Page 3 of From the Shadows
He didn’t have to wait long. Less than ten minutes later, she slithered in as a diamondback rattler, then shifted to her human form. Diego was pumped that he was going to get first crack at this murdering bitch. When her back was turned, Diego stepped from the shadows. At first, he thought Kendra hadn’t seen him, but then she turned and her eyes narrowed to slits. Diego figured she was going to shift and try to escape, but she launched herself at him, snapping with vicious fangs. Diego hit her in the face, and she reeled back, tripping over the pile of clothing that had been strewn on the cabin’s floor.
“You can’t get out, Kendra. Give yourself up and let us take you in.”
She snarled, turned, and lunged for a case, then came back up with a Springfield X10, which she had aimed at Diego’s chest. His choices were to let her shoot him or fire at her. He couldn’t understand why she didn’t shift and flee. It had a better chance of success—though not against Diego—than shooting it out.
He raised his gun and fired once. It was dead center mass, and even someone who could shapeshift wouldn’t come back from that. She crumpled to the floor, blood pooling beneath her already-cooling body, her dark hair fanning around her face, her cold eyes wide as they stared into the void.
“Diego? You okay?”
He tapped his earpiece. “Fine. She’s?—”
And then he heard it. A soft snuffling. Diego turned and his gaze landed on the pile of clothes he’d all but ignored on his way in. He drew his gun and moved toward it.
“I’m armed, and I’m not afraid to use it,” he called out.
The sniffling stopped, then turned into an all-out shriek. Diego grabbed the clothes and threw them aside, revealing a baby that stared up at him, deep brown eyes wide as it continued to sob.
“No….”
“Diego, what’s going on?”
He knelt beside the child, who wailed even louder. Diego glanced over his shoulder at Kendra, then snatched the kid off the floor and held it—him—tight to his chest, hoping to block out the sight.
Goddamn fuck it to hell. “I need a fucking nurse in here, now!”
“What? I thought she was dead?”
“She is. Her baby isn’t.”
Momentary stunned silence.“Baby?”
“Get me the fucking nurse!”
“I took some classes,”Martin said.“Let me come in.”
A few minutes later, he entered the room. The sobs from the baby had turned to soft whimpers as he clung to Diego, peering into his eyes. When Martin tried to take him, the wailing started anew.
“Put him on the bed,” Martin instructed. “Stay nearby, because he seems to have imprinted on you.”
Diego couldn’t remember the examination. He was too busy trying to understand what had happened. How he’d killed this kid’s mother, who was still on the floor with sightless eyes that would never see her son again. Would the kid remember any of this? Diego didn’t know anything about kids. Never wanted them himself. With the life he led, it wouldn’t be fair to?—
“Diego? I said the baby seems okay. Can you pick him up? I tried, but he shrieked when I did.”
On autopilot, Diego bent and lifted the now cooing child, who snuggled against him with a soft whimper, then promptly fell asleep.
“We should get him out of here,” Martin said, his eyes softening. “This is no place for him.”
Diego couldn’t disagree. He didn’t want to waste time looking for something the kid could wear, so he bundled him up in his TAK vest and pressed the boy to his chest, then stepped out into the darkness.
“What do we do with him?” Ranna asked.
“We take him to Biggs, let him deal with it,” Diego rumbled.
“I’m afraid that won’t work,” Martin said, his voice deep. “Look at how he’s sleeping, clutching your finger. I don’t know a lot about shifters, but Kendra isn’t—wasn’t—a normal one. As a snake shifter, her kind lays eggs, and when they hatch, the child shifts to human form. From that point, the mother needs to create a bond with him. As far as I can tell, that never happened, and now the boy has imprinted on you, Diego. I can’t be certain, but separating the two of you might kill him.”
“What? But Kendra?—”
“Probably didn’t know what to do with him either. As quickly as he latched on to you, it’s obvious he hadn’t with her. Maybe that was the one good thing she did—keeping him from forming the bond with her, because she knew the life she led would probably end up killing her.”
