Wicked Burn (Realm Enforcers #3)(53)

Desmond took a deep breath. “I’m the leader of our people, and you, my friend, are my cousin.”

She blinked. “You’re a bear shifter?”

“No.”

“Multi-shifter?”

He winced. “Well, there have never been multi-shifters, to be frank. There have been feline, canine, bear, and us.”

She frowned. “Bear shifters have always existed?”

“Sure. We perpetrated a legend that they were part of the multi-species in case we were ever seen, which we have been. Everyone bought it. We’re no more related to the bears than you are to the vampires.” Desmond eyed Flynn.

Simone kept her gaze on both men. There was a tension between them, one she couldn’t quite decipher. They weren’t witches, which only meant... “My father was one of you.”

“Aye,” Desmond said. “He was also father to Flynn.”

Her mouth gaped open. She had another brother? “Wait. So you and Bear?”

“Half-brothers,” Flynn confirmed. “He, you, and I share a father but different mothers. Our father was a rare immortal to be sure.”

Emotion whirled through her with the force of a hurricane, and she tried to center herself and not freak out in front of the males. “Did my mother know? About you?”

“Probably not about me, but she certainly knew about our father and our species,” Flynn said. “And she, of course, knows that Desmond is the leader of our people.”

“But I’m not one of you. I can’t fly or turn into anything that does fly,” Simone whispered.

Flynn smiled. “No. Immortals take one form only, usually, and you’re a witch. However, you should have had some experiences as a child. Any chance you have early memories of being, something, well . . . else?”

Heat climbed into her face. No way would she confess that one. “No.”

Flynn lifted an eyebrow. “I can smell a lie.”

So could she.

He cleared his throat. “Any chance you, ah, remember being a small rabbit?”

Holy blooming crap. The only person she’d ever revealed those odd childhood dreams to was Nicholai, which was how she’d gotten the nickname. She’d thought those were just dreams with no basis in reality. “How did you know?”

He glanced down at the sparkling diamonds. “So wrong. We all have bunny moments as toddlers. To think that our magnificent forms start out as bunnies.” He sadly shook his head.

Simone backed away two steps down the railing. “You’re freakin’ bunnies? Rabbits that fly?”

Desmond barked out a laugh. “Ah, no. It’s an unfortunate childhood phase we all go through, even if we end up taking different forms, like you as a witch.”

She allowed plasma to crackle down her arms and form fireballs in her hands. “I’m done asking. Explain.”

Desmond eyed the blue flames with interest and then gave a short nod. “Flynn?”

Flynn sighed and dropped the towel. The air popped the same way as when a bear shifted. He growled low, stretched out, and within seconds stood on four long legs, tail up in the air. His eyes remained the same, but his face elongated, he turned deep black, and scales sparkled down his back and legs.

Simone coughed, her feet frozen solid in place. She blinked several times, just in case she was hallucinating. Flynn stared calmly back at her, a huge beast. “Holy shite. You’re a dragon,” she whispered.





Chapter 20


Nick jumped off his bike and squinted up into the now empty clouds. What the f*ck was that thing? He hadn’t seen anything but a dark shadow before he’d stopped the motorcycle. His blood rushed through his head, and he tried to shoot a mind attack up, if that thing had a brain. But it was already gone.

With Simone.

Rage rippled through him, and he turned to run toward the car Bear had just jumped into. The feel of the door handle beneath his hand spurred Nick on, and he ripped the entire door away from the car, throwing it across the driveway.

Bear’s mouth dropped open, and he jumped out, pushing Nick away. “This is a rental,” he snapped.

Nick grabbed the shifter by the T-shirt with both hands and slammed him against the car. “What the f*ck just took Simone?”

Bear winced. “I told you to run, but no, you wouldn’t hurry.” He kept his body relaxed, but tension cascaded from him. “You stay here with Vivienne, and I’ll go secure Simone’s release. Or at least help her.”

“Who are they?” Nick drew Bear back and smashed him into the car again.

Bear shook his shaggy head, his brown eyes somber. “It’s none of your business. Just stay here and for once, keep out of the way.”

Nick shook his head. “I’m going to kill you if you don’t talk.”

Bear rolled his eyes. “You couldn’t kill me, but if you really must know—because I’m sure Simone will tell you anyway, if she lives—you’ve never seen anything like the guys who took her.”

“Bear,” Nick growled.

Bear shrugged. “Fine, but you have to know that hearing this might put a bull’s-eye on your damn demon head. I warned you, and you didn’t listen, but that’s your own damn problem. The guys who took her are dragons. Dragons.”

Oh, he was going to kill the smart-ass bear. “Do I look like I’m f*cking around right now? Give me a straight answer, or I swear to God, I’m going to peel your brain like a damn avocado.”