Embraced By Darkness (Riley Jenson Guardian 5)

"It's an odd problem." I explained what had happened at the club. "It was the same scent. The exact same scent. But he wasn't Jared."

"Easily explained if he was shapeshifter."

"Jared and the man in the club were both human, not Helki."

"There's no saying Helkis are the only ones who can shift into other human forms. I'm sure there's other nonhumans out there totally capable of shapeshifting. We just don't know about them yet."

"The operative word there is nonhuman. We're talking about humans."

"There's no reason why humans couldn't shift, either."

"They're humans. Humans don't do that sort of thing. It what makes them human, and us nonhuman."

"No, that's DNA. Humans are quite capable of all sorts of psychic skills."

"Shifting isn't a skill. It's part of our DNA pattern."

Rhoan popped another chocolate into his mouth, then said around it, "Were the body shapes similar?"

I hesitated, then nodded. "Why would that make a difference?"

"What if it's not shifting as we know it? What if it's more a gentle remolding? They can alter minor feature characteristics - nose, chin, ears, perhaps even hair - but major things like facial shape and eyes stay the same. It'd be enough to fool others, but it isn't actually a full shift. Not in the way we shift, anyway."

"Possible." Jared and the man in the club certainly had the same color eyes. "If that's true, then we perhaps have our first link between the club and the island."

"But still no link between Adrienne, the other murdered women, and the club. After all, Jared wasn't involved with any of the women, was he?"

"Well, if he's some sort of face-shifter, how would we know? He could have appeared as anyone to them. Besides, Adrienne didn't sleep with anyone up there."

"Have you spoken to the partners or parents of the other women who have disappeared?" Rhoan asked. "Asked them if their daughters mentioned meeting anyone on the island?"

I shook my head. "Haven't really had the time to follow that up."

"I might do it, then. See if a clue shakes loose."

"Ta." I downed another chocolate, then asked, "So, how is Kellen holding up after last night?"

"I was wondering when you'd get around to asking."

My eyebrows went up again at the censure in his voice. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That means, you claim to care about the man, you say you want a long-term relationship with him, and yet he's never first in your thoughts." He tilted his head and studied me for a minute. "Tell me, if it had been Quinn with you last night, would you have taken so long to ask?"

If it had been Quinn with me, I wouldn't have been alone on that roof and probably wouldn't have been shot. But Quinn and I were history, no matter how much my heart, ached at the thought of him.

But then, how much of what I felt for Quinn was real, and how much of it was vampire-implanted suggestion? I never would know, and in the end, that was a relationship killer more than anything else he had done.

"Kellen and I haven't known each other that long."

"You've known him about the same length of time as you've known Quinn."

"But Quinn was actively discouraging my interest in Kellen. It's only these past few weeks that we've really played it basically one-on-one."

"Basically is not wholly."

"There speaks the man who has spent half his life avoiding a commitment to the man he professes to love."

"And you've spent half your life nagging me about. It's payback time, sister dearest."