window, its nose scenting the air.
He was searching for someone, waiting for his getaway. Caprise watched him carefully, stepping each step with him. So when he jumped at her, X thought he would catch Caprise off guard. He charged in only to witness Caprise come up on her hind legs and ward off the male’s instant attack. Teeth bared, she swiped with vicious strength at the cat until it was falling back on its haunches. X was still going in; he wanted this cat dead, this fight over. Caprise turned to him then with a roar, one that reached beyond his usual instincts, shooting straight to his heart. This was her kill, that’s what she was trying to tell him. For whatever reason, it was hers alone.
His cat stopped, even if the human inside wanted to push her back and finish this off. It paced in a semicircle, never once taking its eyes off her. She jumped through the air in one fluid movement that was picture-perfect, landing on the other cat’s back and sinking her teeth into its neck. With all her strength she shook her head until the action broke the other cat’s neck.
At that moment sirens blared and bright light speared in through the windows from a helicopter flying overhead.
“Company’s coming,” Nick said through the com link. “We need to move!”
“X,” Rome called to his longtime friend as he watched his mate making what was most likely her first kill.
X moved to Caprise as she finally dislodged her teeth from the male cat. She looked up at him with another roar, a territorial one. X continued closer, butting his head against her flanks.
“We need to move now!” Rome yelled to X. Then he turned to Eli and the rest of his team. “Four of you go get that Rogue body out of the other room. The rest of you head down to the basement and find the truck. X?” he called to his friend again.
With a deafening roar X stood over the body.
“We’ll take care of the body. You and Caprise need to go now! Get to the truck before they come in,” Rome told them.
Police were coming in, there was no stopping that. All Rome could do now was as much damage control as possible.
They took the same steps they’d used to get to the second floor, Caprise in front and X right behind her. Funny how the positions had changed.
When they arrived at the basement door, X shifted. He instantly held up a hand. “No, not you. Not yet,” he told her. “I’ll get to the truck and find you something to put on first.”
If she were human she would have said something, probably something sarcastic. But as a cat she simply eyed him like she’d rather have his ass for dinner. To that he laughed, then slipped through the door.
He was back in minutes. One of the other guards had already made it down here. The SUV they rode in was backed up to this door as close as they could get it. Rome was coming down right behind them. Nick and his team had already announced they were in their vehicle. Caprise shifted the moment he came through the door. X handed her the sweats and waited while she hurriedly slipped them on.
“See you covered yourself as well,” she said, moving past him through the door.
“Don’t want to give these cops a free show,” he told her, his voice sounding a lot lighter than he actually felt.
It wasn’t until they were in the back of the truck, sirens growing closer, that X was able to marginally relax. He reached for her hand and was pleased to find it right there, ready and waiting.
“I’m fine,” she told him.
He could only nod, still holding on to her hand tightly.
The minute Rome was back in the truck they took off, the truck driving through a back gate that was already open. At that Rome gave X a knowing look. But X didn’t say a word, just sat back in the seat and held on to Caprise.
Saturday, 2:35 AM
They were in the dining hall this time. Rome, X, Nick, and their mates at their usual table in the front of the room with the guards seated at two of the long tables, which were pulled closer to the front for the purpose of this meeting. There were too many of them to hold the debriefing in Rome’s suite, and he really didn’t want them in there. This had been a long night; when he retired to his suite, he wanted to be alone with his wife. Rome stood and they all looked to him with deference and respect. He was happy he could look to his side and see Kalina. Having a mate really had completed him.
“Somebody wanted us there tonight. I don’t know who but I think I might know why. One of the cats we brought back with us was Sabar Tavares. At least that’s Ary’s preliminary finding. She was able to identify him in cat form from a photo that had been passed out in the Gungi when Sabar left. There’s probably no way to trace his DNA,” he said with a sigh. “One of the things I plan to propose to the Assembly is blood samples from each shifter to go into our growing database. In the future, if one of us is killed in cat form, identification will be made a lot easier.”
X nodded in agreement. “I can coordinate that effort, once the Assembly has voted.”
“Good. The one that Caprise killed, we don’t have an identity for. When we entered the second-floor hallway, we scented already shifted cats; their angry roars were heard just before the gunshots. Once we got down to the room there were only two cats—one dead and the one that escaped us and Caprise eventually took down. The window was opened and Ralph Kensington was on the floor bleeding.”
“It was Lazarus,” Caprise put in. “The one I killed. I remember him from the time I was in the Gungi. I saw him meeting with Rolando and then I saw him shift. I remembered his cat because I was amazed by how bright its fur was. And when I saw him again the scent was the same.”
“Rolando was the
She nodded. “Yes. He is the shifter that I met in the Gungi and who tracked me here.”
Caprise didn’t say anything else, and that was just fine. X had filled Rome in on the specifics of the kill and Caprise’s involvement. Caprise indicated she wanted to tell Nick herself. Rome didn’t see any problem with that.
“So if Rolando is gone, then what was Lazarus doing in that building?” Nick asked.
“Working for Sabar is my guess,” X said.
Rome nodded. “Kensington was there, so this must have been some type of meeting with the Rogues.”
“You think Kensington knew about the shadows?” Zach asked.
Nick nodded. “Melanie Keys was having an affair with Kensington. She hooked him up with Sabar. And we know he doesn’t give a crap about who knows he’s a shifter or not. So it’s a good chance he did.”
“So it’s a good thing he’s dead,” Rome added.
“What I’d like to know is who called you down there and why?” Kalina asked.
“I’ve got the number that called Rome. I’ll trace it and get back to you later,” X said.
“Ary and Papplin are in the crematory preparing to get rid of the cat bodies,” Rome said, finishing up his briefing. It had been Papplin’s idea to build ovens, similar to the ones found in funeral homes, to dispense of bodies; burning was the only way to keep their secret safe. A shifter body could be dissected, researched, and basically discovered. That was one of Rome’s biggest fears.
“So for now Athena’s is shut down and Sabar is presumed dead,” Nick said.
Rome inhaled slowly. “Yes. That’s what it appears. But we’re still going to keep our eyes open. Somebody definitely got out of that warehouse just like we did, because that back gate shouldn’t have been open.”
“None of those gates should have been open,” Eli added. “That place should have been locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”
Ezra nodded. “You’re right. I think it was a setup.”
“But who would want us there? Who would know to call Rome and tell him about Sabar?” Zach asked.
“Inside job,” X said. “Sabar had to have pissed somebody off. Kensington probably didn’t know about the connection or I’m not sure he would have proceeded with this deal. He’s not too keen on Rome since the law firm declined to donate to his campaign.”
“At least we’ve confirmed that Kensington was brokering deals for Slakeman,” Nick said.
“But did Slakeman know what type of people or non-humans he was dealing with?” Rome asked. “Either
