“How did you know she’d be here, at this time?”
He snorted. “How do you think? Decent scanners are a dime a dozen these days.”
Great. They were monitoring our phone calls. Which meant that until we found the person behind all this, we were going to have to be very careful about what plans we made over the phone.
Footsteps echoed behind us and I glanced around sharply. Uncle Rhoan was running toward me, his red hair glowing like a fire in the wan afternoon light. When our gazes met, he slowed, obviously realizing I was in little danger.
He looked from me to the shifter then back again to me, and a slow grin stretched his lips. “It appears we’ve trained you well.”
I nodded and rose. “Have you talked to Riley yet?”
He nodded. “I was on the way to talk to the owners of the black Toyota when I got your call.” He nudged the shifter with his foot, his expression hard and cold. What Aunt Riley called his guardian face. Seeing it for the first time had chills running down my spine. “I’ll take care of these two. You get yourself home.”
I hesitated, but I knew that tone well enough to realize there was no arguing with him. “You’ll let me know if you get anything else out of him?”
He glanced at me, gray eyes hard. “Yes, but let us take care of this, Ris. This is our area of expertise, not yours. Okay?”
I nodded.
But if he thought I was about to drop it, he had another thing coming.
BOTH ILIANNA AND TAO WERE WAITING FOR ME when I got home.
As the door slid open, Ilianna collapsed into my arms and hugged me fiercely. “Thank the earth,” she whispered. “You’re all right.”
I returned her hug briefly, then pulled away and held her at arm’s length. “Are you okay? The bullet didn’t get you, did it?”
She shook her head, her gaze searching my face then dropping, coming to rest on the scratches around my throat. “You need some ointment on those.”
She spun and strode toward her bathroom, a woman on a mission. I threw off my coat and bag and walked across the room. Tao handed me a coffee and a burger.
I took the coffee—my stomach still churned far too much to eat anything solid right now—and wrapped my fingers around the mug in an effort to warm the chill from them. A chill that came from shock more than the cold.
Tao leaned his jean-clad butt against the glass dining table and crossed his arms. Like most werewolves, he was slender in build, but he worked out daily and it showed in the way his T-shirt strained across his muscular shoulders and forearms.
“So,” he said, his warm brown eyes studying me intently. “What happened? Ilianna wasn’t exactly in a state to give proper explanations.”
“You wouldn’t have been, either, if you’d just been shot at.” She came out of the bathroom and strode toward us, a potion bottle and cloth in hand. “And don’t you be giving us any of that hero bullshit, either. You wouldn’t have hung about to help any more than I did.”
He glanced at her, a flicker of pain showing in his expressive eyes. “That happened a long time ago, Ilianna,” he said softly. “If you think I’d abandon either of you now, you are seriously mistaken.”
I touched his arm, squeezing gently. He glanced at me, the dimples in his cheeks barely showing thanks to the tightness of his smile. He knew that despite our closeness, despite the fact that the three of us would do anything for one another, Ilianna had never entirely forgiven him for what had happened to her sister.
And she never would.
Not when her sister still bore the scars of that night.
In truth, what had happened to Kandra wasn’t really Tao’s fault. He’d been little more than sixteen and besotted with the older shifter. She should have known better than to tease a kid five years younger, but even then he’d had that special something—the twinkle in his eyes, the promise of sensuality on his lips. A way of walking that was loose-limbed and yet seductive.
They’d gone to a bar and Kandra, being a mare in her prime, had flirted with a few too many men. Men who had followed them when they’d left. Tao had done his best to protect them both, but at that age his fire-starting skills had been raw. When his fire failed, he’d run.
But not very far, and not for very long.
Still, by the time he’d come back, the damage had been done. Kandra had fought them, forcing them to reach for weapons. The knife that gutted her had been silver, and they’d left it in her as they’d faced Tao’s onslaught. The silver had damaged several internal organs beyond repair.
Tao was still paying for her medical expenses. Because of the guilt, because of the self-loathing he felt about his actions, he always would.
>