“Burned cotton,” Sam said dryly. “The sofa caught fire, and I had to use the extinguisher.”
She pushed herself up, noting a knitted blanket between her and the charred remains of the sofa cushion. Sam stood by the fireplace, his form long and lean as he rested against the wall. Her mind reeled through the events of the night. “Did you drug me?” How could he have? She hadn’t accepted the mug of tea from him. So, she purposefully turned to stare at the man sitting in the only other chair in the room.
He was the guy who’d been a bear. Now he wore ripped jeans and nothing else, his eyes a curious honey-brown and his shaggy hair rapidly drying. His chest was wide and just as muscular as when he’d been an animal. “Hi. I’m Bear.”
She snorted and then caught herself.
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’m Beauregard McDunphy, but everyone calls me Bear. If they want to live.”
She shuddered. “I saw you.”
“Yeah. I saw you, too.” Bear cut a look at Sam. “I might’ve let my temper loose a little bit, but that doesn’t change the situation.”
Sam lost the lazy look in his eyes. “You’re the one who outed yourself. I had things under control.”
Honor shifted her weight. “Am I the situation? Because I, um, saw you turn from a bear into a man?” Her mind reeled. She’d seen it, but how was it possible? This was too weird.
“Yes,” Bear said, his expression unfriendly. “See, people, as in human people, don’t get to know about us.”
“What happens if they do?” she whispered, her voice shaking even as her brain fought to convince her that none of this was really happening.
Bear studied her for several moments. “Either we make them one of us, or we kill them.” He spoke as if discussing what to bring to a picnic.
“Oh.” She looked at the door. Did she have a chance of making it out to the forest with the two of them watching her so closely?
Sam shifted his weight, following her gaze. “You’re kidding, right?”
She looked away, and unfortunately, her focus landed on the bloody floor. Her stomach lurched. She looked back up at Bear. “You shifted from a bear into a man. So shifters exist.” Sure, she’d read books with shifter heroes, but those were fiction. Not reality. Although, most myths were based in fact.
“Apparently,” Bear agreed, still looking like he might want to take a bite out of her.
She looked up at Sam. “Are you a shifter?”
Bear snorted. “If he was a shifter, he would’ve gotten to you first.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “I had a punctured kidney and colon, in addition to a concussion. Give me a break, Bear.”
“Sure.” Bear held up his hands. “Fine. Just don’t go burning down my guest cabin here.”
When in doubt, act calm. She clasped her hands in her lap. “You mentioned making people who know about you…one of you. You can turn a person into, a, well…”
“Shifter?” Bear said helpfully.
Her mouth went as dry as any sandy beach.
“Nope,” Bear said. “You can’t be turned into a bear, so please don’t faint again. Fainting creeps me the hell out. Promise you won’t do it anymore.”
Numbly, she nodded.
“Good. Here’s the deal. A shifter can mate an Enhanced human such as yourself, thus giving you immortality but none of the cool shifting stuff.” He grinned, showing wicked canines. “Isn’t that awesome?”
“Enhanced?” she asked weakly, ignoring the mention of mating.
“Yep.” Bear cut a gaze toward Sam. “What is she?”
Sam shrugged. “I don’t know, but she’s strong. From what I’ve been able to discern, she seems like a cross between a demon mind destroyer and an empath. Meaning, she can glide into minds and measure truthfulness. Although she doesn’t seem to realize how good she could be.”
“A human lie detector? Very cool.” Bear looked her over, his gaze appraising.
Panic seized her, but she kept her expression placid.
“You’re terrifying her, Bear. Knock it off,” Sam said. “Honor, you’re safe. Ignore him. He’s happily mated, and if his mate knew he was in here scaring you, she’d rip off his ears.”
Bear frowned. “Are you threatening me, Kyllwood?”
“Yes,” Sam said simply. “Be nice.”
“This is me being nice,” Bear exploded, jumping to his feet and pivoting to face Sam directly. “Do you have any idea the shitstorm I’ve been handling by having you and Garrett Kayrs become Grizzly members? The shifter nation is two farts away from war with the Realm because they haven’t destroyed the dickhead Sevens, and since I allowed you two here, we’ve been facing internal war. Garrett is a Seven. How the king allowed that to happen, I’ll never know. The canine shifters won’t even speak to us—and don’t get me started on the dragons.”
She had no clue what any of that meant, but even so, Honor cringed away from the anger. Canine shifters? Dragons? They were real too?
“I know,” Sam said calmly. “I really do, Bear. We appreciate the refuge, and if I could get Garrett to leave, I would. But this is the only safe place for him until he finds what he’s looking for.”
“He’s looking for something that doesn’t exist, and you know it. Fate is messin’ with him. I thought you were the voice of reason until you started setting my world on fire. Literally. Do you think I haven’t noticed you and Kayrs sneaking off and coming back smelling like burned-out buildings? I’m a fuckin’ bear.”
“I know you’re a fuckin’ bear,” Sam snapped, shoving off the wall. Apparently his limitless patience had just run out. “I gave you my word that the moment the Seven became a problem for you, we’d be gone. It’ll kill Garrett if I force him to leave, but I’ll do it if that’s what you and the Grizzly Club need.”
Bear dropped his head. “He’s not going to find her, Sam. You know it, I know it, and even the Fates know it. Whoever’s shoving that dream into his head, and don’t think I haven’t looked for a rogue demon around here, is doing it on purpose. The guy is barely holding on.”
Honor couldn’t stay silent any longer. “Demon? There are demons? From hell?”
“Yes,” Bear said just as Sam said, “No.”
Sam glared at Bear. “Would you please stop talking? Every sentence you speak just gets her in more danger. She knows too much already.”