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

  Outside, Chia searched the parking lot for signs of Hung. Soft puffs of white left her lips and nose as she tromped through the snow. Even her ghosts seemed sluggish in the frigid air. Instead of swirling around her head, they now plastered themselves to her clothing like see-through paper mâché.

  “Good thing only a very few can see you blasted ecto-beings,” she muttered, wiping one of the three-foot tall creatures from her face so she could see.

  The only three who could perceive them were Hung, D’Raynged, and her good friend Cecil, the Husky dog shifter…and perhaps every shifter in Charming, if Cecil could be trusted, to tell the truth.

  She scanned the frozen coastline of the Bering Sea, seeing nothing but blocks of ice bobbing in the frigid water. Turning, she squinted at the road which led to downtown. Nothing. She eyed the trees, bare of branches, looking for an eagle, an osprey, a crow…anything but a stupid fly.

  Overhead, the mono-syllabic hoot of an owl caught her attention. She craned her neck, spying a beautiful white Snowy Owl. For a second, her heart fluttered like wings. She’d had a few helpful, yet strange encounters with Snowy owls last year and she always wondered if they were Hung or her beloved dead grandfather.

  “Hung? Is that you? Reveal yourself.”

  The owl took off, flying away soundlessly, dragging her hope with it.

  “I guess that isn’t you. Either that or you changed your mind about speaking to me.” She sighed, continuing her search.

  Finally, her eyes landed on the windows of her black Jeep Commander 4-wheel drive SUV. The darkly tinted windows were completely fogged, hinting at an extremely hot man sitting inside her vehicle—the vehicle she’d locked earlier today. She marched toward it, arms pumping.

  Flinging open the driver’s door, she started speaking as she slid into her seat, her inner guns blazing. “How can you break open my truck so easily? And why the stealth? Everyone knows who you are. Don’t forget I made it perfectly safe for you to be here, reversing the ordinance that prevented bounty hunters from entering town lines.”

  “The one you put into play in the first place?” he shot back.

  “I had shifters to protect from poaching. Cut me some slack here!” Her hands flew overhead, whacking against the roof.

  Head cocked, he stared at her evenly, his blue and gold eyes soft. “You about finished?”

  Her mouth snapped shut. “Yeah. I guess. Sorry. You know how I get when I’m upset.”

  She tried hard not to be affected by his gaze, but who was she kidding? When he looked at her this way—his eyes all dreamy soft and open—he stoked the embers in her heart and body. All reason fled her brain, flying as swiftly and silently into the distance as that owl a few minutes ago.

  “I’ve missed you,” she said, casting her gaze into her lap. Her heart dangled like a melting icicle, dripping hope into her soul. She looked at him through lowered lashes.

  He licked his lips. “I know. I’ve missed you, too. You and your mercury eyes. I’ve never seen eyes as beautiful as yours.”

  His words liquefied her insides. She blushed at his tender compliment, letting out a long breath.

  “This is as hard for me as it is for you.”

  “It doesn’t help that you’re naked.” A smile curved the corners of her lips.

  She thought about all the delicious pleasure they’d given one another over the last few months. Her core began to steam and roar with need. Her hands whimpered, begging her to peel off the fur gloves encasing her fingers so she could touch him. Instead, she kept them clenched in her lap.

  “Yeah, well…how’s it going with that addiction problem?” His face grew hard.

  So much for softness.

  A lock clicked into place inside her chest. “I don’t have a…!” She spluttered.

  He extended one warm finger, that had brought her to bliss more times than she could count, toward her lips. “Shh, sweetheart. Spare me the defensiveness. We’ll both know when you’re clean.”

  “How will we both know?” Her eyes moistened with tears…tears she would not, could not allow to fall free. She swiped her eyes with her sleeve.

  “Because…” He tapped his temple, then hers. “We’ve been connected, mind to mind, heart to heart, for centuries. I know this in my soul. We find one another despite the odds. That’s how strong our connection is.”

  “Then why can’t you…?” Salty droplets slipped down her cheeks. They plopped from her jaw, landing on her jacket, drawing her attention downward. When her gaze landed on Hung’s cock, her attention snapped back to his face.

  “Because I can’t.” He wiped her tears from her face with his thumbs.

  They sat, miserable, staring at one another.

  Finally, she grabbed the dirty towel she used to wipe the windows from the back seat and tossed it over his hips. “You’ve got a big hard-on. It’s distracting.”

  “I know. You make me hard.”

  “And yet you won’t…” She shook her head and tried to look out the window.

  Completely covered over with condensation, same as her heart, the glass obscured everything. She had no choice but to look at Hung.

  He removed the soiled cloth and held it in the air. “Point taken. This is filthy.”

  “I wasn’t making a point. Only trying to stay sane.”

  Pursing his lips, he flung the towel over the seat.

  “How can you stay warm? I’m freezing.”

  He shrugged.

  She filled her cheeks with air and then exhaled slowly. “So, why are you here? Business, I take it, since pleasure’s off the table.”

  “Afraid so. I caught that eagle shifter. But it didn’t go down the way I’d hoped.”

  “Did you? I heard you didn’t catch him.”

  He scoffed. “The news is only as fast as the information it receives. I caught him a couple days ago. Eagles are wily bastards, but he was no match for me.”

  Chia rolled her eyes. “Of course not.”

  “What? I’m good at what I do.” His forehead creased with consternation. “Anyway, get this…There was no reward. The person who hired me skipped town. Left some minion—named Dick Something-or-other—in his place who told me the whole thing was a ruse.”

  “So, he didn’t steal cubs and kittens?” Chia wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her sleeves, trying to bring heat to her limbs.

  “Don’t know about that. What I do know is I’ve been jacked around on a pointless mission.”

  Chia’s eyebrows stitched together. “Why would anyone do that?”

  “To keep me away from what’s really going on—trouble in town.” He lifted one eyebrow, staring at her.

  “Are you implying I’m not good at my job? That’s the second time I’ve heard that today. Who else around here created a shifter sanctuary, got ordinances lifted, increased tourism ten-fold…”

  “Quiet, sweetheart, I’m not implying that in the least.” Hung’s hot hands landed on her cheeks the way he used to do when he was about to kiss her.

  She shook her head, knowing that wouldn’t happen, and shoved his hands away from her. “Stop with the kind touching and the soothing tones. I’m having a pissed off day.”

  “I can see that.” Once again, his gaze softened…before igniting, lighting up her insides.

  “You could help you know,” she said, a petulant whine to her voice.

  This time he was the one who let out a long, deep breath. “I know, but…”

  “But you won’t.” Anger and sorrow quarreled for her attention. She began sobbing. “And now I’m crying. I hate to cry, especially in front of you.”

  She flung open the door, slid outside and ran, not caring where she went, or who saw her. I have to get away from Hung, from this place, from everyone. Her short legs propelling her like an Olympic sprinter, she raced away from town, toward the woods. Vaguely, she tracked the sound of wings overhead.

  As a gust of air whirled around her head, a ginormous bird slammed into her back. I
t knocked her into the snow.

  Her breath exploded from her lungs.

  Its mighty talons gripped her shoulders, pinning her to the ground.

  She gasped, struggling to breathe. “Dagnabbit, get the hell off me! God, damn it, Hung, let me go. Get off me!”

  “Chia.” Hung’s voice came from a distance away.

  She stilled. Then who’s on my back?

  “See why I have to be stealthy, woman?” Hung called. “And not be seen by anyone? Because the bastard pinning you to the ground is on the hunt.”

  The whiz of a hurtling object zinged through the air, smacking into the bird’s head.

  “Got him!” Hung yelled.

  Releasing its powerful grip on her, the great bird flapped its wings and took off.

  She pushed onto her hands and knees. An eagle! Is it the shifter who’s stealing shifter pups? She looked around, searching for Hung.

  A few yards away, his naked body blurred into a Peregrine Falcon, taking off after the eagle in hot pursuit.

  “What the…?” Chia brushed the snow and mud from her face. “I thought he took care of that eagle shifter?”

  She got to her feet, wiping dirt, ice, and debris from her front. Turning to stare at the winged attack going on over her head, something caught her eye. Her heart sank as she read it.

  Property of Mountainbear development. It had to be a company owned by Red Mountainbear, the guy who had tried to kill her, kill her best friend Cecil, and was presumably an evil shadow shifter—something she knew less than nothing about.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” she yelled into the sky. “Hung! Get back here! We’ve got problems!”

  The Eagle sped away from the Falcon, becoming a dot in the distance.

  The Falcon did a 360 overhead, folded its wings, and hurtled toward her side. He blurred back to human. “What is it?”

  Chia lifted a shaking finger, pointing at the sign. “Look who’s back in town.”

  Chapter 3

  Her heart banging like a shutter in a windstorm, Chia stared at the sign before her. Property of Mountainbear development. Each time she read it, the words pounded a red-hot spike of rage into her belly.

  “He’s back,” she said. “That shifty rat bastard is back.”

  Hung’s deep, velvety voice broke her trance. “So it seems. And who’s fault might that be, huh? This is less than a mile from your administrative offices, woman!”

  Chia whirled to face Hung. “Oh, so you think this is my fault, do you? That’s right. Blame the person in charge.”

  Hung’s eyes blazed with fury. “I don’t see anybody else in charge of planning and zoning, do you? Who signs every goddamned request?” An imperious smile flashed across his face.

  Chia wanted to slug the smug from his face. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this. Right now.” Pivoting on her heel, she marched toward her office building, glad to be warm, for once. “How could this happen?”

  “Are you asking me, or simply musing?” Hung said, easily keeping pace with her.

  “Musing. Don’t start with me, all right? This day is quickly going downhill.”

  “My day’s going no better.”

  She turned her head to see Hung looking as grim as she felt. Suddenly, her rage was replaced with compassion.

  “What’s going on?” She slowed her stride.

  “You and I may be on the outs, but it’s still important to me to keep your town safe—for you,” he said, flashing a wounded look in her direction. “That fucking eagle is supposed to be six feet under. Either he sent a friend of his or I didn’t do my job. I found him in a field, mantling his prey. He was partially obscured by a snowbank, so I couldn’t be sure if it was one of the cubs from the orphanage. I snuck up on him, real slow, keeping to the shadows. I used a Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan field rifle and clipped him so I could bring him in as a trophy.”

  Chia’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you said you caught him.”

  “In a manner of speaking. I did find out about the nonsense going around, but…he flew off before I could secure him. In this frigid weather, I thought he’d be dead by now. He left a wide spray of blood.”

  Chia laughed. “You know that’s a rifle used to kill Grizzlies, right? Not the kind of weapon used to fell a bird.”

  “Of course I know that. I keep a wide variety of weapons around to do my job.” A slight smile danced at the corner of his lips, suggesting he might have enjoyed using such a high-performance gun on the bird shifter. “It was the only weapon I had on hand.”

  Her laugh quickly faded. “You didn’t bring that son of a bitch rifle to hunt in these parts, did you?”

  “I don’t hunt for sport.”

  His word barely registered. “You know the land is protected via ordinance number…” Her thought faded, shifting toward the words Hung had said about the property purchases being her fault. Anger exploded inside her belly. “Wait a minute. Were you trying to shift blame, so you don’t have to take responsibility for your fuck-up? Oh, sure, make Chia feel like this is all her doing. She signed the paperwork letting Red Mountainbear march right into town and buy prime plots of land.” Her hands whirled in circles in the air. “So the heat stays off of you.”

  “Honey, you have got to keep a lid on that temper of yours,” Hung said. He reached over and pressed his palm to her lips. In the process, he pulled her against him, twirling her, so her back was against him. He rocked against her.

  Something rigidly delicious jabbed against her hip. She shoved his hands off and stormed away from him. “What are you doing to me, Hung?” she called, hands balled into fists. But he’d already shifted into a Northern Harrier—a beautiful gray hawk with black wing tips, heading toward her office. She took off after him at a sprint.

  As the Charming administration offices came into view, the Harrier was nowhere in sight. She huffed out a breath of pure frustration and stomped up the stairs, down the hall, and into her office.

  Once inside, she beelined it for the gray metal filing cabinet, intending to search through property contracts. The drawer opened with a sharp squeak when she yanked on the handle. She stood in front of the open drawer while balancing on one foot, the other pressed into her calf in a modified yoga tree pose, while she flipped through the files with her fingertips. It came as no surprise when a hornet landed on the cabinet several minutes later.

  Barely glancing at it as she sorted through files, she said, “I see. So, you’ll no doubt love to plunge that stinger in me but not your…”

  “What are you talking about?” Hung said, blurring into human form behind her.

  She yelped, dropping the foot propped on her calf to catch her balance, her head jerking to look over her shoulder. “What? I thought you were the Hornet.”

  “Nope. That’s an actual insect which you might want to take care of before it nips you.” He folded his arms across his bare chest.

  “How did you get in here?”

  “A fly, remember? I can shift shapes mid-flight, so I used the fly disguise to get through the crack in your window, same as last time.”

  “But you were ahead of me…Did you fly in circles overhead so you could scare me by crawling through the crack?”

  “You’re onto me. I live to scare you.” He rolled his eyes. “Christ, woman. Look, I’m here. What did you find?” He stepped behind her and, as usual, distracted her with the heat radiating from his unclothed muscular body.

  “I’m going to have to stock some clothes here for you,” she said. “This is way too distracting.”

  He stalked to the couch, snatched the blanket off it, and wrapped it around his hips. “Better?”

  Her eyes swept up and down his tall body, now sheathed in a blanket.

  Now he looks like a Greek god. Perfect. “Sort of…” She sighed and turned back to her task.

  “So, look at this.” She pulled a folder free. She stepped around Hung, diverting her eyes away from him, and settled at her desk.

  She flipped throu
gh the sheaf of papers, then, plucked one free and handed it to Hung. “Here. Look. The only recent purchases were made by a company called Red Tail.”

  “Did you trace it? Find out who owns it?”

  “Of course I did. A company called MBD, based in Texas.”

  “And did you research that company?”

  Her face grew hot as lights came on in her brain. MBD. Mountainbear Development. “Not really. They paid cash and…”

  “MBD, I wonder what that could stand for?” He tapped his lips, looking toward the ceiling.

  “Look. I have a lot of responsibilities, okay? If all you’re going to do is badger me, you can leave.” She pointed toward the door.

  “Think about it—you’re so jacked on D’Raynged’s blood you can’t even do your job right!” His arm gestured wildly, making the paper in his hand crackle.

  “Oh, you did not say that.” Her eyes blazed with fury. “Since we’re no longer dating, how is it any of your business what I do or don’t do?”

  “It’s no wonder I was tricked out of town,” he shot back. “They can have the run of the place with your junkie ass in charge!”

  “Go!” She stabbed her finger toward the door.

  “No! I’m here to help you.”

  Chia got to her feet and stalked across the room. She flung open the door and pointed toward the hallway. “I don’t need your help. Go! Don’t make this harder than it is.”

  He folded his arms over his chest.

  Breathing hard, they glared at one another.

  Hung let his arms fall to his sides. He bit his lip and his gaze softened. “You realize what we’re doing, right?”

  She thought for a moment, and her body relaxed. “Yeah. Since we’re not having sex, we’re picking on each other.”

  “Come here.” He held out his arms.

  “Why should I?” she snapped.

  “Because we can’t do our jobs if we’re at war.”

  “I don’t want to be at war.” Her lips formed a pout.

  “I don’t either. Friends?” His eyebrows lifted, making his face appear youthful and bright.

  She slowly shook her head. “You know we don’t roll that way.”

  Still, she stepped toward him.