From the Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) (11 page)

I raised an
eyebrow at him. “Carlo’s Bake Shop?”

He looked at me. “Have
n’t you ever watched that show on TLC called
Cake Boss
?” I shook my head. “Well, my mom’s a huge fan, and I happened to watch a marathon with her a while back. It’s a place in New Jersey where they make custom cakes and all kinds of other baked goods. They’re hugely popular over there. I mean frickin’
huge
. Look it up on the internet sometime, you’ll see what I mean. So how in the world did you get a job so fast?”

I shrugged. “I went on a bus ride to check out Cleveland a little over a week ago. Saw they had a line out the door as we passed, so I got off at the next stop and walked back to check it out. I must’ve been in line for forty-five minutes by the time I got even th
ree feet from the counter. I could see the girls and guys were getting harried back there. This chick behind the counter—her name’s Jackie, which of course I didn’t know then—took this girl’s order. She got asked by another worker to help with something, and when she came back, hardly a minute later, she’d already forgotten the order. She asked the girl what it was and I could see that the customer was annoyed, so I called it out for her. I’d overheard it with my supernatural hearing. The store manager had apparently witnessed the entire scene, so when it came my turn, he took my order himself and offered me a job on the spot. Said he was impressed with my memory recall.”

Race huffed. “Yeah. Apparently we never forget a damn thing we see or hear. Or do.”

Somehow his dark past must’ve crept back into his thoughts, and though I longed to know what he wasn’t telling me, I was determined to give him his space so that he would feel he could trust me with the things he’d done. So I didn’t say anything, I just nodded my agreement.

We walked in silence for a little while, then Race surprised me by asking, “What did you mean by ‘once it’s completed’?”

I looked up at him as a lump formed in my throat. I knew exactly what he was referring to, but I asked anyway, “What do you mean?”

“Last night,” he said, “you said something along the lines of ‘Once the bond is completed.’ More than once, in fact. And during the cab ride I was going over everything you’ve told me so far about werekind and chimaera and vampires
, and I keep coming back to that for some reason. What did you mean?”

I swallowed past the lump and looked straight ahead as nervous twitters began racing along my spine. “Among werekind, there’s more to the bonding process than just that feeling we get when we look into the eyes of our destined mates for the first time after phasing. There’s more than the drive to keep each other happy and safe.”

I could see him frowning out of the corner of my eye. “Well, what else is there?”

My nervousness increased. “There’s, uh… There’s also the drive to mate.”

Now I could see a slow grin spreading across his face. “Oh, you mean the unending desire to see you naked and writhing under me, screaming my name as I bring you to orgasm is natural to us shapeshifters?”

I tried hard to quash the smile I could feel pulling at my lips, not to mention the desire that suddenly flared hotly through my veins at his words. “That’s not just a shapeshifter thing, pretty boy. That’s a universal male thing.” I cleared my throat. “But there’s still more to it than that.”

I saw my shot at not having to explain just yet looming before me. The Motel 6 was suddenly right in front of us. “Oh yay!” I said. “Home sweet hotel room, dead ahead.”

Race looked ahead of us and then back down at me. “Uh, listen, Jules. There’s something else I’ve been thinking about… I know we have a lot of ‘getting to know you’ to do after sixteen years apart, but it occurred to me that you really don’t need to keep paying for a place to sleep. You are more than welcome to come and stay with me. If the possibility of sharing a bed makes you uncomfortable, we don’t have to. I’ll crash on the couch.”

I stopped and turned to look up at him, once again touched by his concern for me. And to be honest, I was rather surprised by the offer.

Race appeared to take my silence for a “no”, as he ran a hand through his hair and shook his head, starting forward again as he said, “You know what, never mind. I probably shouldn’t have said anything
—it’s way too soon to consider living together in any fashion.”

“Hey pretty boy, how about giving me a chance to say something, huh?” I said then, and he stopped to turn back and look at me, as I hadn’t moved. I walked toward him then, stopping when I reached him and shifting the bundle in my arms to lay a hand softly to his cheek. He turned into it, nuzzling my palm before brushing it with his lips.

“I very much appreciate you looking out for me,” I said, lowering my hand slowly. “To be honest, I’ve kind of liked the way I’ve been living the last two weeks, with no one to answer to but myself. On the other hand, I also have to admit that it’s been incredibly lonely. I left home because I felt like everyone was smothering me with their concern for my well-being, but at the same time I’ve missed them all so much it hurts.

“Then I met you again, and we’ve begun to bond to one another as we were always meant to do, and that forced me to face the attack head on instead of ignoring it like I’ve been trying to do since it happened. You’ve not only helped me to finally begin to heal, you’ve reminded me how much I miss the companionship offered by the mere presence of another human being. Or person, to be all-inclusive,” I added with a grin. “And what better way for us to get to know each other than by sharing living space? It may seem too soon by human standards, but by supernatural standards it really isn’t. Hell, my brother moved in with Saphrona the day after he met her for the first time. At least you and I knew each other before bonding.”

I sighed then, and finished with, “Besides, you make a perfectly excellent point. I really don’t need to keep paying for a place to sleep when I’ve got someone offering to share his home with me. The fact that you and I have something else going on is secondary. It’ll certainly make things interesting, to say the least, but…”

Race silenced me by grabbing my shoulders and dragging me to him, slashing his mouth across m
ine in a hot, steamy kiss. I opened my lips and met his tongue with my own eagerly, and it wasn’t until passing drivers began honking at us that we were reminded we were standing on a public street. Both of us laughed as we pulled apart and Race threw his arm across my shoulders as we once more made for the hotel.

The room I’d been assigned was on the ground floor
and we headed straight for it. I was giggling like a schoolgirl as I inserted my key into the lock in the knob; Race had leaned into me and suggested we “christen” the bed before we packed up my things to take to his place. Though certainly hundreds had likely done that very thing before I’d ever claimed the room, I was more than willing to take him up on his offer, feeling the smoldering fire of desire begin to burn through me as he took my hips in his hands and drew my rear against him—he was already getting hard with wanting.

That desire fled like a mouse from a cat as I pushed the door open and the scent of vampire was released from the room. I wasn’t quick enough to stop him as Race suddenly threw me out of the way and charged through the doorway, shifting form into a massive black bear as he did so. I rus
hed in behind him and slammed the door closed as he roared at the intruder, who was now backed up toward the bathroom door in a defensive crouch, his fangs dropped and a hiss issuing from his throat.

I tossed my clothes from the alley aside and leaped over the end of the bed, placing myself in between the two combatants. “Race, no!” I shouted, holding my hands up toward him with my palms out. “It’s okay,
honey, he’s a friend.”

“
Honey?” queried Lochlan from behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder with narrowed eyes. “Shut the hell up, I’ll deal with you in a minute,” I snapped. Turning back to Race, I could tell he was still itching for a fight. “Race, it’s okay,” I said again. “This is Lochlan
Mackenna, the one I was telling you about. He’s my friend—although breaking and entering is making me question that right now.”

“My fair Juliette, you wound me,” Lochlan said, his tone lighter. “And I didn’t know you cared. So who is this charming fellow? Is ‘honey’ some quaint reference
to the fact that he’s a werebruin?”

Race phased
back into his human form. “I’m not a werebruin, dickhead. And just who the hell do you think you are breaking into Juliette’s room?”

I wanted to know the answer to that myself, but just that moment I was staring at Race, mesmerized by the fact that he was fully clothed. “What the hell?” I said, looking up at him.

He glanced at me and his expression softened. “What?”

I reached out and touched his shirt. “You just became a huge freakin’ bear, and yet you’re still wearing your clothes? How did you not shred them? Whenever I’ve taken on my larger form, I destroy what I’m wearing.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve always been able to do it. Maybe it’s a part of being what I am, some kind of magic that puts what’s outside on the inside, or whatever. You can really become a bigger dog than the one I saw yesterday?”

“Yes, when I’m in a situation where I have to defend myself or others. But you keeping your clothes no matter what is nothing short of amazing.
”

“Yes, it’s truly fascinating, and I’m certain we’d all love to hear more, but first I’d like to know who this is,” Lochlan broke in.

I shifted my position so that I was standing between the two men sideways. Although I had told him who Lochlan was, Race still glared at him angrily, distrust in his eyes. Lochlan’s expression had become unreadable as he studied the man across from him. I drew a breath. “Lochlan, this is Race Covington. Race, this is Dr. Lochlan Mackenna.”

Lochlan’s eyebrow rose, his features shifting just enough to let me know that he knew I hadn’t told him everything. Well damn it, who Race was to me was none of his business! Then again, I mused, he was bound to find out, so I might as well just tell him and get it over with.

I turned slightly to face him. “Lochlan, Race is an old friend of mine and Mark’s. He’s also my mate.”

The vampire’s eyes widened, shifting from me to Race
—who had crossed his arms defensively—and back again. “You…imprinted?”

Hearing the words from someone else’s mouth somehow made it all seem so much more real, and I felt my heart swell with emotion as I nodded, a huge smile pulling the corners of my lips upward. “I have. Believe me, I’m more surprised than anyone will be, but it’s true. And I’m glad it did, because I’ve…” I paused and drew a breath, knowing Lochlan had been just as concerned for me as my family was. I looked into his eyes then, and though my smile softened, I hoped that my expression conveyed the
truth of my words.

“You don’t have to worry about me anymore,” I said softly.
“Meeting Race again, initiating the bond, it’s forced me to open up to someone about what happened to me. And though it’s still not easy for me to remember, I know I’ll be okay because I now have my Rock of Gibraltar to lean on.”

Lochlan swallowed as he looked between Race and I again. “I’d have been more than willing to play the part of your leaning post, Juliette,” he said.

“I know. And I appreciate that, please believe me. But as good as you’ve been to me in spite of our differences, it was never meant to be you.”

The vampire sighed, then cast a suddenly curious expression at Race. “If you’re not a bruin, friend, then what sort of
werebeast are you? I’ve only ever met one shifter what could keep her clothes when changing forms, and she was a…”

Lochlan’s eyes widened, and then he blinked rapidly.
“Good Christ, not another one,” he muttered.

My eyebrows rose as I frowned at him. Before I could think of anything to say, Race stepped around me. “Another one?” he asked, and I
detected a note of hope in his voice. “Have you actually known another chimaera?”

Lochlan stared for a moment and then nodded. “Aye, that I have lad
—‘twas more than three hundred years ago, when I was still new to this life.”

“Really? How well did you know her? Did she tell you anything about what she was?”

I watched Race with some concern, for the undercurrent of his voice had become one of mild desperation. Lochlan appeared to have taken notice of it, for his eyes flicked in my direction. I shook my head minutely, hoping he understood that it meant Race had never known another shifter before.

“I knew her but briefly,” Lochlan began. I watched Race’s shoulders sag
; he must have taken that to mean that the woman Loch had known hadn’t shared anything about herself. I reached forward and took his hand in mine as Lochlan continued.

“However, being a physician even then I was most curious about her. Truth be told, I’ve always been more fascinated with werekind than antagonistic towards them; most likely that is due to my scientific mind. In any case, she did tell me a few things about herself, and how she was different than those who could only take on one animal form.”

“Well? What did she tell you?” Race demanded. At Lochlan’s raised eyebrow, Race seemed to collect himself. “I’m sorry. Look, believe it or not, Juliette is the first person I’ve ever met that’s even remotely like me. I thought I was the only one. Not even the vampires I’ve met in my time ever told me there were others like me. So please, whatever you know I really need to hear.”