I joined Blue’s side, uncertain how this would end.
Matteo bared his teeth, all four incisors in view. The venom inside was only poisonous to a Mage, but they could probably do serious damage. Skeleton Man stood frozen, his wrist still caught in Matteo’s clutches, his hand turning purple. When Matteo inhaled deeply and audibly, the man whimpered and let go of the axe.
Blue wasted no time collecting it. “What kind of depraved men chain up women? Go back to your cave now unless you want us to call our boss.”
“Don’t get any bright ideas,” I added, using my most authoritative voice. “If we don’t report back in an hour, they’ll send in Regulators to find us.”
That was enough for most of the men to retreat, but three lingered behind. “Let him go,” one guy demanded.
Ignoring him, I glared at Skeleton Man. “You better tell your goons to back off. Have you ever seen a Chitah rip out a man’s throat with his teeth?”
A low growl rumbled in Matteo’s chest. He slapped his hand behind the Shifter’s neck and yanked him so they were nose to nose. And Matteo had to bend down to meet his gaze.
The scrawny Shifter trembled, his eyes saucer wide as he looked at Blue. “I wasn’t gonna hurt you. I just wanted to—”
“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you,” Blue said as she circled behind him and put her mouth close to his ear. “He can smell a lie, and you know it.” She finally sidestepped and nodded at Matteo. “Let him go.”
Matteo drew closer to the man’s neck.
“I said let… him… go,” Blue commanded through clenched teeth.
Matteo roared, and it didn’t even sound like a man. It was chilling enough to silence the forest. He flung the Shifter backward, and the man struck a tree like a rag doll.
“Don’t come around here again,” his buddy snarled, helping Skeleton Man to his feet. “Next time we won’t roll out the welcome mat.”
His feeble threat deserved a laugh, but frankly, I didn’t care. Once they were out of sight, I heaved a sigh. “That could have gotten ugly real fast.” I twirled the knife, only slightly disappointed that I wouldn’t get to use it. “I hope the bear’s long gone by now.”
Blue signaled for my attention with a graceful wave of her hand. “Raven, put the knife down. Slowly.”
Matteo was glaring over his shoulder at me. At the knife. Then back at me. His savage eyes drilled into mine, the tension as taut as a spring on a mousetrap.
“I thought most Chitahs respect women?” I said quietly. “He’s a decent guy.”
Blue gave him a guarded look. “Yes, but he thinks you’re threatening his female.”
“His female?” I snorted. “Should I book a caterer? When’s the big day?” I let the blade fall to the ground.
Matteo drew in a deep breath and, when satisfied with my emotional scent, scanned the woods.
Blue erased the distance between us and blew out a breath. “Thank the fates he didn’t kill anyone. Claude’s hard enough to control, but I don’t know anything about Matteo or his intentions. Go on without me. I’ll take care of this idiot before he sniffs out their cave and starts a war.”
“Are you sure? We could always tie him up in the back of my truck.”
“Or tether him to the bumper,” she muttered.
“You need to have a talk with him,” I said, irritated by the whole affair. “He can’t follow us around when we’re working a delicate case, and he sure as hell can’t interfere. If Viktor found out, he’d pull us off this assignment so fast.”
“Gotcha.”
“I’ll keep my phone on. If you change your mind and need a lift, just call. It’s a long walk home.”
She smiled. “But a short flight. He’s the only one who’s on his own. I just need him to unflip that switch so I can hit him over the head with a rock.”
“Careful. That’s how cavemen fell in love,” I said, heading back to my vehicle. I stopped halfway and turned. “If you plan to fly home, do you want me to take anything? Like your boots?”
“No need. Usually I leave my clothes in a place where I can retrieve them. But if I lose them, no big deal. My axe is all that matters, and that’s at home.”
On my walk back, I mulled over how close we’d come to fighting those morons. Blue would have probably flown off, assuming she survived the axe, and I would have taken my chances. Sure, we could have left the woman, but that wasn’t in my DNA. And reporting the incident wouldn’t have made a difference. The sleuth would have hidden her by the time anyone could investigate, and the higher authority would demand to know why we were impersonating them. We had to be more careful, and Matteo needed to find another obsession.
Once inside my truck, I beeped the horn twice to signal I was leaving just in case she changed her mind at the last minute. As I drove away, I watched my rearview mirror, but Blue never appeared.
Chapter 9
Blue wiped the sweat from her brow, still rattled by how close they’d come to a bloodbath. She would have never taken the risk with a high-class Shifter group, but then again, reputable families didn’t chain women.
The birds resumed their chatter in the treetops, and dappled light covered the ground like broken shards of glass.
“Are you going to stay like that all day?” she asked Matteo, unsure about the best way to snap him out of it. Claude had flipped his switch enough times that Blue knew how to talk him down, but it was personal for every Chitah. Claude once described it as riding in the passenger seat of a speeding car, and Blue could relate but only to an extent. She shared physical form with her spirit animal, but Chitahs didn’t. What came out when they flipped their switch was themselves in their purest state, stripped of all reasoning and logic, acting only on emotions and instinct.
Mainly they had to feel secure again, so she spoke matter-of-factly, knowing he would pick up her emotional scent and realize the threat was gone. “I can’t talk to you like this, so I’m leaving.”
When she reached the front of the cabin, he called out, “Wait.”
Blue turned on her heel, relieved to see that his eyes had returned to their golden hue and his fangs had retracted. She pulled the elastic band from her hair.
Matteo canted his head, watching her like a hawk. She knew that look. He was trying to figure her out, study her habits.
“I’m not going to ask what you’re doing here,” she began, deciding not to point out the obvious. “Did you run Chitah speed the whole way?”
With the grace of a panther, he drew closer, his gaze mysterious. “That’s not easy to do in a city with humans. A female gave me a ride.”
“I find that hard to believe. You look like a hobo.”
He gave her a sideways smile. “She called me charming.”
Blue swiftly branched away so she could roll her eyes. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Matteo caught up, his long legs taking short steps to match her stride. “That male almost killed you.”
“Is that so? I could have shifted.”
“Balderdash. He was too close. You wouldn’t have had time.”