-was-right-now beast, he was still the man she had come to know over the past days. Still Nick. Nice guy and protector of silly starlets.
Foregoing the couch, she went to the island and sat on one of the high chairs, facing toward the kitchen. She needed to talk to him. There were things that needed to be said. Things she wanted to find out.
“Is it really safe to stay here? I mean, nobody else is going to come flying out of the ceiling, right?” She had to know that first and foremost.
“I can assure you, that was a one-off. Now that we’re aware of the vulnerability, Hastings has extra operatives in those key spots, and our check-in schedule has been tripled. We’re also installing a bunch of sensors in the air ducts. Someone will be along in about twenty minutes with state-of-the-art hardware, and I’ll oversee installation. Nobody will have time to crawl through the ventilation system, even if they get past Hastings’ people. I’m just sorry I didn’t consider entry through the ventilation system a real possibility before. That guy had to be pretty desperate to crawl through such a tight space. Someone my size would never have made it through there.”
Nick shook his head as he took a blue and white teapot down from a high shelf. He rinsed it out with hot water from the tap and went about preparing to make the tea while the water heated on the stove.
“But,” he went on, “we can relocate anytime you want. In fact, I think we should probably discuss some options in regard to that very topic.”
“Options?” she repeated. Her brain wasn’t quite up to speed just yet. The shock was still making her jumpy and a little unfocused.
“I’d like to propose a short trip out of town to give Hastings a chance to conclude his investigations. Right now, I’m using his people like security guards, but their real specialty is investigating—especially situations involving the hidden world we inhabit as shapeshifters. If we took you out of the picture for a little bit, then Hastings and his people could devote all their energy to checking every last threat against you, to be certain that poor mixed-up werewolf is the only supernatural problem.”
“I suppose I see the wisdom in that, but where would I go, and who would provide the extra special security I might need if that guy wasn’t the only one? I don’t really feel safe on my own right now,” she admitted.
“You wouldn’t be on your own,” Nick was quick to assure her. “You’d be with me and my entire Clan. I have just the spot for a little rest and relaxation. It’s a private island. All arrivals are under tight control, and the natural defenses and terrain guarantee privacy. Nobody goes there without express permission of the leader of my Clan, who also happens to be my best friend.”
“Mark Pepard?” she asked, noting the surprise on his face with satisfaction. “I heard you mention him to Collin Hastings. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but that name caught my attention. I didn’t realize you were friends with one of the richest men in the world. Which made me wonder why you were working here, on my dinky little security team.” She gave him a suspicious look.
He chuckled as the water boiled, and he set about making the tea. Not the reaction she’d expected, but she continued to watch him closely.
“First of all, Halibut Security is not dinky. I’m very happy for my human friends who own the company and proud of their success. They really are the best of the best, and you did the right thing hiring them over their competitors. If this had been a normal situation, their people would have been perfect for the job.”
“But this wasn’t normal. This was…magical.” She said the word with all the horror she had built up over the years of seeing her mother’s rogue magic and the way it had torn her little family apart. Nick gave her a questioning look, but she wasn’t talking about that. Not yet. Not ever, if she could help it.
“Yeah, somehow, that poor guy thought you were the answer to his problem. I’m still not sure why, but he was as close to feral as I’ve seen anyone go, without losing it completely. Who knows what was going on in his confused mind?” Nick set the teapot down in the center of the island then placed a mug in front of each of their places before taking his own seat across from her.
He poured them both steaming mugs of the tea, and she enjoyed the quiet moment to collect her thoughts. On some level, she was aware that she was moving and thinking more slowly than usual. Must be the shock of what had happened, but at least she was still functioning, and starting to feel steadier with each passing minute.
“Stop me if I’m wrong, but I get the feeling you came here to check up on me, right? After I saw the valet kid turn into a leopard?” Her tone was accusatory, but it didn’t seem to faze him at all.
“Jaguar,” he corrected, gently. “I know we all have spots, but jaguars are native to the Americas. Leopards had a different evolution and stick mostly to their own territories, in other parts of the world.”
“So, there are…were-leopards, too?” She almost held her breath waiting for his answer.
“Yep. Pretty much all the major predatory species have a shifter equivalent, with a few exceptions, of course. But there aren’t as many of us as you might be imagining. We’re still pretty rare.” He sipped his tea as if this was a normal conversation while her mind was blown all over again. This was a night for revelations, it seemed.
“You came here to check me out. To see if I would spill the beans. Or to find out if I had pictures or video of that kid. Am I right?”
She couldn’t help it. She felt abused by the fact that he’d had ulterior motives the whole time he’d been with her. She’d thought they were friends, and really, he’d been spying on her. Probably searching her house and going through her stuff, too.
Nick didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed. He touched his finger to his nose and nodded. A silly gesture that probably should have made her grin, but she just wasn’t in the mood. She felt a little betrayed.
“I’m head of security for my Clan. If one of our kids messed up enough to let a human see him shift, in public, then I had to make sure what that human would do with such information. We live in secret. For hundreds of years, all shifters everywhere have agreed to keep the secret. It’s just safer for us that way, though in the distant past, people knew about us.”
“All those South American legends about jaguar gods?” she ventured, earning a big smile from him.
“Yeah, some of our ancestors might have taken advantage on occasion, though my understanding is that they were mostly benevolent to the people they ruled over. At least, I hope they were. It was all a long time ago, and nobody living now was alive back then, so all we have are stories that were handed down over the generations.” Nick sipped his tea, giving her time to let that sink in.
“Well, I’m not going to blab about what I saw. Your secret is safe with me, and no, I don’t have any photos, or video, or hard evidence of any kind. Frankly, until an hour ago, I thought I’d been hallucinating anyway.”
“That’s reassuring, but, Sal, although I may have initially come here to check up on you, somewhere along the line, my motives changed.” His voice had dropped to an intimate growl. Her midsection clenched, responding to the intent look in his eyes. Oh, boy.
She had to clear her throat before speaking again. “Um…how so?”
“I didn’t want to stop before,” he admitted, her brain knowing exactly what he meant, even if the change in topic was rapid. “Hastings was on the balcony, flapping his damned wings, reminding me of my purpose here. Otherwise, I would’ve done everything in my power to convince you to spend the night with me. I’m very attracted to you, on pretty much every level.” The admission in that low, compelling voice was making her insides do a little squirmy dance, but he wasn’t done. “I’ve never spent much time in this town or around movie people. You proved, right away, that all my half-formed expectations were wrong. You’re amazing, Sal. You’re kind, generous, funny and smart. You’re not an empty-headed actress who only cares about her hair and clothes. I have to apologize for my misconceptions.”
Sal liked his honesty. “No need. I know a lot of women in this town who are like that. Lucky for you, I’m not one of them.”
“Indeed, you are not.” His voice got a little growly, and rather than frighten her, it made her hot. “You are completely unique in my experience, and I’m giving you fair warning, I would like to court you.”
“Court me?” She tilted her head at the old-fashioned word. “Like, you want to date?”
He nodded. “More than date, actually. I’d like to take you home to meet my Alpha, and hope you’ll consider beginning a relationship with me.”
Hmm. He certainly couldn’t make it clearer than that.
“Is meeting your Alpha like when humans meet the parents?” she wanted to know.
He chuckled. “You’ll meet my parents, too. They recently moved to the island and have taken it as an opportunity to butt into my life again. But I don’t really mind. It’s good to see them happy and safe.” He paused a moment, a faint smile on his face, thinking of his folks. She liked that. “In my case, meeting my Alpha means meeting my best friend. After all, he’s the one who sent me here, so in a way, I have him to thank for meeting you.”
“He’s on this island you’re talking about? The private island where I’ll be safe from any stalkers that might remain while Collin Hastings lets his people loose on my case?”
“Exactly.” Nick nodded again, as if in approval of her summation of the situation. “You could probably make something of the trip if you want to talk to your PR people. Mark is well known, and his movements are watched almost constantly. We’ve become pretty adept at feeding the press enough information to keep them busy while going about our business. You could explain the sudden change in your schedule by saying you’d received an unexpected invitation from Mark and his new wife to visit them. No press is allowed on or near the island, so once you get there, you’ll be completely safe and out of the public eye.”
“That kind of sounds like heaven right about now,” she admitted. “I still haven’t gotten used to the paparazzi. I probably never will. I honestly never expected this level of success for my acting career. I was content just to be making a living, but fame sort of snuck up on me, and now, I’m stuck with it.”
Nick was nodding understandingly. “Same thing happened to Mark, though his fame is from the money and the business success. The man just has a golden touch, which is good for our Clan, of course, but he’s also a great guy and a strong Alpha. As his unexpected fame grew, we had to come up with ways to negotiate the minefield of the press and still keep our secrets. It hasn’t always been easy, but over the years, we’ve come up with some sound strategies. I’d be happy to share some of our tricks, if you want.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.” She was beginning to thaw a bit on the whole spying thing, but she wanted to know more about his animal side and his people. “Nick, can I ask you something about being a shapeshifter? I mean, now that I know, there’s no way to un-know it, right? So, would you mind just clarifying a couple of things for me?”
Nick’s expression grew serious, but she couldn’t tell exactly what that meant. Was he concerned that she wanted to know more? Or was he pleased? She couldn’t quite tell.
“Go ahead. I’ll tell you if there’s anything I can’t answer.” His words didn’t give her any further clues as to how he was taking her interest, so she just forged ahead.
“Well, that guy, Tony, said something about being stuck in battle form? What’s that all about?” She figured she’d start there, but in truth, she wanted to know everything.
“Battle form is the half-way state between human and animal. Young warriors train to hold the shift right there, in the middle, because that form is bigger, stronger and fiercer than either of the alternatives. Only strong people can hold the shift. It’s not something everyone can do. Alphas and the more dominant shifters can do it more easily than others, but submissive shifters can’t really do it at all. They just go from human to their animal, no real pause in between.”
“That’s why you told him his standing might have changed, right? The fact that he’s been forced to hold the battle form for so long and managed to stay somewhat sane—though I guess I’m using that term loosely—means he’s stronger than he thought,” she reasoned.
“Yep. If the people we sent him to can fix him up—and if they can’t, no one can—then I suspect his rank in his Pack hierarchy will have changed quite a bit. I’m still wondering why he pegged you for a witch, though. Have you ever dabbled in magic or maybe played a role in a movie he might have misconstrued?” Nick asked, turning the tables on her.
What could she tell him? She never spoke of her mother. Not to anyone. But she knew Nick’s shapeshifting secret now. Should she trust him?
She had to think about it a bit more. She couldn’t make such an important decision when she was so off-balance like this.
“None of my roles have had anything like that,” she hedged and did her best to change the subject. “When you change, do you still retain your personality and thoughts or is the human half hidden while the beast takes over?”
“That’s a good question.”
He looked like he knew she was redirecting him, but was willing to play along for now. The man was really a lot smarter than he let on, but she was starting to be able to read his body language and expressions. Her instincts told her that he would come back to the topic again…eventually.
“Yes, we’re still in control when we shift. I’m still the same me, with the same knowledge and reasoning ability when I’m in my fur. Just like the cat is always present in my human form. We are one and the same. Indivisible, though sometimes, we speak of our different forms as if they’re separate entities. They’re really not. We’re still who we are, regardless of what shape we wear.” His expression tightened as he went on. “There are some circumstances where a shifter can go feral—our version of insanity, when the animal takes over completely and isn’t quite right in the head. Tony had moments of lucidity, but I suspect most of the time he was teetering on the wrong side of the edge. Hopefully, we got to him in time, and he’ll be able to be rehabilitated.”
“Does that sort of thing happen a lot?”
“No, not really, though we do have enemies. Tony must’ve run afoul of a mage who’d gone over to the dark side.” He grimaced again.
“Mage? Like a witch or wizard? I thought they were all evil. That magic caused you to do evil things.”
He looked at her sharply, and she wondered if she’d said too much. Probably, but it looked like he wasn’t going to call her on it just yet.
“Magic is neither inherently good nor is it evil. It’s what we choose to do with it that is the deciding factor. That’s where free will comes in. There are many mages working on the side of Light, fighting against evil wherever they find it. Most shifters do the same, though there are the occasional bad apples, as in any culture or group.”
She frowned, inwardly rejecting his words. He was implying her mother had chosen to do evil things when the magic came upon her. That couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t.
But maybe… Maybe she was having the same kind of problem as Tony. Maybe someone had deliberately done something to her.
It was all pretty far-fetched and went against what Sal had thought most of her life, but she was learning all sorts of new things since she saw that valet kid shift and Nick had come into her life. She couldn’t come right out and ask. She’d have to reveal too much. But she could stick close to Nick, go to the island and meet more of his people. Maybe she could pick something up that might give her more answers.
And she’d be with Nick. The man attracted her on every level and made her lady parts stand up and take notice in a way they hadn’t done in a long, long time…if ever. She wanted to spend more time with him, despite what she’d seen.
Somehow—and here, she was trusting her instincts again—she just knew that he would never use his strength against her. He would never hurt her. On the contrary, he would protect her in every way while she was with him. She knew that like she knew her own heart. He was definitely one of the good guys. A scary, furry good guy but definitely a good guy.
“I think I’d like to go to your island, at least while Mr. Hastings and his people are doing their work. Unfortunately, I can’t just disappear. I’ll have to clear it with my manager and the PR folks, but I think it’ll work out. If your friend Mark is amenable, a leaked story that I’ve been given an exclusive invite to Pepard’s private island ought to settle any negative speculation in the tabloids. They’ll love that story and start wondering how I’m connected with Pepard, which I certainly don’t mind. I just hope he doesn’t.”
“Mark is newly married, so we can always say he invited his new wife’s favorite actress over as a surprise for his new bride,” Nick offered.
“Oh, that could work,” she told him, grinning at him as her mind sorted through the story. It really was a good one that would save them any romantic speculation about her and Pepard. It would make the billionaire look like a hero of romantic gestures. “I’ll make the calls in the morning, as soon as everyone is in the office. How soon can we leave?”
“As soon as you like. I have a private jet at the airport.”
“You do?” She looked at him with wide eyes. This man was full of surprises.
“I can fly it, too, though I won’t have to do all the work. A couple of younger Clan members came with me and are using the downtime to see the sights while I’m on this mission,” he told her. “Both are pilots and will share the flying time with me so we can do a straight hop, though we’ll need to set down and refuel at some point, since we’ll be crossing the whole country.”
They talked about the island and their plans as the night matured into pre-dawn. Sal calmed visibly as their conversation wore on and Nick told her about the mansion on the island. He’d have her stay there until she was ready to accept more. The mansion was a relic of the previous owner—a human with no awareness of the magical world all around him. It was set upslope from the only decent place to land a boat on the island.
A dormant volcano, the island had sheer cliffs around much of its base that made it next to impossible to come in by sea from any other direction than the small sandy shore below the mansion. Up in the jungle, hidden from prying eyes and even satellites, was what would become the real settlement on Jaguar Island. Surrounded on three sides by inward-arching cliff faces, the ancient caldera would house new community buildings and individual residences for any member of the Jaguar Clan who wanted to live there.
It was a place where they hoped to rebuild what was once a thriving population. Jaguar shifters would be safe there, to live and grow, have children and shapeshift if the mood struck, without having to worry about being seen by anyone who wasn’t a Clan member. It would be paradise, and Nick sincerely hoped Sal would find it to her liking.
With any luck, and if the Goddess was smiling down on them, he’d be able to declare his love at some point very soon and convince her to be his mate. If she had been a shifter, she would have known as soon as he had—maybe even sooner—that they were meant to be together. But she was human, and she had to be wooed.
He would do that by showing her what his life was like. He’d introduce her to Mark, his folks, and the other members of the Clan. They would love her, and he hoped she would enjoy meeting them, as well. They would help him show her what it was like to be a member of a shifter Clan. They would help him convince her that Nick could protect her for the rest of her life.
He hadn’t done too well so far, but then, he hadn’t been expecting trouble of a magical variety. Still, he would do his utmost to be the best mate possible, including protecting her from every possible thing that might come her way in the future.