Shifter's Claim (The Shadow Shifters) (35 page)

Priya had been the one to open them, Bas knew without a doubt. Because she was connected to him, they had been intimate, had been in near-death situations together and now, dammit, all of that was more serious than even he’d considered. Shifter
companheiros
had a connection that grew emotionally and physically, similar to human relationships. The continued intimacy between the couple also triggered some type of biological connection that over time combined things like their shared scent, known as the
companheiro calor
. But Priya was a human, she should not have the same reactions. Bas hated to admit that she obviously did, and was experiencing them on a much more accelerated rate than two shifters together.

“How long are you going to deny that she’s your
companheiro
?”

Feeling slightly overwhelmed, Bas turned slowly to find Jacques standing just inside the front doorway. He didn’t startle, didn’t even berate himself for not being alert enough to hear the other Shifter’s approach. This night had been too long and too eventful and seemed as if it would never end.

“There’s nothing to deny. She’s going back to D.C. tomorrow after the press conference,” he replied to Jacques.

For security purposes, Jacques was the only one, other than Bas, who had a key to get into his room. Even though the sensors and control panels were innovative and good ideas for inside his suite, Bas had readily agreed with X that a specially made key was the safer option to enter the area and that only one other person should have access to that key. Jacques had been the obvious and only choice.

“The press conference is scheduled for nine thirty in the morning. I thought it would signify our commitment to the town and to the guests of Perryville that we’re devoted to their safety and well-being by setting up in the side atrium. The sun won’t be at its hottest that early in the morning and the scenery is calming, relaxing, hopefully enough to keep their minds off the danger that may still loom,” Jacques reported.

“Palermo was here because of me,” Bas said simply.

“He was here because he’s working for someone that wants to take us down. Don’t make what happened tonight personal.”

“It was personal!” Bas yelled. “That motherfucker taunted me with killing Mariah. He looked me in the eye and wanted me to know he would kill Priya the same way if I didn’t give him those crates back.”

“She was not planned,” Jacques said with a shake of his head. “Nobody, none of us, not even you would have ever thought a woman like her would enter your life and change things the way she did, especially not that asshole Palermo.”

“But she did. She came into my life, into my home, my…” He hesitated. “She was not supposed to be here and now she’s at the center of everything.”

Bas moved to the window then, looking out at the darkness. The rogue had been out there, all of them had been out there, lurking, waiting for the moment they needed to strike. They’d stalked his resort and the innocent people who’d stayed here. And Bas hadn’t been able to catch them in time. His fists clenched. He hadn’t been able to stop them from causing some sort of exposure, just as he hadn’t been able to stop himself from telling and showing Priya all that he was.

“I didn’t at first,” Jacques continued. “But now, I think we can trust her.”

Bas waited a beat, sighed with the admission from his best friend. “Lucky for us Rome thinks the same. Or at least Kalina does. Her word goes a long way with the Stateside Leader.”

“That’s because she’s his mate. His partner, the other half of his whole.” Jacques’s comment sounded strangely reminiscent of one of the Elders.

Bas gave a wry chuckle, without turning to look at his friend. “What are you, reading from some ancient scroll?”

“I’m telling you what I know. Once a shadow finds his
companheiro,
they are completed. We were specifically designed to be half of one cohesive unit, one strength that cannot be broken once it is joined. I believe that wholeheartedly.”

Bas’s lips drew into a thin line. “Then I’ll dance at your joining when you find your other half.” He turned to face him. “In the meantime, I need a shower and then I have work to do.”

Jacques didn’t move at all. He stood with his arms behind his back, legs spread slightly. His dreads were pulled back away from his face, and the gold chain around his neck glistened.

“No other female will take her place. From this point on whoever you attempt to be with intimately will pale dismally in comparison. She, that human reporter in that other room, is the one. It wasn’t Mariah; although you felt guilty for her death, she wasn’t the one for you.”

To be quite honest Jacques didn’t look any happier about that little announcement than Bas felt. He was simply stating what he believed to be true. So what Bas was about to say could only be construed in the same manner.

“She’s a reporter with a job in D.C. that she’s going to return to in the morning. I am the Mountain Zone Faction Leader. My life is here in Sedona. Case closed.”

Bas decided he would make the exit since Jacques apparently wanted to appear glued to the spot where he stood. He was just about through the threshold that would lead him to the guest bedroom and bathroom on the other side of his suite, when Jacques spoke again.

“She doesn’t have a job anymore. The editor from the
Post
fired her because she never replied to his e-mails about her expected return date. Almost as if she had no intention of returning to D.C., or she had no intention of ever writing the story about the shifters.”

In the next seconds Bas heard the faint whishing sound of the door opening and closing. With a deep sigh, he entered the guest bedroom, refusing to think about Priya Drake anymore, knowing that effort would be futile.

*   *   *

At nine twenty the next morning the sky above Perryville resorts looked like it had been snatched from a picture book. The perfect shade of blue, the biggest, puffiest white clouds, and the sun, a golden beacon of a force much stronger than the twenty-two armed shadow guards that lined the walkway of the east side atrium. This small area consisted of three red clay buildings, one at the center, two at the sides. One of the buildings was used as a holistic center, the scent of herbs and incense drifting through the open windows to permeate the air. Another was an antiques shop where an elderly Native American woman and her daughter sold artifacts of their culture. The center building was available as rental space and was usually booked for small weddings or receptions. Between the buildings was the atrium, an open space with a cement sidewalk and huge clay pots stuffed with green shrubbery.

Bas walked the length of the area one more time. He checked and rechecked the podium that had been set up, the chairs sitting behind it where the mayor, police chief, and Rome and Kalina would sit. He went to each building, speaking quietly with the staff, letting them know what was going on and that it would all be over soon. Good relations with his staff had always been his strong point and a signature of Perryville Resorts, so they knew and accepted his presence and his guarantees. He headed back to the main building and checked each of its closets, side doors, exits, entrances.

Finally, as he stood in that doorway he checked his weapons—the gun at his back beneath the lightweight coffee-bean-colored suit jacket he wore. His white shirt was crisp, and the yellow-and-white-checked Ermenegildo Zegna silk tie provided the perfect amount of color to his otherwise dark ensemble. He backed out of the doorway to lean down and check the weapon at his left ankle. Standing again he adjusted the com link in his ear, confirmed that his cell phone was in his right pants pocket.

“This is going to work, Bas. She’s going to do her job and this will all be over.” X had come into the dwelling as quietly as only a cat could.

Bas nodded in response to the very thing he’d just been trying to convince himself of. “Right. It’s going to work and then this will all be over.”

“Not all.” X shook his head. “Something’s still going on over at Comastaz, something big. And this rogue drug and weapons bullshit is just a smoke screen. Somebody wants us to keep running around behind the rogues instead of focusing on what’s really going on.”

Now, even more thoughtful, Bas asked, “Which is?”

X shrugged. “Don’t know yet. But we’re damned sure gonna find out.”

To that Bas nodded, the cause, his tribe, the life he’d had a week ago, coming back to the forefront. And everything else in between, well, he’d decided in the early morning hours to let all that go with the breeze. He had no other choice really.

The next ten minutes went by in a blur of activity. Reporters had already begun to arrive when Bas first came out at nine, their equipment spread out over every open space. Three rows of ten chairs had been set up behind the podium, reserved for high-ranking law officials and the town government. Directly behind the third row three of Bas’s men stood dressed in slacks, dress shirts, and ties, ready to keep watch on the front of the area. The remaining guards mixed in among the reporters and around the buildings.

At exactly nine thirty, the mayor was escorted by the chief of police from a side walkway to the stage. They both took their seats behind the podium. From the other side X and Nick walked in front of Rome. Kalina stood by her
companheiro
’s side. Ezra and Jax filed in closely behind them.

Bas would take the stage in a moment and Priya would follow. Only Bas hadn’t seen her yet. Dressing early, he’d left the suite without waking her. A call to Jewel had assured him that Priya would be up and dressed in time. Now, he’d wanted to act like he wasn’t looking for her, like worry wasn’t beading a tight rope around his spine, but figured he was failing dismally as he searched the area for her once again.

“Good morning.”

Bas spun around at the sound of her voice then watched as Jacques walked beside her, coming in from the back entrance of the rental building.

“Good morning,” he replied, his chest settling from its previous constriction with every inhale he took. It was the sight of her in a straight white dress, wide yellow belt at her waist, and high-heeled yellow sandals on her feet—as if they’d conferred on color-coding their outfits—that held him still.

“We’re ready when you are,” he heard Syfon say through the com link.

With a nod Bas looked at Priya once more as she came closer to where he stood. She wore light makeup, her eyes wide and expressive with only a hint of color on her lids, her lips pert and lightly glossed. At her ears were stud earrings, not diamonds, but he loved seeing that bit of sparkle there, around her neck a thin gold chain.

“Jacques will stay with you the entire time,” he told her, as a reminder to Jacques not to let her out of his sight.

The Lead Enforcer responded with a curt nod.

Just as he turned to leave, Priya reached out and touched a hand to Bas’s arm. He turned slowly, heat searing through the material of his jacket and shirt where her hand rested.

“This is going to work,” she told him. “I know what to say to make it work.”

Then she smiled and Bas’s vision blurred. Everything except her went out of focus and all he could see clearly was her face, and that smile. What he sensed without any doubt was her amazing strength and the new scent—the “sweet” one as she’d called it—that now hovered around her like a full-body halo. Clearing his throat abruptly, Bas nodded then turned away. He had to or he feared he’d never be able to move from that spot.

Twenty steps would take Bas from the entrance of the rental building to the stage. He’d counted earlier and now did the same to keep his mind focused. At eighteen his cell phone vibrated in his pocket but Bas kept walking, wanting to get this all over with as quickly as possible. He stepped up onto the stage amidst flashing lights, clicking and whirling cameras, and a low hum of whispered and expectant voices.

Approaching the microphone, he began immediately.

“Good morning, and welcome to Perryville Resorts.” Bas spoke in a clear and confident tone. He continued with a brief history of the resort and the statistics of his guests. He ended with his contributions to the town and how important all of their safety was to him.

When Bas looked to his left he saw Jacques escorting Priya onto the stage. He stepped to the side as she moved to stand behind the microphone. She was shorter so he reached forward to adjust the mic for her. She nodded and smiled a thank you, then she spoke.

“Good morning, my name is Priya Drake, public relations for Perryville Resorts.”

She sounded confident, intelligent, determined. The title she’d given herself sounded right and made sense given what she was about to say. He tuned in once more when she was saying, “We assure you that last night’s incident was an isolated event. There has never been and never will be in the future any type of animal attacks or threats at the resort or in the surrounding area. With the dedicated assistance of the local authorities and the added force of our skilled staff, we will continue to work toward ensuring the safety of all our guests and the people of this great town.”

Loving her words almost as much as the sound of her voice, Bas was transfixed, caught in the sweet-smelling and all-consuming web Priya had woven over the entire crowd. Reporters were still but for their pencils moving over notepads, cameras had ceased clicking, lights paused flashing, no one wanted to miss a word she said.

Then his cell phone vibrated again and Bas wanted to curse. Instead he reached inside his pocket to turn the damned thing off, annoyed at the constant interruption. Cupping the phone in his hand and holding it down at his side so that no one would see him, he read the illuminated screen.

You took mine. Now I’ll take yours.

As he read the last word Bas lifted his head up slowly. His gaze caught Jacques’s cool, questioning stare about two seconds before Priya’s words were abruptly cut off. She stumbled back, his name falling in a choked whisper from her lips, “Bas?”

He moved quickly to her side just in time to see the red stain on the white dress she wore, a growing circle that solicited immediate screams from the crowd.