Roadkill chuckled. “Uh, Horvan? If you’re trying to convince us to go on this mission with you, that’s fine. But you should know most—wait, no, all—of us have seen your equipment at some point, so it’s not like you getting naked is going to be much of a surprise.”
Horvan glanced around him as he unfastened his jeans. “You might wanna move back. This’ll take up some room.”
Crank snorted. “For Christ’s sake, H, it ain’t that big. Talk about delusions of grandeur.”
His gasped “Holy fuck!” as Horvan stepped out of his puddled jeans and shifted was so gratifying. Horvan stood in the middle of the living room, waiting for the rest of them to react.
Rael got up from the couch, came over to him, and stroked his head and shoulders. “Hey, beautiful,” he said softly. Horvan pushed his nose into Rael’s hand, letting out a low, happy growl from the back of his throat.
Hashtag was up next, approaching Horvan with obvious caution. “Whoa. Okay, mind officially blown.” He stretched out a hand toward Horvan, who lifted his head to meet Hashtag’s touch. Hashtag laughed, a bright sound that echoed around the room. “Well, I’ll be fucked.”
Roadkill joined him, caressing Horvan’s flank with less caution than his buddy. “It’s real. I’m stroking a goddamn bear in a basement apartment in fucking Chicago.”
Rael chuckled. “I think you’ve made your point, Horvan.”
He agreed and concentrated on shifting back into human form. Rael handed him his clothes, and Horvan got dressed. As he pulled his T-shirt over his head, he noticed Crank was still staring at him. Horvan glared. “Problem?”
“Hmm?” Crank’s furrowed brow smoothed. “Oh, not a problem as such. More a question.” He held his hand above his head. “This is you.” Then he held his hand a distance away from the floor. “And the bear is like this. So… when you become a bear, where does the rest of you go?”
Horvan blinked. “Really? That’s your question? You find out shifters are real, and that’s the first thing you wanna ask?”
“Now wait a minute.” Hashtag moved to stand at Crank’s side. “To be honest, I was wondering too.”
Roadkill shook his head. “With all the shit we’ve seen and done, do you honestly think this is going to faze us?”
Crank groaned and smacked his hand against his forehead. “Fuck. That bear… the one I thought had had you for breakfast. That was you, wasn’t it?”
Roadkill snorted. “Gee, you just worked that out?” Horvan and Hashtag laughed.
Rael laughed too. “See? I told you it would be okay. And they reacted better than the one and only person I ever shifted in front of. He fainted.”
Hashtag’s eyes widened. “Wait—you’re a shifter too? What kind?”
“A lion.” Horvan loved the hint of pride in Rael’s voice.
Crank turned to Horvan. “Now see?” he declared triumphantly. “If he’d shifted, that would’ve scared the shit out of me. He’s king of the beasts, whereas you? You’re more like a… cuddly teddy bear.” His lips twitched.
Horvan was fighting the urge to shift right back and let Crank feel how fucking un-teddy-bear-like his claws really were. Roadkill got there first. He stabbed his finger in the middle of Crank’s chest.
“You? Sit down and be quiet.” Then he pointed at Hashtag. “And the same goes for you. How long have we four known each other? For over a fucking decade. And yet he’s never let us in on this before now. That tells me this is fucking important. So let’s listen to why we’re doing this.” He glanced at Horvan. “Your move.” Roadkill sat down before reaching over for a mug of coffee.
Rael’s eyes glittered with approval. “I like him.”
Horvan laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty fond of him too.” He faced the three men. “This tiger… he’s… trapped, somehow. He can’t shift back. We don’t know what happened to him, but—”
“But we suspect dirty dealings are at the root of it,” Rael interjected.
Horvan nodded. “So we have to get him out of there. Because if we don’t help him, we’re gonna lose him. And neither of us know what that will do to us.”
Crank stilled. “What do you mean?”
Rael sighed. “The simplest explanation is… imagine that from birth you have someone out there who fits you so completely you’re not whole without them. And when you meet them, they click into place like they were always meant to be there. They’re not just a boyfriend or girlfriend—they’re your mate.” He glanced at Horvan and swallowed. “And Dellan is ours.”
Silence fell in the room. Horvan held a hand out to Rael, who took it, lacing their fingers. His hand felt so small in Horvan’s large mitt.
“Oh my God.” Roadkill gazed at them with a pained expression. “You have to get him out of there.”
“And we’re gonna help you do it,” Crank added in a grim tone.
“So what’s the plan?” Hashtag leaned forward. “You do have one, right?”
Fuck.
Chapter Seven
HORVAN LAUGHED. “I was kinda hoping we were all going to come up with something as a team.” He knew from experience that once they got their heads together, the ideas would come thick and fast.
“Fine.” Roadkill glanced at Crank and Hashtag. “Well, that answers my question about pay. This one’s for free, right, guys? Either of you got a problem with that?” Both shook their heads, and Roadkill gave a satisfied smile. “Good job. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk intel.” Roadkill glanced at Hashtag. “How long are you gonna need for your surveillance?”
Hashtag shrugged. “For this kinda mission, usually about a week. I really could do with more, but we haven’t got time for that. I think a week is pushing it as it is.”
Horvan’s chest tightened. Judging by Rael’s expression, he was feeling the same. “A week?” Rael stared at Horvan, clearly aghast. “Dellan could be dead in a week.”
Horvan’s stomach turned over. He couldn’t afford to think like that. “We can’t go in without good intel. We need to know a whole load of shit before we even set foot in that building.” He met Hashtag’s gaze. “Is there any way you can hack into their system so we can see their video feed here on a laptop?” He was assuming there was a system of cameras in the building.
Hashtag stroked his jaw. “It might be possible. It depends how strong their system’s defenses are.” He cocked his head to one side. “Why is this important?”
“Because that way, we can see how Dellan is doing at any given hour.” Horvan glanced at Rael. “You can’t go back in there, as much as you’d like to. You’ll only arouse their suspicions.”
The anguish in Rael’s eyes was almost too much to bear.
“I think I’d better get started right away.” Hashtag grabbed his bag. “Give me the address and I’ll carry out my first recon.”
Crank placed his hand on Hashtag’s arm. “You want some company?”