he would find Nivea.
And sure enough there she was, tearing up the track on the treadmill, her small feet eating away at the rubber belt as if she was on a mission. Nivea was always on the move, always volunteering for training sessions, always ready to go into battle. She was like the shifter GI Jane with better breasts.
Straight coal-black hair streaked with bronze strands was pulled back into a tight knot. For a moment Eli stood and simply watched. She was dressed in spandex shorts and sports bra, with a significant amount of her pecan-toned skin visible. Eli stared, enjoying the sight, because first and foremost he was a Shadow Shifter and that package came complete with a ferocious sexual appetite. Said appetite never failed to go into overdrive when Nivea Cannon was around.
“You gonna just stand and watch or are you planning to do a little work yourself?”
It took him a second to realize she was not only looking directly at him, but asking him a question.
“I kind of like watching,” he told her with a shrug.
“I’m sure you have better things to do,” she retorted, her arms moving in stride with her feet.
She wasn’t even winded, although the treadmill had to be on the highest speed because Eli had never seen it moving that fast. Admittedly, he didn’t do the treadmill when he came to the gym, stayed pretty much to free weights. He preferred to get his deeper workouts by running. Moving out here to the park had been a godsend, giving him more than enough room to get his daily exercise outside.
“Actually, you’re on my list of things to do.”
The way her head snapped in his direction and the shocked look on her face had him backtracking fast.
“I mean the commanding officer sent me to find you,” he corrected.
She was visibly relieved and he felt only mildly deflated. It brought back memories, ones they both swore never to speak of again.
“Arggghh,” she groaned. “Nick or X? They probably want to chew me out for not trying to stop Caprise from leaving the other night.”
He shrugged. “Caprise is not easy to stop,” he said. “X actually backed you up in that regard.”
She looked surprised. “So it’s Nick that wants to lecture me.” She sighed. “I swear I’ve heard enough lectures to last me a lifetime.”
“People are trying to guide you in the right direction,” he said simply.
“I know what the right direction is for me, thank you very much.” She switched off the machine and did a running step to climb off. “I’ll get a shower. Where does he want to meet?”
“Actually, you’re meeting with me, and it’s not about the whole Caprise thing. You stay dressed and I’ll change, meet you by the back entrance in fifteen.”
He was batting a thousand with her today because she looked as if what he’d just said was not what she expected from him. When she opened her mouth like she was going to question him he shook his head.
“In fifteen, Nivea.”
She nodded in agreement. When Eli walked out of the gym it was with the feeling that this assignment wasn’t going to go as smoothly as he planned.
Two days later the headline in the news was the raid on Athena’s, with Priya Blake reporting.
In addition to the raid, two guard jeeps had been found on the outskirts of the city, deserted. Things were changing and not for the better.
Rome called a meeting of all Faction Leaders, and this time Elder Umberto Alamar had also been included. The conference room table in Rome’s suite was almost full with Kalina, Nick, X, Ary, and Caprise. Each of their guards was also in attendance—Eli, Jax, Ezra, Zach, and Leo. X had assumed responsibility as Caprise’s guard for the moment. Nick wanted to assign her someone else but X had been adamant that Caprise stay with him at all times. Nick, wisely, hadn’t argued the matter further.
Out of the corner of his eye X saw Baxter standing off to one corner. He’d already set glasses of water in front of everyone seated. He’d pulled the small shutters down on the slim windows in the room and rechecked the locks on the door. Baxter had also been the one to get Alamar on the phone, as if Rome wasn’t privy to the Elder’s telephone number. Again, X wondered about the older man and his protectiveness of Rome and the
“There were a lot of drugs found on the premises,” Cole Linden, Central Zone Faction Leader, said through the speakers centered on the conference room table. “Enough that CNN picked up the story; that’s how I knew what happened before you called.”
Rome sat at the head of the table, his face grim.
“There were pictures of the plastic bags with the symbol on it. So we can breathe a sigh of relief that some of the savior drug is off the streets,” he said.
“What if there’s more?” Ezra asked. “I can’t see that Sabar would be stupid enough to keep all his drugs in one place.”
Nick nodded. “He’s right. There’s got to be a stash house somewhere.”
“Most likely outside the city,” Eli added.
“The more pressing question is, were any Rogues arrested in the raid?” X asked.
“Right. That would not be good if they were being jailed. Who knows how they’d act under those circumstances,” Kalina said.
“They would have scented the cops coming,” Rome said with quiet authority.
It still amazed X how easily his friend had migrated into the role of leading all the stateside shadows. As he sat with squared shoulders, nondescript facial expression, hands clasped in front of him in all seriousness, he oozed power and control.
“I doubt anyone of importance was still in there by the time the raid was executed. Which means our guy is still out there.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Bas asked. “My team has killed a total of twelve Rogues in the last week. They seem to be growing in the trees here, making their appearance known throughout the night, pacing around the resort like they’re planning a feast. We shut them down quick and without question because I’m not willing to risk one of my guests being hurt.”
“You’re all but secluded out there,” X told him. “We can’t make kills like that in the city.”
“X is right,” Nick said, sending a closed look at X. “We’re already under a microscope here. We can’t afford any slipups.”
“They are settling in,” Elder Alamar said in his quiet, raspy voice. “We knew this time would come.”
From the corner, Baxter took a step forward as if the Elder was speaking specifically to him. “Yes, we knew.”
Everyone else in the room and on the extended lines went absolutely quiet. Until finally Rome spoke.
“There seems to be an outside conversation going on here. You two want to tell us what’s going on?” he told them.
Baxter looked at Rome with somber eyes, his usual glare.
“Now or later, it will eventually come out,” Baxter said.
“As we knew it would” was Alamar’s reply.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Nick roared. “If you two have something to say—”
His words were cut off by Rome, who raised a hand and gave Nick a level look.
“Now is the time to tell us everything. Humans are dying. Shadows are dying. Rogues are multiplying. If either of you gives a damn about this tribe you will tell me what we’re dealing with so I can counteract.”
Again with that cold power, that ominous tone Rome possessed naturally that fell like a thousand boulders in the center of the room.
“We were all as one hundreds of years ago. Our existence remained a secret because we remained together in the forest, in solitude. There were five tribes, all living as one because there was no choice,” Alamar said clearly.
“After a while there became turmoil. Lions wanted to lead. Cheetahs wanted to run. Tigers wanted to feast. Cougars and jaguars wanted to kill. The peace once harbored came apart. The separation would come
