Only After Dark The Boxed Set Books 1 - 4: Shifters Forever Worlds (29 page)

It also contradicted the scent she was sending out. Her glare warned him to back the fuck off, though her scent invited him to fuck her like he’d never fucked her before.

Mason fought the urge to shake his head at the confusing messages.

Her tongue slipped out, licked her lips the way it did when she was thinking of something to say.

The sight of that was like touching a sexual electrode to his drive. His cock pulsed with need. Mason held his breath.

“I hate you.”

His muscles tightened. Looked like hate beat lust.

She couldn’t hate him. Could she?

“Why do you hate me? What did I ever do to you?”

A tiny gasp escaped her, then as if getting control of her emotions, she let out a low derisive laugh. Her eyes turned hard, ice chips in that deep green. Her tigress flashed silver and gold flecks.

“You. Have. The. Fucking. Nerve.” Her words were low, ground out with such intensity and finality.

His racing, raging heartbeat froze.

His lion rumbled displeasure in Mason’s mind. Mason pushed his beast back.

E
vie cursed
her body for its betrayal. She cursed her tigress for being behind it. She knew her tigress’s feelings on the matter. Her tigress insisted Mason would never have hurt her. That her eyes were deceiving her.

Bullshit.

She saw what she saw.

Fury blazed a trail through her body.

Mason’s Adam’s apple worked—as if he was nervous.

Maybe he is nervous. Maybe he’s worried my hatred for him will spill over onto my family. Maybe he thinks it will hurt their business interests.

It wasn’t likely he gave a shit about Evie and her feelings. Why would he? After what he did! That was the ultimate act of betrayal.

“Don’t act like you don’t know.” Evie’s tigress was coming out. She couldn’t help it. How dare he ask her why she hated him.

The image was seared into her mind. Branded with an intensity that burned brightly.

W
hat seemed like forever ago
…

S
he and Mason
and a few of their shifter friends in college had been on vacation in Colorado. Evie woke from a nap and went downstairs to find Mason. The group of their friends were all hanging out downstairs.

Kait and her boyfriend, Mason’s roommate Todd who was in between girlfriends had invited his sister, and three other couples that Evie had just met.

“Mason?”

“He left about thirty minutes ago,” Todd’s sister Melissa said.

“That’s right.” She remembered Mason waking her to tell her he was heading out for a while.

Evie rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took an empty mug from the cabinet. She warmed a cup of milk in the microwave and dumped hot cocoa mix in, stirring the creamy concoction, inhaling deeply, enjoying the comforting aroma of the cup’s contents.

“Hey. Have a second?” Todd put his hand on her shoulder.

Evie glanced at his hand, then back at him, shrugging slightly. She didn’t want to offend Todd, but she didn’t find him particularly likable. He was Mason’s roommate, and she didn’t want to create hassles for Mason, so she contained the shudder of revulsion that traveled up her spine. She couldn’t peg why he creeped her out. He simply did.

“Sure. What’s up?” Though truth be told, she’d rather go back to their room and cuddle up with the hot cocoa and a good book until Mason came back.

“Over here.” He indicated down the hallway toward the back of the condo, where the bedrooms were.

She frowned, but went—because, well, he was Mason’s roommate after all. She’d been reminding herself to keep that in mind since Todd moved in.

Todd opened the door to the room he was sharing with his sister, then closed it behind him. Evie took a step closer to the door.

“Don’t worry. I just want to show you this.”

He reached for a drawer on the dresser and pulled out a folder. Opening it, he held it out for her to see.

It was the size of notebook paper, but clearly a photo. She glanced at it, then looked at Todd.

“Is that—”

She did a double take. “Wh—”

She couldn’t make any words. No words came to her mind at all. Just an image. Burned into her mind.

Mason? Mason was in the picture? And a girl on her knees in front of him? The tattoo he’d gotten the week before that was evident on the forearms she’d always loved.

She grabbed the dresser for support, shaking her head slowly.

This can’t be. This… There was no way.

But yeah, there was a way, since she was staring at it.

She reached for the photo.

“I can’t let you take it.” Todd shoved it back in the folder. “I don’t need the drama. I didn’t show this to you. You can’t tell Mason. Swear it.”

Evie nodded, not completely processing what he was saying. The only thing that seemed to be running through her mind was that image, over and over.

Her knees felt like they’d dissolved, becoming nothing more than noodles. Her stomach pitched and heaved. She didn’t want to swallow for fear that would bring her one step closer to vomiting, and she was already on that ledge.

She turned, opened the door and slipped into the hallway, making her way to her room, fearful someone would try to talk to her and she wouldn’t be able to.

The betrayal.

Ugh.

And here she stood, in their room, still smelling like him. Smelling like sex. And some girl had been…

She slammed her fist into her palm.

This isn’t happening.

She was torn between never talking to him again and wanting to hurt him physically the way she was now devastated emotionally.

A
nd here Mason was
… on the bus. Today.

T
hreatening tears burned
. Evie quelled them before they could well up. The pain of that was just as intense today.

She clenched her jaw.

“Just go.”

Mason’s eyes narrowed. A tic in his jaw gave away his anger, yet he said nothing. Shoulders and spine stiff, the man she’d wanted to spend her life with, the man she would never have believed would hurt her, rose, and turned sharply, giving her his back, he made his way to the rear of the bus.

T
he rest
of the bus ride was short, except it wasn’t, because when you’re reliving the hell of the past, time doesn’t seem to release its relentless claws from gripping your soul, ripping into it, tearing it apart.

But Evie held it together. As best as she could. And she had a game plan, of sorts.

She’d get everyone situated at Quake and then she’d find a bathroom stall and spend the entire meal in there—hiding. She’d let them assume she was flitting from table to table and room to room, visiting with the rest of the bus.

Okay, maybe it was a little lame as game plans went, but it was better than nothing.

The bus entered New Orleans and cruised the outskirts of the French Quarter, to the “ohs” and “ahs” of the shifters inside before pulling up to the unmarked building she knew was Quake even though there was no sign on the door and no street number visible.

Jostling and a bump alerted Evie that she wasn’t alone. She turned toward the other seat.

Kait beamed at her. “We couldn’t just wait in the back.” She indicated Cassidy who’d taken the empty seat across the aisle.

Evie waved at Kait’s sister. “Hey, Cass.”

Cassidy smiled back with a quick wave. She was typically the shy and reserved one. Evie always thought it was amazing that she’d been so close to Kait when she and Cassidy were more alike in that regard.

Maybe opposites attract.
Maybe that explained why she and Kait had been so close in college.

Cass leaned in, across the aisle. “So that’s Quake.” Her eyes were wide. “I’ve always wanted to visit. Heard so much about it.”

Evie looked out the window.

Quake.

She hadn’t been here in a long time. Last time was with Lézare, Alexa, and Valencia. They’d come one Escape Weekend. Every one of the Arceneaux siblings. Lézare had brought them and told them they were getting older and that Alexa would have to start taking some of the responsibilities of Escape Weekend, and shortly that Evie and Valencia would have to do the same.

Alexa had not stopped staring, open-mouthed, enchanted by the old building, the traditions, the rules. She’d said she wanted to be the one who organized the visits to Quake and to attend every year.

And she had.

Until this year.

What could possibly take Alexa away from Quake?

Evie realized she’d been way too withdrawn this weekend. It seemed her siblings had been busy while she was having conniption fits in her room.

She surveyed the building that enchanted her older sister Alexa to such a large degree. Balconies laced with cast iron architecture over each door and in front of many windows on the second floor lent to the illusion there were several buildings, not once giving any clue these original structures had been fitted into one restaurant. Not many knew that Quake occupied the entire block

Rumor had it, it took the original owners a few years to purchase all the buildings, and in some cases, with less-than-legal methods to persuade. More than two centuries ago, the owners had called a truce between the supernatural beings that lived in the territory. They’d held a meeting in the offices of Quake and made the decision that there would be hallowed ground where no being would harm a being of another type.

Evie had heard there’d been shifters there, and vampires, and witches, and elementals. She’d also heard there were others, but what others, she had no idea.

She studied the entrance they were to use in the building that was deceptively dilapidated. Shifters entered the blue entrance. The red building’s door was designated for witches. The green for vampires. Black for elementals.

The driver pulled into the parking lot across the street and took the microphone from its holder.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the bus will be departing in three hours. Enjoy your visit.” He pushed a button, opening the door.

Warmth and humidity poured in, beating the air-conditioned temperature into balminess. Humidity won the battle in New Orleans.

Every. Single. Time.

Evie felt her hair begin its transformation to springiness. Staying outside for any length of time would render her a tousle-headed mess. At the same moment, a sensation of sadness crept over her.

Mason used to love when her hair was curly and wild. She let out her angst in a deep breath and squared her shoulders, rising from her seat.

Next to her, Kait rose, giving Evie a smile, as if maybe, just maybe, she knew what Evie was going through.

“Ready?”

Evie steeled a smile. “Always.”

“Think I could interview the owner of Quake?” Cassidy freelanced for magazine articles.

Kait rolled her eyes. “Not even for one of
our
magazines.”

Our magazines
meant the online, password-protected sites shifters accessed.

Cassidy pouted. “That sucks.”

Another eye roll from Kaitlyn. “She doesn’t know the rules yet.” She indicated to Cassidy with her thumb.

“They’ll cover the rules with all of us, in groups of no more than four, before they let us in.”

“Groups of four?” Cassidy frowned.

“Well, yeah.” Evie went on to explain. “They check for our identities. We get our own tables. No more than four per table. Some rooms have only one table, some have more.”

“Come on. Save the questions for later.” Kait prodded her sister along. “Everyone’s waiting to get off the bus.”

Indeed, the shifters were all out of the seats and in the aisles.

Evie adjusted the hat on her head, pushed her sunglasses higher on the bridge of her nose and made her way down the steps. The driver held his hand out, helping her, and all the other ladies.

Evie, Kait, and Cassidy crossed the street to the set of buildings that housed Quake.

She felt Mason’s gaze behind her. Felt him looking at her as the hairs at the nape of her neck lifted. She raised a hand to ease the tingling his being there caused.

The blue door was halfway down the block. They passed by the black door. Two beings stood in front. Just as Evie and her friends had passed the two, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, then a clap of thunder sounded, followed by another burst of lightning in the distance.

Cassidy flinched, letting out a tiny gasp. “What the hell?”

“Keep walking,” Evie cautioned. Taking Cassidy’s hand and Kait’s in her other, she pulled them along.

Elementals.

Evie knew what they were, though she’d never met one. She’d heard of them. Creatures that controlled the earth’s elements, wreaking havoc.

She didn’t look back, ignoring the second crack of thunder.

She’d heard Maylene talk about elementals one day when she didn’t know Evie was listening. Elementals were to be avoided. It was one thing to shift and be super-strong and a tigress, but Evie knew she didn’t stand a chance when it came to battling lightning or windstorms.

Just as they approached the front door, and before Evie had a chance to pull on the knocker, a lion’s head in brass, the oversized door opened wide.

“Enter.” A light-skinned woman with hair the color of white gold held the door open.

Evie tried to glean what type of creature she was, but couldn’t.

Much like vampires had no scent, the woman had none, but also didn’t have the crimson-to-black eyes of a vampire.

She also didn’t have the luminescent eyes of an elemental.

She didn’t give off the vibes of being a witch. Then again, she could be a witch, perhaps. Maybe one skilled in hiding her identity.

The room their group of thirty shifters was ushered into was a large waiting area. Unlit and without windows—not that this mattered to the supernatural sight of shifters, because naturally, they could see in the dark. The center of the room was empty, the ceiling high. The seating was composed of benches shaped more like pews that lined the walls. Behind the benches, black curtains hung.

“Please be seated.” The pale woman’s voice didn’t bounce off the curtains, adding to the hush tone of the room. “A hostess will be out shortly to escort you to your assigned tables after an identity check.” She turned on her heel, black dress that seemed fashioned of the same fabric as the curtains swirling behind her as she vanished around a corner.

Evie sat next to Kait on the hard, upholstered pew-like seat. Cassidy sat on Kait’s other side.

Evie was completely aware of Mason’s presence. Mindful of his eyes on her. Wary he was not averting his attention from her.

“What did she mean by identity check?” Cassidy inclined closer, her voice a tiny whisper.

Keeping her gaze down, certain not to look up and meet Mason’s dark eyes, Evie answered her. “You’ll need to prove you’re a shifter.”

“Prove? The only way to prove that is to shift.”

Evie nodded. “Partially so, at least. Everyone who comes here has to prove what they are, so they can be sat in the appropriate areas.”

“What if…” Kait tucked a stray lock behind her ear. “What if they are more than one kind?”

Evie pondered the question. “I don’t know anyone that is.” She shrugged. “I’m sure that sort of creature exists, but I’ve never met or heard of one.”

Cassidy drove her fist into her palm, though she did it lightly. “See? This is exactly the kind of thing that would make a great article.”

Another woman came out. Similar long black robe, but with dark hair and dark skin. She pointed at Evie, Kait, Cassidy. “Follow me.”

Then a different woman came out, again, robe similar. She pointed to the next four in the group, indicated they should follow. Several more robe-clad women came out and the bus full of shifters was escorted out of the room, one small party at a time.

Evie, Kait, and Cassidy were led down a short hallway to another room. The hostess pulled the dark curtain aside, indicated for the trio to enter, then followed them in, allowing the curtain to close behind them. The room wasn’t much larger than a photo booth. No place to sit. No decorations on the black walls.

“Identities, please?” She gave them a small smile.

Evie remembered this part of the visit from the time she came with her siblings. She concentrated a brief second, allowed her tigress to take over and gave way to her claws extending and canines dropping, while her face began a shift.

The hostess nodded, and Evie’s tigress pulled back, allowing Evie to return to full human form. The hostess then turned to Kait, followed suit, a brief moment later she’d extended her claws, opened her mouth to reveal her canines, as her face began a swift morph into her leopard. The hostess nodded, her gaze swiveling toward Cassidy.

Cassidy’s face was one of wonder. She was clearly thrilled by the process. She enthusiastically began an immediate shift, claws, canines, her own leopard’s face emerging.

The hostess nodded.

Cassidy morphed back. “Miss?” She placed her fingers on the hostess’s arm. “A question if I may?”

The robed woman looked down at the hand as if it were an insult to be touched. A barely disguised grimace crossed her aristocratic, high-cheek boned face. She pulled her arm away slowly. “No questions. I’ll be presenting the rules.” Her voice was without accent, not giving away her origins.

Cassidy’s hand dropped. Her throat worked as if she wanted to say something, but couldn’t quite get it out. She nodded.

“No interactions with other types.” The woman glanced at each of them individually, not turning her piercing gaze from Evie until she’d nodded her acquiescence, then doing the same with Kait, and finally Cassidy.

“No questions about Quake.”

Evie, Kait, and Cassidy nodded.

“No fighting between types, species, or individuals.”

Three more nods.

“Wait here.” She flipped an abrupt 180, then was through the curtain and out of sight.

“This is like that movie,” Cassidy said. “You know,
Fight Club
, what with all the rules.” She released a nervous giggle.

“They don’t play. Don’t do anything,” Evie warned her.

“I won’t. Trust me, I won’t.”

And yet, there was something about the glint in Cassidy’s eye and the stories that Evie had heard from Kait that made her nervous. She’d have to make sure she kept her eyes on the younger Byrne sister… just in case.

The last thing I need is her screwing up and pissing off Lézare. He’ll blame me, for sure.