“Gordon,” he called to the head of the forensic team. “Has anyone been in here since I left?”

  The man shook his head. “Besides the med team, just the people you see right now,” he said. “Why?”

  Kane shook his head. Maybe it was just scent from his clothing. He had to keep his mind on the job, and not on what he was going to do about the woman from his past whose relationship to him had changed so dramatically in the last twenty-four hours. From little sister to…what?

  Lover? Girlfriend?

  Mate? Wolf suggested.

  Shut up, Wolf.

  Mates weren’t for wolves as fucked-up as he was.

  Wolf sulked.

  Kane had started to walk over to the desk, when the scent wafted past him again—stronger. Coming from inside the vault room.

  He glanced back at the others. No one was paying any attention—they clearly hadn’t sensed anything wrong.

  Wolf had pricked up his ears. Raven?

  Kane went across and grabbed a pair of crime scene booties, slipping them on over his boots. Then he ducked under the crime scene tape and entered the vault room.

  The vault door was still open. Everything was quiet and still, but Rachelle’s scent was even stronger in here.

  He strained his ears, but there was too much movement in the other room to isolate any other sounds. Her presence felt so strong. Quietly, he moved around until he could see into the vault. Empty.

  Except—there was a faint shimmer in the air just inside the vault entrance. Almost like heat waves rising off a paved road on a hot day, but fainter.

  A cloaking spell?

  Kane had only heard of them—he’d never seen one. It was witch magic; dragon magic. Beings who could do those kinds of spells were beyond rare; nearly all the witches and dragons had departed from this world centuries ago. And stayed gone.

  Please tell me Rachelle is not a witch. Or a dragon. Or part of this team of criminals, sent to distract me with sex while they pulled off this job in my fucking casino.

  He walked forward slowly, holding his breath.

  The shimmer didn’t move.

  Using all his shifter speed, he launched himself forward and cannoned into the shimmering figure, encircling it with his arms and propelling them both into the vault, out of sight of the others in the outer office.

  He heard a stifled gasp, and Rachelle appeared in his arms, struggling.

  He let her go and widened his stance, blocking the exit. “What the fuck are you?” he demanded in a low tone. “And what are you doing fucking with my crime scene?”

  Chapter 15

  Busted.

  Rachelle stared at Kane towering over her, his eyes flashing gold with rage.

  Crap. She’d been concentrating so hard on the energy residue she hadn’t been paying attention to anything else. She had totally messed this up, and everything was going to implode. Carmichael was going to kill her. Maybe literally.

  “I can explain,” she said, keeping her voice low. “But not here.”

  Kane didn’t move. “I trusted you,” he said in a furious undertone. “I trusted the bond we used to have. And then I find you inside the vault that was cleaned out on my watch, the same night it happened. Using some kind of illegal magic.”

  Beneath the rage in his eyes, she could see hurt and betrayal. The gentle, caring man she’d spent the day with had gone back into his shell. She knew he must already feel like a failure because he hadn’t prevented this crime, and people had been hurt.

  Now the woman he’d opened himself up to had betrayed him. Again.

  Wolf started growling.

  She opened her mouth, but he didn’t let her speak. “What kind of magic were you using? Were you trying to destroy evidence?”

  “No!” she whispered. “I was trying to preserve it. And you interrupted me in the middle of it.” She’d gotten a good taste of Selina’s energy signature, but she hadn’t gotten it all.

  “Please don’t even pretend this is my fault,” he snarled, still keeping his voice low. “If you were any kind of law enforcement, you would have come to me. You’re freelancing, and I want to know who you work for. Now.”

  The alpha authority in his voice cracked over her like a whip. Unfortunately for him, she wasn’t susceptible to that.

  “I can’t tell you that. And we can’t have this conversation here. People are going to start wondering what you’re doing in here.”

  “And I suppose if they come in, they’ll find me talking to empty air?” he asked.

  She heaved a sigh. “If you draw enough attention to me, they’ll see me,” she said. “Even if I raise the cloak again. I don’t think either of us wants that.”

  His lips drew together in a line, and she could feel his conflicting emotions. The old Kane had been loyal to a fault, willing to bend or break any rules for the people he cared about.

  This Kane was determined to do the right thing. She just had to convince him that going by the book wasn’t the right thing in this situation.

  “Kane, I know who did this,” she said. “I can help you catch them, if you’re willing to trust me.”

  He gazed at her, his face dark. “So let me get this straight. The Council, the Feds, and police in three states have been pursuing these people for months with no clues, and you know who did it, but you haven’t bothered to tell anyone?” He crossed his arms. “Okay, who?”

  Rachelle hesitated. This was her make or break moment. She had to come clean with him, right now, or he’d never trust her again. And she needed him to trust her.

  But this was not the place. “Not here,” she said. “Outside.”

  He stared at her, eyes narrowed. “Okay,” he said. “This is how it’s going to be. You’re going to reactivate that damn spell, and then you’re going to walk out of here quietly, and I’m going with you. We’re going to talk outside in my truck, and I’m going to try very hard not to put my hands around your neck and strangle you.”

  Rachelle swallowed. He wasn’t kidding about that last part.

  She nodded. “Understood.”

  “I’m going to keep my eye on your shimmery little ass the entire time,” he added. “And if you try anything, I swear to God I’ll shoot you myself.”

  The venom in his voice sent chills down Rachelle’s spine. Hunter’s sweetness and vulnerability still existed, but it was buried deep inside a ruthless and dangerous man.

  She’d better not forget that.

  Kane watched her as she closed her eyes and reactivated the cloak. Then he strode out of the vault room, leaving her to follow him. He ducked under the yellow tape and pulled off his booties, wadding them up and throwing them in the trash.

  Rachelle ducked under the tape as well, staying close to the wall. Kane’s eyes didn’t stray to her once, but she knew he knew exactly where she was.

  He turned to the tech at the desk. “I’m going out to see how they’re doing questioning the guests,” he said. “And the Enforcers from Silverlake should be arriving soon, as well as Council representatives coming in by helicopter. Send me that enhanced imaging as soon as you have it.”

  “Will do.” The tech barely looked up from his computer.

  Kane opened the office door, and then turned and went back for a laptop lying on the desk, giving Rachelle a chance to slip out into the hallway. He slid the laptop into a case and followed her out, shutting the door after her.

  He strode down the hall, not looking in her direction. She had to hurry to keep pace with his long legs.

  “Did I get picked up on camera in the vault?” she asked, breathless with trying to keep up. Carmichael really would kill her if she’d let herself be caught on camera like that. Especially appearing out of thin air.

  He shook his head without breaking stride.

  Rachelle exhaled in relief. So Kane was the only one who knew she was there. At least she hadn’t compromised herself beyond repair.

  Unless she couldn’t get Sir Stick-up-his-ass to keep his mouth shut.

  No, that wasn’t fair. He’d worked hard to overcome Selina’s influence and become a man of integrity. He didn’t deserve her derision.

  Kane made his way to one of the side entrances, which had a bar mechanism across it. Kane kicked it open, and it swung all the way back and slammed into the stone exterior of the building.

  The guard stationed outside whirled and drew his gun, then saw who it was and raised the barrel upward.

  “Sorry, sir,” he said.

  “Nice reflexes,” Kane answered, barely breaking stride. His rough treatment of the door had left it open long enough for Rachelle to follow him through. “Carry on.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The guard shut the door, holstered his weapon and resumed his parade rest stance. Kane strode across the parking lot until he reached his truck. He opened the passenger door and then futzed with getting the computer bag off his shoulder until Rachelle climbed inside. He shoved the bag into her lap, slammed the door, and then made his way around the other side.

  He settled in his seat and turned to her.

  “Speak,” he said.

  Wolf was growling faintly, angrily, but Rachelle didn’t dare touch Kane to try to soothe him. She had the feeling either one of them would bite her hand off right now.

  Rachelle dropped the cloak and opened her mouth to speak. Suddenly, a wave of fatigue and nausea came over her. Damn. She’d held onto it for too long. She pressed the heels of her hands over her eyes and tried not to vomit.

  “Don’t play that game with me,” Kane snarled. His eyes were flashing gold, and Wolf growled louder. They were both so angry.

  “It’s not a game,” she said. “The cloak wasn’t designed to be used for more than a few minutes at a time. I way overdid it.”

  “Like the perps?” Kane asked.

  Her head whipped around. “What?”

  “The people who broke into the vault didn’t appear on any security cameras throughout the entire resort,” he said. “Except one. The one in the vault room. If you hadn’t been with me during the robbery, your little magical stunt would have put you at the top of my suspect list. Instead, you can tell me how it’s done, and who else can do it.”

  Rachelle thought she was going to hyperventilate. “They used a cloaking power like mine?” Carmichael did not know that Selina had that kind of power.

  “That’s right,” Kane said. “The only people I’ve ever heard of who could do what you do are witches and dragons.” He stared at her, his eyes gleaming. “So which are you? And why are the others robbing casinos and amusement parks?”

  Rachelle leaned her head back against the seat. This was not how she’d wanted to tell him.

  “I’m not either one,” she said. “I’m a genetically engineered shifter.”

  * * *

  Kane stared at her. “You’re what?”

  His mind was in a whirl. He’d always believed Rachelle was a shifter, but he’d never had any idea which species. She didn’t have a scent other shifters could recognize.

  But genetically engineered shifters? Those were nightmares—boogeyman stories that cubs told stories about around the fire pit. Deformed monsters and twisted abominations, unable to control their changes, unpredictable and insane.

  Rachelle was none of those things. Until he’d seen her in the vault, he would have bet money she was one of the few truly good people in the world. She’d made him a better person, until he turned his back on her.

  And now this.

  “You heard me,” she said quietly.

  He could hear the shame in her voice, and feel the old, old pain those words brought up inside her. Some of the anger drained out of him. Wolf stopped growling.

  “How did it happen?” he asked. “And how did you end up on the streets?”

  Rachelle was still leaning back against the head rest, her eyes closed.

  “There used to be a secret black ops lab called Gen-X,” she said quietly. “Some rogue government scientists found out that shifters existed and started experimenting on them, extracting their DNA and implanting it in other shifter species. Trying to clone existing shifters, or grow their own in vitro. And they tried to graft powers and abilities from some shifters into others.”

  Kane felt chills running up and down his arms. This was like a nightmare come true. And Rachelle had come out of some experiment?

  She glanced at him, then turned her head and closed her eyes again. “My parents were part of the program, I guess,” she said. “I never knew them. I was born in a lab and raised in kind of a halfway house.”

  She gave a sardonic laugh. “It was a ranch, out in the country, but fenced. Sort of like a wildlife safari park. They wanted us to live together, to be socialized and to understand humans and modern life.” Her voice grew dry. “After all, they couldn’t send us out on missions if we couldn’t blend in.”

  “Missions?” Kane asked.

  “Yeah.” Her voice sounded tired. “We were trained to be soldiers and spies. They were going to either sell us to the US military, or to other governments or organizations as mercenaries.”

  The cynical part of Kane’s mind told him that even if this were true, it didn’t mean she wasn’t still a mercenary. The part of him who’d loved Raven for ten years said there was more to the story.

  “So how did you end up on the streets of Seattle?” he asked.

  “A few of the scientists went too far,” she said. “Some of the others found out what they were doing—the kinds of powers and abilities they were trying to give their subjects.” She turned and looked at him again. “All those stories about genetically engineered shifters being crazy? There’s a lot of truth to that.”

  He winced. She wasn’t crazy, but he could see how the kind of monsters these fuckers were building might be.

  “Anyway,” she said, “the scientists with the consciences tried to stop the really bad stuff, and the two sides ended up going to war against each other. A lot of the altered shifters were killed. Some disappeared—we think into other labs that the remnants of the original group set up. And a few escaped. Like me.”

  She shook her head. “I just wanted out. I wanted to live in the world. Enjoy ice cream. Love someone. Even if I had to live on the streets, I didn’t care. I was sure someday I’d have a better life.” She gave a bitter laugh.

  He guessed her life hadn’t turned out to be as much better as she’d thought it would be. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  Rachelle shook her head. “Are you kidding?” she said. “We’re the stuff that nightmares are made of. I’m a chimera, Kane. A mishmash of different kinds of shifters. A freak. I couldn’t show that to anyone. Even if word didn’t get back to the remnants of Gen-X, other shifters would kill me.”

  “I wouldn’t have,” Kane said.

  “I know,” Rachelle whispered. “But you were so beautiful. Wolf was so beautiful. I couldn’t stand to see the look on your face if you saw what I was.”

  Kane bit his lips. He wanted to tell her he wouldn’t have cared, but maybe he would have. He’d never been known for his tact or his compassion, even now. Back then he’d been worse.

  “Plus, crushing on you, remember?” she said. “Nothing says ‘be my Valentine’ like turning into a scaly monster.”

  He shook his head. She was trying to play on his sympathies, bringing up the past.

  “So what am I supposed to do with all this?” he asked. “I’m responsible to the Council, to the casino, and to my alpha. You have illegal powers, and you’re messing around in a crime scene chasing—” He broke off as a realization hit him.

  “These are genetically engineered shifters, aren’t they?” he asked, putting the pieces together. “Stealing money for…what?”

  Rachelle sighed. “We’re pretty sure Gen-X is rebuilding their organization,” she said. “They’ve been underground for ten years, but they’ve recently built a mobile lab that they move from place to place.”

  “And the casino robberies are financing it?” Kane asked. “How long do they think they can keep that up?”

  “They won’t need to do it much longer,” Rachelle said. “This might be the last job. They’ve made off with over fifty million in cash in these robberies. If they’ve had some kind of breakthrough that allows them to create stable supersoldiers, once they start selling them, they won’t need to rob casinos. That’s why we have to catch them now.”

  Kane set his jaw. He was pretty sure “we” didn’t refer to the two of them. “And by ‘we’ you mean…”

  Rachelle bit her lips.

  “Don’t lie to me,” Kane said. His hands flexed, and his claws came out and retracted. Wolf’s growl had become a constant snarl. “If you’re working for those filthy assholes who are experimenting on shifters…”

  “No!” she said. She looked away. “I mean, I don’t think so.”

  “And what the fuck does that mean?” he snarled.

  “Sometimes I work for an organization headed up by the scientists that broke away from Gen-X,” she said. “They’re also doing shifter research, but not genetic manipulation. It’s more studying the abilities of the different species, trying to see if they can enhance their natural abilities by artificial means.”

  “Drugs,” Kane said. He shook his head, his stomach burning with nausea. “Do they experiment on unwilling subjects?” he asked.

  She was silent.

  “Damn it, Rachelle!”

  “I don’t know!” she said. “For a long time I thought they didn’t. That they were better than the others. They saved me.”

  She sighed. “After I left you, I survived on my own for a while,” she said. “But not very well. Part of my enhancement is that I can feel the emotions of everyone around me. They seep into me.” She gave him a sideways glance. “Which doesn’t sound so bad, until you remember how much evil and misery is out there on the streets.”

  She took a deep breath. “I could always do it,” she said. “But when I hit puberty, not long after you left, it was so much worse. I couldn’t handle it. I started to go crazy.”

  She huffed a laugh. “Crazy gen-altered shifter, right?”

 

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