Rebirth (Rogues Shifter Series) (9 page)

"Yes”

His blue eyes drew me in as the scene quickly changed and I appeared in the park, an invisible bystander watching a younger me being beaten and stabbed by my long ago attackers. Only this time Garrett arrived like a hungry demon, ripping into them with sharp fangs and supernatural strength. The men screamed and then died. As horrible as it was, I couldn't look away.

Then the dark angel was crouching beside me,
holding my horribly injured body with great gentleness. He bit into his wrist, then encouraged me to drink his blood. I was pale, barely breathing and probably close to death. However, as I drank, the bleeding slowed and stopped and my color improved quickly. I heard an ambulance in the distance as Garrett lowered me gently to the ground and disappeared into the trees in a blur of motion, carrying away the bodies of my attackers.

The vision faded and I was once more leaning against him outside the villa, feeling both grateful and terrified at the same time. “I was almost too late. Je suis desole. I’m so sorry.” His eyes gleamed with anger and frustration and such sad
ness. “Sleep now, Jacqueline.” The black velvet night swallowed us both.

I woke up soaked in sweat and trembling violently. Reliving the attack had made me feel ill. I stumbled to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face then sank down to the tile floor and wrapped my arms around my bent knees.

I’m losing it
. Did Garrett come to me in a dream and show me how he saved my life two years ago? “Ridiculous” I said out loud. That drug must still be affecting my mind. And the whole me-drinking–his-blood thing was just too weird. But why did he seem so familiar? I opened the bathroom window and took in a few deep breaths of fresh air.

When I stumbled back toward the bed, I
looked at the small clock on the dresser
. Great, What am I going to do at 5:00 AM?
I decided to get dressed, sneak out the back door and then take a walk to straighten out my head. I’d noticed a narrow path that led south. Rob had said to avoid it, but since my night vision was excellent, and I wasn’t usually big on following rules that made no sense, I chose to check it out.

Moving as quietly as possible
down the forbidden path, I soon forgot the dream and became much more interested in my surroundings. Under oak and fir trees, azalea and huckleberry shrubs colored the dark trail with blooms which would brighten in the early light. The first chirping and warbling of birds in the high branches caused me to glance up and notice the moon in its waxing phase. Before long it would be full, lighting up the woods with a silvery glow. Good thing I wasn’t a werewolf, I thought smugly. They’d probably be pretty jumpy right now, waiting for their forced change. Or maybe they liked the hunt as much as shifters. I stifled a laugh with my hand when I realized how, in just a few days, I’d come to accept this crazy supernatural world.

I heard noises
ahead so I crouched and listened intently, peeking out between the larger leaves of a thick bush. Three men were speaking in hushed tones, but with my acute hearing I could understand every word. They walked toward me on the path at a steady pace, looking confident and excited.

A stocky man with
Hispanic features was talking. “Roberto is crazy, spending time out here with these rogues. The other others turned out okay, but these two have a troubled history. They’re a lost cause.”

A man with a short r
ed beard and knit hat, piped in.” They should be put down. We can take care of that for him today.” He patted his side, as if he had a weapon hidden there. Goosebumps erupted on my skin. Ethan and I were in trouble.

The tall blond
with light eyes argued with the others. "You need to calm down. We’re here representing the council. If we think they’re dangerous then we take them into custody and Maya and the rest deal with them.”

The dark haired one asked, "Do you think it is safe to bring them back to Crescent City?"

“Of course.
The last two adjusted just fine. I hear that Sinc is a whiz at programming and forensics and Kyle is the best young fighter we’ve had in a long time. Plus his tech skills are as sharp as Sinc's. Maya told me they've been developing new weapons. God knows we’ll need them now that those two werewolf packs have started trouble.”

My thoughts raced,
one after the other. Run away to save myself—run back to the cabin to warn Rob and Ethan—confront these men here, alone. I had to make a decision. My old instincts told me to run away. It was the way I’d always operated, but not this time.  If these men were armed, I needed to stop them before they got to the cabin, which was still about a mile behind me.

I felt a hand close around my mouth to keep me from
crying out, but a moment later I took in a whiff of eucalyptus. "Shh. It's me." Ethan whispered. "I heard you leave. Who're those guys?"

I explained quickly, sometimes using hand signals when I could. We decided to continue our
surveillance for a little longer. Ethan led us slowly behind the brush along the trail, hoping to keep us hidden. Suddenly a red squirrel dove out of a nearby tree and raced across the path drawing a surprised gasp from me.

“Who’s there?” It was red beard asking.

Well, so much for staying hidden. Our choices taken away, We stepped out onto the path about fifteen yards ahead of them. We stood relaxed, but ready to defend ourselves if necessary. They stopped, surprised by our appearance. They smelled like shifters, but somehow I knew they weren’t felines.

Although their conversation had been disturbing, my instincts told me that these men weren’t necessarily dangerous. I clung to that hope and stood my ground as they closed the gap between us .Because shifter hearing was excellent,

“I’m Ethan and this is Jackie. We're the dangerous rogues you were discussing.
Are you here to see Rob?”

The dark haired man answered politely. “We don't need to disturb him. If you'd just come along with us peacefully, that would be best for all involved."
He smiled, but it wasn't warm.

“
I think you should turn around and go back where you came from.” I said, watching Red Beard in case he made a move to use his hidden weapon.

“There’s no reason
to be frightened. We won't hurt you or Ethan." Red Beard replied.

He’d sounded patronizi
ng and I really hated that. “I’m not scared. I’m pissed off. If you think Ethan and I are going to stand around meekly while you put us down like old household pets, you’re delusional.” I hadn't been particularly diplomatic, but when my anger kicked in all bets were off.

“What’s one little girl going to do to stop us?” He asked, leering at me.

Ethan grinned, keeping his eyes on the three men. “You’d be surprised what this woman can do. I wouldn't test her if I were you.” Ethan’s voice was powerful and unafraid and I felt brave standing here beside him. "You’d better leave now."

The blonde said, trying to soothe the situation,
“We'll be happy to discuss this with Rob. Please take us to him."

"You threatened us.
"

Red Beard shouted,
"I suggest that you take us to see Rob immediately, or we’ll have you arrested. We’ve been sent here by the Crescent City Shifter Council. We have the authority to...”

“We don't give a crap about your authority."
At this point I was practically snarling at him. Ethan laid a hand on my shoulder, but it was too late. My hands were transitioning into paws with very sharp claws. The three men looked at them in surprise.

The brown haired man p
uffed out his chest. “You’re just kids.”

“I
f you try to force us to leave with you, we'll fight." Ethan spoke calmly, making me feel confident that we could take these guys. This was the same Ethan who’d helped me get down that tree, and I trusted him right now the way I had that afternoon.

“We don’t have to fight them,” said Red Beard and he made a slow move toward his gun.

Because I was naturally quicker, Ethan sent me a signal. I was on Red Beard in a flash, knocking the gun out of his hand before he’d even pointed it at us and then grabbing it off the ground and running back to Ethan. Meanwhile, Ethan had moved a few steps toward the dark haired man, ready to fight him if necessary. The blonde hadn’t made an aggressive move but I still kept my eye on him as well as Red Beard, who was turning a nasty shade of red to match his hair. I must have hurt his wrist when I knocked the gun out of his hand, because I saw him holding it.

Rob appeared silently behind them on the path, filling the air with his wintergreen scent. The three men turned toward him in unison. He nodded slowly at Ethan and me and then said to the men, “My team doesn’t react well to
unexpected or aggressive visitors. Perhaps we could all continue this conversation back at the cabin. Would that be acceptable?" They nodded, Red Beard scowling while the other's looked anxious to get the meeting over with. "Please follow me, gentlemen.”

We all walked back; Rob in front leading the way and Ethan and me following at the end of the procession. Rob had taken Red Beard’s gun and shoved it in the waistband of his pants at his lower back. Ethan grabbed my hand, which I’d transitioned back to normal and squeezed it, smiling his approval. I smiled back and thought about how well we’d worked together and how
Rob had called us his ‘team’. It felt good to know that we could handle ourselves.

"You think Rob held back to watch us?" I asked.

"Yep. He only stepped in when he thought things were heading down the crapper."

Rob gestured for the men to enter the cabin ahead of him as he turned to us to whisper, “You handled that well, but I’m not happy about you wandering off on your own, Jackie. That was reckless.” I almost started to argue, but he gave me one of those looks that you just didn’t argue with, and went through the door and into the cabin.

Dawn was breaking. Ethan made coffee and I stood by the door, arms crossed and pouting at Rob as he and the others sat themselves on the small couch and surrounding chairs. I was exhausted would have loved to have crawled back under the covers, but I needed to hear these strangers as they discussed my future with Rob. I sat at the table with a loud thump and twisted my mouth into a suitable frown.

They introduced themselves then
Rob began.”It would be a mistake to let two kids with these abilities slip through our fingers. We need both of them."

"What abilities?" asked Phillip, the blonde.

"Jackie's a cheetah and, like Maya, will be working the ley lines soon.”

“You should have called us on this, Rob, she needs to be brought to Maya imm
ediately for further training.”

“Her training is more than adequate. She needs to learn to be a shifter first. Maya was trained to fight before she ever used her magic. They both stay here.”
Rob's voice was firm.

Jim, Red Beard,
scoffed. “She’s no Maya! You’re exaggerating.” He looked me up and down in a suspicious way.

Anton, the dark haired man, leaned back in the arm chair. “Look at her coloring and her body type. She looks a lot like Maya, just taller.” Everyone in the room stared at me, which only made me glare at them. Anton smiled and turned back to Rob. “She's got Maya's temper too. Tell us everything, Roberto. “

As Ethan served coffee and muffins, Rob told them about my three days on the island, including information about Ethan as well. “Ethan's a natural leader. Along with Sinc and Kyle I think the four of them would be a very productive team. Garrett agrees.“

I perked right up at the mention of Garrett. I looked around the room at the people discussing my future,
like I’m a weapon to be used against—who? And what the heck does he mean by “form them into a team? What kind of a team?”

“They attacked us Rob, they’re not stable.” Jim was still angry about my disarming him. He was making a big deal about rubbing his wrist.
What a wimp
.

“Th
ey didn’t attack you. You pulled a gun on them."

“I say we take them back to
Maya right now. We’ll let the council decide what to do with them, “Jim said pointing toward me. The other two nodded.

“They aren’t ready yet, Jim.”

Anton spoke next. “They should be seen by the council tonight. We’ll take them back with us. They’ll be treated fairly.”

“Let me speak with them privately.” Rob stood and motioned for us to leave through the door.

"Wait a minute. Where are you going with them?" Jim stood.

"There's no place for them to run. We're on an island miles from shore. We'll be back in a few minutes." Jim started to protest but Phillip raised his hand to silence him and then nodded toward Rob.

“What’s up?” asked Ethan as we moved down the path that the three men had taken to get to us.

Rob steered us toward a smaller path that branched off from the main one and then turned to us, speaking in hushed tones. “You need to do exactly what I say and not question me. I’ll explain everything when I meet up with you in a few days. Can you do that?”  We looked at each other and then nodded.