Chapter 11
eleven
The cougar—and he stank of cat musk—crouched in front of me and tugged an earbud from his left ear. The thumping bass from his music spilled out into the air, almost deafening to me in this form.
“What’s a cutie like you doing out here all alone?
” He attempted to pet me, but I backed away slowly, shielding Fayne until she could retreat deeper into the hole.
“Are you scared, pup? Don’t be. I promise I won’t hurt you.
My grandmother had a weenie dog when I was a kid.
If we can’t find your owners, maybe you can go live with her. Does that sound good to you?”
To be stuck like this, never able to resume my human form again?
Uh, no.
That sounded terrible to me.
“Princess,” a blessedly familiar voice called from a short distance away. “Come here, girl.”
As much as I wanted to race toward the safety it promised, I remained hunched to cover for Fayne.
The cougar pivoted, glancing over his shoulder, and he noticed Rían. “This your dog?”
“Yeah.” Rían jogged up, smiling warmly, his eyes a rich brown I blamed on contacts. I couldn’t say I cared much for the change, even if I understood the necessity of hiding his identity. “She likes to hunt for mice and ground squirrels, so I let her off leash when we come to the park.”
“Oh, yeah.” He gave me one firm pat then stood. “They love to hunt.”
“Come on, Princess,” Rían coaxed, trying to get me away from the cougar. “Come to Daddy.”
Daddy? Really?
A choking noise rose behind me, and I could have died of embarrassment on the spot.
“Are you sure she’s yours?” The cougar frowned at my behavior. “She’s acting mighty skittish.”
There was no tag on my collar, and even if there had been, Rían wouldn’t have ID to match any name or number stamped on it. Fayne might have a workaround for emergencies, a phony number that rang to a burner or the clan home, but it was too late for Rían to claim a second dog now.
“She’s not great with strangers.” Rían eased closer, the picture of ease, but my leash strained where he had wrapped it around his wrist. “She’s probably nervous with you standing between us.”
“Got any proof of ownership?” The cougar wasn’t backing down. “I don’t want to hand her off to just anyone.”
With no other options readily available, I had to suck it up and hork out the two mice in my mouth.
They didn’t move, thankfully, so they could pass for dead.
The slobber helped sell it, darkening their fur and covering for the lack of blood.
As soon as both men got a good look, I stepped over the tiny bodies and growled at the cougar.
“Oh.” He raised his hands at his sides. “My bad, cutie.” He took a wide step back, amusement thick in his tone. “I didn’t realize you were protecting your kills.”
Thanks to the space he had put between us, I was able to inch toward Rían and whine pitifully. The cougar gave me a bit more room, so I gently lifted one mouse and carried it to set at Rían’s feet.
“Look at that.” The cougar gave me one last grin. “Guess there’s no denying she’s yours. A fierce girl like her wouldn’t share her kills with just anyone.” He saluted Rían, plugged back in, and sauntered down the fence whistling along to a popular song. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
The second he was out of sight, Rían collected both mice. “Where’s Fayne?”
Before I could clear the way, she burst through the opening and dropped her mouthful at his feet. Her spine bowed as she hocked and spat, releasing a full-body shudder while smacking her lips with disgust.
“We need to hurry.” She yipped at Rían, who collected the other mice without comment then lifted me, settling me back into the bend of his arm, snug and safe against him.
“We’re lucky we ran into an idiot.” She waited while Rían leashed her then led him at a brisk pace.
“He muted his radio to listen to music on his phone.”
The sirens had run their course, but he must not have heard them over his playlist. I almost felt sorry for him. He seemed like a nice enough guy, anyone who was kind to animals got brownie points in my book, but when Nelson got ahold of him, he would be in a world of hurt.
Our quick walk carried us back to the dumpster in record time, and Fayne only gave Rían seconds to free her before bolting for cover to make her transition.
“I assume these are the missing employees.” He released a sigh that sounded dredged up from his toes.
“I should have known she would pull something like this.” He examined my paws, both caked in mud, and a growl moved through his chest. “She made you dig. Of course she did. Why would she listen to me? I’m just her magnus.
I’m just your—” his teeth clicked together, “—friend.”
An uptick of voices in the vicinity of our escape route perked my ears, and I whined softly.
“I hear them.” He covered the distance to Fayne in a few strides, rooted through her clothes for the keys to the SUV, then scooped her up around the middle. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
Arms loaded down with animals, he sprinted toward the vehicle, and my stomach lurched at the speed. And the height. Whoa, boy. I had forgotten how very high up I was in his arms.
Thankfully, the SUV sensed the fob and automatically unlocked the doors. He placed Fayne and me on the backseat, shut us in, then climbed behind the wheel and placed the mice on the passenger front seat.
About the time the tires hit blacktop, light burst from the dog beside me, leaving Fayne in her birthday suit, her skin gleaming. “Our mission was a success.”
“Your mission was a failure because you failed to complete your objective,” he countered. “Surveillance was the pitch you sold me on. I expected you to push the envelope, it’s what you do, and I respect that, but I didn’t anticipate you putting Ana in the line of fire.”
“I brought her back with ten fingers and ten toes.” She crossed her arms over her chest in a huff. “She’s fine, aren’t you, Ana?” She gave me an encouraging look, but I wasn’t thrilled with her improvisation either. “You can’t coddle her, or she won’t survive in our world.”
“You can’t throw her into the deep end and expect her to swim if she’s never so much as gotten her toes wet.” He smacked the heel of his palm against the steering wheel. “Between you and Liam, you’re going to put me into an early grave.”
The similarities between Liam and Fayne were stacking up around me. No wonder those two acted interchangeably as Rían’s second and his spymaster. Personality-wise, they shared a lot in common.
Really, that flexibility made it easier to understand why Rían was willing to grant the dual title to them in the first place. Between Liam and Fayne, he had both bases covered no matter the situation.
“That’s precisely why we do what we do.” Her attention drifted to me. “I’m so afraid of losing her—of losing you—”
“That’s enough,” he said, voice firm but not unkind. “I’m not having this conversation.”
Bits and pieces of arguments between Rían, Liam, and Fayne were starting to clump together in my mind in a way that convinced me there was more on the line here than reclaiming a lost dragon.
They weren’t telling me everything. There was more, some connection between Rían and me causing Fayne and Liam anxiety.
Maybe the timing of the Walsh clan’s arrival was more than simply locking on to my location after all these years.
Maybe I was missing some critical something that put the worry in their eyes and the razors on their tongues.
Maybe I ought to test Rían’s promise that he would tell me anything if I asked him.
“Can you handle a naked Ana? We could save some time if I unraveled her now—”
Brakes squealed as the SUV veered into oncoming traffic, and I tumbled against the door with a thump. I could only imagine the mice went for the same wild ride as me.
“Ana?” He craned his neck to see me, his gaze frantic. “Are you okay?”
“She won’t be if you don’t keep your eyes on the road.” Fayne exhaled. “I want to get where we’re going in one piece, and your protective instincts are going to drive us right into a ditch. Pull over, and we’ll swap. That ought to calm your beast.”
Rían waited for an opening, an empty driveway, and did just that.
He leaned over, collecting the mice from the floorboard and placing them gently on the seat, then got out.
He shucked his tee over his head and passed it to Fayne, who wore it like a shirtdress.
She even tied a knot on one hip that made the outfit seem intentional.
Fashionable. But I had trouble admiring her style when Rían slid in next to me.
Shirtless.
Good God.
The legs were bad enough, but his torso was…and the abs…and his pecs…and…and…
There were all these muscles. I had seen plenty of naked shifters.
Tons of them. Shifters made up for any lack in beauty with brawn.
Physical perfection was the norm. But Rían?
Perfect wasn’t enough. Even the crosshatching scars marring every visible inch of his skin failed to detract from the big picture.
And it was a very big picture from my point of view.
“Her breaths are choppy.” He lifted me onto his lap, running his hands over every part of me. “Do you think she hit her head?”
“That’s not why she’s panting.” Fayne snickered, her eyes on me in the rearview mirror. “She must not have seen you shirtless until now. That’s what’s making her tiny heart race.”
“Oh.” He cleared his throat and returned me to the seat beside him. “Better?”
Hard to manage with a nose this long, but I planted my forehead on the seat and pretended to sleep at the unnatural angle the entire way to Pampered Pooches.