“Sweetheart, come on. None of that. We can work this out between us. Woman to woman.” Viviana’s voice was flirtatious.
“I can’t keep covering for you like this.” The voice wasn’t so waspish anymore. Instead, it was breathless.
Adri rolled his eyes and started backing away. Clearly, Viviana didn’t need his help with whoever the Council rep was.
“Let me make it up to you.”
The click of the door being pushed closed cut off any further words as the soundproofing kicked in. At least he knew he had some time before Viviana realised anyone was missing.
Needing to find them as soon as possible, Adri shrugged out of his clothes at the exit before shifting into his jaguar form. It took him a moment, not as smooth or practised as some of the others, because he didn’t shift all that often. He didn’t have a reason to. The scents that rolled over him from the street outside were overwhelming in this form, and he sneezed repeatedly before he got himself under control. Was it risky shifting in public with acouncil rep just upstairs? Sure. But there was a whole fucking city out there, and he needed to find the runaways fast.
They were cousins in their late teens—Garett and Finn. Shifters, like most of their recruits after Marco took over. Pausing in the shadows, Adri forced his overstimulated senses to focus until he found the thread of their distinctive coyote scent that was tinged with the red liquorice they constantly chewed. It was fresh. They’d left out this back exit like he’d guessed, heading toward the bus stop. Keeping to the darkness, Adri bunched his muscles up, springing upward onto a nearby fire escape until he could pad his way across the low rooflines of this part of the city.
The kids were arguing when he found them, Finn tugging at Garret’s arm and trying to get him to turn around. Like the ambush predator he was, Adri dropped down silently from above, landing between them and the bus stop they were aiming for, knowing his green eyes would be glittering in the darkness.
“Fuck! Adri, you scared the shit out of me,” Finn snapped. Garret looked more wary. “We were just getting some fresh air. Weren’t we, G?” the nervous teen added.
“Yeah, sure,” Garret said.
Adri herded them back to the gym, not shifting back until they were inside. The only thing worse than humans spotting a jaguar prowling the streets would be a naked, muscled cage-fighter chasing after two teens who were pale with fear.
“We wouldn’t have actually left,” Finn whispered.
Adri sighed, pulling on his pants before wrapping an arm around each of them as he directed them back up to their rooms. “I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know where you are. We need to stick together.”
“I know, man, but between what happened at the last two fights and the shifters going missing on the street, I don’t think you can keep us safe at all,” Garret said.
“Who’s gone missing?” Adri asked, brow furrowing in concern.
“A couple of our old crew disappeared near the doc’s place,” Finn said, staring very intently at his feet.
Adri tilted his head in question, waiting for an explanation for the strange behaviour.
“And?”
“And they’re thinking maybe he had something to do with it,” Garret mumbled.
Adri swore under his breath. The ransacking of the clinic was starting to make more sense. He hadn’t been able to think of a single reason why Rafe would be targeted when he provided free medical services to everyone in the area. Nervous energy buzzed under his skin as he vibrated with the need to check on Rafe and make sure the violent gang these two fighters used to run with wasn’t going after him again as they spoke.
“Doc doesn’t have anything to do with this. He’s helping Marco fix it, for fuck’s sake.”
The twins looked at each other, a silent conversation he couldn’t follow.
“Is he yours?” Garret asked.
“Why?”
“Because if he’s yours, you should go to him. The crew is afraid. They’re getting reckless.”
“Reckless enough to do more than make a mess, even though he’s with the Lunettis?”
Garret shrugged, looking away.
Adri hesitated, torn between his need to get to Rafe and his need to make sure the two teens didn’t get themselves in any more trouble. Rafe was big and old enough to look after himself, especially with the pack behind him. The trouble was that hehadn’tbeen looking after himself. He was exhausted. Weaker than he should be. Especially after the way he’d thrown his magic around at the fight.Dammit.
“Can I trust you two to stay put?”
“Yeah. Like I told G, we’re not even fighting in the ring yet to get targeted by whoever’s killing people. Going missing on the streets is probably preferable to whatever Marco would do to us for running.”
