Chapter Fourteen
Cruz woke slowly, reluctantly, shooing away a fly that tickled his temple. His eyes opened a crack then fluttered shut again. He and Jody had made love for most of the night, and now, the world was at peace. His world was at peace, anyway. The rain had stopped, and the only sound in the forest was that of dripping leaves. In another hour or two, the morning sun’s rays would pierce the sky, but he still had plenty of time to snooze.
Jody’s chest rose and fell in the snug curve of his arms, lulling him back to sleep. The only thing she was wearing were those bangles of hers, and God, her skin was so soft. He brushed a strand of her hair from her cheek and sniffed. The forest was rich with that special after-rain scent — the scent of something old and rotten slipping away and something new thriving in its place. But right in front of his nose was the best fragrance ever — the scent of Jody with a little bit of him mixed in. The scent of recent sex and the deep sense of contentment that followed.
It was perfect. Even his inner tiger was quiet, lazily curling his tail.
Yes, everything was perfect — except for that damn fly, pestering him. He scratched his head and squeezed his eyes shut, yet the tickle persisted.
Cruz. A faint voice sounded in his mind. Cruz…
He groaned quietly. That wasn’t a fly. It was Silas, calling into his head. Man — couldn’t a guy sleep in for the first time in years? That’s what civilians did, right?
He caught himself at the thought. This had to be the first time he’d felt like a civilian in…in, well, ever. The first time he wanted to let his guard down and relax. The first time…
He took a deep breath and wrapped his hand around Jody’s. The first time for a lot of things, like relishing the flutter in his heart and the warm glow in his soul.
Not now, he grumbled back at Silas.
Now, the dragon shifter insisted, using his ranking officer’s voice. It’s about McGraugh.
Cruz wrinkled his nose. His informant, McGraugh, was dead. That news was days old, and it had cut him to the bone. But this was not a time to mourn. It was a time to revel in the bright side of life.
Do we have to talk about it right now? He sighed.
For once, he didn’t want to wallow in misery. He wanted to sleep in and give Jody’s believing theory a try. Life is beautiful. Love is beautiful. You just have to believe.
He shifted his chin over her shoulder and tucked his legs under her body, keeping her nice and close.
Silas’s voice was a grim monotone in his mind. It’s not that McGraugh died, but how.
Cruz lifted his head from the pillow. What the hell did that mean?
Come and talk, already, Silas barked.
Cruz made a face. So much for a nice, quiet morning. Slowly, reluctantly, he backed away from Jody, covering her with the sheet as he went. He sat on the edge of the bed for a full minute, looking at her.
“Mmm,” Jody mumbled, refusing to release his hand.
He kissed her on the shoulder and took in her sleepy smile, the satisfied curl of her body.
Perfect, his tiger hummed.
Cruz! Silas barked.
“I’ll be right back,” he whispered to Jody, forcing himself to move.
He got halfway across the rope bridge to ground level before pausing. Normally, he’d pad across the estate in tiger form — the quickest, easiest means in the dark. But with Jody there, he should wait until he was out of sight.
But I want her to see me, his tiger protested. I want her to know me.
His imagination ran away with a dozen impossible visions. Like Jody leaning over him and hugging his tiger body, cooing at how soft his fur was. Or Jody grinning wildly while she petted him under the chin. Or how nice it would be to swim in tight circles in his rock pool, making space for Jody to paddle beside him.
She’d make a great tiger, his inner beast hummed.
He snorted. Sometimes I think she’d make an even better mermaid.
Whatever. His tiger shrugged. As long as she’s mine.
Shouldn’t he hate her — or hate himself for falling for her? But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t. Not with every instinct telling him she was the one.
He looked at Jody one second longer, then stepped into the darkness and shifted. A quick, effortless shift that indicated how ready his tiger was for some time on four feet.
Just one more second near her, the beast begged.
And damn it, without thinking, he set off on a loop of his place, placing his paws carefully so as not to make a sound. He brushed his striped sides along the central trunk of the tree, marking the turf as his. Then he leaped up on a thick branch and climbed higher, reveling in the power of the muscles rippling under his skin. He ascended higher still, watching his sleeping lover the whole time. When he reached the topmost platform of his tree house, he lay down quietly and looked down at her.
My mate. My destined mate, his tiger hummed.
He lowered his muzzle to his two front paws and watched her. God, he could do that for hours. Just watch Jody sleeping peacefully with a smile playing across her lips. A smile he’d put there.
He rubbed his chin against his paws, tilting his head left and right. He was slipping into dangerous territory, because it was all too easy to picture nuzzling Jody — Jody, in tiger form as if they were mated and she had become a shifter, too. He could teach her all about being a tiger. That would be nice. Really nice. And Jody could teach him all the things she knew about, like laughing and smiling and embracing life.
His chest rose in a deep sigh, and he couldn’t tell whether the ache welling up inside was hope or the first warning signs of impending heartbreak.
Cruz! Silas hollered into his mind.
It might as well have been the ghosts of his family admonishing him. How can you betray us by falling for a human?
He snapped his head up and growled. It was Silas, not a ghost, but that was bad enough.
Coming, damn it. Coming.
The magic of the moment was gone, but he kept his eyes on Jody’s sleeping form as he leaped from branch to branch, stealthily making his way to the ground. After one final look back, he set off in earnest.
Footsteps sounded behind him, and he whirled with his heart in his throat. For a second, his overeager imagination made that sound Jody, following him. Accepting him. Trusting him…
But the footsteps were too light to be Jody’s, and when he looked down, he spotted Keiki. The kitten had taken off once things heated up in bed, but obviously, she hadn’t gone far.
Keiki scampered up and pranced alongside like a warrior maiden insisting on joining the army’s march. Most house cats freaked out at the sight of his tiger, but this little kitten seemed to think she was as big as him.
Carefully, so as not to bowl Keiki over, Cruz butted heads in greeting the way his dad used to do with him, then walked on at a slower pace — partly so the kitten could keep up and partly because he was in no rush to hear whatever bad news Silas was sure to share.
You can come if you behave, he chuffed at Keiki.
Funny, his dad used to say that, too, whenever Cruz had tagged along, so many years ago. Funny, too, that the thought made him smile instead of bringing back all the pain.
Keiki mimicked his low, long strides. Her shoulder blades slid smoothly with each light step, and Cruz couldn’t help chuckling a little inside. Hunter liked to say that Keiki had the nose of a bear, but Cruz swore she had the soul of a tiger — just in a tiny, calico package. She even flicked her tail in time to his.
Whatever bounce Keiki helped put back in Cruz’s step disappeared as he approached the meeting house. Silas stood at the edge of the building, arms folded over his chest, glaring at Cruz every step of the way.
“What took you so long?”
Cruz replied with a low grumble of warning. Silas might rank highest among the shifters of Koa Point, but every self-respecting tiger had the right to show his moods.
It’s five in the morning, he snarled.
“Eight o’clock on the mainland,” Silas shot back. “Ella just called.”
Ella, a desert fox shifter, had been the only woman in their Special Forces unit. Nowadays, she lived in Arizona and worked for the Twin Moon wolf pack, contracting out as an investigator on the side.
Spy is more like it, he remembered Ella chuckling.
He wondered who Ella was spying on now, and for whom.
It better be important, Cruz grumbled with another look at the clock.
“It is.” Silas reached for a steaming mug of coffee. “Are you going to keep prowling around like that or are you going to come in and talk?”
Cruz preferred prowling, but Silas looked awfully serious. And now that he’d come all this way, he might as well find out what was going on. Slowly, painfully, his tiger gave way to his human form. He reared up on two legs and ground his teeth a few times as his tiger fangs receded and his shoulder blades flattened into position on his back.
Keiki gave a plaintive meow and pranced around, trying to shift, too. Then she gave up and butted her head against Cruz’s leg. He scooped her up and ducked under the roof of the meeting house, setting the kitten down long enough to pull on one of the spare pairs of pants they kept in a corner so as not to lounge around naked after shifting. Silas, ever the proper one, had made that rule ages ago, and a good thing, too, now that there were women living at Koa Point.
Silas pushed a pot of coffee, cup, saucer, and cream toward him. Everything the dragon shifter did, he did with style. Cruz poured cream into the saucer and let Keiki lap away while he brought the mug of black coffee to his lips. So much for sleeping in.
Silas’s eyes narrowed on him, and his nose twitched. “You slept with Jody, didn’t you?”
Cruz kept sipping, refusing to make eye contact. He didn’t interfere with Silas’s private life, and he damn well expected Silas to do the same.
“Damn it. What were you thinking?”
Cruz stirred his coffee slowly, watching it swirl around. Sleeping with Jody hadn’t involved thinking so much as doing. Reacting to the incredible pull she had on him.
“You can mess around with anyone you want but—”
He growled. “Not messing around.”
Silas’s eyes went wide at the admission. “Listen to yourself. You know you can’t be a reliable bodyguard if you’re emotionally involved.”
“I’m not emotionally involved,” he snarled.
Silas arched an eyebrow, reading his mind. “No?”
Cruz clenched his fists. Okay, so he might be getting involved.
“What did Ella say?” he asked, steering Silas back to the point.
Silas scowled deeply. “She called to report that McGraugh wasn’t just murdered. He was killed by a vampire.”
Cruz’s blood ran cold. “Vampire?”
Even Keiki looked up, sensing his demeanor change. Vampires were as sick as any sick bastard could be. And with their supernatural strength and speed, they were incredibly hard to kill.
“She’s sure?” Cruz demanded.
Silas nodded. “She’s sure. It was covered up as a slashing, but Ella found the puncture marks.”
Cruz’s mind spun, trying to put it all together as Silas did the same aloud.
“First, McGraugh provided misleading information that had you believing Jody was a target…”
Cruz gripped the edge of the counter, remembering how close he’d come to pulling the trigger.
“Then McGraugh denied wrongdoing and swore to us he’d get to the bottom of it…”
Cruz put up his hand. “Are you saying a vampire killed McGraugh before he could uncover the source of the false information?”
Silas stirred his coffee slowly, and the rich scent filled the air. “I suspect the vampire was the one providing false information.”
“Why would McGraugh trust a vampire?”
Shifters and vampires usually kept apart — miles apart. Vampires stuck to cities; most shifters preferred quieter places, and on the rare occasions when the two clashed… Well, the body count tended to be high.
Silas’s frown deepened. “The question is why anyone would want to target Jody in the first place.”
Cruz pushed away from the counter and paced, muttering the whole time. He’d find whoever that was and rip them limb from limb. He’d track them to the end of the earth and make sure those bastards got what they deserved. He’d—
“See what I mean?”
Cruz’s head snapped up at Silas’s remark. “See what?”
“You’re emotionally involved.”
“And you wouldn’t get emotional when vampires are involved?” The second the words were out of Cruz’s mouth, he made a face. Silas never got emotional…except when Moira was involved. Which made his mind spin in an entirely new direction. “Moira.”
“What about her?” Silas’s voice was dangerously low.
“She’s behind the whole Elements line, right?”
Silas’s chin dipped in a reluctant yes.
“Would she stoop to hiring a vampire?”
Silas paced to the edge of the building and looked out into the night. A hint of electric energy still hung in the air, and the palm trees swayed uncertainly.
“Obviously, I’m not a good judge of what Moira is capable of.” Silas’s shoulders slumped.
Keiki tilted her head at Cruz, asking if she should pad over to comfort the dragon shifter.
“Not sure if that will help, buddy,” he murmured, scratching her between the ears.
Another gloomy minute ticked by, and Cruz found himself yearning for Jody’s soft voice and sunny smile. A few minutes without her and he was as grouchy as ever instead of blissfully blank-minded the way he’d been in bed.
Life is beautiful. Love is beautiful. You just have to believe, Jody had said.
Once upon a time, he’d found that impossible to believe. But with Jody in his life, believing seemed easier than carrying around his own personal storm cloud all the time.
“I’m just glad Jody is finished,” he muttered out loud. No more Richard, no more need for her to endure a job she hated. She could send the money to her family, get back to surfing, and—
Then it struck him. What would she do now that the modeling job was done?
His tiger snarled and lashed its tail. Can’t let her leave. Can’t let her go.
Silas whirled. “What do you mean, she’s done?”
Cruz leaned back, crossing his arms. “She finished her contract with that last photo shoot. She’s done with Elements.”
Silas stalked closer. “How can she be done? What about the Spirit Stone?”
Cruz pushed forward, bristling. “That was just a hunch, and the manager couldn’t get the jewel he wanted in time. So I’m guessing our Spirit Stone theory was wrong.”
Silas stared at him. “Wait a second. No sapphire?”
Cruz scratched his brow, remembering Richard yell out to Jody as the storm broke.
Wait, Jody. We can get that gem, after all…
That doesn’t mean it’s a Spirit Stone, his tiger pointed out. No need to mention that to Silas.
But he couldn’t lie to Silas. The man was like a brother to him.
We could do a bonus session. I’ll pay you extra, Richard had said.
“Damn Spirit Stones are more trouble than they’re worth,” Cruz grumbled.
“If they get into the wrong hands, they’ll be more than trouble. They could be a disaster for us all.”
Cruz hung his head. If the gem Richard mentioned was a Spirit Stone, it meant Drax, the most powerful dragon lord of all, would be hot on its tail, too.
Drax. Moira. Vampires. How had Jody gotten sucked into all this? He thumped a fist onto the countertop, making poor Keiki jump. He hurried to comfort her then muttered under his breath.
“The product manager did say something about one more session if Jody agreed.”
“One more session — with a jewel?” Silas stalked closer, his eyes glowing red.
Cruz barely refrained from shoving him back. “A jewel we can’t be sure is a Spirit Stone. And only if Jody agrees.”
“She has to agree. You know the power of the Spirit Stones.”
Cruz frowned. He’d witnessed the power of one firsthand. The Earthstone had made the ground shake and set an entire cliff toppling into the sea — and with it, an enemy who would have used the stone’s powers for his own foul means. The Lifestone had sensed the evil in the heart of a woman who dared steal it and had killed her outright. The same stone — a ruby — hadn’t harmed Nina, its rightful owner, but damn. Cruz didn’t want to imagine the power the Waterstone might wield. Could it set off a tsunami or start a tropical storm?
“Jody doesn’t have to do anything,” he snarled. “It’s too risky to involve her.”
Silas glared. “We can’t risk letting the jewel go before we verify that it is — or isn’t — a Spirit Stone. If Moira gets her hands on it — or worse, Drax…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “We need Jody to do the extra session.”
“Are you nuts? I am not letting her get more mixed up in this than she already was. Not with the possibility of vampires or Spirit Stones — or worse, Drax. Listen to yourself, Silas. It’s too dangerous.”
“We could all go. You, me, and Kai. We’ll protect her.”
A low snarl rumbled from Cruz’s chest as his tiger protested. I protect her. No one else!
But that was selfish and arrogant, and he knew it. If he could round up a platoon of elite soldiers to protect Jody, he would. And yes, he, Silas, Kai, and the other shifters at Koa Point were the cream of the crop when it came to a fighting elite. But better still would be to avoid putting Jody in danger at all.
“Who says she wouldn’t need protecting from the Waterstone, Silas? You know how unpredictable the Spirit Stones can be.”
“Jody knows water. She’s perfect.”
That was bullshit, and Cruz knew it. There was no predicting how a Spirit Stone might use — or abuse — its bearer.
“No way. She’s not doing it.”
“We need Jody.”
“You need me to what?” a voice drifted from the edge of the building, making them both whirl around.
Cruz’s heart jumped in glee at the sight of Jody, but his gut sank. How could he possibly put her at risk?
Jody stuck a hand on her hip and pinned Silas with her unwavering blue eyes. “You need me to what?”