Power Shift (The Charming Shifter Mysteries Book 1) Read online

  “We didn’t. They promised us needed supplies. We live in a village far north. Times are hard in our village. We lack medical supplies, food, goods for building shelter. They told us the spell was for the good of the town of Charming. That we’d be doing a service.”

  “They lied to you!” Chia said.

  The elder shook his head. “It was up to us to know the difference between truth and deceit. When they chained us to the cave…” He burst into a phlegmy, lung-racking cough. When he got it under control, he continued. “When we heard the gunshots…when we were given no food or water…we knew we were being used. But by then, the spell had already been cast.”

  “So, then,” Chia said, smiling. “No penance required.”

  The elder gave her a rueful, sad smile in return. “We’re revered in our village. We brought shame upon our people. Rule are rules. We did harm to your people. We violated the spirits who fill this sacred valley by using them to cast our spell.”

  “Spirits? So it really is haunted?”

  The shaman nodded. “The souls of those seeking redemption wait here for their final judgement. When the star cluster you call Ursa Major looms directly overhead, they are called to the afterworld or sent to the underworld.”

  “Wow. There’s so much about this land I don’t know.”

  The elder continued. “And now we have soiled this ground by our actions. We must follow the guidelines handed down by our ancestors and do penance.”

  Chia glanced at Hung, cocking her head to study him, for a moment, as if to say, “See?”

  He shrugged.

  “Rules can be changed,” she said softly, turning back to the elder.

  “We can’t simply change them based on a whim. We can only modify them if the evolution of the people demands it. If the original rule no longer serves. But the rule of doing no harm…there’s no reason to modify it. It is a good law, shared by cultures the world over.”

  A stab of guilt wound its way around Chia’s gut. “I…I killed a man. That’s the ultimate harm.”

  “Did you do it in self-defense?”

  “I did it to protect my friend. The man would have killed him.”

  “Well then.” The elder smiled gently at her, his eyes conveying vast wisdom. “There are justifications for taking a life if the actions warrant it.”

  Chia winced, not wanting to meet Hung’s eyes.

  Hung coughed out a laugh of sorts, and Chia glared at him.

  The elder took one final sip of water, cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and began to chant in the strange, guttural throat singing of his people.

  Chia stood and made her way to Hung. She whispered to him, “You can laugh all you want but…he’s right, you know. I can’t change a rule on a whim. I can only do it if the original rule no longer serves.”

  “We’ll have to see how things roll, then, won’t we?” He gave her a non-committal smile, his arms folded over his chest, his gaze trained on the shamans.

  One by one, the men woke from their trance. They glanced at Chia, Hung and the dog, took the water passed to them, sipped, and joined in the throat singing. Slowly, their voices grew stronger, joining with the others, until one strong voice rang. As they sang, they rose as one and made their way to the three of them. They stepped in a stately circle around them, continuing their chant.

  Chia felt her spirit lift, the same way the owl had taken her mind for a ride. She experienced restoration of mind and body, in a manner that she knew would yield swift healing from the broken bones and the assault on her ego. On impulse, she reached for Hung’s hand, now hanging by his side.

  Surprise coloring his handsome face, he folded his large hand over her smaller one, and squeezed. Turning to face her, he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her in a delicious embrace.

  She melted into his arms, ready to yield to her desires, to get her needs met, and by God have fun with the man for a start. This felt good. It felt right. It felt like long withheld food. And if she had to break a rule or two—hell, I’ve killed a man, shot a man’s hand, I’m on a roll here—so be it. Maybe her intimacy rule hadn’t been needed in the first place.

  The husky put his head back and howled.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “How does it feel to have broken a few rules, my sweet, rebellious, cupcake queen?” Hung loomed over her, his hips snug between her legs, one of the most delicious parts of him buried inside her smoothly waxed valley.

  “Oh, don’t remind me of rules. I’m too immersed in pleasure to care.” She grabbed his fine, hard ass and squeezed. I’ll probably pay for my crimes somehow. No doubt, I’ll get a new energy blip.

  He ground against her, making slow circles.

  “Ahhh,” she moaned. “Too good. This is too good.” She glanced at the ceiling. Still no ghosts. Odd.

  “Damn, you’re a good shot. The sight of you wielding that rifle put wood in my britches.”

  Chia gave him a saucy smile. “Did it now? Wait until you see me fire the Glock.”

  Hung’s luscious mouth dipped down to meet hers. He dropped to his forearms, careful to not put weight on her, cupping his palms around her head, using his fingers to massage her scalp while he kissed her, long and deep.

  Releasing her lips with a juicy smack, he rolled onto his back, gently taking her with him. “You drive for a while. I want to sit back and watch your gorgeous self.” He laced his calloused fingers behind his head and grinned at her. “Touch yourself. I love to watch your face when you come. It scrunches up all cute and hot.”

  She smirked at him. “Like the pink frosted cupcake I am, back brace and all.” She dropped her head to look at her pointy breasts, held in position by the damned brace.

  “Exactly. Positioned for my pleasure.” He licked his lips. “Bring ‘em here so I can suck on your succulent nipples.”

  She leaned forward, back as straight as she could, dangling her breasts in his face.

  He brought his hands to them and caressed them, sucking hard on one nipple, then the other, making them pucker with pleasure.

  She hadn’t been in as much pain as she’d feared when they’d returned. In fact, maybe, just maybe, the vamp juice and the shaman chants had sped up the healing process. Chia held hope in her heart, while letting caution guide her movements…sort of. When she and Hung had kissed for the first time, in her house, all caution flew out the window.

  Currently, filled to the brim with passion, she did as he requested, rocking against him, letting her fingers add to her arousal, delighting in the visual of him beneath her. A study in dark and light, he evoked both the stormy glacier wilderness and the softness of a summer day.

  Curly blond hair covered his strong, rugged chest. His muscular arms could caress as easily as they could kill. His mouth…don’t get me started on his lips. I love those babies. His whiskered face could turn into a fierce, unfeeling wall of steel, then switch into soft clouds, rolling through her horizon.

  As her pleasure built, he moved his arms to grasp her hips. “Jesus,” he growled. “You’re going to make me lose it, woman.” His eyelids closed as he fought control.

  “Give it to me, Hung. Lose yourself in me,” Chia gasped. She let out a long, low moan as her own climax crested. Outside the window, the faintest of morning light begin to appear, she heard the howl of a husky. Crap. Busted. Get away from the window, dog.

  After they’d arrived home from the Haunted Bear glacier a few hours earlier, Cecil had changed into his human form, to prove he could do so, then changed back, racing away with his boys. The other shifters popped into human form like fireworks when Chia told them the spell had been lifted.

  They congratulated her on her safe return, telling her they knew she could do it. She felt like the biggest heroine ever. She smiled and waved like a queen as they all made their way home, naked as the day they were born.

  Now, apparently Cecil the husky had returned from his trek and sat outside her bedroom window, an audio voyeur dog, listening.
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  Shaking her head, she focused on her own pleasure, as Hung roared with release.

  Afterward, she fell on top of him, replete and exhausted. It felt good to be with someone who matched her. No way in hell could she boss around this man. She began to drift into a blissful snooze when Hung interrupted her meander toward dreamland.

  “Hey, baby.” He eased her to the side, kissing her temple along the way.

  “Mm hmm?” she said drowsily.

  “Gotta go relieve myself. Be right back.”

  After he returned, he slid under the covers with her. “You should see the news. TV’s on in the front room.”

  “Nuh uh,” she said. “Later.”

  He pulled her back against his warm torso, spooning with her. “Thanks for giving me a chance,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Thanks for not giving up on me,” she murmured. She fell into a slumber, soaring on the wings of owls, held in place by Hung Durand.

  #

  Several hours later, she stood in the kitchen, cooking potatoes and bacon. Several brown, white, and light blue-green eggs rested on the counter. She cracked them against the side of a ceramic bowl and whisked them to a froth.

  Her insides felt both soothed and edgy. “Don’t think I’m going to be all soft and compliant all the time. You know, making you food and all that.”

  A ghost popped from her forehead, startling the hell out of her.

  Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, highlighting his sexy physique, Hung shook his head, before lifting his cup of coffee to his lips. “Good grief, woman, at least give me twenty-four hours before you start.”

  “I’m just saying,” she said, stirring the eggs in the pan. She chewed on her lower lip, wondering, what’s next? How do I deal with this?

  Four more ghosts popped out of her head.

  Chia let out a yelp of surprise. “Sorry,” she said, sliding her eyes toward Hung. “Must be the hiccups.” Why are they emerging now?

  The five energy blips circled her lazily.

  “Chia…” Hung began. “We barely got out of bed. We had a good time. Don’t start.”

  Cecil sauntered in from the outside, naked, as usual.

  “Put some clothes on,” Chia said.

  The sixth ghost flew free from her.

  “Sir, yes, sir,” he said, giving her a snappy salute. “Should I wear yours or the vamps? Do you think he’ll care?” He turned to Hung and said, “She sure gets in a snit about stuff, doesn’t she?”

  Hung gave a grunt of agreement. Chia bit her lip.

  “She doesn’t like to be vulnerable. It scares her.”

  “Same here,” said Hung, one eyebrow raised. “Not my favorite thing. I’ve trained to be a cold ruthless killer.”

  “And hell yeah to that. When that guard cocked the trigger on his gun, holding the metal to my head, I lost it, big time.” Cecil shook his head, making his shaggy hair bob.

  “So give me some slack, here. This is all new.” She waved her hand in the air.

  “Same here,” said Hung. He reached for her sugar bowl, adding another scoop.

  “I see. You’re over there taking it all in, at ease with the newness of it, while I’m over here sorting and fretting about what it all means.”

  “Pretty much sums it up,” he said, stirring his warm beverage with a spoon.

  “Good summary,” Cecil said, grabbing a mug from the cupboard.

  Chia barked out orders, feeling the need for control. “Clothes, dawg-man, or no food or drink.”

  “Where am I going to get them? My stashes are all in town and there’s nothing out here.” His hands moved wildly, gesticulating. His eyes sparked with fire.

  Hung quickly interjected. “I’ve got a pair of sweatpants you can borrow. Go look in my bag in the foyer.”

  “Thanks, man. It will get her off my back.”

  After Cecil had left, Chia said, “Changing the subject here. You know how I told you I shot Red in the middle of his hand?”

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  He patted his lap and she put down her spatula and turned the stove burner to low. Then she sauntered over to sit on his warm legs.

  “But no changing the subject yet.”

  She pursed her lips and blew out her breath. “I’m done with it.”

  “I’m not. I noticed when you started to get tense all your little ghosties popped out of you. I wondered where they’d gone.”

  “Oh, great. You can see them, too? I thought only D’Raynged, Cecil and his dog pack could see them.”

  “Of course I can see them. Shifter sight, remember?” He pointed to his eyes.

  She groaned. “So all the shifters know I’ve got them?”

  “Don’t know about that. Doubt it. You’ll have to ask them. But, yeah, I can see them. Do you know what they are?”

  “No. No clue. I don’t know what they are, I have no control over them. They seem to come and go as they please, help me on occasion and generally make a nuisance of themselves.”

  Hung nodded, his messy bangs falling in his face. He swept them away from his forehead. “Maybe they represent things you’d rather not deal with.”

  How does he know? Her stomach bunched in knots. “Maybe,” she said slowly.

  “I went to Tibet once, on a job.”

  “You did? That must have been magical. What’s it have to do with my ghosts?”

  “I’m getting to that. It’s an amazing place. I was young, barely nineteen, searching for meaning. I grew up rough and hard. Wild life. I didn’t give a shit about much of anything. I needed some kind of guidance. A female shaman did a ritual with me.”

  “I’ll bet she did.” Chia’s jealousy prickled her skin.

  “Not like that,” Hung said, stroking her cheek with his fingertip. “And I’m done with that, if you can truly let me in.”

  Chia sighed, unsure if that was possible.

  “She said I needed purification. She took me into a cave and did all sorts of weird things. Lots of strange chanting. She bashed her head against the rock wall and cried. Held her hands over me and vibrated like a machine. Shook me like a ragdoll. I saw the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen in my life. She spoke in tongues and all sorts of strange languages. All kinds of darkness swirled out of me. I sat there for over two hours, freaked out, unable to move or speak. Finally, she slid to a crouch and said we were done.”

  “Did you feel cleansed after that?” Chia asked.

  “I felt…different. Odd. Actually I didn’t know what I felt for a while. But before I left, she told me to watch out for the one who walks with ghosts.”

  An icy chill spread across Chia’s scalp, making her hair stand straight.

  “She said this person’s ghosts were her demons. Things she wrestled with. That I shared a destiny with her and it’s unclear what that destiny is. When I first met you…when I saw those spirits around you…well, I freaked out. It brought the entire time in Tibet back to me. I don’t believe in woo-woo bullshit. My world is cut and dried. I get jobs, I hunt, and I capture or kill. I remove nasty characters from humanity.”

  “Don’t you think shifting could be considered woo-woo bullshit?” She stood to finish breakfast. Poured the egg mixture into the cast iron pan. Stirred until they were golden fluff. Hefting the fry pan, she slid scrambled eggs onto red ceramic plates, saving some for Cecil. Next, she added hash browns, golden and crispy, and bacon, broiled to perfection. She dropped a plate in front of Hung and sat next to him.

  “Nah, it’s a ‘what is’ kind of thing. It’s my and all the shifters’ reality.” He forked a bite of eggs, chewed, and swallowed. “Anyway, I fought the whole you and me thing for a while. I don’t believe one’s destiny is foretold.”

  Chia nodded, munching thoughtfully.

  “It’s been years since I first laid eyes on you. I find I can’t stay away. I finally decided to find out if there’s something between us. I told myself this time around would be the test. We’d either connect of we wouldn’t, but if we didn’t, I�
��d never come back.”

  “Seriously?” Chia said, her heart beating rapidly.

  “Yep. You’ve eluded me for years. Made it known in every way possible that you aren’t interested and then, to drive me insane, respond to my kisses and seductions. And I sure don’t know of any other gal with ghosties. One’s missing, by the way. I counted seven yesterday.”

  “Yeah,” Chia said, blushing. “That one…we may have…” She pressed her lips together and shook her head vigorously. “He or she might be…”

  “What?” he said, in that new soft, mushy voice she was starting to like.

  “Oh,” she rolled her eyes skyward. “Cecil’s been yammering at me. Something about you having feelings about me, or I’m ignoring the obvious or some such.” She swished her hand dismissively in the air. She blinked, rapidly, trying hard to avoid him.

  “Chia, look at me.”

  She turned her head to face him, continuing to blink her eyes like a lunatic.

  “Chia…” Hung placed his palms on the side of her face. “I might have feelings for you. Not sure I’m willing to admit that yet. I never let people in. It’s dangerous. You think it’s hard for you; it’s triple hard for me.”

  “Honestly?”

  “Yes, woman. But I’m not the kind of guy to back away from a challenge. And you’re an incredible challenge. I don’t see myself getting bored with you. Most women bore me.”

  “Honestly?” she said again, feeling like a parrot.

  “Honest to God. And who else do I know who has the most incredible silver eyes and pink frosted hair.” He chuckled and gave her a soft kiss. He released her face and picked up his fork, continuing to eat. “So I may or may not have feelings for you. I’m waiting to report in.” He winked at her.

  “What are you waiting for?”

  “For you, who else? I’m not going to bulldoze myself into your life.” He reached for his coffee and took a generous sip. “We’ll have to see how this plays out.” He gestured between them with his fork.

  Chia’s lips parted to speak, but she stopped, seeing her shifter friend.

  Cecil strode in the door, interrupting their private moment, wearing Hung’s sweatpants. They hugged his body, emphasizing his slim hips and broad chest. “You should see the news.”