Page 31 of Shift of Destiny
“I didn’t, either, until last night… or was it this morning?” Moira blew out an exasperated breath. “I’m completely muddled. And are those floating creatures carrying scimitars?”
Chance put his arm around her and comforted his exhausted mate with a quick kiss. “The guards are djinn. They’re part of the town’s defenses. Witches can teleport.”
Shiloh smiled. “The witches took the place of the real psychics and let themselves be put in the disguised trucks. When they got enough witches together, they teleported the mercenaries to the gym, and all the equipment to the town armory in Idyeria’s demesne. She loves new toys.”
“What did they do with the trucks?” asked Chance.
“Shepherd’s salvage yard. He’ll have them broken down in a couple of days, as if they never existed.”
Moira frowned. “What about all these people?” She shoved her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. “They’re mercenaries, but they have families. Lives.”
Shiloh waved dismissively. “After we ask them a few questions, the elves will wipe their memories of ever having been here.” He sighed theatrically. “I wanted to send them all to border-town drunk tanks, but the council said it would cause too much commotion.”
“Are the elves going to make me forget, too?” Moira’s forlorn tone made Chance’s beast anxiously chuff inside him. Over his dead body.
Shiloh looked taken aback. “No, we’d never do that to people in need of sanctuary.”
Moira was obviously floundering, and Chance knew it was his fault for letting her sleep on the way back down instead of telling her important things about the magic world. He tightened his arm around her and kissed the side of her head. “Let me take you home, and I’ll explain everything.”
“Not a good idea,” said Shiloh. “We still haven’t located Lawrence Witzer.”
Moira’s sudden tension made Chance’s beast very unhappy.
Shiloh held up his hands. “Don’t growl at the messenger. The oracles swear he hasn’t left Kotoyeesinay, but no one has seen him. We think he’s magically protected.” He tilted his head toward the captives. “That’s what we’ll be asking them.”
“He’s never going to give up, is he?” Moira sighed. “I should leave. I’ve put everyone in danger. People could have been hurt.”
Shiloh guffawed, startling a passing djinn into clinging to the ceiling. “You’re kidding, right? We haven’t had this much fun in years. We had to turn away volunteer ‘psychics’ for the invaders to capture.”
“How did you find out about the invasion, anyway?” asked Chance. “That’s what we were coming to warn you about.”
“The council’s oracles told us about the threat, but you know them, meaningful, but vague. It wasn’t until we caught one of the video crews that we got the details.”
It was Chance’s turn to flounder. “Video?”
Shiloh pointed to a group of six people seated on the bleachers. “Witzer’s sons found out about ‘Operation Area 51’ and hired the crews to get damning evidence on their father, not just for kidnapping the psychics, but for believing in them in the first place. They planned to use it to get their father declared incompetent and kicked off the board of his own company.”
Moira heaved a sigh. “So if we can’t go home, can I at least use a bathroom?” She looked at her filthy hands. “Train wrecks look better than I do at the moment.”
Chance thought she looked more beautiful than the stars in the night sky, but he knew enough about women not to try convincing her. Instead, he pulled a travel pack of moist towelettes out of his vest pocket and gave it to her with a kiss.
She looked at the packet, then at him in disbelief. “You carry finger wipes?”
“Not usually.” He shrugged. “They fell out of my tool bag. I forgot to put them back.”
Shiloh asked one of the female reserve deputies, a young panther shifter from her scent, to show Moira the way there and back. Chance made himself stay put, but he couldn’t help but follow her with his eyes until she was out of sight.
Shiloh gave Chance a sympathetic smile. “You got it bad, dude. Sometimes, I think mate biology is more of a hindrance than a help when it comes to shifters and love.”
Chance shook his head. “I’m the only one of my kind, that I know of. I never thought it would happen to me.”
Shiloh laughed. “None of us ever does, my friend. My husband is dozens of centuries old, and thought his mate was long dead, and I thought I was too broken from being a prisoner of war in Viet Nam. We danced around each other for a couple of years before admitting what our animals already knew.”
“She’s not a shifter. My pheromones are affecting her judgment.”
Shiloh shook his head. “Don’t let your fear mug your happiness in a dark alley.”
His radio beeped, and he stepped away, leaving Chance alone with his thoughts.
