Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(30)

She tamped down those thoughts—time enough for regrets and soul-searching later. For now, Angus was helping her, and he was right—shut up and take it.

After about fifteen minutes on the expressway, Angus drove off on an exit that led to the lake. Cute, older houses with well-kept lawns lined the road that wound its way north. Tamsin imagined the sorts of people who’d live in these houses—they’d be retired, mostly, and like to garden, read, cook, and take care of their grandkids. Tamsin envied them as Angus drove calmly past.

Shifters should be able to have this, she thought. Angus had claimed that Shifters already did—in Shiftertowns.

But that was wrong. They had the illusion of a decent life, not true freedom.

Angus turned along a grass-lined drive to a park that skirted the huge Lake Pontchartrain, lying blue-gray and untroubled under the rainy sky. Joggers moved along the path at the water’s edge, lovers strolled hand in hand behind them, and kids played in the grass. The other side of the street was lined with tiny, narrow lake houses, quaint and inviting.

“This is me.” Reg had the door open. “Unless you want me to go with you.” He gave Angus an inquiring look.

“I want you to have nothing to do with it,” Angus told him firmly. “I’ll be ditching this ride too, but I’ll leave it somewhere safe and let you know where it is. You going to be all right getting home?”

Reg descended and came to Angus’s window, nodding without worry. “I’ll call Casey to pick me up—he needs something to do.” He gave Angus a pained look. “Don’t scratch it, all right? It might look boring to you, but I have it running fine and it’s good for hauling supplies.”

Tamsin wondered what supplies. But Reg looked harmless and normal, so it couldn’t be for anything sinister.

“One piece, I promise.” Angus reached out the window and gripped Reg’s shoulder. Shifters, especially friends, usually embraced when they parted, but Angus didn’t have time, and two large men in a fond hug in the middle of a park would draw attention. “Tell Spence not to worry about me. That is, if he notices I’m gone.” The last came out with dry bitterness.

Reg returned the squeeze, gave Ciaran a thumbs-up, and then turned away, jogging out to the path along the breakwater. As Tamsin watched, Reg started to run, his dark legs in running shorts moving faster and faster.

“Holy crap, look at him go,” she said, her jaw dropping. “What kind of Shifter is he?”

Ciaran leaned forward between the seats. “Serval. Reg can seriously run.”

“I see that.” Reg overtook several joggers, passing them with ease. His high-necked shirt hid his Collar, and the joggers simply moved aside for him without worry. “What supplies?” Tamsin asked in curiosity as Angus turned the SUV to head out of the park.

“Woodworking.” The answer was short, to the point.

Ciaran filled in the rest. “He’s really good at it. He makes furniture—they’re like artwork.”

Tamsin looked back to try to see Reg, but he was already out of sight. “Serval, huh? That’s unusual. But explains a lot. The smaller cats are usually fast.” She laced her fingers as she sat forward again, happy that her hand was whole and well. “So are foxes.”

Angus scowled at her as he turned the SUV onto the street. Ciaran hung on to both front seats as he stared at Tamsin. “Wait, you’re a fox? I didn’t know there were fox Shifters.”

“We’re rare.” Tamsin winked at him.

“Dad, you really need to do some full disclosure. They didn’t tell me anything when I was trapped in that crypt.”

“Once upon a time,” Tamsin began when Angus only frowned, “a fox was being chased by some mean Shifter Bureau agents. But they couldn’t catch her, so they sent a Lupine tracker to find and capture her.” She pointed at Angus. “But the fox was sooo cute, and sooo nice, that he couldn’t stand to give her to the mean agents. So he busted his son out of prison, and now he’s taking the fox Shifter . . . somewhere. And maybe they’ll all live happily ever after.” She gave Ciaran a big smile. “I guess we get to find out.”





CHAPTER NINE


Tamsin wasn’t familiar enough with New Orleans to know exactly where they were, but Angus navigated with ease. He had them on a road heading west, and soon the city fell behind, as did the suburbs. Not long after that, they were out into bayou country.

The freeway became a bridge stretching across a watery landscape. Flat, swampy land poked up along stretches of gray water, the occasional boat zipping by beneath. Clouds had rolled in to make the sky bleak, and rain pattered on the windshield, swept away by the SUV’s wipers in a steady rhythm.

Tamsin leaned back against the seat, humming a tune in her throat, but tension kept her muscles stiff.

Ciaran was the only one of the three who was excited. He peered eagerly through the windows at the rain and traffic.

“Are we going to the haunted house, Dad? I bet Tamsin’s right that it blocked the tracker on the car. We can hide out there.”

Angus shook his head. “He’d find the house sooner or later. He’ll start from where the tracking device cut out and search in a circle from there.”

“Oh,” Ciaran said, disappointed. “You’re probably right.”