Page 8 of A Lion's Heart
“And cute too,” she continued. “Assembly Leader Reynolds and First Female Kalina sure did produce one lovely little jaguar.”
She’d taken another step closer as she spoke and from behind Nisa could hear one of the guards growl in response.
“You should get to the point,” Decan stated evenly. “Now.”
There was definitely a tension here, one that filled the tunnels like an invisible smoke. Nisa kept her finger on the trigger of her gun, wondering if she should have switched it from stun to kill.
The female nodded and clamped her hands on her hips.
“The Ruling Cabinet family members are being killed. It’s a message to Ewen Mackey and his suit and tie band of murderers.”
“Again, that has nothing to do with us,” Nisa said, but suddenly felt like her words sounded false and, as much as she hated to admit, naïve.
The female chuckled this time and then looked to Decan. “I know you know better than that,” she said to him.
“Continue,” was all Decan said in response.
His entire body was tense. This was the first time Nisa actually let herself acknowledge that. He didn’t have his weapon drawn, but his hands were fisted at his sides, his legs spread slightly a part.
“I picked up Lial’s scent at the scene of the most recent murder. He was there.”
Decan frowned. His brow furrowed and his strong jaw, even covered by the light black and white beard, clenched. He knew what she was speaking about.
“So he’s killing? For who?” Decan asked.
“That’s what I figured you’d want to find out,” she stated.
“Who are you?” Nisa asked.
Her confusion was growing. She did not like that. Her father and Commanding Officer Xavier Santos Markland—another of her father’s best friends and the shifter who had taught her everything she knew about technology—hadn’t mentioned anything about murders above ground when this mission was first discussed.
“I’m Kyss,” she said, purposely hissing the latter part of her name, Nisa was sure. “Croesteriia, like those two over there.”
Her eyes shifted then, turning cat in seconds while she gave a very human and alluring smile. Nisa could only stare. Decan, on the other hand, had moved again, this time taking Nisa’s hand and pulling her toward the passenger door of the Tracer. She’d never had her hand held before, not by someone who wasn’t her parents anyway. It felt oddly comfortable, but she knew that wasn’t right. It wasn’t supposed to be right. But before she could think about pulling away, Decan was opening the door and edging her inside.
“We continue as planned,” he told Nisa.
Then he pushed the door to close as he turned back to Kyss.
Nisa had quickly stuck her foot out so that the door didn’t close all the way and she could hear him speaking.
“Do not repeat what you’ve just told me to anyone else,” he said and handed Kyss a card he’d taken from his jacket pocket.
The cheetah woman moved closer, until her pert breasts rubbed against Decan’s arm. She leaned into him before whispering, “Yes, sir.”
Decan moved around her in the same swift and efficient fashion he’d been doing everything in these last few moments. He came around the Tracer and Nisa hurriedly pulled her foot inside and closed the door just as he was opening his. When he was secure in the driver’s seat, Decan pressed the ignition start button and pulled off without further warning to the remaining cheetahs that were still in the road. They scuttled out of the way quickly.
“What just happened?” she asked when curiosity threatened to strangle her and her cat.
“Nothing,” he replied nonchalantly.
“Liar!” she snapped. “I know about The Ruling Cabinet. If a shifter is killing these humans that means the war against our kind will be intensified. They’ll find out where we are and attempt to exterminate us.”
Nisa knew she was overreacting. The scent of her rattled nerves was ripe and she chastised herself for not being in better control of her emotions. But this was her first real mission, the first time she’d heard firsthand of the violence going on above ground and realized how deeply their species was still involved in the human world. Besides all that, her hand was still tingling from where his had once been pressed.
“Our mission is to get you to Central Headquarters. You are to assist the FL and then I will return you to your father. That is all that is happening here.”
“You suck at lying,” she told him as she picked up her board once more. The stench of untruth wasn’t potent, but it was definitely there. He didn’t want to tell her. That was fine. But she would know. She would simply find the information on her own.
