Autumn's Blood: The Spirit Shifters, Book One (23 page)

“I’m sorry,” he told her. “I didn’t
want to get you involved in all of this.”

“I meant what I said.”

He shook his head. “I can’t do this
again. I’ve been here before and it split my life in two. I can’t
put my heart through that sort of pain again. Perhaps Chogan would
be the best man for you. At least he knows what he
wants.”

Chogan wanted her? Was
that what he was saying?

She glanced at the other man, but
Chogan’s face was unreadable, not making eye contact with either of
them, his attention fixed at some spot on the floor. She didn’t
know how she felt about the idea of the other man being interested
in her. She couldn’t deny he was attractive, and sometimes even
gentle, but he had something else about him—a hard edge Blake
didn’t have—that made her uninterested.

“I’m not forcing you into anything,”
she said, finally. “I certainly don’t want to come between you and
your cousin. There’s obviously history between you which has
nothing to do with me.”

“And I want to keep things so it has
nothing to do with you. We have enough to worry about without
dragging the past into our present.”

A knock at the front door drew their
attention.

“I’ll get it,” said Chogan, now fully
clothed. He didn’t look at either of them as he bustled past,
leaving the room.

Blake pulled open a dresser drawer to
retrieve more clothes. Her eyes skimmed his back, the hard curve of
his buttocks, the strong thighs, the sculpted shoulders, and her
heart ached. Had she ever wanted someone so badly? She didn’t want
to believe that he didn’t want her, too, and a part of her didn’t.
He was only trying to protect his heart from a past
pain.

Voices came from down the hall—a man’s
voice, joined by another, and another.

“They’ve arrived,” Blake said, pulling
on a t-shirt and fastening a new pair of jeans.

Autumn frowned. “Who has?” If the
voices had been angry, she’d have assumed Dumas’ men had arrived,
but they sounded more urgent and serious than
threatening.

“The people who are going to help
us.”

Chapter
Twenty

BLAKE HEADED OUT to the living room,
Autumn following close behind. A small group of people had gathered
in the space, perched upon the armrests of the couches, leaning
against the walls, a couple of women even sitting on the
floor.

He looked across the small group of
men and women, and noted the presence of his father, standing in
the corner. His presence reassured Blake, though he was surprised
not to see Tala here. Even though he’d deliberately avoided her
house—his sister wasn’t a shifter—she had a nose for trouble and
would realize something was going down.

He took a breath and began. “I expect
you’re all curious as to why I’ve asked you here.”

“No shit,” one of the men called out,
a skinny guy in his early thirties. “You’ve been gone almost ten
years and now here you want our help. I feel like kicking you out
myself.”

“Shut it, Enyeto,” one of the women
said. “Like you’d be able to kick him out anyway. He’s twice your
size.”

Nervous laughter erupted around the
group, and the man, Enyeto, scowled.

Blake took back control.
“This isn’t about me. As you may or may not know, I’ve been working
for a department of the government linked to the military and
defense. A certain man, General Maxim Dumas, somehow learned of our
kind and what we are able to do. He decided our skills would be
perfect for the military—being able to send troops into battle with
the ability to not only see ahead into enemy territory, but also,
if injured, healing faster, allowing them to be back on the field
within a matter of hours. He’s set up his own project,
Operation Pursuit
.
You’ve all heard rumors of spirit shifters going missing; well, I’m
afraid in several cases I’m aware of, and probably more I’m not,
Dumas is responsible. In fact, I know where several of these
shifters are right now, which is why I need your help.”

“You know who took them?” another
woman said.

“Yes, and now I need your help getting
them back.”

“How are we supposed to help?” someone
else called out.

“The shifters are being held beneath
ground in a government facility in Chicago. The building is for
research and development, but the levels below ground are being
used for research into shifters. Only Dumas and those directly
below him have access to this level. I’m one of those people. Some
of you I need to use as a distraction to allow me to get access to
the shifters without being noticed. The others, the ones who want
to fight, I need to come in with me to deal with Dumas.”

Enyeto jumped up. “I’m in. I’m not
going to let some crooked government official think he can use
us!”

Blake smiled. He’d been hoping Enyeto
would be in. Despite his size as a human, he could pack a punch
when needed.

“Me too.” One of the women, in her
forties with long, silky black hair got to her feet. “I’ll do
whatever I need to help get them back.”

He gave her a slow nod. The woman’s
particular skills would also come in handy. “Thank you,
Peta”

“Hang on a minute!” another voice
called out.

Blake’s attention moved to an older
man he’d known from his childhood. His heart sank. The man was the
uncle of Shian, and he’d never approved of Blake even when Shian
had been alive.

“How can we even be sure he’s telling
the truth? He’s been gone for years and suddenly he reappears back
here and we’re supposed to just follow him? For all we know, he’s
on the other guy’s side, and this is a trap to get us all in one
place.

Chogan’s voice came from the back of
the room. “That’s not true, Kanen. I’ve been with Blake over the
last couple of days, during times this man, Dumas, has been trying
to kill him. Blake’s given us no reason to doubt him.”

Blake’s father straightened. “I hope
you’re not trying to say my son is capable of betraying his own
kind, Kanen?”

The other man’s cheeks blossomed with
color, his eyes shifting to the floor. “Well he did walk out on
everyone, remember?”

“He did what he thought was best at
the time.”

Blake didn’t want everyone else
fighting his battles. “My time away has meant I’ve been able to
monitor these people. If I hadn’t done that, none of you would be
any the wiser in learning what had happened to the shifters who
went missing.”

Chogan called out, his voice firm,
“Blake is still loyal to us, no matter where he’s been.”

Blake’s gaze shifted to his cousin.
Despite his affirmation of Blake’s character, the sight of the
other man still riled him, especially after he’d walked in on him
and Autumn getting up close and personal.

One by one, each of the people stood,
voicing their support. Chogan hung out at the back of the room,
leaning against the wall, his arms folded. Blake sensed Autumn’s
presence at his shoulder. Should he tell them about the real reason
for Autumn’s involvement? No, it would be too dangerous for her. He
didn’t know how the others would react, and he was pretty sure more
than one of them shared Chogan’s opinion that their kind should be
the ones ruling the world, not the ones hiding in the shadows. But
still, he needed to tell them something to explain her presence.
They would start asking questions soon enough.

He reached back and wrapped his arm
around Autumn’s waist. He felt her stiffen beneath his touch before
she relaxed and allowed herself to be pulled to his side. The
possibility his rejection of her had changed the way she thought of
him stirred something dark and uncomfortable inside him. His
feelings for her were a mess. He couldn’t face allowing himself to
fall for someone again, not knowing whether he might lose
her.

“I’m sure many of you will be
wondering about Autumn here.” A low murmur went around the group.
“Autumn is a scientist who was working on a project the man I told
you about, Dumas, had set up for her. She had no idea what he was
up to, and as soon as she found out she ran. Only now, her friend,
Mia, has been kidnapped by Dumas and his men. Mia runs a charity
for missing people and we think one of those people might have been
one of our shifters. She was trying to help us and got caught up in
this, so we need to find her as well. Okay?”

A murmur of confirmation rose
up.

He felt Chogan’s eyes on him, knowing
he’d want Blake to tell them the truth about Autumn. Perhaps his
cousin would out her himself just to spite him, but if he had his
suspicions right, then Chogan would also want to protect Autumn. He
didn’t think he’d imagined the way his cousin acted around the
blonde scientist.

But his cousin remained silent, and so
Blake continued.

“General Maxim Dumas is at the core of
all this, though I suspect someone higher up is probably pulling
his strings. If any of you happen upon him before I do, unless your
hand is forced, you’re to leave him to me. Is that
understood?”

“How will we know when we find him?”
Enyeto called.

“You’ll know. He’ll be the one
shouting out orders.”

Blake stepped forward and pushed the
coffee table to one side, creating a space on the rug. He dropped
to his knees. “So here’s the plan. We’ll reconvene at midnight a
couple of blocks from the building.”

He drew a map with his finger on the
rug, the pressure leaving darkened lines in the pile.

“The roof is flat, with a helipad and
a small building where the staircase is housed. This entrance is
most likely going to be open. The staff tends to sneak up here for
a smoke. We’ll take Dumas on from three levels. Those who can shift
into birds will be going in from roof level to create an initial
distraction. A group on the ground can enter into the main part of
the building. I’ll be coming up from below through a series of
tunnels which run below the street. I have the access codes,
assuming Dumas hasn’t thought to change them.”

“And if he has?”

“Then I’ll be forced to make a
slightly less discreet entrance. But Dumas wants Autumn and me back
in the facility, so I’m relying on the fact that he won’t want to
do anything to keep us out, including changing access
codes.”

“So do you plan for us to go in our
animal forms?” asked Enyeto.

Blake shook his head. “Not at first.
We’ll go as men and women, but then we’ll change.”

“There will be a dangerous point when
we’re shifting,” said Kanen, apparently now onboard, despite his
misgivings. “It will leave us all vulnerable.”

“That’s why we won’t be shifting all
at once. We’ll have someone watch each of our backs until the coast
is clear. Our main focus is getting the other shifters out of the
building. If I can get them back out through the tunnels without
anyone even noticing the breach, then I will. But my secondary
focus has to be on finding Dumas and putting an end to what he’s
doing.

Enyeto frowned. “How are you planning
on doing that?”

“It’s probably best if you don’t
know.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the
shifters.

Blake cleared his throat. “Right, so
we’ll reconvene in the city and smooth over the finer details
there.”

They began to turn to each other, the
low murmur of conversation rising to a heated discussion about
Dumas and the things he’d done to their people.

Autumn’s touch on his arm drew his
attention. “Where will you want me in all of this?”

Blake frowned. “Right
here.”

“What? I’m not going to hang around
here while you go in and save the day.”

A surge of annoyance welled up inside
him and he took hold of her hand, tugging her away from the others
and into the kitchen.

“You’re not going back to the
facility!”

She crossed her arm and narrowed her
eyes in a stance he’d come to think of as ‘Stubborn
Autumn.’

“You need me. They outnumber us four
to one, at least. You can use another set of hands. Besides, you
wouldn’t even recognize Mia. How will you know if you find
her?”

He scowled. “I guess I’ll just have to
ask.”

She cocked her eyebrows. “How do you
plan on doing that if you’re a wolf?”

She had him there.

“Also,” she continued. “I have a right
to know what it is you plan on doing with Dumas. This involves me
just as much as it does you.”

“It’s best if you don’t.”

“Well, not that you’ve asked for my
opinion, but it seems to me that the only way to stop Dumas and
make it so I’m not looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life
is by exposing this whole thing.”

“I’ve told you what will happen if the
public finds out about my kind. We’ll be thought of as freaks,
targeted by those who fear us.”

“Okay, but if people find out he’s
been holding people prisoner and torturing them, I’m going to guess
his operation will get shut down pretty damn quick.”