Blood Trinity (Belador #1)(107)

It took her a minute to figure out what he was saying. “Are you lycanthrope?”

“No. I came from a line of shamans. One was a Spiritwalker and one was a Skinwalker. I can take the form of a jaguar.”

She tapped her mouth with a finger. “Okay, that’s going to be tough to pull off in Atlanta. A wolf would have been a lot easier to explain.”

He dropped his head on his arms, laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

Lifting his head, he faced her with disbelief. “I was worried about telling you that I can change into a jaguar and you’re only concerned that it’s the wrong species.”

She’d just figured out how secretive he was being about this. “Why are you keeping this from the others? I’d think they’d be glad to know you had this capability. Does Sen know?”

“I’ve been keeping your secrets. You keep mine. I don’t want any of them to know. It’s a curse, not a gift. Where I come from, those who change into jaguars are considered demons. I haven’t changed shape in a while, but I can track the tiniest bit of scent in animal form.”

“Were you born that way?”

“I wasn’t a Skinwalker until … something happened.” The timbre of his voice altered in a way that meant he wouldn’t discuss it further. “I can handle the change if I have to.”

That meant she was asking him to do something he didn’t want to do any more than she’d want to shift into her beast form. “Never mind. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.”

“No, I’ll do it. Makes sense that we could find her dog’s trail, since he’s been in the park and would have marked his territory all the time. If I can pick it up in a neighborhood around here, we’ll find her.”

“How do we do this without someone getting a little distressed over a jaguar roaming around downtown Atlanta?”

“A witch could ward me so no one but you saw me. Guess we could ask Adrianna.”

Evalle opened her mouth to object. Am I really going to say no to Adrianna’s help? That seemed petty.

Screw it. She’d been called worse.





THIRTY-FOUR




“Not Adrianna.” Evalle wanted to pull those words back into her mouth.

“Really?” Storm’s relief was immediate and tangible.

“What? You don’t want the poster witch for black majik laying her hands on you?” Interesting. She refused to tell Storm that she didn’t want the Sterling witch’s hands touching him either, since he might read too much into that. Sterling witches were tainted. That was all. “I know someone else who can ward you from sight, plus she won’t say a word and isn’t with VIPER.”

He considered it a moment. “That’d work.”

“How far is your sport utility from here?” She hadn’t seen his truck on the way to Piedmont Park after leaving her bike. “We’ll need it to transport you once you’ve shifted.”

“It’s right up Tenth Street.” He stood up and gave her a hand up to her feet.

The warmth in his eyes stole her breath. He wanted to kiss her. She knew it with every beat of her heart, and somewhere deep inside among all her confused feelings she wanted him to kiss her, too. But nothing good could come from allowing her empathic side to scramble her emotions. She broke away from him and set a fast pace to his vehicle.

The trip to Nicole’s was more comfortable than the drive home from VIPER headquarters the first day she’d met Storm. She enjoyed eyeing Storm’s profile and that he allowed an easy quiet to fill the time. She called Nicole to alert her they were coming and that she needed to do this warding in the garage, which Nicole assured her they could do.

When Storm pulled into the parking deck for Nicole’s building, Evalle gave him Nicole’s instructions on where to park in a corner that would give them privacy. That’s where they found Nicole sitting in her wheelchair with a tall, physically fit female standing behind her, not smiling.

But then Olivia would not be happy about meeting Evalle any time, especially at one in the morning. Olivia “Red” Redwine had chopped-at-the-ear strawberry blonde hair, not red, and an athlete’s body covered in gray-and-white warm-ups.

Evalle jumped out of the truck when he parked and addressed Nicole’s life partner. “Hi, Red.”

“Evalle.” After speaking, Olivia cast a suspicious look at Storm, who waited in dark shadows at the front bumper of the car.

He was obviously not comfortable with any of this either, but he was willing to shift in order to help her, so Evalle asked Nicole, “Ready?”

She nodded. “I can do this, but it will only hold for maybe three hours. I put something quick together. To do more than three hours would take a stronger spell than I can effect here, and I’m not sure this one will prevent animals from sensing him.” She looked up at Storm. “Can you control your jaguar?”

That might not have seemed so strange a question if Storm hadn’t answered, “I won’t harm Evalle.”

What had Nicole noticed that Evalle had missed?

“Three hours should be enough time,” Storm said for everyone’s benefit. “If not, daylight will be our next challenge at that point.”

Red leaned down next to Nicole’s ear, but Evalle could hear every word. “What happens if the people they’re hunting find out you helped them and come after you?”