EPILOGUE
CHLOE
“I don’t know why I thought you’d be more worried about this,” Mathis muttered in Chloe’s ear. She giggled and bumped her hip into him. They had just left Harper’s sentencing, and despite the heavy traffic outside the courtroom, the air seemed that much sweeter knowing he was going to spend the next few decades behind bars.
Chloe grinned. “Worried? You should have been worried about me shifting and dive-bombing the asshole. Now I’ve missed my chance for good.”
Mathis snorted. “Now I’m just relieved I didn’t have to see you face-plant in the middle of the courtroom.”
“Hey!” Chloe jabbed him in the ribs. “I’m getting better at flying—remember, I made it all the way down the block the other day!”
“And almost gave me a heart attack,” Mathis grumbled. “The next time you want to somersault off the roof, give me a bit more notice. And some Xanax.”
Chloe grinned and stretched her arms up above her head. “Six months ago, I rode a dragon off a collapsing tower. A week after that, I turned into a goddamn piping plover. Now I can fly, and Harper is locked up for life, and I’m never going to be afraid of anything, ever again.”
Chloe snuggled into his side, glancing up at him through her eyelashes. Now that the trial was finally over, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her back. And looking at Mathis only made her feel more light-hearted.
His healing abilities had recovered once they left the island… and once they’d started living together. Now the only physical reminder of their captivity was a small scar on Mathis’ cheek, so faint it could only be seen in certain lights.
Mathis had told Chloe he was worried it would hurt her to see his scar, but it didn’t. The mark wasn’t just a reminder of the island—it was a reminder that they’d escaped, and found each other.
And one of the best things about having found Mathis was being able to tease him.
Chloe threw her head back and cackled. “I’ve been talking to Harley…”
“About—oh, God, no. Please do not talk to Harley about flying. Anything but that. I—hey, Lance! Great job in there.”
Lance nodded to Chloe. “Same to you. Harper’s going to be inside for a long, long time.”
“Good.” Chloe’s stomach clenched as she remembered the evidence that had come up during the trial. Harper had hurt so many people. He wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone now, but that didn’t fix the damage that had already been done.
Mathis squeezed her hand and Chloe looked up at him. His protectiveness made her heart swell in her chest, and the smooth band of the ring around her finger was a constant reminder of his love.
“I hope you can both join us for one last debrief,” Lance said briskly. His eyebrow twitched. “Some other representatives from the defendants will be there—we’re finalizing compensation packages this week. And there’s something in particular I’d like to discuss with you, Chloe.”
Chloe frowned, then glanced at Mathis. He nudged her encouragingly. “Sure,” she said. “So long as we get to pop open some bubbly afterwards to celebrate this all being over.”
“We’ve all got a lot to celebrate.” Lance nodded again. “I’ll see you both back at the Manor.”
An hour later, Chloe stepped through the door Mathis held open for her. They were at Lance’s workplace: the Meerkat Manor, as Mathis called it.
“They can’t all be meerkats,” Chloe whispered as they walked through to the meeting room.
“Well, Lance isn’t,” Mathis said, opening the door and ushering her through. “And I hear they have a hummingbird on board now, too…”
“Thandie!”
The hummingbird shifter looked better than Chloe had ever seen her. She grinned widely and waved across the table.
*Chloe! I heard the good news—congrats!*
*Which news? The ring, or the fact that I am a shifter, like you thought?*
Thandie rolled her eyes. “Both, silly!”
Lance cleared his throat and Thandie pinched her lips shut theatrically. *Whoops. Time to act professional. But we are totally hanging out later!*
*You bet!* There was no way Chloe was finishing this day without some celebratory champagne. And the more people she could celebrate with, the better.
She looked around the table as she and Mathis sat down. Apart from Lance and Thandie, she recognized Lance’s aunt, General MacInnis, who greeted her with a stiff nod and a warm smile; Nora, her old manager, who kept sniffing and looking at her lap; and a few of the Manor’s other staff. Like all the meerkat shifters Chloe had met so far, they were jumpy, with sandy-colored skin and hair.
She also knew the last two people at the table, a mated man and woman. The man was tall and broad-shouldered, with the languid grace and sense of power Chloe had come to associate with cat shifters. The woman with him was tall, too, with generous curves and curly dark hair that spilled over her shoulders. Chloe had met them at lunch the day she’d been introduced to Mathis’ parents: Irina and Grant Diaz.
“Now that we’re all here, let’s get started.” Lance was sitting at the end of the table, shuffling papers.
“Wait—what about Julian? He was the primary witness for the case, shouldn’t he be here?” Chloe burst out.
Lance’s mouth went into a thin line, and he stared at his papers. “Mr. Rouse has agreed to stay in custody until certain other matters have been attended to.”
Chloe frowned. “But he was as much a victim as we were.”
Lance sighed and rubbed his forehead. “True, there are extenuating circumstances—but there are many who don’t see it that way. Mr. Rouse is being held as much for his safety, and that of his family, as anyone else’s.”
Chloe opened her mouth to say But he’s a dragon—who could hurt him? and closed it again. Maybe that was the problem: Julian didn’t want to be forced into another situation where he had to hurt someone. It was the suggestion that someone else might use the eggs as leverage that made her blood run cold.
“Where are his eggs now?”
Lance checked his files. “Ah, his sister’s offspring. To keep them from being exploited, they’ve been placed in protective custody with another family until Mr. Rouse’s sister and her husband are located.” A shadow passed over his face. “More of Harper’s victims. They’re still alive, according to Harper’s records, but where, we don’t know. Mr. Rouse said they live full-time as dragons and that, along with their powers of invisibility, are going to make the mission somewhat… tricky.”
“I guess that makes sense,” she said softly. Mathis took hold of her hand under the table.
*Julian will be fine,* he said privately. *Lance has it under control.*
Lance pulled out his tablet and set it down with a click.
“The trial’s over, but that doesn’t mean we’re done here. There’s still the question of the repercussions on the lives of Harper’s victims…”
Chloe held Mathis’ hand as Lance detailed the support being offered to Harper’s ex-employees… and captives. As Chloe had guessed, and the trial had proved, even his employees were captives of a sort, trapped by the same threat of violence that kept the fighters in line.
Harper was going to be in prison for a long, long time, and while he was there, his fortune was being put to good use. Along with the prison sentence, the shifter judge had forced Harper to pay into a fund that would provide ongoing assistance to everyone who had ever been hurt by him.
Lance pushed his glasses up his nose. “Harper’s tentacles reached longer than we expected. We’re still digging up buyers he sold the dragon’s scales to, and as for his guests—” He snarled the word, and just for a moment, Chloe glimpsed the wild snow leopard behind the dapper man. “—They’re continuing to protest their ignorance of Harper’s activities, but we’re working on them.”
“You mean it’s been half a year and you still haven’t tidied this mess up?” Mathis grinned at Lance. “You’re slipping.”
Lance narrowed his eyes, but a predatory smile danced around his lips. “We’ll get there. Don’t you worry about that. I always thought there was more to the Diaz kidnapping case than we knew, and now we’ve got proof—and leads. And an office of agents to hunt this asshole’s contacts from their hiding places.”
Chloe squeezed Mathis’ hand at the mention of the kidnapping case, sending love and support to him through their bond.
Mathis had been right back on the island, when he told her his sister Francine would sense he was in danger. His twin sister had noticed that something was wrong. But after Mathis had revealed his true identity to Harper, the bastard had sent people to put her on the wrong scent. Harper’s minions had convinced her that Mathis had been murdered by one of his old friends—and had kidnapped and threatened to kill his friend’s mate as revenge.
Mathis cleared his throat, looking away from where Grant and Irina were sitting. “Will this have any effect on my sister’s situation?”
Lance shot him a sympathetic grimace, and Chloe remembered that Lance had been friends with Francine, too.
“That’s up to her,” Lance said in an undertone. He straightened his shoulders and checked his notes again.
“Speaking of the Diazes…” Lance nodded to the couple. “Grant and Irina are funding a research and development team to find out more about the effects of Mr. Rouse’s scales. We don’t know how many are out there, with outfits like the group that radicalized Francine. They’ll also be looking into other shifter abilities, such as the ones displayed by Harper and by Chloe, here.”
That got Chloe’s attention. “I had a theory about that. Ever since I started shifting, I haven’t used my… um, other ability. And Harper seemed to lose it as soon as he shifted that time on the beach, too. There might be a connection—is that what you’re thinking?”
She stared down the table at Grant and Irina, who stared back. Irina grimaced. “Um, we’ll… let you know? We’re more on the ‘providing money’ end of things than the ‘figuring stuff out’ end…”
She blushed and Grant wound one arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him for a kiss. “Smooth, Lance.” He winked at Chloe. “I’ll put you in touch with our lead researcher. She’ll be thrilled to hear from you.”
“Sounds great,” Chloe said.
“One final thing…” He paused, and an expression of something close to panic flashed across his face. “Apart from an unkillable rumor about a new Hollywood franchise that just. Won’t. Die.”
Mathis laughed out loud, and Chloe sketched out a mock bow. “You’re welcome.”
“Which brings me to our final action point this afternoon—Ms. Kent, can I interest you in a job?”
Chloe blinked. “What? I mean, excuse me?” She turned to Mathis. “Did you know about this?”
Mathis shrugged, one hundred per cent genuine artificial innocence.
“What sort of a job?” Chloe asked, looking back at Lance.
Lance settled back in his chair. “If there’s one thing this matter with Harper has shown us, it’s that shifters across the country are vulnerable to exploitation not by humans, but by our own kind. The Manor is opening a new division dealing with issues of communication between shifters—ways for us to communicate known dangers, and for civilians to alert us to problems—using modern comms channels.”
Chloe couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and Lance’s serious frown wasn’t helping.
“You… you want me to be your social media manager?” she choked out.
“Given your work experience, and quick thinking under pressure—yes, something along those lines. We’ll work out the details once you’re on board.”
Chloe’s cheeks went red. “Thanks,” she blurted out. “I… really didn’t expect that. It’s very kind of you.”
Lance snorted. “Kind? We’re just snapping you up before anyone else does.” He paused and rubbed his forehead. “And that includes shifter organizations and human ones.”
“Everyone wants you on their team.” Mathis’ pride was clear in his voice as he slung one arm around her shoulders. “It’s up to you. If you want to push me into a career as a Hollywood superstar…”
“I want to help people.” A smile spread across Chloe’s face. “Shifters like me, who don’t have our own support networks. That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?” She turned to Lance. “We’re going to stop anyone like Harper from being able to target vulnerable shifters again.”
“That’s the plan, yes.”
“Then I’m in.”
She barely heard what else was said as Lance closed the meeting. Her mind was flying over the possibilities of her new job. This was everything she’d ever wanted: her chance to make a real difference.
And with her mate at her side, she was ready to take on the world.