Blood Shift (The Charming Shifter Mysteries Book 3) Read online

  “Not really. I think of it as training wheels.” She placed her hands lightly on his hips, wanting to tug him close, but holding back. “Like, you experienced something completely different than me, right?”

  “I have no way of knowing.”

  Chia bit her lip. Yes, you do. You didn’t want to throw it down with D’Raynged last night, right?

  “Well, let’s just say the world didn’t appear the same to you as it did to me. Did you see all the sparkles and shimmers of light representing the animals?” she asked.

  Hung thought a moment. “Not really. I could see them more clearly. Like, even though it was pitch dark I saw them as plain as day. But no light show, no.” He wrinkled his nose. “And I could smell them something fierce. Can’t say I want to repeat that experience.”

  Chia chuckled. “So maybe I do have magic inside. And, it’s dormant or something. As soon as I figure it out, I’ll let go of the exchange. We have to solve this big, fat problem facing us, right?”

  “Which one? The shadow shifter problem seems easier to deal with than the one between us.” He let his hands drop.

  She kept hold of his hips, not wanting to let go. “Are you ever going to tell me what the real issue with you and the vampire is? As I recall, when we got together, you were at least friendly with one another.”

  “Nope. Not going to tell. Not yet, anyway. It’s too fresh.”

  “What’s too fresh?” She longed for his hands back on her cheeks, her shoulders…or other places. “What in the world are you talking about?”

  He planted a chaste kiss on the top of her head.

  She took a step back. “I give up. I won’t press it anymore…today.”

  “Good. Thank you.” He smiled. “I’m famished, and we need to do some intel today. I figured we’d roll into town and snoop around.”

  Chia almost squealed. He hadn’t asked her to spend time together—let alone sleuthing time—in what felt like forever. Hiding her excitement, she said, “What about your bounty hunter friend? Is she invited?”

  “Sugar?” Hung cracked an egg on the side of a bowl. “Why would I do that?”

  He pulled open a drawer and rummaged around for something. Pulling free a whisk, he began to beat the eggs. Then, he found her cast iron pan, flipped on a burner on her stove, and placed the pan on the flames.

  “I thought you guys worked together. And were all…you know…good buddies,” she said, fishing to confirm what Sugar had told her about the nature of her friendship with Hung.

  Picking up the pancake turner, Hung sliced a hunk of butter from the plate on the counter. He scraped the turner along the edge of the pan.

  The butter slid down the sides and began to sizzle.

  “You’ve got quite the imagination.” He poured the egg batter into the hot pan and stirred the golden mixture. “I can see why you might have thought that, though. What with her staying at my house and all.”

  She let out a breath she didn’t know she held. He's so…so…so reasonable.

  “But, I haven’t seen her around lately. I don’t suppose you know anything, do you?” He glanced over his shoulder.

  She almost dropped her coffee cup. “Me? Not really, no.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  She squinted at his muscular back, wondering what he was up to. “Okay, I lied. I do know something.”

  “That’s what I thought.” He loaded two plates with eggs, retrieved catchup from the fridge, and handed her one of the plates. Then, he sat down opposite her.

  Chia’s mouth fell open. “You baited me!”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call it baiting. More like following a hunch to see if I was right. I was.” He settled opposite her. “Spill it. She doesn’t usually disappear without explanation or a note or something. Is she okay?”

  “That depends,” Chia said, forking a mouthful of eggs. “I, for one, am quite pissed. She knows the eagle shifter. She betrayed us both, but mostly you.”

  “I see,” he said flatly, his blue eyes almost gray. “And just who is it we’re dealing with?”

  Chia relayed the whole story, watching Hung’s expression.

  He said nothing, merely listened.

  After they had finished eating, he put the plates in the dishwasher and said, tersely, “Get dressed. I’ll meet you out front.”

  Chia retreated down the hall. His frosty demeanor made her more nervous than if he’d blown up.

  Once they were in her Jeep, trundling up the road, immersed in stony silence, she said, “You’re angry, right?”

  “Pretty much. I’m letting it settle before I decide what to do.” His jaw looked like it must ache from being clenched so hard.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. She stared out at the frozen tundra, surrounding her home.

  “Shit happens,” he said.

  The sight of a wolf pack broke the silence up ahead. The wolves loped in their direction.

  “Hey! There are the local wolf shifters. I wonder what they want.” Chia watched them, their gray and tan coats providing relief from the white landscape.

  Hung’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s see. Could be trouble in town. Stop the Jeep.”

  Chia braked.

  Both she and Hung stepped from the vehicle. They stood on opposite sides of the SUV, doors open, hands lifted in a wave, expecting a friendly welcome.

  Instead, the wolves formed a half-circle, snarling and growling.

  Chia stood and held her ground, palms outward. “Come on, guys…this is me…Chia…your friend.”

  A wolf shifter—one she recognized as Bobby Hoye, a bartender at one of the local taverns—lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. Its sharp-fanged muzzle aimed at her throat.

  She screamed and tried to push eighty pounds of determined muscle away from her neck.

  The pack flew into a frenzy, circling for their turn.

  Hung transformed into a Harrier Hawk, his gray and white body like a cloud against the blue-gray sky.

  He struck, hooking its claws into the wolf’s nose.

  The wolf let out a high-pitched yowl and released Chia, snapping, instead of at the bird.

  Chia scrambled to her feet. She plucked Hung’s clothes from the ground, waving them frantically at any wolf who approached.

  The hawk darted among the wolves, striking with his sharp beak and talons.

  The Wolves looked to one another, their collective mind no doubt trying to form a new plan.

  Backing away, Chia kicked at the beasts. Her boot collided with a wolf’s ribcage, making a sickening thud.

  The wolf yipped and yelped.

  She raced for the Jeep. “Hung! I’m going to roll down the window for you. I’m going to floor it!” She slid into the seat, slamming the door on one of the wolf’s necks.

  It cried and backed away, shaking its head and convulsing.

  “I’m sorry, guys, but you left me no choice,” Chia said, grimacing. After tossing Hung’s clothes on the passenger seat, she gunned the engine.

  The wolves backed away.

  Chia roared past and punched the passenger window button.

  The wolves chased the Jeep, flanking it on either side, in perfect pack formation.

  Chia peered out the window, looking for signs of the Harrier. She spied him overhead, plunging toward the Jeep, then pulling back when a wind current caught him.

  She slowed the vehicle slightly, her attention darting between the wolves in the rear-view, the hawk, and the road.

  The Harrier kept up its sky maneuvers, plunging and retreating.

  “Come on, baby,” Chia urged. “I don’t want to go any slower, or the wolves might snap you up mid-flight.”

  Finally, the hawk aimed for the open window, his the seat and blurred into Hung.

  “Go! Step on it!” he yelled.

  Chia floored it, racing along the road, leaving the wolves in the distance.

  “This is some freaky shit,” Hung said, as he yanked his jeans over his legs. “What’s gotten into the
pack?”

  “Remember what I told you about Sugar’s wife getting all aggressive?”

  “Yeah,” Hung said, tugging his shirt over his muscular torso. “Do you think Red did something to the wolves?”

  “I have an idea. Think you can find Sugar?”

  “Maybe,” Hung said, rubbing his chin. “I know her hangouts.”

  “Well, then go. Find her. Bring her to my office. I have a plan.”

  Hung huffed. “I just caught my breath. But, here goes.”

  With a brilliant flash of light, he blurred back into a bird of prey and took off out the window.

  Chapter 24

  An hour or so later, Chia waved a stack of papers, fresh from the ink-jet printer, as Hung stepped through the door to her office.

  “I’ve got it!” she said. She grew quiet when she saw Sugar, slinking in behind Hung, her head down.

  The two of them looked about as stone-faced as one could get.

  Hung stood before Chia’s desk, his mouth pinched, his arms crossed, his normally warm eyes radiating ice cold blue. He looked like he was about to be sent to the front lines and the chances of survival were zilch.

  She couldn’t blame him. Sugar had betrayed him, badly.

  Sugar stood two steps behind Hung, her posture crumpled in resignation.

  “Here she is,” he said, sweeping a dismissive hand behind him toward Sugar, but not looking at her. “I found her at Gusty Joe’s trying to drown her guilt.”

  “It didn’t work,” Sugar said, quietly. Instead of the confident woman she usually portrayed, she looked more like a geisha girl, with her head bowed and her hands folded demurely in front of her.

  “Okay,” Chia said, stretching out the O. “I can see some healing is needed but now might not be the time.”

  “I wish it were,” Sugar said.

  “No way,” said Hung.

  For a second, Chia fiddled with her stapler. She fiddled with the paper clips that had spilled from a clip holder, reached for her laptop, and fingered the stain left from a toppled tea mug. “Well, let’s see if we can focus on a plan, then. Look what I discovered.” Again, she waved the papers, biting back a smile. “I did some sleuthing online. MBD, Inc has several subsidiaries. You know how you told me you and Santana lived together in Alamouk?”

  Sugar nodded.

  “And didn’t you tell me Alamouk is a shifter tolerant community?”

  “More or less,” Sugar said, her posture relaxing somewhat.

  “Well, get this.” Chia spread the papers on her desk. “A company called Bright Red Enterprises bought land outside of Alamouk and set up a factory there.”

  “Yeah, I remember when that happened. Half the town was for it; the other half against it. What’s your point?”

  “Bright Red is a subsidiary of MBD, am I right?” Hung said, placing his fingertips on the desk, looming over the chaos on her desk. He cocked his head, trying to read the maps and other printed material.

  “You got it,” Chia said, beaming. “Talk about stupid. He’s named all his companies something to do with red, and it escaped all our notice. He’s got Bright Red, Red Blooms—which fronts as a florist, by the way—Carmine and Co…the list goes on and on.”

  “Okay, so he buys up land, builds factories…then what?” Hung’s posture looked much less rigid. He folded his arms loosely over his chest.

  “Then…” Chia said, nearly bouncing in her seat. “Check this out.” She rifled through the stack of papers until she found several photocopies of newspaper articles. Stabbing them with her forefinger, she said, “In each city, there’s a pattern. Red’s company sets up a factory. They meet at Chop Chop Sue’s before embarking on the factory restoration. He puts people to work. Then, there are always mysterious reports of animal aggression. In Alamouk, it was birds of prey attacking house pets and children. In other communities, reports came in of wolf attacks, bear brutalities, and other seemingly random occurrences.” She shook her head, making her rainbow locks flutter. “And, rather than investigate deeper, no one put two and two together. Instead, animals were shot…unless they happened to shift first. Then, all these missing person files were recorded.”

  “Wow, you’ve been busy,” Sugar said, looking impressed.

  “Good job, sweetheart.” Hung grinned at her.

  Hung and Sugar still avoided one another, focusing their attention on her as if the other didn’t exist.

  Chia drummed her fingertips on the desk. “Yeah, but that’s as far as I could get online. There’s definitely a pattern—land bought, factory built, shifter animals start getting aggressive.” She leaned back in her chair. “But how does he do it? That’s the part we need to know so we can stop it.” Her eyes widened, and she blinked at Hung. “Oh! He’s got Cecil.”

  “He who…Red?” Hung said.

  Chia nodded. “You know how Cecil is. He thought he was going to make a little cash. Dollar signs got in his way.”

  “That and the thought of beer for life,” Hung said, with a shake of the head. “That mutt gets into more trouble than you do.”

  “Yeah.” Chia chewed on her knuckle, absentmindedly. “I’m worried about him, though. What if he gets turned into a robot dog or something?”

  Sugar laughed.

  Chia glared.

  “What? I only pictured Cecil as one of those little wind-up toys that prance along the floor and bark.” Sugar shuffled her feet.

  “That little wind-up toy is my friend.” Chia hoped looks could maim, if not kill. If so, she intended to give Sugar a broken something-or-other with her eyes.

  Sugar sighed. “I’m sorry, it was poor form. Probably relieving some tension. Do you think he knows anything?” She stepped closer to the desk.

  “If I know Cecil, he feels too scared and embarrassed to have any wits about him when he’s there. But….” She bit her lip. “We could try.” She pulled open a drawer and retrieved her cell phone. Then, she put it on speaker phone and dialed.

  The three of them leaned toward the phone, holding their collective breath as it rang. Even her ghosts stilled, ceasing their constant overhead movement.

  “This is MBD Enterprises. Cecil speaking.” His voice came out in a monotone.

  “Oh, my God! Are you with him?” Chia hissed into the phone.

  “That’s correct. The factory’s open twenty-four hours a day. But the office maintains nine to five banker’s hours.”

  “Is he treating you poorly? Is he hurting you?”

  “You want a job? It doesn’t get any better than this.” His voice revealed nothing.

  Chia put her hand over the phone. “Do you think that’s a yes or a no?” she whispered.

  “We can find out later. Tell him we need to get over there and do some intel.” Hung’s hand swirled in a circle, urging her to hurry up.

  “Are you still there? Did I lose you? Can I help you with anything else?” Cecil said.

  “We need to do some sleuthing…check on some things.”

  “Oh, you’ll love our factory tour, then. They happen daily between four and five. Mr. Mountainbear oversees each one. After that, no visitors are allowed.”

  He sure sounds odd. Someone must be listening. “Got it,” Chia said. “Dawg-man, we’ll get you out of this, I promise.”

  “Donations are welcome. Anything you can do will be appreciated.” Only then did his voice crack the teensiest bit. “Thank you for contacting MBD. Good-bye.”

  Chia stared at her blank phone screen. “This is terrible. We’ve got to do something.” She placed her elbows on the desk and dropped her head in her hands. “This is all my fault. I should have looked deeper into the company who purchased land here.” She lifted her head and stared at Hung, wishing he could make all of this go away.

  “Don’t beat yourself up, girl. We all make mistakes.” Hung gave her a soft-eyed gaze.

  “Yeah, I guess. So, let’s go see about putting this one to rights.” She stood from her desk and strode toward the hook on the wall to r
etrieve her jacket. She shrugged on her puffy coat and trudged toward the exit.

  Hung and Sugar strode silently behind her.

  “Are we heading where I think we’re heading?” Hung asked as they exited into the parking lot.

  “If where you think we’re heading is MBD, then yes. Let’s roll.” She opened the driver’s seat of her SUV and slid inside, determination and apprehension colliding in her belly. “What’s the worst that can happen?” she said to Hung, as he sat beside her.

  He slammed the passenger door shut. “With you, my love? Anything…”

  Chapter 25

  A gusting wind began to blow as they sat outside Charming Administration, as if in warning. Before they had a chance to zoom away to whatever awaited them at MBD, Chia’s phone rang, displaying a friendly screenshot of Cecil in Husky form. She answered it on the first ring, pressing the speaker icon so Hung could hear.

  “Lil’ Summer, I only have a second,” Cecil said, sounding breathless.

  “What is it?”

  “Don’t come. No sleuthing. Please.”

  “Why not?” Shaken, Chia fumbled with her phone, dropping it on the floor. “Hold on,” she said loudly. “I dropped the phone.” She picked it up off the floorboards and sat it on the dash. “Okay, go.”

  “I heard him talking with Dick. He’s got this whole factory infused with magic now. It’s spell cast. Levels and levels. Red said if you slip into another dimension, like with magic, there’s something evil there to guard his place. A shaman or something might try, but it’s nearly impossible to breach the walls. If you try and approach as a human, there’s something here to guard it—like armed men with huge dogs. And, you won’t see the kind of evil that will kill you—that’s part of his so-called other-dimension. You’ll be struck down one way or another. He wasn’t talking about you specifically—more like what a bad-ass he is in protecting his property inside and out. But you tend to get yourself into all sorts of trouble without trying. Don’t do it.”

  Chia paused, looking at Hung. She whispered, “I need to make the blood offering.”

  His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head from side to side. “No vampire,” he mouthed.