A Shifter's Curse, Raven Steele [the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT] 📗
- Author: Raven Steele
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I studied Roma. She seemed so laid back, a female Uber driver dressed in clothes from the nineties, her pants were even ripped in the knee, and yet her hair had been pulled into a tight bun. Not a single strand out of place. She was a walking contradiction.
“You've been holding out on me,” I answered instead.
“And you’re bleeding.”
I reached forward and dropped the visor to look into the mirror. There was a gash just near my hairline, and blood ran down the side of my face. I’d been too preoccupied to notice.
“Don’t get it in my car,” she said and handed me a napkin. “Bad for business.”
I blotted at my head. The wound was deep, but it would heal soon enough.
"I'm not one for strong magic,” she said, finally answering me. “But I'll use it if I have to." Her gaze flickered away from the road to me. “You going to survive?”
“Thanks to you I am. That was pretty badass. Do the other witches in Rouen know you have power?"
“Not many.” She adjusted the rearview mirror. "And I'd like to keep it that way."
"If you keep my secret about meeting the Greybacks, then I'll keep yours."
She smirked. "You already knew I'd keep your secret, otherwise you wouldn't have brought me here."
“True. Did you see Jackson’s face when you immobilized him?" I laughed and slapped at my knee. “I think he even shit himself!”
“He was slow getting up. Do you want to tell me why you were meeting with them?”
“I’d rather keep this one close to the chest, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to put your life in any danger.”
“I appreciate that.”
It felt like a short drive home. Ever the talker, Roma told me about how she’d discovered magic at the age of three. She spoke about her youth in the country, and the people who surrounded her. It was funny the way she talked about her childhood, like she had been raised in another century. They had no television, no radio, or distractions. It actually sounded kind of nice.
A few blocks from my house, she quieted down and grew serious. “You could’ve been hurt tonight.”
“It worked out.”
I wouldn't admit it, but I think I overplayed my hand tonight. I don't know what I was thinking meeting with Jackson alone and not expecting him to try and hurt me in some way. Maybe I expected him to be a little grateful that I had warned him about the Silver Claws attacking their ranch.
But Jackson was not the grateful type. And now he knew about the Abydos.
She pulled up to the curb and parked. “It's okay to be scared. True leaders always are."
"I will never be anyone's leader. I've seen what happens to those on top." I shifted my weight in the seat to face her. "Thank you for helping me tonight. I’d probably have a different face right now had I come alone."
"Being alone is a choice, sweetie.” Her gaze shifted over my shoulder and out the passenger window. "You have a visitor."
I turned and followed her line of sight up to my porch. Luke stood with his hands stuffed in his pockets, watching the two of us.
"Want me to stick around?" she asked.
"I got this. Thanks, though.” I groaned, annoyed at the way my body was warming at his presence, when it should be cold. Damn, traitorous hormones. “Thanks again.” I shoved money into her hands, giving her more than we’d agreed upon. She deserved it.
I turned toward the house, inhaled a breath, and prepared to meet the sexy shifter on the front porch.
I waited until Roma drove away before I walked toward Luke. He stepped off the porch stairs and into the afternoon sun.
"Go for a walk?" he asked, then frowned when he noticed the cut on my head. "What happened?"
He touched my forehead, and a shiver raced down my spine. I batted his hand away, chiding myself. This wolf was nothing but trouble.
"It's nothing,” I said. The wound had probably already healed, and what he was seeing was only dried blood. “Follow me.”
I led him around the side of the house and through a gate, wishing I could talk to him, especially about the sacred blood I was hiding. I could really use some advice on what to do with a weapon so powerful it could either save the world or destroy it.
We walked into the forest, beneath a fading canopy of tall oak and cypress trees. The night smelled of leaves and winter frost. It was getting cooler. At least the sun still provided some warmth.
Luke followed a step behind me, smelling like man sweat, the good kind that made me think of lumberjacks and firemen. I swallowed the growing saliva in my mouth. My lower abdomen began to burn and the feeling spread between my thighs. Once again, my hormones stabbed me in the back.
I stopped when I reached a clearing, allowing the sun to shine the brightest. “Why did you come here?"
He shifted his weight to his other foot. "My gut tells me you had something to do with that missing briefcase, which means you were inside that room of Silas’. Probably well before anyone else."
I laughed my best fake laugh. "What makes you think that?"
“First, I smelled you. A lot of you in that room.”
“Of course you did. I was there with Gerald when they found it.”
“It was more than that. You were everywhere. It was overwhelming.”
My pulse quickened. Had I been that careless? “So, did the others say the same thing?”
“Just me.” He moved closer, seemingly unaware he was doing it. But not me. I was hyper-aware of his body in relation to mine.
“And it’s not a mistake,” he said. “You were in that room a lot more than you’re letting on. I also don’t think the Greybacks were at Fire Ridge either. I don’t know how you did it, but somehow you created the distraction so you could break into that secret room.”
“Crazy talk.”
His heated gaze bore into mine, and the air pressurized, causing a low buzzing on the back of my neck.
This time, he deliberately stepped forward, crushing the space between us. His hand came up to trace the side of my face. “I would sense you anywhere. It’s impossible for me not to."
My heart slammed in my chest at his words. "I don’t know what your angle is here, but just because you're tall, dark and sexy, doesn't mean you can make baseless accusations.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "You think I'm sexy?”
I shrugged. “Some chicks probably dig your look."
His hand traced down and around the back of my neck. He gripped it softly, bringing me just a little bit closer. “And what about you? What kind of look do you dig?”
My eyes dropped to his mouth and back up to his eyes. I didn't mean to, but I licked my lips. He released a breath, and its warmth whispered across my skin, igniting a heat that rippled throughout my flesh. My knees weakened and chest heaved. Everything inside me wanted to claim him, to take him into my bed and, maybe later, if I got to know him better, if I could discover his secrets, I could see him finding a way into my heart.
But…he was the friend of my enemy, and that made him my enemy.
I forced myself to take a step back and shook my head, trying to clear the dangerous thoughts from my mind. "Why are you really here?"
His mouth tightened, and the spell broke. He also stepped back, as if he just realized what he was doing. And yet, he didn't seem surprised by what had happened. Had he planned this? Anger replaced the heat in my abdomen. "Answer me."
His Adam’s apple moved up and down. “I want to know what was in that secret room you found. I think we can work together."
I laughed, his motives made clear. "I get it. You didn't want to work with me before, but now that I might have something you want, you're ready to bare your soul. Am I close?"
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