Chapter 43 Death by Sunshine
DEATH BY SUNSHINE
ASHER
The moment I spotted Raya running through the lobby, my mind completely blanked.
I’ve been wavering on this decision, this plan of action, for the last week, but I knew if she had any inkling of what was coming, she’d be an anxious mess.
I was fairly certain I could pull it off, but not if anyone suspected anything of me.
I push through the security team standing beside me and reach for Raya as she bursts through the doors. Camera flashes go off behind me, so I curl around her, tucking her slight body into my arms and shielding her from the reporters as best I can. She’s trembling, and it nearly breaks my heart.
I never wanted to worry her, but I knew some amount of it was unavoidable. She pulls me back through the front doors, and I continue to cover and block her from view as best I can. The last thing I want is for her to get sucked into the media drama is that is sure to unfold.
We tuck ourselves into a side alcove as soon as we’re out of sight and I scoop her up, needing to feel her against me. Raya’s hands are nearly frantic, smoothing over my shoulders and arms, touching every inch of me she can reach.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, sunshine, I’m okay,” I say, then clear my throat. “I’m so sorry I didn’t warn you. Are you okay?”
Raya nods, but I’m not sure I believe her. Her beautiful brown eyes are glassy with unshed tears, and pain stabs in my chest.
“What is it? Talk to me, please,” I say.
“I was just so scared. When I saw you up there, with them,” her voice cracks and she looks away.
I tuck her head into my chest and rock us back and forth.
“You thought I was going back to them?” My heart cracks again, partly because I thought she knew me better than that, and partly because her pain is my pain.
“I know you don’t want to.” She sniffs and swipes at her nose. “But I thought maybe you didn’t have a choice. That there was no other option. I would never want you to give up your life for mine, Asher.”
My body goes preternaturally still, in the way only vampires can. So she didn’t doubt my integrity, she thought I was doing it to protect her. In that sense, she’s correct. I would do anything for her, even rejoin my family if it was the only option.
“No, love. My sweet ray of sunshine, I will never go back to them. I found another way.”
She nods against my chest and I pull back, gazing down into her eyes.
“So, what did you do? I was mostly panicking, and didn’t catch much of what you said.” Her shoulders curl in and I swipe my thumbs along her cheekbones.
“That’s okay. I’m happy to tell you everything.
The quick version is that I found out they, Claude and Estelle, had bribed most of the board and that’s how they acquired their positions.
I decided to use that massive inheritance I haven’t touched to become a majority shareholder, which allowed me to call for a vote of no confidence, nominate new board members, and basically means I was able to take control, elect a new board, and oust the Waltons. ”
Raya’s eyes grow bigger and bigger as I talk, and the words fly from my lips. I’m ready to be done with it. I don’t want to even think about this situation anymore. I want to move on, me and her, working together, living together, loving each other.
“Why did they seem so happy to see you then?”
My mouth tilts up. Smart little shifter.
“I have been… slowly ingratiating myself to them over the last two weeks. I replied to a couple emails they sent, made it seem like I was giving in. So when I showed up and stood next to them…”
“They thought they won,” she breathes.
“They thought they won.”
Raya jumps into my arms, a wide grin on her face, and my hands go to her ass, holding her against me as she wraps her legs around my hips.
“My devious vampire,” she says, her eyes sparkling as I push her back against the wall.
As I lean in to kiss her, Raya shoves me away. I’m not expecting it, so I fall to the side, and a flash of beige and black catapults away from me. I catch myself with a hand against the wall and my body twists with Raya’s motion as she jumps—in full jaguar form—around me.
I shake my head, having no idea what’s happening.
“Ray—” my voice cuts off before I can finish calling her name, and my confusion turns to lead in my gut as my heart stops.
Raya takes one massive leap, her strong jaguar body bunching and stretching as she pushes off the floor, straight into Chadwick as he’s blurring toward us. Her massive feline body collides with his, and they tumble through the air.
Their limbs tangle as they fight for dominance and control, their bodies flying one over the other with neither letting go as they swipe and growl at each other.
I have no idea how she saw him coming, how she sensed him before I did, how she shifted so quickly or got to him before I even turned around. My brain scrambles to catch up, but it’s like everything is happening in slow motion as Raya’s life flashes before my eyes.
Chadwick gains the upper hand, throwing Raya down underneath him and baring his fangs, ready to strike, but Raya isn’t a weak human.
She’s the biggest cat I’ve ever seen, and she doesn’t stay down.
She uses his momentum against him and they roll one, two, three times, trading places as my heart pounds to life again.
My brain clicks into motion and I blur toward them, but their momentum has carried them too far away from me and before I reach them, it’s over.
Raya’s jaws are spread wide, encircling Chadwicks neck. Her massive front paws pin his shoulders down, claws shredding into his skin. Her back haunches rest on his legs, immobilizing him. Blood is dripping from them both, with a pool already forming beneath Chadwick.
I slide to my knees, skidding up to them, but unsure what to do or how to help. I don’t want Raya to kill him—not because he doesn’t deserve it, but because I don’t want that on her conscience. Before I can decide what to do, the presence of others crowds my senses, and I look up.
“Everybody freeze!” a security officer yells, one of the ones I hired for this event.
I don’t move, except for my eyes, which dart to Raya. She’s breathing hard, the air gusting in and out of her, but I notice her teeth haven’t pierced Chadwick’s skin. She’s holding him down, but hasn’t done any fatal damage.
“Easy, sunshine,” I whisper to her as I slowly turn toward the wall of drawn guns and black security uniforms, placing my body between them and Raya.
My hands rise into the air as I slowly stand and compose my face.
“Explain to me,” my voice is deathly cold, shaking with anger as it ripples into the air around us. “How the man I told you was the single greatest security threat, the one you were not to let out of your sight, was able to get inside this building and threaten my mate.”
The last few words snap out of me and the entire line of security guards flinch back from my wrath.
“Put. The guns. Down.” I snarl, razing my gaze over the line of incompetent men. “If any of you continues to point a weapon at my mate, it will be the last thing you do.”
Guns clatter to the floor, and the security team leader points his down.
“I apologize, sir.” His voice is shakes as his eyes dart behind me. “We weren’t sure who the threat was in this situation.”
I scan their faces, finding one who looks less shaken than the others. He’s still holding his gun, but it’s pointed at the ceiling in a position he can easily use again if needed. I point to him, then to the space next to me.
“You, over here.”
“Yes, sir,” he says, striding over.
I jerk my head for him to step to the side, and he stills in the position I indicated.
“The rest of you are dismissed,” I say, turning away. Incompetent fools, the lot of them. I very clearly communicated who the threats were, and they failed to protect the one person I needed to be kept safe.
When I don’t hear any movement, I whip back around.
“OUT. NOW,” I bark, and they scatter, grabbing their guns as they dash out the doors.
I turn back to Raya and the pathetic man beneath her.
“It’s okay, little shifter.” I soften my voice as I approach them. “He’s lost enough blood, he’s no threat to us now.”
Raya growls, her entire body vibrating as her glowing, golden eyes flick from Chadwick to me and back again.
It dawns on me that she wasn’t worried about herself. In fact, she’s never shifted to protect herself before.
Is it possible that she did this to protect me?
If that’s the case, she may not be able to shift back until she feels I’m safe. I look around, but we’re in a wide open, empty lobby. I think quickly, looking down at my tie. I loosen and take it off, then encourage Raya to shift her weight.
“I’ll secure his hands, between that and the wounds you’ve inflicted, he won’t be going anywhere or hurting anyone.”
I run a hand down her flank, then nudge her weight to the side so I can bring Chadwick’s wrists together.
He’s whimpering beneath Raya’s jaws, and when she shifts her weight, the sharp sent of his urine strikes my nose.
I make quick work of binding his hands, ensuring it’s tight, even though a tie would never be enough to hold him if I truly wanted him restrained. It’s more of a symbol, at this point.
“Alright, little shifter. He’s not going anywhere. This security officer is going to keep an eye on him until the police arrive.”
I give the man a pointed look, and he immediately dials 911, ensuring the police are on their way.
Raya slowly backs off, unlocking her jaw and releasing Chadwick’s neck from her hold. He whimpers again, his bound hands reaching for his neck despite that being the only area on his body that seems unharmed. I eye the pool of blood beneath him with a sick satisfaction.
“Come on, sweet girl, let’s get you cleaned up.”
I lead Raya to the closest restroom and manage to flip the lock before she rumbles a warning and presses herself between me and the door, herding me to the opposite side of the restroom.
“Okay, okay,” I say, backing up until I’m as far from the door, and Chadwick, as I can be. My heart is thumping an erratic rhythm in my chest, and Raya is pacing, prowling around the small space, her enormous cat form only allowing her a few steps in each direction as she continues to protect me.
What remain of her clothes are tattered rags, completely destroyed from her shift and fight.
I slip off my suit jacket, then unbutton my shirt.
My clothes swamp her, so it should be enough for now, at least to get her out to my car.
I hang my shirt on a hook next to the sink, then I sit down with my back against the far wall.
“Raya,” I say, keeping my voice as soft and calm as I can.
Her spotted head swings around, and those golden eyes pierce me.
“You’re amazing,” I tell her, and her ears twitch. “Thank you.”
Her pacing slows and she lowers her head, looking at me from the other side of the room.
“Can you come over here? Can I pet you?”
Her head tilts and she hunches down, then shuffles over on her belly as though to make herself seem smaller.
As soon as she’s within reach, I tug her toward me—as much as I can when she’s a nearly 200 pound cat.
I pat the floor next to me and she crouches, settling on her haunches.
I’m thankful this area has been closed all morning so it’s still freshly cleaned.
“You magnificent woman.” I card my fingers through her fur, then press my palms to her feline cheeks and gaze straight into her eyes. “Incredible. You’re absolutely incredible. Thank you for protecting me. We’re safe now.”
She blinks one big, slow blink. I have a feeling she’s not entirely in control of her animal, so I lean back and settle in, prepared to sit here with her for as long as it takes.
Raya’s head drops into my lap, and I continue to pet around her ears, up and down her snout, between her eyes, down her neck and along her back.
As much as I can reach from this position, and soon she starts purring.
It startles me at first, the deep rumble that comes from her chest and vibrates my entire arm, but I grin when I realize what it is.
Her eyes are closed, and it’s not long after that, that she shivers and the spotted fur recedes.
Her body contorts and transforms back into her beautiful, human skin, and I’m holding my sunshine in my arms again.