Saved by the Billionaire Lion Shifter (Shifter Suspense Book 2), page 17
“What do you mean, not too different? We’re completely different! You’re a monster, and I’m—”
“Also a monster, surely? What else would you call yourself?” Harper relaxed back on the sofa, slinging the egg like a football under one arm. Julian was still standing just behind Chloe; she heard him hiss in his breath.
“Uh, a human? Duh?” Is this actually working? Is being a little shit a better distraction technique than begging for Mathis’ life? “I’m the only human on your little murder-island, I thought everyone knew that?”
“I thought you were, certainly. But this…” Harper leaned forward, elbows on his knees. The egg slipped to the cushion beside him, and Chloe knew she should be worried about how it spun towards the edge before it settled, but she was too distracted by Harper’s grin. His bright, shiny teeth. And the rest of the room was so shiny, too, gleaming and glittering and why was she so worried, anyway? Harper wasn’t a danger. He was—
“What the hell was that?” Chloe swayed. Her brain felt… fuzzy. Like it was full of moths. Flapping around, leaving dust everywhere. It…
Wait. Harper’s still talking. And I’m still looking at him. His teeth…
“Wait,” she said, dragging her eyes away from Harper’s blinding smile. The rest of the room was just as blinding—Wasn’t it dark before?—but at least it wasn’t so, so toothy. “Everyone here is some sort of animal, right? So what the hell are you?”
“The question, Ms. Kent, is: what are you?”
Chloe’s eyes flicked back to him. She couldn’t help it. “Human,” she said flatly. “Uh, like I already said.”
“Are you so certain? I’ve never met a human with deflection skills like you just displayed. Perhaps dear Nora wasn’t so lax with her hiring practices as I believed. So very interesting.” He leaned back. “But not, unfortunately, as interesting as the possibilities offered by your mate.”
Chloe tried to snort derisively, but it came out more like a scared wheeze. “But I thought—you need me alive…”
“Only so long as I wanted to control him,” Harper replied lazily. His eyes hardened. “But you have both been so uncooperative. Honestly at this point I might as well kill you just to get a reaction out of him—anything at all!”
He reached out to the egg on the cushion beside him and spun it with his fingers. Chloe glanced sideways; Julian was staring fixedly at the egg, his face twisted with longing and fear. Thandie was still trapped in his hand.
Chloe’s lungs felt like they were full of ice. “So—what?” she said, trying to sound like she wasn’t about to cry with fear. “I’m the main event in tonight’s entertainment, is that it?”
“Oh, not at all. We wouldn’t want to disturb the other employees.” Harper directed a toothy smile at Thandie—or Julian. “Julian, if you don’t mind…”
Chloe whipped around to face the dragon shifter. “No—wait—”
Julian’s jaw set as he stared back at her. In the corner of her eye, Chloe saw Harper lean back, a wide grin stretching across his face.
“Normally I’d ask Cane to do the honors, but… let’s test your loyalty, Rouse.” Harper tossed the egg from one hand to another and Julian jerked towards him. Harper hoisted the egg in one hand, laughing. “Uh-uh!”
He dug in his pocket and pulled out a small remote. Julian froze. Chloe backed away, trying to keep both men in her sights. Julian didn’t want to hurt her, she was almost sure—but would he have a choice?
Harper flashed a grin at her, waving the remote carelessly in the direction of the dragon-egg case. “Sorry, sweetheart. Julian might try to save you if there was only this one baby lizard to worry about, but he knows that if he disobeys me, the two in the box are toast. Tell her, Julian.”
Julian gritted his teeth. “The case is booby-trapped with aerosolized dragonbane. The eggs are in stasis now but if Harper activates the release, or if someone tries to interfere with the mechanism…” A shadow passed over his eyes. “An adult dragon might survive it. The eggs won’t.”
Chloe’s heart beat like a trapped bird in her chest. Like Thandie. Oh, God. The edges of her vision were going dark, and she found herself looking at Thandie, still trapped in the cage of Julian’s fingers.
He hadn’t tightened his grip on her. He wouldn’t hurt her—until Harper told him to.
Julian closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Chloe,” he whispered, and when he opened his eyes again they were focused intently on her.
Chloe stumbled backwards. “Hey—wait a minute—you can’t—”
Her next words were drowned out by the roar of a massive explosion.
CHAPTER 23
MATHIS
Mathis was halfway across the courtyard when the kitchen wing exploded.
Instinct made him squeeze his eyes shut, guarding his face with one hand. The boom echoed across the island.
He opened his eyes warily, blinking sun-spots from his vision. The bright lights danced and swam, but he’d covered his eyes in time. His ears were ringing, but the explosion hadn’t blinded him.
What the hell just happened? His heart constricted. Chloe—she can’t have been in there…
Chloe had made trips to the kitchen during their imprisonment, getting extra food for him to help him heal. Horror roared in his ears. She couldn’t have—not now—
He lowered his head, breathing in slowly through his nose. The acrid stench of burning plastic filled the air, but beneath it he could just trace the soft warm scent of his mate. He’d tracked her path from the bedroom the moment he woke and realized she was gone, followed her trail from the dormitories out here to the garden courtyard…
Movement caught his eye, and he turned before his brain had filtered out whether it was real or another sunspot. The dark rectangle of the tower door was just visible from the courtyard and as Mathis squinted it opened, revealing deeper darkness within.
Mathis was already moving even before he recognized the pale face poking out as that of Julian Rouse. He might not be able to see what was in the room behind the dragon shifter, but the smell of Chloe’s terror poured out of the open door like thick, black oil.
He ran. The kitchen wing—what was left of it—was still burning at the other end of the building, the fire so fierce it roared, but he ignored it and threw himself towards the black hole in the tower wall. Up the steps, six at a time. Across the raised patio. Julian squared off as he approached, a strange look on his face—was it relief, or fear?
Through the pounding of his pulse in his ears and his feet on the hot stone, Mathis heard shouting. Chloe’s voice.
He drove his shoulder into Julian’s midsection, smashing him out of the way. Julian’s winded gasp transformed into a huge rush of air as he shifted. The dragon’s bulk blocked out the sun from the door; Mathis paused just long enough to check that Julian’s dragon form was stuck outside the tower, slammed the door shut and raced up the stairs.
He could hear Harper, his deeper voice drowning out Chloe’s shouts. Light spilled down from the upper floor, glittering strangely on the steps. Mathis was halfway up the stairs when a trapdoor began to slide over the top of the staircase, blocking off the second floor.
He bunched his muscles and leapt, grabbing hold of the top step and throwing himself onto the floor moments before the room went into lockdown.
Mathis slammed into something. Dazzled by the glimmering lights, he barely covered his head in time to avoid the table crashing down on his skull. Glass shattered and fell around him, picking up the golden light and reflecting it in dizzying multitudes.
“You!” Harper snarled. Mathis could just see him, a dark shadow in the swirling lights. “That useless—Julian! I told you what would happen if you failed me!”
Harper was angrier than Mathis had ever seen him. All his fake friendliness melted off him, leaving nothing to hide his violent rage.
And Chloe was standing less than six feet from him.
Mathis’ skin itched as his lion fought to take shape. He called out to Chloe, telling her to get behind him. Safe. He could only keep control so long as she was safe.
Chloe’s eyes glittered with reflected light as she met his gaze. For one electric moment, he thought she was going to run to him. That everything would be okay.
Then the whole tower shook as something slammed into it from outside.
Chloe fell to her knees with a cry, and Harper’s shouts turned into a screech. Mathis staggered as another blow made the floor jump. More of the glass-topped cabinets that filled the room collapsed, broken glass forming a glittering mosaic on the floor.
“Chloe!” Mathis yelled, and she glanced at him, her face tight. She yelled something he couldn’t make out, pointing at Harper.
Or—not at Harper. At whatever it was he was holding.
Chloe yelled again. Her voice was lost under the crash of stone as the tower shook again, but Mathis followed her lips. Distract him.
Mathis’ lion tore at his insides. Distract him? This is no time for games. We need to get out of here. I need to get her out of here.
Before he could shout back, a car-sized chunk of the wall behind Harper and Chloe disappeared.
One massive claw scrambled at the edge of the broken wall, and a roar of pure animal rage blasted into the room. Ears ringing, Mathis started forward.
Harper and Chloe stood frozen, silhouetted against the sunlight streaming in through the hole where the wall had been. Something huge moved in front of the gap, blocking out all the light. Mathis saw Harper burst into motion, darting to the far side of the room, but his attention was on Chloe.
Julian roared again. Each of his teeth was as long as Mathis’ fore-arm, and the brilliant green eye that glared through the hole in the wall was bigger than a dinner plate. Its slit pupil blew out, and Mathis felt the moment the dragon locked its gaze on to Harper.
And then Chloe ran, not away from the dragon, but towards it.
Mathis leapt across the room, tackling Chloe to the ground just as Julian’s head disappeared and was replaced by a groping, massive fore-leg. Pain sliced across his back as Julian’s claws lanced through the air where Chloe had been standing a second before. He forced himself to roll as he hit the ground, protecting Chloe from the force of impact.
Chloe was swearing under him, cradling something against her chest. He gave her space to push herself up and look at whatever it was she’d picked up from the ground, but stayed crouched over her. If Julian reached for her again, he’d have to go through Mathis first.
But the dragon was ignoring the two of them. He was reaching for Harper, straining to snatch him out of the broken tower.
Even from the ground, Mathis could see it was no use. Julian’s angle was too awkward, and he was too big—he would never reach Harper.
And Harper knew it. Mathis saw him realize he’d reached a position of safety. His charisma oozed up over his body again, and he lounged against the far wall, every inch of him radiating smug complacency.
“Mathis.” Chloe’s voice was urgent. “Mathis, Thandie was in here—can you sense her?”
Thandie. Another shifter? Mathis concentrated and felt a fluttery, feathery presence up in the rafters. He looked up. “She’s safe.”
“Oh thank God,” Chloe gasped. She flinched as Julian thrust his arm into the tower room again, smashing several glass cases. “We have to stop Julian.”
“Stop him?” Mathis growled. “I’m more inclined to help him.” If the dragon had finally decided to stop being Harper’s lapdog, it was no skin off Mathis’ nose.
Just my back, he thought, wincing as a table leg bounced off his shoulder.
“No—don’t you see—”
She broke off as Harper started speaking.
“Oh, Julian, my old friend. Is this the way you want it to end? You’ll be so much less useful with no leash on your mind.” Harper sounded pleasant. Cheerful.
Mathis’ skin was crawling. As Harper lifted the object he was holding, he thought he was going to be sick. Pieces started to come together in his head.
“Shit,” he muttered, lowering his mouth to Chloe’s ear, “That’s not—”
“That’s the hold Harper has on him,” Chloe whispered back. Her voice was tight with emotion. “And two more, but it’s okay, I’ve got the remote—they’re in the case beside the sofa—where the sofa was, I mean, now they’re… shit.”
Mathis followed her gaze. She was staring wide-eyed at another glass case. Miraculously, it was still intact, though it had been thrust against the wall.
What was left of the wall, at least. It was right next to the hole Julian had clawed in the tower.
“He must not be able to see it,” Chloe muttered. “If he…”
Mathis closed his hand over hers. She didn’t need to say it. If Julian accidentally knocked the eggs in the case out of the tower, and destroyed them… he would lose himself with them.
Harper was still talking. The egg he was holding caught the light and seemed to gather it up, glowing from within. Mathis licked his lips.
Egg? If the eggs were Harper’s hold on Julian, then that meant they were alive. There were dragon children in there.
“Right,” he said, mind spinning. “We—”
“Distraction,” Chloe said firmly. “Do you trust me?”
“More than anyone else in this room.”
Chloe’s smile flashed in a sudden flicker of sunlight. “Same to you. All right. You make like you’re going for Harper. I’ll get the other two.”
She didn’t give him time to argue. Rolling from under him, Chloe ducked back against the wall. Julian’s scaly head roared less than six feet from her tiny form.
Mathis’ lion screamed at him, even louder than Julian’s angry roar. He couldn’t leave her there. His job, his duty, was to put himself between her and danger, to keep her from ever coming to harm.
He shook his head, steeling himself. No. He trusted her. Not just more than anyone else in the room, more than anyone else in the world. In all the time he’d known her, in all of this nightmare they’d shared together, she’d been quick, kind, and fiercely intelligent.
He trusted her. Hadn’t last night shown him that? He trusted her to get herself into danger, and out of it again.
He trusted her with his life, and her own.
“Hey!” he shouted, interrupting Harper. Harper turned to him, eyes wide with innocent surprise. Even his pose called out, Who, me?
Mathis grinned and stepped forward, ignoring the pain from the cuts on his back. “What do you call this, Harper? Having some staffing issues? You should call my sister—I’ve never known a catastrophe she couldn’t handle. Whereas you…” Mathis threw his head back and narrowed his eyes mockingly at Harper, ignoring the cries of rage from the dragon outside. “Things aren’t looking too good for you, are they?”
Harper’s lip curled back. He took a quick step sideways and slammed his fist down on a control panel set into the wall near the sealed staircase. “Cane!” he roared.
“What’s the matter? Too scared to take me on myself?” Mathis didn’t need to fake the growl in his voice. His lion wanted to attack, to permanently remove the danger Harper posed to every shifter on the island, but he held himself back.
Killing Harper would be satisfying, but it wasn’t part of Chloe’s plan. So instead, he crab-walked sideways, drawing Harper’s line of sight away from Chloe. “You’re pathetic, Harper. I’m injured and can barely see straight, and you’re still looking for someone else to hide behind? Your pet polar bear?”
Harper’s lips twitched as Mathis feinted closer. Mathis searched his eyes. Harper’s gaze was full of hate and rage, but not—
“What are you?” The question burst out of him, but the answer was already there, in the shape of the puzzle-pieces coming together in his mind. “You’re no hunter.”
Harper’s face twisted. “Aren’t I? Aren’t I? I caught you, didn’t I? And you’re not exactly—”
His face transformed, switching from rage to blank stillness so quickly Mathis’ blood went cold.
“You’re not attacking me,” Harper said slowly. “Why might that be, I wonder?”
“Maybe I want to draw this out,” Mathis shot back. “Enjoy it. Like you enjoy watching us tear each other to pieces every night.”
Harper laughed, but his eyes narrowed. “No, that’s not it.” Harper’s nostrils flared. He moved the egg from one hand to the other, and behind Mathis, Julian screamed with frustration. “I’ve watched you fight. You don’t get it. The blood. The power. Last night you got close, but enjoy it? No. Not you. Not the lion.” Harper spat out the last word. The edge of his mouth was twitching spasmodically and the egg shook in his hand.
This guy’s crazier than I thought. Mathis fought to stop himself from glancing back at Chloe, to see how she was going. Harper’s brain might be cracking into a thousand psychotic pieces, but at least he was focused on Mathis.
“All right, then, I’ll bite. What should a lion be like?”
Harper’s eyes blazed. “What should a lion be like? What should the king of the beasts be like? He should fight! He should kill! He should be worth defeating—Christ, even the ibex is more of a predator than you are!”
“And that’s just what you’re not, isn’t it? You’re not a predator.” Mathis’ mouth was dry with horror.
All shifters had something of their animal in them. Predators were more aggressive, true, but nothing like the bloodlust-crazed creatures Harper was making them out to be.
And prey animals—herbivores—had their own peculiarities. A tendency for herd behavior, or the ability to keep themselves hidden. Mathis had heard some herbivore shifters were wary of predator shifters, but never understood it until he was on the island.
And he still didn’t understand Harper.
“You should have been perfect,” Harper hissed. The twitch had gotten worse, twisting his mouth to one side. “The king of beasts! What a victory that would have been, to destroy you! But you wouldn’t have even fought, if I hadn’t forced you. Even now, you’re stalling—”
