For all the lush, gorgeous nature and the rather wild look of trees, soil and multiple sources of water, it didn’t fool Indigo one bit.
Shifter world was as organized as they came, reeking of military-level finesse and politics that she knew would give her a headache if she ever decided to venture into it. But she was in the center of it whether she liked it or not, and Indigo found that she could only hold on for the ride as the proceedings started.
Dean’s announcement had everyone in an uproar, especially since it had been kept hush-hush and no one expected him to show up here unannounced with a bunch of crooked shifters. But everyone settled down eventually, and a number of people were set up for Dean to present everything: including facts, all evidence and their roles in it.
Indigo stood on the sidelines with Cassidy, Xian’s human mate—aka the only human here who was immune to any attack due to her status. They weren’t especially close, but she and Cassidy sometimes talked whenever Cassidy visited the marketplace bar. She could feel the comfort the woman was offering, but all Indigo could manage was a small smile before her attention was caught by the center of the circle.
Dean started without preamble, explaining his plan that started as an idea and became something concrete the moment he stumbled upon Peter and Paul and found his opening. He included every detail there was, except some—that of Indigo’s SoHo bar existence—only explaining that the reason she became involved in this was because she was the one who saved his life. He spoke in a calm, confident manner, leaving no room for doubts, and she could tell she wasn’t the only one who noticed it.
The elders noticed and paid attention.
Xian stood beside them, wearing his own cloak but no mask yet. She remembered Cassidy telling her earlier that he was up for elder status when the right time came, as elders usually came per tribe and the crocodile shifters didn’t have a representative yet. He stood in silence as he listened to Dean, too, then joined in with an explanation of his part in the whole undercover thing.
The evidence was taken out, printed pictures that they gathered in the art gallery before coming here. The pictures were already incriminating enough, but Dean promised that the video and voice recordings were even more so, and they were hidden somewhere safe. He then began to detail what had been recorded, using terms carefully to make sure the elders understood without having to explain what technology was to those who hadn’t visited the human world yet.
Knowing what the recordings contained already, Indigo spent the rest of the proceedings watching everyone.
She observed the guards first, noting that most of them looked young but capable—probably a few years younger than Dean, whom she estimated to be in his thirties. Most of them were attuned to nature, wearing clothes made of patches of leather or woven materials. While their stances weren’t exactly tense, their eyes weren’t idle, either, moving around from time to time to observe not just Dean but the general surroundings. She had no doubt they would be jumping at any sign of trouble, and the testosterone in the air was almost palpable. It didn’t help that what Dean was talking about was greatly disturbing, not just for them but for everyone.
The elders were harder to read, but even she couldn’t miss the tenseness of their shoulders every time Dean revealed new information—one that not only rocked their peaceful world but brought a lot of damage to the lion shifters’ reputation in general. But Dean’s father’s golden eyes were as steady as ever, obviously absorbed in every word his son said and trying to keep his own reactions at bay in the meantime.
She couldn’t say the same for the other elders, however. As Dean’s case presentation drew to a close and the prisoner cage was brought to the side, they steadily grew agitated. They thanked Dean for working hard on getting to the bottom of this, and they were truthful in telling him that they hadn’t expected these results. Then they asked for some time to discuss it.
Dean nodded his head in agreement, telling them he would be right here waiting. Then he headed towards Indigo and Cassidy, and a few of the guards followed them, too, and told them that they would have a cabin for their stay here.
Cassidy stepped forward, head lifting up and blue eyes boring into the guards.
“No,” she said. “They’ll be staying in our area. Please tell the elders that we’ll take very good care of them.”
The guards looked like they wanted to protest, but in the end, stepped back and reluctantly let the three go. Obviously, Cassidy had a bit of authority here, but it wasn’t one that everyone easily accepted. Indigo followed the woman, glancing at Dean from time to time and noticing that he didn’t meet her eyes—not since that moment in the boat when he interrogated the shifter about Sean.
She didn’t push the issue, knowing how he was feeling. While her case wasn’t the same, it was similar—having your kind betray you when you were least expecting it, and it was even worse for him considering the betrayer was his relative. He brooded more than usual, hiding behind his cool façade and leaving no traces of the warm, caring man she glimpsed on the island.
Or was that the façade?
She refused to believe it. Indigo knew that was the real Dean, and she believed it with all her heart. The thought of her heart startled her enough to pause. Dean noticed, and he paused beside her.
“Everything okay?” he asked, still without looking directly at her.
“Indigo?” Cassidy piped up, stopping just right in front of them.
Mouth dry, Indigo nodded and kept walking, affecting the don’t-care-about-anything stance that she usually held when she met obstacles in her way—or, to be more specific, when she did whatever the hell she wanted.
She held on to it, even while she entered the crocodile shifters’ territory: one in the middle of a beautiful vast field, with wooden huts all along a huge river bed and a forest over to one side. She could feel the power here and knew these crocodiles were warriors, not to be messed with.
Cassidy guided them to a hut, but Dean opted to go back, stating he still had some things he needed to take care of. Indigo pretended a headache and slipped inside the hut, sitting down on the makeshift bed and waiting until she was fully alone.
The moment she was, she let out a huge breath. Then she let her heart take over, pounding madly and beating as if telling her something. She knew the message—probably knew it from the very beginning. It told her that she was no longer the same woman who didn’t care about anything, because now she cared too much.
And the care she had for one particular man scared her.
*****
“Indigo, wake up.”
The words had her eyes snapping open, and her body surging up in the next second. She blinked any remnants of sleep off her, feeling tiredness seep into her bones at her first blissful sleep being interrupted so quickly.
Cassidy stood in front of her, and she began to notice what she hadn’t paid attention to earlier—the woman’s clothes, a pattern of weaved leaves, so different from her rich, old New York lifestyle.
Then Cassidy’s next words registered.
“They’ve reached a decision. It’s not a very good one.”
“What?”
The beautiful blond woman pouted, retaining her old spirit. “Don’t tell anyone, but I think it’s a very bad decision. I also think they’re assholes for deciding it.”
“What decision?”
“Well, they decided to grant Dean the honor of returning to the shifter world for good for his job well done. He’s now a candidate like Xian for the elder position, but he’ll be waiting until his father retires.”
The thought of Dean staying here for good sent a jolt through her stomach, one that disturbed her thoroughly. Indigo tried not to frown because in her mind, it was good news.
Wasn’t this what Dean wanted? To finally return to his home?
Cassidy’s disapproval probably had a lot to do with Dean’s attitude to everyone in general, so she worded her next words carefully. “Cass, I know he can be an asshole, and I’m sure you experienced his moments when you were still doing tasks for the shifters.” That had been Cassidy’s punishment for accidentally discovering this world, one that she fulfilled successfully. “I mean, I complained about it a lot, too. But we both know he has his good moments—”
“Indigo, I wasn’t referring to that.”
Indigo blinked. “Oh. Then what?”
Cassidy sighed, and the sound was filled with tension. “They’ve also decided to kill the lion shifters. It’s some kind of tradition to save the pride of the lion shifters—a burning ritual. But that’s not all.”
Dread filled Indigo’s stomach. “That’s already bad. What’s worse?”
“They sent shifters out to find the released prisoners you guys freed up. They want them burned, too, to erase any evidence of the lion tribe’s betrayal and save their pride. It’s all about pride with them. And Indigo…they found the vampire and a couple of fairies.”
The words intensified the dread and had Indigo shooting out of bed and into a standing position.
“Where are they?”
“They’re holding the meeting now in the same area—”
Cassidy didn’t get to finish her sentence.
Indigo was already running off.
*****
Crocodile shifters were sent by Cassidy to follow Indigo, as expected. She let them follow her, noting the tall woman and the short man, who were probably instructed to protect her if something bad happened.
And Indigo had no doubt something bad would happen.
She reached the area in no time, and whatever hope she had left was dashed as she saw another cage, where two of the fairies and Salazar were placed. The lion shifters were in another cage, already awake. It barely registered that it was already night time and dark, but what did register was the quick count Indigo did on the shifters in the cage.
One was missing.
She dismissed it, focusing on the first priority. Torches were already held on all sides, steadily moving forward towards the cages. Protests rose inside, and Salazar was hunched in one corner, hissing. Her eyes gave the area one sweep, but she couldn’t spot Dean anywhere.
Did he know? Did he agree?
Did he take part in the decision?
“Stop!” she yelled out, holding up her hand. But no one listened, and the torches kept advancing. Indigo’s heart leaped up to her throat when the fire touched the bottom of the cage, where hay was spread out. It sizzled when the fire touched, then started burning.
She had no choice.
Indigo ran in that direction, gathering whatever energy she could. Then she pulled at her magic and brought it out, pushing it towards the fire. The fire was immediately coated with it, dimming and dying instantly enough for her to push her energy towards the cage locks with Salazar and the fairies.
She broke it in a few seconds, then stopped in front of the slowly-opening cage and looked the elders dead in the eye.
“Don’t you dare hurt them,” she stated.
A few of the elders stood up, including Dean’s father. She’d recognize those golden eyes anywhere, and they bored into her now, intense.
“You’ve just interrupted a very important event ordered by the elders,” he clipped out. His stance was so similar to Dean that it rattled her. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Indigo lifted her chin. “I’m doing the right thing. You have no right to crucify these innocent creatures just for your damn pride. Don’t you dare touch them.”
“You’ve breached our rule of no magic from witches here, when we’ve been so kind to you?” another elder growled.
“And I’ll do it again if I have to,” she said defiantly.
There was a gasp near her—Cassidy’s voice. But the elders were all standing up now, coldly simultaneous in their movement.
“Then you’re going to pay for this.”
That was the last thing Indigo heard before she was surrounded in all directions.