Seduction's Shift (12 page)

“I know they’re on the brink of a forest filled with animals and disease they could never really understand. I know that some of those missionaries head out with good intentions and come back dead or fatally ill. I know that I can help them.”

“The same way you were intent on helping the Topètenia,” he said flatly.

“It’s my job,” she defended. “You know what, Delgado, I don’t have to explain anything to you. I don’t care if you understand what I want to do with my life or the type of person I am. That’s your problem, not mine.”

Now he was defensive, staring at her as if she’d had the audacity to strike him. “I don’t have a problem.”

“Oh, that’s right, you are perfect. Raised in the big city, with money and cars and luxury. I’m just the poor little forest cat with no family and nowhere to go.” By then she’d sat up in the center of the bed, her arms at her sides, fists bunched and resting on the mattress.

“I didn’t say that!”

“You didn’t have to. I know what you think of me. I know how you feel about me.”

She was flipping her legs off the other side of the bed, getting tangled in the netting on that side, when he reached for her. He had a habit of doing that, grabbing her around her waist and pulling her to him like she was some frail object. An object that belonged to him.

Ary shook her head and struggled to break free of his hold. “Let me go, you idiot!”

“You don’t know me, Aryiola! You have no idea about the man I’ve become.”

He held tight to her as he now sat on the bed, her back pulled up against his front. She felt him breathing, the up-and-down movement of his chest, and the thumping of his heart. He held her tightly, his lips right next to her ear as he talked. The warmth of his breath sent warm waves washing down her spine.

“I don’t care,” she yelled defiantly. “I didn’t ask you to come here and I don’t want you here! You can just go back to your big house and big money and…”

“And what, Aryiola?” he still whispered into her ear, his arms loosening only slightly around her. “What else do you think I have in the States? Tell me, what type of life you think I’ve led since I left you?”

Ary closed her eyes, hating the sound of his voice, the feeling of complete safety in his arms, and just about everything about Nick Delgado. Except she reluctantly accepted that he was right. She knew about as much about him as he did about her.

“I don’t know what type of life you’ve had. I tried not to think about it,” she answered honestly.

One of his arms shifted until his fingers traced lazy circles over her cheek. “Last night I saw the bruise from when you were with Sabar. Tonight I watched your father strike you. Whether I had stayed in the Gungi all those years ago or not, I’d still be ready to kill for you.”

Ary didn’t know what to say to that, didn’t know if a response was even required. And Nick didn’t give her a chance to decide, either.

“Lie down and sleep tonight. We’ll deal with the rest tomorrow.”

When she didn’t move on her own, he pulled back slightly, straightening his body on the bed then pulling her down with him. His long strong arms enfolded her, keeping her close. Ary wanted to pull away, but a bigger part of her wanted to stay right there. His breathing was slow and steady and after a while matched her own.

As sleep finally reached for her, Ary had a fleeting thought. What if there were a future for her and Nick? What if she did go to the States with him? What if … what if she never got over loving a man who couldn’t love her in return?

*   *   *

“This is unheard of. A
curandero
cannot leave the Gungi,” Elder Marras said in an even tone. Only the rise of his thick, bushy eyebrows gave away the fact that he was angry.

“I’m not asking for permission,” Nick said, stepping forward so that Ary was partially behind him.

Rome and Kalina stood a short distance to his right. X, with his legs slightly parted, arms folded over his chest, stood to Nick’s left with a dour look aimed at the six Elders who sat in a straight row before them.

They stood in the center of the
santa casa
. Sheer white material hung from the ceiling to the floor, covering all four walls around them. A long table sat to one side with stools for each presiding Elder on one side, pots full of lit candles on the other.

The walls of the
santa casa
were a muddy brown, thick and resilient against the elements of the rain forest. The entire dwelling was meant to serve as a pillar of strength in this village, the one place all Topétenia could come and be heard. Today it felt like a sentencing.

“It is not your place to demand such a thing,” Elder Ragata, the tallest and slimmest of the Elders, said. “We have laws here in the Gungi that you may not be familiar with.”

Nick was about to speak, but Rome put up a hand to stop him. Nick’s lips clapped shut. There was so much he wanted to say to the Elders. They were such hypocrites, spouting unification in one breath then keeping the shadows under a code of ethics that totally segregated them.

“We know of the laws of
Ètica
and we respect them,” Rome began. “Up to a certain point.”

None of the elders looked happy. Only Elder Alamar, who had just been in the States at a meeting with Rome and his Faction, looked as if he might understand their plight.

“Aryiola has dedicated her life to the Topètenia. She has given everything she has to this tribe. In return, her father betrayed her—and the tribe, for that matter. She has been kidnapped, her parents killed, and she is now virtually homeless.”

“Her home is here,” Elder Marras interrupted.

Rome stood tall, his voice just as firm and authoritative as the Elders. “Her home should be where she chooses. She is an adult Shadow Shifter, not a slave to your whims.”

Elder Marras jumped from his seated position, his long white robe unfolding like a cloud around him. “You will not speak to us this way! You may lead in the States, but here it is we who decide.”

Alamar stood slowly, his warrior’s body still in shape. Intelligent but weary eyes looked to Marras and the other Elders. Then Alamar stepped out of their line, moving to stand near Rome.

“As we have given the Faction Leaders leave to create a government for our kind in the States, we should also open our minds to changes within our ancient laws here. The Gungi is not what it once was. Violence has marred our serenity lately, and we must put a stop to it before it is too late. The environment and the humans surrounding us are ever changing as well. We must be willing to embrace new ideas and suggestions.”

A part of Nick exhaled at the Elder’s support. The bigger part of him didn’t give a damn what any of these old geezers thought. It was their stupid-ass rules that made it a problem for him to be involved with Ary in the first place. If they thought for a second he was going to walk away from her again because of some bogus laws, they were all smoking some of whatever Sabar was trying to sell.

Ary spoke up: “I won’t stay here another day.” She moved from behind Nick and stood with her shoulders squared, her voice strong. “No matter what you say, I will not stay in the Gungi.”

The sound of her voice had become as familiar to Nick as his own. Sleeping with her wrapped in his arms last night had given his already possessive streak where she was concerned an even bigger boost. His need for her was mighty, her scent reaching out to him, scraping along his nerves each second they were near, and most of the ones they weren’t. If he could, he’d stay buried inside her for hours and hours. But he needed to go home, to get back to his life and his business there. And she needed to go, too. Ary needed to be with him in case Sabar decided to come for her again.

“The tribe will have no
curandero
if she leaves,” Marras said, still frowning. “What will happen then?”

“There are other
curanderos
in the tribe. They can take over. If she does not want to help here, maybe she can elsewhere,” Alamar said, turning to Ary. “You are a great talent and will be missed. I understand your desire to go. And even though you will no longer be in the forest, you are still bound by our laws. The laws of the Shadow Shifters.”

Ary nodded. “And I will honor those laws. Except for the one that would hold me here.”

Alamar shook his head. “That rule will be changed. It is not our goal to hold our people captive, but to promote growth and loyalty.”

“I agree,” Rome added. “Loyalty and prosperity need to be the foundation for the Shadow Shifters worldwide. We will all work together to see that our new direction is fully embraced.”

Nick reached for Ary’s hand, but she pulled away.

“I’m returning to the healing center to get my things,” she said softly.

“I’ll help you,” Kalina volunteered.

Nick took a step toward Ary but was held back by X. “Let her go. Kalina will be with her. She’ll be fine. There’s something I need to show you and Rome.”

Squelching his discontent, Nick followed as X and Rome left the
santa casa,
moving toward the far corner of the
amizade
. Alamar also followed the threesome.

“Sebastian sent me an email last night,” X said, pulling out his iPhone. “It was long and very informative.”

Rome slipped his hands into his pockets. “What’d he have to say?”

“One of his guards witnessed a boat coming in the night before last. He reported crates with black symbols on the outside being unloaded from the boat and put into two Hummers. They broke off, so the guard could only follow one of the vehicles. He followed it all the way to Albuquerque to a gated property there. The guard snapped a picture of the symbols.” X had been pushing buttons on his phone while he talked. Now he turned the phone to face Nick and waited. “Look familiar?”

Nick looked at the screen and cursed. “Shit, it’s the same symbol I saw on those crates leaving here all those years ago.” The same shield, but closer up he could see it had four smaller shields inside.

This time Rome cursed, too, which got the attention of all three shifters since he normally held his emotions in solid check.

“Sabar needs capital. There are rumors that he is no longer Boden’s liege. Yet he craves the power his former captor had. He needs to establish himself in our world and in the human world,” Alamar said.

Boden had been a sadistic killing machine, ravishing and killing female shifters and humans without remorse. He’d been the first to go rogue from the tribes, taking Sabar with him.

“So he’s selling drugs to get money. Using the money to set up safe houses across the country and recruiting new Rogues,” X went on.

Rome sighed. “All of this is the calm before the storm. Whatever he has planned for the shifters is going to be big. We have to be ready for it when he comes.”

“Or we can diffuse the problem now.”

Everyone looked to Nick, not with surprise on their faces, because really, what did they expect him to say. “Stop him now before he has the chance to kill anyone else. He killed those prostitutes back in DC just like I believe he killed that senator and his daughter. Hell, his Rogues were probably responsible for the deaths you saw here in the forest. He’s making his moves right in front of us. And we’re not doing anything but talking.”

Rome shook his head, still not convinced. “We don’t know that for sure. I agree he might be responsible for some of what’s going on, but not everything.”

Nick frowned. “The cops don’t know for sure, Rome. But we do. We know exactly what Sabar is capable of. And if he’s been in the forest messing with poisonous herbs and wanting Ary to help him break them down into a drug, then he’s about to launch an all-out attack against the humans. Either way, he’s a threat that needs to be neutralized. And the sooner, the better.”

To everyone’s shock, Alamar nodded in agreement. “He is right.”

X switched his phone off. “I’m going to set up a meeting with Bas. I’ll probably have to fly out there to see what’s really going down. But if he’s shipping his stash through New Mexico, he’s gonna need runners to bring it to him in DC.”

“You think he’s headquartered there?” Nick asked.

X nodded. “Almost positive. There’s something in DC that he’s connected to or he wouldn’t have been there before tracking Kalina and Rome. He could have focused on any Faction Leader, but he picked you and our city. I’ll bet everything I own he’s there right now.”

“You’re probably right,” Rome agreed. “We need to get back to the States and inform all the FLs of what’s going on so they’ll be on the lookout. Then we’ll get a smaller group together to focus on tracking Sabar.”

“We should track the drug he’s selling as well. Get a lock on that symbol and trace it wherever it’s seen throughout the country,” X said.

“True,” Nick agreed. “Ary refuses to help him enhance his drug but that’s not going to stop him.”

“It’s going to make him more desperate to find her,” Rome added solemnly.

“So he’s going to come for her,” Nick said. “And when he does, I’ll be waiting for the sonofabitch.”

Chapter 12

Washington, DC

Regrouping. It seemed like he was always regrouping. Sabar was more than a little tired of this and swore the next time he came face-to-face with those shifters—the East Coast Faction Leader and his crew—he was killing every one of them. Whether it was by using the heat he was now packing or by shifting and ripping their fucking throats out, he was going to be rid of them once and for all.

He’d wanted to do that in the Gungi, but when they surprised him at the dope house he’d been unprepared. It was four of them against his one—Franco wasn’t one of his trained Rogues, and he would never have been able to kill them. Kalina had also been fighting right beside them, the traitorous bitch. He wanted her to die an especially gruesome death. And he’d hated leaving the
curandero
. She was the sole purpose for him being back in the Gungi. His shipments could come to the States without him overseeing them.

But he swore he wouldn’t leave the Faction Leader and his groupies breathing another time. And he’d make sure they wouldn’t catch him off guard again.