Rhys shoved Colton against the door, pinning him by his chest. His stomach churned with anxiety and frustration. His bear clawed for purchase to break free like a volcano ready to erupt, taking out everyone in his path. “What the hell did you do?”
A shadow of annoyance crossed Colton’s face. His clenched mouth tightened. His arrogant, demanding demeanor was cracking at the edges.
Evan watched in mild amusement from his spot on the couch. “He withheld information from her.”
“How could you? She fucking trusted you. Do you realize what you’ve done?”
Colton shoved Rhys away and stretched his neck from side to side. “I know exactly what I’ve done.” Colton walked past him and moved to stand in front of the fireplace. “I’ve pissed her off.”
“Is it true?” Max asked from the archway in the kitchen. His arms were crossed over his chest. “Did you know about her past all along? About her heritage and her Guard?” He gritted out the last word.
His brother’s anger was a welcome reprieve. Finally, someone understood the severity of what had just happened. She’d run because of Colton’s deception. There was no way in hell she’d trust Rhys now.
“Yes,” Colton answered. “But she’s more than a princess, more than my best detective.”
“Damn right she is; she’s my damn mate,” Rhys growled, daring any of them to contradict his words. His bear would tear them apart, starting with Evan and his unchecked glare.
“You don’t understand,” Colton said and started pacing the living room. “When I found her….” He glanced at Evan. “When he showed me where to find her…she was…dying.”
Colton ran a hand through his hair and turned to Rhys. “She shifted into a phoenix, shimmering back into human at the last second.”
“That’s impossible,” Rhys said, rubbing at the knots in his neck. “The story of the phoenix is just a myth, and even if it isn’t, it’s believed they’re reborn after death. She would be a child now if that were the case.”
“That’s where I come in,” Evan announced and stood up from where he’d been lounging on the couch. “Abigail…”
“Elizabeth,” Rhys growled.
“Elizabeth,” Evan conceded. “Due to her abilities, it takes more than a mortal man to protect her. She was already practically immortal due to her mother’s phoenix blood, but when she shifted back into her human form, I knew she was giving up. Even as ingrained as her soul was to switch to whatever animal could best save her, she’d unconsciously chosen to go back into her human body and was prepared to die. As her protector, I had to do something to save her. She was more than just my charge or assignment. When I told you we were connected, it’s because we are. I gave her my blood and willed her to live.”
Rhys growled from across the room. “You turned her? Into what? Just what in the hell are you?”
“That’s hard to explain. I’m an immortal tied to Elizabeth’s soul.”
A tense silence enveloped the room as Evan answered and merely tilted his head. “In her shifter state, if Ab— Elizabeth dies, she takes with her more than just herself. She takes me.”
“If you’re immortal, how is that even possible? No matter what happens to her, you would just continue living.”
“It’s like someone hits a reset button and my life starts over so I grow up with her and her experiences so I can sympathize with the same issues she’s dealing with. When she was dying, and I gave her my blood, I willed her to live, and that changed her into more than the shifter she was. She’s now an immortal like I am. We’re merely like you would imagine vampires to be. We still live, eat and breathe, and we can be killed, it’s just harder to do. We’re connected by more than blood and life; we’re also connected by soul.”
“That’s impossible,” Rhys whispered.
“I can feel her, even when she’s not around. When she left, she was devastated. Crying until anger and determination replaced the feeling of despair.” Evan folded his arms over his chest. “Let me be clear. Nothing and no one will stop her from finding those women, and until I train her how to protect herself, she will die trying.”
“If instinctively she knows to change into animals, how was it possible they caught her and kept her before?” Rhys asked.
“Her abilities were dormant. She didn’t even know she had them. I was already working to bring the organization down from the inside when they brought her in. She didn’t realize she could shift until after she escaped.”
Rhys ran his hand over his face and let out a deep breath, trying to suppress the shimmer beneath his skin and keep his bear under control. “I need to find her.”
Colton placed his hand on his back. “Rhys. I’m sorry. She needs to rest tonight. You can find her tomorrow. We already know where she’ll be. She emailed me her notes. She still has to interview Jennifer Smith’s family.”
“I know where she is,” Evan announced. He closed green eyes, and when he opened them, they weren’t green or black like before but a bright white, void of pupils. He held up his hands. “She just turned into the Valley Fox Hotel.” He blinked again, and his eyes returned to their original color.
“How does that trick work?” Max asked, stepping farther into the room.
“We’re connected. She to me, and me to her. When I concentrate, I can sense where she is, and most of the times, see what she’s seeing.”
“Why most? Why not all?” Colton asked.
“She doesn’t realize when she’s doing it, but it’s possible for her to block me.”
“That’s the best damn thing I’ve heard you say since you showed up.” Rhys knocked away Colton’s hand and grabbed his keys from the table without bothering to say anything as he left. Elizabeth might not think she needed him, but damn it, he needed her.
****
Rhys called in a dinner order to the local diner before making it to the hotel. He’d promised to feed his mate, and that was exactly what he planned to do. He slid a hundred-dollar bill across the counter after telling the clerk that Elizabeth was his mate. Fortunately for him, the desk clerk had smelled Rhys’ scent when she checked in, or he would have never gotten the key. “Thanks.”
He nodded and walked out, jogging up the stairs, not stopping until he reached her door. If he knocked, he stood the chance of her not answering, but if he walked in, the move might set her off. Elizabeth was armed and pissed off, and if he were to just walk in, he’d be taking away her opportunity to choose.
Rhys slid the card key in his pocket before wrapping his knuckles against the door. “Lizzie, let me in.”
The door flung open, but his mate kept her hand on the knob, blocking his entrance. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, and the fight she’d shown at his house was etched in the lines of her face. He lifted the bag and drink holder in his hands. “I just came so we could eat together. I promised to feed you. You don’t even have to say a word.”
She released the door and turned around, walking back into the room. “How did you find me?”
Rhys closed the door and locked it. She had her bag out on the bed, and her hair was wet from a shower. “How about we table that answer until the morning after you’ve had a good night’s sleep.”
She turned to him and watched as he pulled the Styrofoam containers out of the bag and set them up at the small table in the room. “Rhys. I can’t do this right now.”
“Do what? Eat?” He glanced at her as he pulled the lids off of the containers. Her stomach grumbled. “Your stomach says otherwise. Listen, you don’t have to say anything. I wasn’t kidding when I said we didn’t have to talk. I just need to be with you right now. We’ll eat and then fall asleep watching mindless television. I promise no funny stuff. I just want to hold you.”
He held out a chair for her to sit, but she didn’t move. He held his breath as each second ticked by, her hesitation tearing at his heart.
Finally, she gave a little nod and slid into the seat. He breathed a sigh of relief and took the seat across from her, waiting and watching as she picked up her fork. “Thank you for this.”
Thank you. He smiled.
****
Elizabeth snuggled into Rhys’ warm embrace. His heavy arm was wrapped around her body, holding her tight. He’d been a man of his word, doing nothing more than helping her relax. They’d barely spoken more than a handful of words last night. He’d kept his hands to himself and even offered to sleep on top of the covers as long as she didn’t kick him out. She’d opened her eyes to find his blue eyes staring at her, her hand resting on his shirtless chest and her leg entangled with his beneath the sheets.
“Good morning.” His husky voice warmed her.
“Morning.” She blinked and slowly started to pull her hand away.
He covered her hand and pulled it back to where it was. “I like it there.”
She smiled and kept her hand over his beating heart. As much as she’d wished they were together under different circumstances, she couldn’t deny there were issues that she needed to address before they could go any further. She didn’t even know her own identity, much less what the implications might mean.
“Just two more minutes and then breakfast before we go talk to Jennifer’s family.” His chest vibrated beneath her hand.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the minutes she had left, where she didn’t have to care about anything outside of what was within her four walls.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen today.” He stroked his fingers through her hair. “But whatever it is, you’ll deal with it.” He glanced down at her. “You aren’t alone anymore, Elizabeth. Never again.”
“Rhys, I don’t know what the future holds.”
“There’s time to figure all of that out.” He stroked his fingers through her hair. “Let’s find the girls first, take down the assholes that are snatching them, and then we’ll worry about the rest.”
She grinned, glancing up at him. That small statement reminded her that, even though they’d barely known each other two nights ago, he was serious when he’d said that he just wanted to make her happy, because there was nothing else he could have said that would have made her heart beat again with renewed determination.
Elizabeth leaned up on her elbow and over his chest, pressing her lips to his. “I can do that.”
Rhys rested his palm on the back of her head but didn’t hold her in place. He was letting her take or give what she needed. She held his gaze. “You never did tell me how you found me.”
She watched as uncertainty clouded his eyes and knew immediately she wasn’t going to like his answer. Sliding out of the bed, she grabbed her clothes and held them clutched to her chest as she waited to hear what he was going to say.
Rhys slid his legs over the edge of the bed and ran his hand through his short hair. “Apparently, Evan can sometimes track you. It’s part of that whole thing about you two being connected. When he gave you his blood, he altered more than you being a shifter.”
“How so?”
“He made you immortal.”
Her mouth parted. He was joking. He had to be. She still walked in sunlight. “Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it. What else did he say?”
Elizabeth’s mouth parted as Rhys stood. “He mentioned, before I walked out, that you can block him and that you sometimes already do.”
“No wonder you didn’t want to tell me last night.” She pressed her lips together, trying hard not to be mad. It wasn’t Rhys’ fault she had to deal with Evan. “I’ll have to practice that,” she called out over her shoulder while heading to the bathroom to change and get ready for the day.
An hour later, they’d grabbed a quick bite for breakfast and had just pulled up outside the upscale downtown brownstone in the ritzy part of town. A man dressed in a black trench coat and three-piece suit held a briefcase in hand as he stepped outside the door and turned to lock it behind him.
“Looks like we’re right on time,” she mumbled beneath her breath and stepped out of the SUV, pulling her badge from her waist. “Shifter Investigation Division. Patrick Smith?”
“Yes.”
“I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
Mr. Smith turned to look at her. He was in his mid-thirties, with dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and a clean-shaven face. She might even consider him good looking if blonds were her type. They weren’t.
“What’s this about?” he asked, his gaze going from hers to Rhys and back to settle on her face.
“Jennifer, your missing wife.”
He glanced over his shoulder back at the door. “She’s not missing.”
Rhys and Elizabeth shared a look. She didn’t have to be a mind reader to know he was just as confused as she was by the information. It contradicted what Colton had told her about the newly filed missing persons report on the woman. What the hell was going on?
“Can we speak with her?”
She watched him hesitate, and for a second, she thought they might need to get a court order to talk to her, but he turned back around and unlocked the door. “You can try. She’s been sleeping on and off for the last twenty-four hours.” He held the door open for them to pass. “Have a seat while I try and wake her.”
Neither Rhys nor Elizabeth sat while they waited. She took her time wandering around the living room looking at the wedding pictures out on display, and another picture of the man and the woman Elizabeth recognized from the video feed at the Honey Pot. She was beaming a smile, showing her white teeth in a scene of snow in front of a log cabin.
Their house was immaculate. Everything put in its place. She peeked into the kitchen, not even a dirty coffee cup in the sink.
Minutes later, the woman from the picture took her time coming down the stairs as she tied the red sash to her robe. Her blonde hair was slightly mussed, and she ran a hand down the strands as she hit the last step.
“We’re sorry to wake you,” Elizabeth said as a greeting.
“No problem. I’m afraid I won’t be awake enough to answer your questions until I have some coffee.” She continued walking through the room toward the clean kitchen. “Can I get you two anything? What about you, Patrick?”
Patrick followed her into the kitchen and kissed her cheek before answering. “I’m afraid I don’t have time. I’m going to be late for my meeting.”
She smiled up at him and nodded in understanding before he left.
Elizabeth and Rhys waited until she made a single cup of coffee and doctored it up. She took her first sip and closed her eyes as a moan slid from her lips. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
She grinned and kept the mug up to her lips. “My husband said you’re SID.” She glanced up at Rhys. “You’re not a cop. You work the bar at the Honey Pot.”
Elizabeth pulled her badge. “I am, and he’s with me.”
“Mmm.” She took another sip. “What can I help you with?”
“Are you aware you were reported missing?”
Jennifer stopped drinking and set her mug on the counter. “No.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Then I guess you’re not aware that Emily Fisher was murdered and that Sadie and Maria have been possibly abducted?”
“Oh god.” She lifted a hand to cover her mouth. “No.”
“Mrs. Smith, can you tell us where you went when you left the Honey Pot with your friends two nights ago? We need to establish a timeline and get your alibi.”
Elizabeth could tell her words weren’t registering with Jennifer. Her face had turned ghostly white, and her were eyes unfocused. She was in a state of shock.
“You look like you’re about to faint, Jennifer. Why don’t you sit down?” Rhys offered and pulled out a dining room chair.
She sat down in the chair, her eyes glassy as she looked toward the front door. Elizabeth grabbed her mug and placed it on the table in front of her before pulling out the chair next to her.
“Wait…it wasn’t two nights ago. I just saw them last night. They can’t be missing.”
Rhys laid his hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “That’s not possible, Mrs. Smith. Emily was found dead yesterday morning. You were at the Honey Pot two nights ago. Your husband said that you’ve been sleeping on and off for twenty-four hours. Do you have any idea where you went or what happened when you left the bar?”
She shook her head, a crease forming between her brows as if she was trying hard to remember. “No.” She shook her head. “The last thing I remember was us walking in a group to our cars, and then everything after that was black.”
“So you have no idea how you got home?”
She rubbed at her temples and closed her eyes. “I don’t remember anything.” She looked up at them with tears in her eyes. “My friends?”
“We’ll find them,” Elizabeth said by way of giving her an answer. And she would find them, but in what condition was the question.
“Jennifer, I’ve already been told you’re a shifter. If you don’t mind my asking, what’s your animal?”
Her brows dipped. “I’m not a shifter. That’s crazy. Someone lied to you.”
Elizabeth glanced up at Rhys, but neither of them said a word. They didn’t have to speak.
“Where does your husband work? We’re going to need to talk to him.”
“Binks Laboratories.”
“Really?” Elizabeth tried to keep the excitement out of her voice. “What does he do there?”
“He’s their accountant.”
Elizabeth pulled out one of her cards and passed it to Jennifer. “Mrs. Smith, if you don’t mind going down to the station and giving our people a sample of your DNA, it will help rule you out as a suspect.”
She picked up the card and read it. “Of course, anything to help you find the others. You’ll have my full cooperation.”