Shifters, Inc.: Spotting His Leopard

Copyright 2015 by Georgette St. Clair

This book is intended for readers 18 and older only. It is a work of

fiction. All characters and locations in this book are products of the

feverish imagination of the author, a tarnished Southern belle with a

very dirty mind.

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Wolf shifter Tyler Witlocke, who’s taking a most unusual vacation, just slapped a copper collar and a
pair of handcuffs on his fated mate – right after meeting her.

Unfortunately, it’s not for fun and games – Gwenneth is a ruthless criminal who’s left a trail of bodies
behind her, and he’s got no choice but to take her in. However, everything is not as it appears on the
Fertility Island. Is Tyler’s fated mate a vicious killer, or is she a pawn in a dark, far reaching
conspiracy? Their answers lie in the temple of a fertility goddess, deep in a lush, tropical jungle. But
after a lifetime on the run, can Gwenneth trust Tyler enough to let him past her defences before it’s too
late?

Chapter One

Tyler Witlocke sat slumped in his seat, cursing his parents, cursing his luck, and planning
the theft of the priceless Eye of the Jaguar.

He’d started scanning the room and ruthlessly picking apart the lax security the moment
he’d walked through the museum’s front door.

He’d taken note of how many exits there were. He’d counted how many uniformed guards
stood in front of the plexiglass box encasing the kingdom of Khaliji’s most precious jewel. He’d gone
on to note the undercovers in the crowd, dressed like tourists and casually drifting through the room –
a little too casually. They barely glanced at the exhibits, or the placards next to the exhibits. They
were watching the museum guests more closely than the displays.

Tyler sat in a wooden chair at the back of the room, scanning the crowd. He pretended to
read the three-fold printed out museum guide, playing the part of a typical tourist. He even wore a
Hawaiian print shirt and khaki shorts. It wasn’t as if he, a wolf shifter from California, stood a
chance of blending in with the local population of copper-skinned, raven-haired jaguar shifters
anyway.

He already stood out by being single. All the other people drifting through the room were
couples, come to Khaliji because it was home to the Cult of the Fertility Goddess. Khaliji was
known worldwide among shifters who had difficulty conceiving; the island was imbued with fertility
magic, and supposedly the Eye of the Jaguar possessed particularly potent powers. Legend had it that
if a shifter stared at it without blinking for sixty seconds, they were assured of a healthy child.

A milky green, massive jade oval, it was set in a spiky, jewel-encrusted crown that rested
on a black velvet pillow.

There was a semi-circle of eager shifter couples standing directly in front of the crown’s
display case and staring straight into the eye. Many of the other couples were passionately entwined
on the chairs and benches scattered throughout the museum, hands sliding under clothing, caressing,
groping. In America, their behavior would have drawn snickers, some scandalized glances, maybe
even a strongly worded request to get a room, but here, public displays of passion were encouraged.
Every conception on Khaliji was considered a tribute to GuRa, the fertility goddess.

The sight of the passionate couples did little to improve his sour mood. He’d been dating
one of his co-workers at the security firm Shifters, Inc., for the last few months, until she’d finally
confronted him and demanded to know if she was his fated mate. She was human, so she wouldn’t
have had that instant, zinging sensation, that overpowering attraction. He was a wolf shifter, and an
honest one. He had to tell her that although he really cared about her and there was incredible
chemistry between them, she wasn’t his fated mate. So she’d understandably dumped his shapeshifting
ass.

He resumed his survey.

Twelve heavily armed jaguar shifters guards, two to the left of the display case, two to the
right, and the rest standing by the three exits. There were no windows. No security cameras, which
was typical of Khaliji.

It wouldn’t be an impossible heist, but if Tyler were going to go for the Eye of the Jaguar,
he’d wait until tomorrow night, the first time in five years that the jewels would be removed from its
case.

This was the twenty-fifth year of the reign of King Maharim, the Most Blessed and Exalted.
Every five years there was a day of celebration dedicated to his glorious reign, capped off with a
huge parade.

There was a massive celebration, with the island’s population turning out to line the streets,

There were hundreds of parade floats, and bags of money thrown into the crowd. King Maharim
donned the crown, and he and his two wives and many children rode on a float leading the
procession. The island’s Witch Doctor also rode by his side, which supposedly protected him from
harm.

But there was a window of opportunity for a skilful thief. When the palace guards came to

fetch the Eye and bring it to the king, that was when it would be easiest to steal.

Tyler wasn’t really planning on stealing the crown jewel, of course. The son of a cop and a
schoolteacher, he was straight-up law and order to the bone. He worked in computer forensics,
identifying threats to the safety and wellbeing of shifter clients across the globe.

The only reason he was running a security assessment on the room was because he was
bored stiff. His well-meaning parents had tricked him into the vacation from hell.

Yes, he spent all his time in front of a computer or attached to technology. That was his
job. But to his worried family, it somehow meant that he was wasting his life away. Also, his
mother’s hints that she’d like some grandcubs sooner rather than later, at least before she died of old
age, were becoming increasingly strident. Of course she was a middle-aged shifter in perfect health,
but that didn’t stop her from pouring on the guilt.

He and his mother shared a birthday. A month before his fiftieth and his thirtieth birthday,
his mother had called him over for dinner and insisted that all she wanted for her birthday was for
him to agree to go on a vacation, and let her arrange it.

Otherwise, she’d said ominously, if he wouldn’t let her do that, then she wouldn’t want a
birthday celebration at all. She’d just stay in her room for the day, no need for presents, no need for a
birthday dinner. Yes, she’d just sit there in the dark all by herself and wonder where she’d gone
wrong.

At that, Tyler’s father had shot him a look. Take the damn vacation or else.

Like he’d had a choice.

It wasn’t until she’d handed him the plane and hotel tickets that he’d realized what his
parents had done to him. Khaliji was famous for a couple of things. One of them, of course, was for

being THE destination for shifters who wanted to pop out some progeny.

And the other was for permitting no modern technology.

It was like the entire island was trapped in the early 1900s. There were no cell phone
towers. They used landlines only. No television sets. No computers. No internet. Cars were decades
old, and bicycle taxis or horse-drawn cabs were widely used. News was delivered in the form of a
newspaper published by the kingdom’s news agency, every morning.

He was trapped in hell.

Relax, his parents had insisted. It’s not natural for a shifter to be so attached to
technology. Leave your machines behind. Run through the jungle. Get in touch with your animal
nature.

Well, he wasn’t relaxed. He didn’t like relaxing. He liked working. Also sex. He’d grown
quite fond of sex over the years, and he was missing it fiercely since Pixie had dumped him. There
were plenty of women at Shifters, Inc. who’d indicated their willingness to help him out in that area,
no strings attached. Unfortunately, he wasn’t big on casual sex, so that meant he was going through a
major sex drought with no end in sight.

And this was just his first day here on the island. He was stuck here for two more damn
weeks.

Just thinking about sex was making him tingle in odd places. As he sat there, he felt a
strange, throbbing sensation sweep through him, an odd craving, a hunger. It felt the way he’d heard
countless shifters, including his mother, describe their first meeting with a fated mate.

He glanced around the room. Was it possible his fated mate had just wandered in here? No,
that was ridiculous. He saw nobody but couples and male security guards, and he wasn’t into men, or
poaching anybody else’s mate.

As his gaze swept the room, he spotted a slender young woman striding through the main
entry, holding a guidebook, and suddenly he could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Casually, he checked her out. Slender, mid-twenties, cat shifter of some sort. He sniffed at
the air; leopard. She moved with a sinuous grace as she strolled over to look at a painting. She made
a big show of looking at the guidebook and ignoring the Eye of the Jaguar.

Her face was turned away from him and partially obscured by big round-lensed glasses, but
two things hit him at the same time.

One: She was casing the joint, just as he had been, although a little less skilfully. So she
was either some kind of private security or a thief.

And two: Based on his racing heart and sweaty palms and the sudden bonfire of arousal that
blazed within him, she was almost certainly his fated mate.

Chapter Two

He took a deep breath, tried to ignore the sudden swelling in his pants, and forced himself
to focus.

She had done her best to disguise her appearance, and to dress in as neutral and forgettable
a fashion as possible. She wore khaki clam-diggers, a white T-shirt and a khaki safari-style hat. Her
glossy brown hair was straight and shoulder length, and he was pretty sure it was a wig. A very
good one, but a wig. She wore big glasses, but he suspected they were just clear glass. They did an
excellent job of changing the shape and look of her face, however.

She strolled over to the Eye of the Jaguar, looked it over with interest just like any tourist
would, then returned to her study of the other artifacts in the room.

As Tyler watched her, he became more and more convinced that she wasn’t working for any kind of
private security firm. She was good, but not good enough.

She hadn’t spent enough time looking at the Eye, which was the main attraction. She’d also
been foolish to come alone. Natives came here by themselves. Tourists tended to come with a
partner. Yes, there were occasional single tourists like him, but they drew a little more attention.
There was no point in standing out if you were planning a crime. And those glasses. Yes, they hid
her face, but they were kind of an attention-grabber too. They were too large. She could have
disguised her face just as well with smaller spectacles.

After a few minutes she got up and left.

He waited until she’d walked out of the door and then followed her. He paused outside on
the front steps, stepping to the side of the door so he wouldn’t block it, and pretending to study a map
of Rhahijala, the island’s capital city.

At the same time he was looking for her and watching his surroundings. There were throngs
of tourists there, and beggars. More beggars than there had been in the past, apparently. He’d studied
the island kingdom once he’d found out that it would be his forced vacation destination, and had
learned that Khaliji had suffered a severe economic downtown in the past few years. Their coffee
crops had failed, and demand for their unique style of hand-carved teak furniture was waning. Those
were their two principal exports.

The museum was a large and glorious building made of gold-veined marble. It stood out on
the island, where most of the buildings were made of wood or concrete. And since it was one of the
main tourist attractions on the island, this was where the poor were driven these days, panhandling,
hustling, begging for work.

Looking down from the top of the museum steps, he searched for his mysterious leopard,
and quickly found her. She was standing to the right of the foot of the steps, arguing with a fat, angry
tourist.

A young native boy stood there, next to a bicycle taxi. He was flinching away from the

tourist, an anxious, frightened expression on his face. He looked about fourteen, skinny, knobby-
kneed. His T-shirt was dirty and the hems of his shorts were frayed. The tourist, a ruddy-faced wolf
shifter in his fifties, was shouting at him in German. The tourist had a gut hanging over his shorts, and
a contemptuous sneer on his face. An attractive younger woman was with him, looking uneasy and
embarrassed. She sported a huge sparkler on her ring finger and was decked out head to toe in
designer gear. Trophy wife.

A soldier was striding towards them, scowling at the boy.

“He never gave me a ride here! He’s trying to steal from me!” the man yelled at the soldier.

Tyler’s fated mate marched right up to them, eyes blazing with anger. The wind moved
Tyler’s way, and her scent swirled in his nostrils, sweet and powerful, like an exotic flower. A
sudden image of running his fingers through velvety golden fur flashed through his mind. He imagined
himself tracing her rosettes with his fingers, feeling the rumble of her purr vibrating on his hand…

“He’s doing no such thing,” she said loudly. American accent, Tyler noted. “He gave the
man and his wife a ride here and dropped him off. This man’s trying to cheat him out of his fare.” The
wife bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably where she stood. The locals and tourists were watching
with interest.

The soldier was hesitating now, glancing back and forth between the raggedy bicycle boy
and the two indignant tourists. Normally he’d be going with the tourist – the moneymaker – but now
he had two foreigners to contend with.

Tyler stalked up to them. “She’s telling the truth,” he said. “The boy pulled up right in front
of here and dropped them off.”

“He’s lying!” the man growled in his heavy accent. “He didn’t even see anything! This man
came out of the museum after he dropped me off. I mean…” His face turned red. He pointed at Tyler.
“He’s lying. Can’t you arrest him for lying?”

The soldier scowled and his hand dropped to his holstered gun. “Pay the boy,” he said
irritably.

“Gerda, call my lawyer,” the man commanded his young wife. “I’ll make this into an
international incident, that’s what I’ll do!”

She shook her head, lips wrinkling in disgust. “I will call my lawyer, and file for the
divorce,” she said, also in heavily accented German. She held up her designer purse. “This? Not
worth it!” And she threw it on the ground, turned on her high heel, and stalked off through the crowd.

“Fine! I’ll just replace you with another one!” the man yelled after her. Then he pulled his
wallet out, fished out a couple of bills, and threw them into a puddle on the ground with a sneer. He
turned to go. Tyler felt his temper rising; he grabbed the man by the arm, hard.

“He’s assaulting me!” the man screamed in a shrill, high-pitched voice. “Arrest him! He’s
assaulting me!”

Nobody moved to help him.

“Reach back into your wallet and hand him the money you owe him. Now.” Tyler’s voice
was a low, rumbling growl.

The man looked at the soldier for help, but he had already walked off.

“I won’t!” the man whimpered. “You can’t make me!”

“Actually, I can. I can also break your arm.”

“You’ll go to jail!”

Tyler shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Worth it, either way. And you’ll never be able to use
your arm again.”

He released his arm and tourist angrily reached into his pocket, pulled out the bills, and
shoved them into the boy’s hand. He stalked off, and once he was a few hundred feet away he
screamed “Thieves! Criminals!” Then he quickly ducked back into the crowd and scurried off. The
other bills still floated in the filthy puddle, and a scrawny woman in a ragged dress dashed forward
and snatched them up, glancing around fearfully, and ran off.

Tyler looked around for the leopard shifter, but she’d also disappeared.

* * *

Gwenneth moved swiftly, dodging through the throngs of tourists and natives, glancing
behind her to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Her heart pounded in her chest and her throat felt
dry. The encounter with the soldier shouldn’t have gotten her that riled up. He was hardly the first
authority figure she’d faced down.

It was the wolf shifter, she realized. He was the one who’d sent her heart racing. Why? He
was handsome, sure, but there was something more than that. He’d aroused strange yearnings in her
that she’d never before experienced.

She forced herself to put it out of her mind and kept moving as fast as she dared. She
couldn’t break into a run, because it would attract attention. Every step she took felt as if she were
moving in the wrong direction. She wanted to go back to the museum…or rather to the wolf shifter.

Damn it, now was not the time for distractions. There was too much riding on this.

“Miss, miss, can you spare a miluka?” A scruffy girl, a jaguar cub who looked to be about
nine, tugged on her arm. She sighed, slowed down, and reached into her purse. Then she realized
the girl was making a hand signal at her, indicating that she was a member of the Thieves’ Guild. The
signal changed every few months, worldwide, and was relayed to the leader of the Thieves’ Guild in
each area, and then spread to all the local members, who paid tribute to their guild leader. Using an
old signal meant that you weren’t a current member in good standing, and was likely to earn you a
shiv between the ribs.

Well, this could be helpful; it was always good to touch base with the locals. Gwenneth
quickly returned the gesture and followed the girl through the crowd. The girl led her away from the
main tourist area, through the business district, the residential district, and finally towards the island’s
slums. She moved quickly, and Gwenneth hurried to keep up. Finally, the girl ducked in to a small
alleyway stacked with bags of stinking refuse and broken furniture.

“It is you! I knew it! You are returned!” the girl said happily. “Are you coming to stay with
us again? Hiro’s arm has healed up! Last week we got a purse with a thousand milukas in it! We gave
some of it to that girl Fanji because she had her baby, remember her?”

Returned? So her twin sister had been on the island before?

“I, ah…I can’t stay long. I wish I could. I’m just here working a job right now,” she said
gently, and the girl’s face fell.

“Of course,” she said, nodding, with a touch of sadness on her face. “We are grateful for
your gifts. We have been receiving them every month. We used last month’s gift to buy medicine for
Hiro ."

“That’s wonderful. I’m so happy that it helped,” she said, her mind racing as she tried to
figure out what exactly was going on here. Her sister was sending money to this girl and her friends?
What was her angle? Rhonwen wasn’t the maternal type. It was Gwenneth who had always been the
soft touch, which never failed to send Rhonwen into fits of impatience.

“Nobody helped us growing up, when we were fending off mom’s boyfriend of the week or
dumpster-diving for food, did they?” she’d say bitterly. “We had to fight for every scrap. So why
should we help anybody but ourselves?”

Gwenneth gazed down into the little girl’s dirty, hopeful face. She should at least go see
where this girl was staying and figure out if there was a way she could help her. And if she went, she
might get a better idea of what was going on with her sister. She had obligations that evening, but she
should be able to spare some time early tomorrow.

“I would like to come visit you,” she said. “Maybe early tomorrow morning you can send

someone to come get me? I am staying at the Banyan Tree Hotel of Blissful Conception.”

“I will be there at dawn,” the girl said, nodding, and then she turned and ran down the alley,
casting one longing glance back behind her before vanishing around the corner. Gwenneth found
herself cursing her sister’s selfishness. She’d gotten close to that little girl, made the girl think she
cared about her, and then left her in the lurch. And how long would she even keep sending money? As
long as the girl and her gang or family or whatever were useful, Gwenneth imagined.

Thoroughly rattled, Gwenneth turned and walked out of the alley. She paused to draw in a
deep breath of fresh air, then started heading back towards the tourist section of the city – and almost
ran straight into the handsome wolf shifter from the museum.

He raked her with a knowing look and stuck out his hand in introduction. “Hello,” he said.
“I’m Tyler Witlocke. And you are?”

Chapter Three

Why had the woman just come out of a stinking alley near the dodgiest part of town? Tyler
thought as he moved into her path. She was definitely up to something.

She looked startled as he thrust his hand out to her, and took a step back without shaking it.

“Oh, ah…hello. Thanks for sticking up for that boy back there,” she said politely. “I
appreciate it.”

Still not offering up her name after he’d introduced himself. Well, he wasn’t going to make
this easy for her.

He smiled at her. “And you are?”

She looked up at him and answered with a faint hint of impatience. “Kathy Bowman.”

No, you’re not.

“Can I buy you a cup of coffee, Kathy?”

He saw a faint hint of red flush her cheeks, and her pupils flared. She was wearing brown
contacts. So, colored contact lenses and clear-lensed glasses she didn’t need.

“I’m really not here to socialize,” she said with a smile that was polite but not inviting. She
took a step back as she spoke, turning her body away from him. “Nothing personal,” she added with a
glance back over her shoulder. “Recent bad breakup. I came here to get away from it all. You
understand.”

“Certainly.” He nodded. She lingered for a moment longer than necessary, biting her lip.
He could smell the spicy scent of her desire floating in the air. She wanted him. He wanted her. Why
couldn’t his life just be simple for once?

Then she turned on her heel and strode away.

He’d give her a head start before he started tailing her again, he figured. He stood there and
watched, admiring the roll of her hips and her catlike grace as she threaded her way through the
crowd. She wasn’t even aware of her own sexiness, he could tell. Oh, did he want to make her purr.
He imagined his fingers twined through her hair, his cock nudging against the slick, wet petals of her
pussy…

“Sir! Sir!” An urgent yanking on his sleeve brought him back to reality. It was the bicycle
taxi driver.

The boy bowed to Tyler. “I am Maji, at your service. Would the honorable sir be needing a
guide for the duration of your visit?”

Tyler couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s enormous, cheeky grin and his big, hopeful eyes.
He wouldn’t feel right having the boy taxi him around, though. The thought of his skinny legs pumping

those bicycle pedals made him feel guilty.

He pulled out his wallet and started fishing out some bills. “I don’t need a guide, Maji, but
here’s a gift for you and your family.”

Maji shook his head. “Oh, no, sir. I work for my money.” His jaw had a stubborn thrust to
it.

Tyler sighed. At least if he were the one hiring him, he could ensure that the boy got paid
every day and wouldn’t be mistreated by tourists for the next couple of weeks. “All right. What’s
your day rate?”

“Fifty milukas per day, sir.”

“All right.” Tyler counted out five hundred milukas. “That’s for ten days.”

He bobbed his head. “You will not be sorry, sir! Where will you be going first?”

Tyler glanced in the direction the woman had gone. “I’d like to see where she went,” he
said. “But let’s be discreet.”

A frown creased the boy’s forehead. “She is a nice lady, I think, but did you see her talking
to the little girl back at the museum? I know that girl; she lives near me. She belongs to the Thieves’
Guild. I saw her making the sign to the leopard lady, and that lady returned the sign. You would do
well to be careful.”

If she had successfully communicated with the little girl, that meant she was up to date on
the latest guild sign-language. Tension tightened in Tyler’s gut. Okay, so all his suspicions about her
had been right on so far. He should walk away and leave her to do whatever she was going to do, but
he couldn’t. She was his fated mate, he was sure of it. Running into her here, of all the remote places
in the world – it had to mean something, didn’t it?

“I know,” he said to Maji. “I need to keep an eye on her for reasons of my own.”

“All right, then. She was heading back in the direction of the Visitors’ District. Climb in,”
Maji said, and Tyler hopped into the back of the bicycle cab. Maji quickly propelled them along
narrow streets that were crowded with ancient cars and battered motorbikes and more bicycle cabs.
A lot of the natives just travelled in their jaguar form, leaping along the tops of cars and carriages,
jumping from one fire escape or awning to the next; it was faster that way.

Despite the poverty and the ancient creaking vehicles, the streets had a festive air. The
street-lamps were festooned with garlands of flowers in preparation for the parade, and in everey
shop window, there were giant posters and banners with garishly color portraits of the king and his
two wives.

Finally they caught up with her. Tyler saw her head into a coffee shop.

“I’ll meet you back at my hotel in an hour. I’m staying at the Acacia Hotel of the Bountiful
Litters,” he said to Maji, scrambling out of the cab.

He casually strolled into the souvenir store next door and bought a few little trinkets. He
pulled out his spy camera, which he’d designed himself. While it appeared he was taking pictures of
the scenery, the hidden lens on the side of the camera was taking pictures of her. The natives weren’t
permitted to own cameras, but the authorities grudgingly allowed their use by tourists.

Tyler waited until she’d purchased a bottle of soda and left. He followed her at a distance
for several blocks.

When she finished her drink and tossed it into the garbage, he made his move. He walked
up to the trash can and pretended he was throwing away a bottle of water, but instead he palmed her
bottle and slid it into his rucksack. He didn’t bother trying to follow her any more. The island wasn’t
that big; he’d be able to find out what hotel she was staying at without any difficulty.

Instead he went to a pharmacy and bought a few supplies, including baby powder and
Scotch tape. Makeshift fingerprinting kit.

Next he went back to his room and pulled out his cell phone. He’d made the phone into a
mini-computer that held an international database of fingerprints. He couldn’t connect to the internet,
but he could at least find out who she was.

He carefully dusted her bottle for prints with baby powder and then lifted the prints with
the Scotch tape. Then he ran her prints. And came up with…nothing.

He stared at the screen in frustration, shaking his head. That couldn’t be.

He ran another print from the other side of the cup. Same result. Nothing.

She didn’t exist.

He tapped his fingers impatiently as he considered this. It just wasn’t possible. She was
American, she was in her mid-twenties, which meant that there had to be some record of her
somewhere. The fact that he couldn’t find her in his database was just as revealing as if he’d actually
been able to track down some results – because it almost certainly meant she was wearing something
over her fingers to disguise her fingerprints.

Again, that was leaning in the direction of her being a pro who was working hard to cover her tracks.
The island was too hot for her to get away with wearing gloves, so she had donned fake fingerprints
so she wouldn’t leave a single trace of herself behind. They’d be good enough that unless someone
was staring right at her fingers, close up, nobody would notice.

He considered his options, and finally decided to head to the island’s one airport and book
a charter flight back to the mainland for the day. There, he’d have access to the internet. He’d see if
facial recognition software could pull up anything. He hadn’t been able to fit that database in his cell
phone.

He needed to know who she was.

He was hoping he’d prove himself wrong somehow. He wanted to find out that there was a
good reason for her to be a ghost, to have no records in the system.

Ironically, the woman who’d just dumped him, Pixie, had also been a thief. She was an
expert pickpocket, and could pick a lock in the blink of an eye. And Tyler was pretty much a rules-
following guy.

So why was he always attracted to dangerous dames? I guess opposites attract, he thought
ruefully.

Besides, it wasn’t like Pixie had been a monster. She had been a good person at heart, and
once she’d started working for Shifters, Inc., she’d completely stopped stealing for profit. She would
pickpocket to amuse herself and then return what she’d palmed. She mostly helped the clients of
Shifters, Inc. spot holes in their security.

Briefly, he considered contacting Shifters, Inc. for help in figuring out this woman’s
identity, but for various reasons he decided not to. For one thing, Shifters, Inc. was one big high
school drama club when it came to gossip, and for another thing, he felt strangely protective of the
sexy, mysterious feline. Whatever he found out about her, he wanted to be the one to decide how to
handle that information.

Glumly, he headed out to find Maji to get a ride to the airport.

Chapter Four

5:55 p.m… Gwenneth’s gaze flicked from the big round clock on the hotel lobby’s wall to
the doorway and back again.

“We’re pregnant!” The happy cry of a female bear shifter rang through the lobby, making
her start. Gwenneth briefly glanced over at her. Good God, the bear shifter was actually waving her
pregnancy test around. And other women were rushing over to look at the pee stick, and oohing and
aahing as if it were an actual baby. The woman’s husband, a big, round-faced man, shifted to grizzly
form and let out a roar of happiness, pounding his furry chest with his paws. When he turned human
again, he was stark naked, his clothes lying in shreds on the floor, and a hotel employee rushed up to
him holding out a bathrobe.

She’d heard the couple talking earlier. They’d been trying for years, and they’d spent the
last couple of months on Khaliji. After the first month of doing the usual rituals – staring into the Eye
of the Jaguar, visiting the little temples around the city, making love in front of the sacred fountain at
the center of town - they’d taken the next step. They’d gone into the jungle to the Temple of GuRa,
spent a month following the instructions of the priestesses, and now, finally, success!

A sudden thought flashed through her mind. Did the Eye of the Jaguar really work as a
fertility token, or was it a myth? If she helped to steal it, was she preventing all these happy couples
from conceiving?

It couldn’t possibly be real, she reassured herself. Heck, that bear couple had talked about
how they’d stared at it every day for a month, and they hadn’t had any success. She wasn’t hurting
anybody.

Gwenneth joined the crowd in applauding, because it would look weird if she didn’t. Her
thoughts were elsewhere, though. As she clapped, she sneaked another glance at the clock on the
lobby wall. Any minute now…

She felt nerves thrumming through her body. She hadn’t seen Nadette in ages, and with
Nadette, you never knew what you were going to get. A welcoming smile or a knife in the gut. And
would Nadette guess who she really was? She was about to find out.

She shouldn’t have been this nervous. She’d prepared for every eventuality that she could
think of, and she had always been faster than Nadette. Nadette was a jackal shifter, and if Gwenneth
was forced to defend herself in a fair fight, she could take her easily. The problem was that Nadette
never fought fair.

Another image of that wolf shifter flashed through her mind and she almost cursed aloud.
Now of all times, her focus needed to be laser-sharp.

She needed to get in, finish the job, and get out. She shuddered to think what the price of
failure would be – for her sister, herself, and all her old cohorts.

A woman was walking through the front door. Female, not native, wearing dark sunglasses,

a black scoop-neck T-shirt, and a pastel-green skirt with little black polka dots on it. Wrong hair-
color and skin-color, of course. She had blonde hair and her skin was deeply tanned. But she was
alone, and she was the right size, right build, right facial shape. And the way she moved was familiar.
It was definitely Nadette.

Nadette looked around the room, spotted her, and began walking towards her. As she got
closer, Gwenneth could see that her face was drawn and there were deep circles under her eyes.
Something was weighing on her.

Gwenneth wished she could ask what was wrong, but that might give her away. It was
possible that she was supposed to know what was wrong. Maybe Nadette was just worried about the
job.

Gwenneth was standing towards the back of the huge lobby, next to a giant potted palm.
She was far enough from the crowd that she could talk privately, but still in a public enough spot that
Nadette would be less likely to try to kill her. Or would she? Based on the look on Nadette’s face and
the fact that her hand was dipping into her large purse, maybe not.

Nadette moved closer with an angry, purposeful stride, and Gwenneth held up her hand to
indicate that she should stop.

Nadette ignored it and kept moving.

“Stop.” Gwenneth’s voice cracked through the air. Nadette flashed her a feral grin and
glanced around. Most of the crowd was at the other end of the room, closer to the door, their
attention focused on the female bear shifter and her husband. Nadette held out her free hand, palm
up. The message was clear. Do you really want to cause a scene and attract attention right now?

So she was playing chicken. Bitch.

Gwenneth’s hand tightened on the ballpoint pen she held clutched in her hand. The tip was
sharpened and coated with a concoction she’d mixed together back home. One quick jab, and Nadette
would slump into unconsciousness. If she could get to her first, that was.

Nadette kept walking. She was almost on her.I It was now or never…

“Well, hello, old thing. Fancy meeting you here.” Corran’s elegant British accent cracked
through the air. How the hell had he snuck up on them? For a human, he moved like a damn snake.
Slithered right in when you least expected him.

Nadette and Gwenneth froze where they stood. He was as handsome as ever, wheat-blond
hair artfully mussed, cheekbones so sharp you could cut yourself on them. He wore a tailored linen
suit, slightly rumpled in the damp heat. He’d always been an elegant dresser.

“Hello, English studmuffin.” Gwenneth flashed him a smile, and he returned it with a
surprisingly cold glare from his beautiful ice-gray eyes. Like Nadette, he thought she was her twin
sister, or so she hoped…and since when did he hate Rhonwen? Back when Gwenneth had still been
part of their gang, Corran’s automatic default mode had always been set to “Flirt with anything female
that walks upright”, so this bitchiness was something new.

“You invited Corran.” Nadette’s voice rolled out in a low, angry growl.

“No, but it’s a good thing that he showed up,” Gwenneth shot Nadette a look of disgust,
“since you were planning to take me out and keep all the spoils to yourself.”

“You dare? I’m here to finish your job and save our group because of your screw-up.”

Their group. Gwenneth fought to keep the scorn from her face. Les Abandonnes. Henri,
Nadette’s uncle, had called them that, and she’d bought into it once. A bunch of raggedy street
urchins who’d displayed enough talent at thievery that they’d attracted Henri’s attention. Them
against the world that had abandoned them. Screw the system.

Then she’d grown up. Apparently the rest of the group never had.

“How did you find out I was here? And that I was meeting Nadette?” Gwenneth asked
Corran.

He shrugged. “Her computer security is second-rate. Hacked my way in.”

Nadette flashed Corran a quick, angry look, but underneath it, for a micro-second,
Gwenneth saw bone-deep hurt as well.

Interesting. Les Abandonnes had sworn to remain loyal only to the group, and to refrain
from having real relationships with anyone, including each other, but that was the kind of rule that
begged to be broken. Something had clearly happened there. A one-night stand, a real relationship, an
unrequited crush? Whatever it was, Nadette wasn’t over it.

“She has a point,” Corran said to Gwenneth, his cold gray eyes gleaming. “You painted an
enormous target on our backs last week, and then just vanished to leave us to deal with the fallout…
Is there a good reason I shouldn’t kill you?”

At that, Nadette’s lips twitched into a smile before her expression settled back into sullen
and threatened.

“I did not finish the job because I was unavoidably detained,” Gwenneth said calmly. “I
can’t provide more detail than that. “ She flicked her gaze over to Nadette. “I contacted you so you
could help me to complete the job and get the death order lifted, and you show up here ready to
murder me. Not smart, Nadette. You need me.”

Nadette’s eyes narrowed as she skewered Gwenneth with a glare. “Do you have any idea
how furious my uncle is?”

Gwenneth could only imagine. “I’m here to make things right.”

Nadette glanced at Corran. “You said it yourself. Why not kill her?” she wheedled. “Right
here, right now. Once we’ve got the Eye, we can split the proceeds.”

Gwenneth had been expecting this. She’d violated the code, the price was death, blah blah
blah. “Do you have a better second-story man in mind?” she asked coolly. She already knew the
answer to that question. Of all the wildcat species, leopards were the best at climbing, and she and

her sister were better than any other leopard.

“Maybe.” Nadette lifted her chin and glared at Gwenneth.

Corran raked Nadette with a scornful look. “Don’t be ridiculous. Nobody is better than
her,” he said.

Another flash of hurt sparked in her eyes.

“We need her for this,” he continued. “We can’t do the job without her.”

“We’ve done plenty of jobs without her,” Nadette said heatedly.

Corran shook his head. “Not against these kind of odds. And there’s too much riding on
this. Not just us; all of the gang. We’re dead meat if we leave empty-handed.”

“Thanks to her,” Nadette said indignantly.

“We can deal with that after we get the crown,” Corran said in a tone that brooked no
argument.

He turned back to Gwenneth, and his gaze bored right through her. Would he realize the
deception? She was tempted for a moment to tell them who she really was, but she didn’t dare. He
and Nadette would never work with her if they knew.

Corran fixed her with his freezing-cold gaze. “I need more information before I put my life
in your hands, because it’s not just this job. You’ve gone off the rails for months now. What the hell
happened in Sweden? What happened with Aerodyne?”

Gwenneth’s face didn’t betray her emotions, but a chill ran through her. So it wasn’t just
this job that her sister had screwed up on? She was surprised that Henri had still allowed her to take
any assignments. He wasn’t a particularly forgiving man, and this wasn’t a particularly forgiving
profession.

“I can’t explain.” God, I wish I could. What the hell has my sister done? And why? “All I
can tell you is that I won’t take any more jobs after this, and you and Nadette can split all the profits
from this one. My only concern here is getting the crown and getting the death order lifted.”

Her sister had accepted an assignment to steal the Eye of the Jaguar, and she’d also
accepted the down payment…and then vanished. With the money. Without a word of explanation.

And worse, the Shadow Lord, the one shifter who must never be crossed, had been the
broker for this particular job. He’d been so furious that he’d put out a death order not just on her, but
on all of Les Abandonnes.

“Twenty million. Minus the two-million-dollar advance. Split two ways. That is a pretty
large haul,” Corran noted coolly to Nadette.

Gwenneth nodded. “Retirement money.”

At that, he made a scornful sound. “You and retirement. What’s going on with you? Lost

your nerve?” His lip curled up in a sneer.

Again, Gwenneth concealed her surprise. She’d begged her sister to quit years ago, and
Rhonwen had turned her down. But now she’d been talking to Corran about quitting? What the hell?
Something must have spooked her. Or she’d gotten bored? That didn’t sound like Rhonwen. Unlike
Gwenneth, Rhonwen lived for the thrill of the heist.

She needed to get this stupid job over with so she could get the death order lifted and do
some serious investigating.

Nadette stared at her for a long moment. Finally she broke into a smile, as if she hadn’t just
tried to murder Gwenneth. Her smile was sunshine and roses and sisterhood. It was shared secrets
and laughter. Gwenneth felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips, and she remembered just how
Nadette could suck you in and make you feel like best friends forever. Of course you’d want to check
your back for protruding knives, and count the silverware after she left, but while she was there she
was so much fun that she somehow made you forget that for a little while.

“Hey,” Nadette said. “The gang’s all here. It’s just like old times. Isn’t this fun?”

Gwenneth returned her grin. “Should I buy the first round?” So they were all marked for
death by the Shadow Lord and even if he didn’t get to them, they could be in prison tomorrow. So
what? Might as well enjoy the time they had.

Corran apparently wasn’t in the mood, which was unlike him. He was the last person to
take life too seriously.

“This isn’t a goddamn party,” Corran said curtly. “We’ve got until tomorrow night. Let’s sit
down and draw up our plans.”

Gwenneth shrugged. It wouldn’t be much of a party with him in that kind of mood. “Fine.
We’ll go out back and find a nice, quiet spot.”

“Oh, what’s the hurry, you old woman?” Now Nadette was her charming, sparkling self
again. “It’s a beautiful night. I want to flirt.” She spun around in a circle and her skirt swirled around
her slim, toned legs.

Gwenneth let out a snort of derision. “There’s a tragic lack of single men here, if you hadn’t
noticed. This is the land of married couples wanting to get knocked up.”

Nadette made a gagging gesture, shoving two fingers into her mouth. “Ugh. Babies.
Disgusting little parasites.” Then she glanced over at the bar. “But you’re giving up too easily. That
bartender’s hot. So is the bellhop. Fancy going native?” she said to Gwenneth with a wink. A faint
trace of her French accent could be discerned. She and her uncle had grown up in Paris before things
had gotten too hot for them there and they’d been forced to relocate to Los Angeles, where they’d met
Gwenneth and Rhonwen and the other gang members.

“No. No screwing around. While we’re here, we’re concentrating on the job,” Corran said
irritably.

“Why, Corran, are you jealous?” Nadette purred, leaning up against him. He stepped back,
his expression annoyed.

Her face fell. “Fine,” she bit out. “Let’s get this over with.”

As Gwenneth followed them out back, the face of that wolf flashed through her mind once
again, and she knew she was going to have to do something about him. He suspected her of
something, she was sure of it. It was too much of a coincidence that he’d showed up outside that
alleyway.

She was itching for an internet connection to look him up. Damn this island. He moved
like law enforcement or military. She suspected he was a cop on vacation and she’d somehow given
herself away at the museum. That must be why her body had reacted so strongly to him – it was
warning her of potential danger.

It was odd that her body’s reaction to danger apparently included being incredibly turned
on; that had never happened before. Maybe it had something to do with this island’s weird mojo. It
didn’t matter; what she needed to do was make sure he didn’t interfere with their plans. And she
couldn’t tell Nadette and Corran about it, because they were already freaked out enough.

She had an idea of how to distract him. She’d need to find out where he was staying, but
it shouldn’t be hard. The tourist area of the island wasn’t that big and there were only half a dozen
hotels catering to tourists. She could recruit the little girl from the Thieves’ Guild to help track the
guy down.

“Ronny.” Corran fell back and let Nadette walk ahead. His forehead was creased in a
frown. “I need to talk to you alone. Seriously. I need to know what the hell you’re playing at these
days.”

Nadette slowed down and glanced back at them suspiciously. At the same time, Gwenneth
stepped away from him. “I’m not going to be alone with either one of you,” she said firmly. For all
she knew, they both were planning on double-crossing her. Or Corran might want to double-cross
both of them and take the spoils for himself. The Eye of the Jaguar was an enormous prize.

She also didn’t want to get into any in-depth conversations with him that might give her
away. She hadn’t seen her sister, or any of them, for five years; anything she said might reveal her
deception.

He stared at her for a long moment, and she could see the rage boiling deep inside him.
“Fine.” He turned and walked ahead, long legs slashing impatiently.

Gwenneth reminded herself not to turn her back on him for an instant.

Chapter Five

“Slow down. I’m not young and spry like you are.” Gwenneth was breathing hard, jogging
to keep up with the fast-moving little girl and struggling to hold on to the cloth-wrapped bundle in her
arms.

They were winding their way through the heart of the slums. Homes there were lashed
together out of sheets of plywood and corrugated tin, stacked on top of each other in seemingly
haphazard fashion. One strong monsoon would send this whole neighborhood crashing to the ground.
The stench of rotting garbage and sewage hung in the air, and goats and chickens and dogs wandered
listlessly through the narrow pathways which served as streets.

“We’re almost there!” The girl dashed around a corner and Gwenneth followed her. A
group of children and teenagers sat on cinder blocks in front of a corrugated-tin shanty. She counted
eight of them.

The shanty was streaked with rust. A sheet of plastic served as a door, and several more sheets of
plastic were draped over cut-out squares that served as makeshift windows.

The children were drinking out of plastic cups when she walked up, but they set down their
food and ran over to hug her.

“Rhonny! You’re home!” they cried joyfully.

Gwenneth reminded herself again to smack her sister upside the head, really hard, when she
found her. What the hell had she been playing at with these kids? They were like any kids – they
wanted a mother, someone to take care of them. Why make them think they had one, and then run off?

Gwenneth and Rhonwen had been abandoned by their alcoholic mother as cubs when she’d

wandered off after one of her drinking binges and never come back, so Rhonwen knew what
abandonment felt like. It was one reason Rhonwen had always avoided children like a contagious
disease – her childhood had been so painful that she didn’t like to be around them because it gave her
unpleasant flashbacks.

Gwenneth set down the bundle on the ground and unwrapped it. She’d bought them new
sandals, shorts, shirts, and dresses in various sizes, as well as fresh, hot pastries. She’d also bought
cans of soup and boxes of granola bars. She knew there would be no electricity or refrigeration here.

“It’s been so long!” she said to the children as they eagerly seized the wrapped pastries.
“How long has it been, again? It feels like forever since I’ve seen you!”

“One year,” the girl who’d taken her there said promptly. So. Her sister had been here a
year ago.

“What a good memory you have.” The girl’s face beamed at the praise. Oh, let me take you
home with me, Gwenneth thought. You don’t need to grow up like this. She felt anger and contempt
for the local head of the Thieves’ Guild. She knew how this worked; the children paid him a tribute

out of the money they hustled, and in exchange he bribed law enforcement to stay out of the shanty
town and probably had the garbage picked up occasionally. That was it. No school. No hope of a
better life. Later in life, they’d end up as prostitutes or drug addicts, and then in jail. This was the
side of the island the tourists never saw.

But she couldn’t take this child with her, or all these other children, she knew. For one
thing, this was the child’s family, her home, all she’d ever known, and for another, Gwenneth could
hardly offer her a safe and stable life.

She could hear Rhonwen’s voice echoing through her head again. You can’t save the world.

“I can’t stay for long, so I want you to tell me everything that’s been happening with each
one of you,” she said as she sat down and began handing out pastries to the children.

She pulled out a packet of hand wipes from her purse. “Wipe your hands and faces first,”
she said to them.

The little girl made a face. “You and your hand-washing,” she complained, but she pulled a
hand wipe out of the packet and handed the packet to the next child. She scrubbed at her hands and
face, grimacing as she did so.

Rhonwen had made these children wash their hands?

She sighed, sitting down on a concrete block. A little boy wearing ragged shorts crawled
into her lap, chewing on one of the pastries she’d bought. He held out his arm, showing off a scar.
“See, all better now!” he said to her happily. This must be Hiro.

“Tell me all about what you’ve been up to,” she prompted them again. They all started
talking at once, and by listening carefully, she managed to get all their names. The girl who’d brought
her there was Tana.

The one who seemed to be in charge of them was a boy named Pern who appeared to be
about 13 or 14. He was barefoot, and a rope served as a belt holding up the shorts which hung off his
thin frame.

“So you’ve been getting the money that I send every month?” she asked. Where is Rhonwen
sending that money from? And why?

“Yes, the guild leader delivers it to us. It’s still Farruki. He’s never late,” Tana said,
nodding.

Of course. The local guild leader have his filthy fingers in all shantytown business.

“There he is.” Hiro pointed. A skinny jaguar shifter in his thirties was strolling towards
them. His glossy black hair was slicked back, and a pencil thin mustache curved along his top lip.
He wore a nicely tailored blue linen suit, paired ridiculously with flashy orange sneakers. A couple
of big, hulking thugs trailed behind him, draped in gold chain necklaces.

“Excuse me a second,” Gwenneth said. She set the little boy down and walked over to
where Farruki and his men were standing.

“Hello, gorgeous. Miss me?” He smirked at her.

“Like a bad rash.” She smiled back without warmth, and his smirk twisted into a scowl.
“Hello, Farruki. I see you’ve been helping yourself to quite a large portion of my monthly gifts.” Here
he was, decked head to toe in nice new clothes, and half the kids didn’t even have shoes. He
probably left them barely enough money to eat. That was why they still had to steal.

He shrugged. “As per our agreement.”

“No, you’re taking more than we agreed.” It was a guess, but from the angry, defensive look
on his face, she knew it was an accurate guess.

“You challenging me?” He puffed himself up and black hair rippled on his face. His claws
extended, and he pretended to examine them closely. His thugs let out growls that she supposed were
meant to be menacing.

She smiled. There were aspects of her old life that she’d hated – but this wasn’t one of
them. She loved facing down bullies.

“I assume you’re still a member in good standing of the guild?” Not that she was still a
guild member, but she hadn’t lost her ability to bluff.

“Of course I am.” His eyes shuttled around, fearful and defensive, as if there were Guild
Enforcers crouched in the doorways. “Who says I’m not?”

“We don’t steal from each other.” She didn’t need to remind him of the code. It was also
bullshit. They were thieves! They stole from each other all the time, but if one member of the
Thieves’ Guild actually got caught stealing from a fellow guild member, an Enforcer would snuff
them out in a very painful and public fashion, to make sure all the other guild members got the point. It
generally happened at least once a year, and news of it always travelled to guild members throughout
the world.

He went pale and swallowed hard. “I’m not stealing from anyone in the guild.”

“When I send money to these kids and you take more of it than we agreed, you’re stealing
from me.” She met his gaze unwaveringly, and after a few seconds he looked away. “Of course, we
can take it off the island if needs be. I don’t mind taking it up to the next level.”

“Fine, fine. Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he whined.

“I can’t blame a guy for taking money out of the pockets of hungry kids? Fuck you. You’re
going to pay them back all the extra you stole, and you’re going to give them everything I send from
now on. I’ll be back to check up on you.” She didn’t know if she would really be able to come back
here, but he didn’t know that.

Muttering obscenities, he stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He peeled
off a few bills from a thick sheaf, handed them to her, and stomped off, with his thugs following him.
Unfortunately, she didn’t know exactly how much he owed the kids, but this was better than nothing.

She walked back to the kids and handed the money to Pern, and settled back down on the
cement block. Now she needed to talk business. As much as she hated to do it, there were some
things she definitely needed their help with.

Chapter Six

Tyler paced the room, kicking at the remnants of the lamp he’d hurled against the wall. His
mood had been foul yesterday, but today it was a dark black cloud. He’d found what he’d been
looking for after he’d flown to the mainland. Part of him wished he hadn’t.

Because what he’d found out was that his fated mate was not just a thief – he could have
worked with that, somehow. He could have found her a new job, probably invited her to work for
Shifters, Inc. They had plenty of former criminals working for them, including his ex-girlfriend. He
could have found ways to make restitution to anyone she’d stolen from.

But the one thing he couldn’t do was bring someone back from the dead. And she was a
killer.

How did this happen? he wondered as he paced in his hotel room. Was fate playing some
kind of terrible, cosmic joke on him? He’d always wondered if he even had a fated mate. His father
was human, which meant he was only half shifter. It had been a toss-up whether his mother would
have human babies or shifter cubs.

And since he was half human, he’d never known if there was a fated mate for him. It
wasn’t as if anyone had done a scientific study on it. Human-shifter hybrids weren’t unheard of, but
they were rare. He’d asked his parents when he was younger, and they’d assured him that since he’d
been born a wolf shifter, he definitely had a fated mate, but of course they’d say that.

Humans just seemed to stumble along and hope that the person that they married was the
right one for them – although a fifty percent divorce rate suggested that this method was far from
perfect. Shifters were supposed to know.

When he’d first laid eyes on the leopard shifter – hell, even before he’d laid eyes on her –
he’d felt as if he knew. He’d felt a strong attraction. A magnetic pull.

He’d liked her even more after what he’d seen when he’d followed her out of the museum.
She was strong. She was feisty. She didn’t take any crap, and she had jumped right in when that A-
hole had been bullying the kid.

Still, facts didn’t lie. Facial recognition had revealed her to be Rhonwen Morgan, leopard
shifter, a suspect in too many high-end heists for it to be a coincidence and, more recently, a killer.

Not just once – twice recently. She’d broken into a company called Aerodyne and shot two
security guards who’d come rushing in when she tripped a security alarm.

A couple of months later, she’d broken into the home of a very wealthy family known for
their art collection and murdered them – a mother, a father, a teenager. She’d taken several priceless
paintings with her, leaving their bodies sprawled in pools of blood.

She’d been in Interpol’s sights for several years now, but up until recently she’d been a
shadow on their radar. They didn’t have definitive proof; they’d just been dealing in rumors, and info

from a couple of informants. On two separate jobs recently they’d found physical evidence. They’d
found one hair, with a root attached, enough for a DNA sample, draped across one of the dead
security guard’s faces at Aerodyne. And several of her hairs had been found clutched in the hand of
the father from the murdered family. Although she’d shot the wife and son, she’d slashed the father’s
throat, so she’d obviously gotten close enough for him to grab her.

So in the past year she’d grown sloppy. And vicious. Why was that? Boredom? Arrogance?
Drug addiction? He hadn’t spotted any signs of drug use at the museum. Hadn’t scented it on her
either.

He kicked at another lamp shard, sending it flying. Then, with an angry sigh, he knelt down
and began picking up the pieces and dumping them into a trash can. He was compulsively tidy, even
when he was pissed off. Whenever he’d had a temper tantrum and thrown his toys around the room as
a child, he’d rushed around afterwards, picking them back up and putting them back where they
belonged.

His mind was still racing, searching for answers, as he cleaned up. From a strictly
practical point of view, her behavior didn’t make sense. Burglary was a business. Murder was bad
for business.

He finished cleaning up, set the wastebasket down and contemplated his next move. The
parade didn’t start for several hours, but he’d found out where she was staying and was going to head
over to her hotel. He hadn’t decided if he’d turn her over to the local police directly, or follow her
and see what she was up to.

He’d dismissed Maji for the day; he didn’t want the kid involved in anything dangerous.

He knew he should have alerted the authorities when he’d first found out who she was,
instead of heading back to the island. He couldn’t even come up with a good reason why he hadn’t.
Something about the idea of strangers swarming over her, grabbing her…would they hurt her?

As if it matters, he scolded himself.

He obviously wasn’t going to let her go, so he’d have to take her into custody himself. He
couldn’t let a murderess go unpunished. He couldn’t let her kill again. Who knew what her plans for
tonight were, how many innocent guards or bystanders she’d take out?

He exited the ancient, creaking elevator that opened into the lobby. Then he paused, feeling
that odd tingling sensation again, and he searched the crowd, looking for her. It had to be his leopard.
Only she conjured up that feeling.

After a few minutes, he spotted her. The back half of the lobby featured a bar. She was
perched on a bar stool, holding a bottled water, and she was casually looking around the room.
Looking for him, he was sure of it.

And she was dressed to kill.

* * *

“Well, well, fancy meeting you here.” Tyler slid up next to her at the bar, and instantly her
mouth went dry. She grabbed her water bottle and took a big gulp. Not sexy, she scolded herself.

He didn’t seem to notice or care. His gaze roved appreciatively over her body, and a warm
flush spread from her head to her toes. Now she wanted to dump the water on her head to cool
herself down. Instead she took another sip and tried to summon up a seductive smile.

Up until now she’d dressed to blend in, but this afternoon she’d dressed to attract attention.
She wore a white halter-top dress with cleavage slashed nearly to her bellybutton. She still wore the
fake glasses, but she’d slathered on the makeup, giving herself smoky, smoldering eyes and shiny red
lips.

“I know, right? What an amazing coincidence.” She set down her bottle of water. “Are you
here to buy me a drink?”

“That could happen,” he said, and nodded at the bartender, who hurried over.

“I’ll have a margarita on the rocks,” she said to the bartender.

“The same,” Tyler said, and returned his attention to her. He leaned against the bar and
favored her with a slow, lazy grin. She breathed in his scent, a mixture of his own animal musk and a
cologne with hints of cedar.

“So, I assume that you came here to find me. I must say I’m flattered.”

She laughed. “And very self-confident.”

“I take it this means you’re rethinking your no-socializing policy?” The light from outdoors
glinted off his brown hair, picking up hints of caramel. His lips were soft and sensual; she imagined
herself nibbling on them gently. What would he taste like if she kissed him?

She moved restlessly in her seat, leaning back away from him. “Maybe,” she said,
avoiding his gaze. She had a terrible feeling that he saw right through her. Was he buying any of this?
She couldn’t read him at all.

She cleared her throat and tried again. “I mean, here we are, two single people on vacation,
in this beautiful city. It seems a shame to spend all this time alone.”

He nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”

She stared out across the bar. “I wonder how that taxi driver kid is doing.” Then she could
have kicked herself. She was supposed to be seducing this guy, and that was hardly a seductive topic.

He looked surprised by her question. “Maji? I hired him to be my personal driver for the
rest of my stay here. Two weeks. How long are you staying?”

“Oh, a while. I didn’t book my return yet.” Was he subtly hinting that he wanted to spend
more time with her, more than just today? God, she wished she could. He was so damn sexy. She

liked just sitting next to him, staring into his whiskey-colored eyes, admiring the curve of his upper
lip. He had a musky smell to him. She breathed it in.

“It’s nice of you to do that for him. I know you’ll treat him well,” she added, and she meant
it. And sincerely regretted what she was about to do. For Rhonwen, she reminded herself. The only
family she had in the world.

The bartender set the drinks in front of them, and Tyler lifted his margarita and clinked it
against hers in a toast. “To making new friends,” he said.

“To making new friends,” she agreed. She didn’t want to have too much to drink; she
needed to keep her head clear. And the more time she spent with him, the more distracted she was
getting. Best to wrap it up, she thought regretfully. “Should we finish our drinks in your room?”

She saw a flash of surprise in his eyes. Was she moving too fast? Had she already blown
it? Damn it, she felt so awkward. She’d never been thrilled with deception – that was one of the
reasons she’d got out of the business years ago. She was a thief with a conscience – a major
hindrance for that kind of field.

But the flash vanished instantly, replaced by a slow, warm smile.

“Let’s do that,” he said, nodding. He slapped a handful of bills on the bar and slid out of his
seat.

She followed him to the elevator and they headed upstairs.

As they went up, she briefly indulged herself in a fantasy. Maybe she could actually let him
seduce her. Would she have time? And exactly how trampy was this vacation making her? Two sips
of a margarita and she was ready to hump a stranger. Not just a stranger, but a man who could pose
considerable danger to her.

Hell, if she believed that fate was kind, she’d think he was her fated mate or something
ridiculous like that. But she didn’t believe that such a fairy tale was really true. Her mother had told
her and her sister stories like that, and her mother had been the biggest liar she’d ever met. Her
mother had also claimed she’d met her fated mate every time she brought a new man home from the
bar. Half the time, the guy would try to molest her or her sister, and they’d have to stab him.

Tyler held the door open for her, and she strolled in. The room was decorated in a tropical
theme with bamboo furniture, a sisal mat, and palms in huge ceramic pots. There was a wooden
statue of GuRa, the fertility goddess, in the corner; she had enormous breasts and a hugely swollen
pregnant belly.

Palmed in Gwenneth’s hand was a tiny capsule of a highly powerful knockout drug,
designed specifically for shifters. It was her own concoction. She had concealed it in a bottle of
Vitamin E capsules, but she’d replaced each capsule with various mixtures – knockout pills, wakeup
pills, truth serum. She’d never been able to go to school for chemistry, but she was very good at it
nonetheless.

As they entered the room, she transformed ever so slightly, just the claw of her index finger,

and pierced the capsule. Then she squeezed it into her margarita.

They set their drinks on the coffee table. “I’ll be right back,” he said. “Just going to freshen
up.”

It was like he was begging her to swap their drinks. He really should be more careful,
walking away from his drink like that, she thought. He doesn’t even know me. I could be a serial
killer for all he knows.

She knew how utterly absurd it was for her to be concerned about him, she just couldn’t
help herself.

He went into the bathroom and she heard water running. She quickly switched their drinks,
and he strolled out a minute later.

“I’m so glad you changed your mind,” he said, settling down on the couch next to her. His
nearness was like some strange energy field, setting her body ablaze with desire.

She found herself wondering what his game was. He knew she was up to something, she
was sure of it. So was he planning on seducing the truth out of her? Going through her purse when she
was distracted?

Then he leaned forward, cupped her chin in his hand, and kissed her, and for a few brief,
glorious moments she was swept away in a dizzying storm of passion. His lips were soft and tender,
but his kiss was commanding. His tongue swept through her mouth, tangling with hers, leading it in an
intimate duet. He kissed her with a hunger that couldn’t be a lie, with a deep-seated need that
perfectly mirrored her own.

Every nerve in her body lit up like a Christmas tree, electricity crackling through her. She
wanted to tear at his clothing, to pull him on top of her…

He slowly pulled away and stared into her eyes with infinite tenderness, caressing her jaw
with his thumb. Then he turned away and reached for his drink.

“Bottoms up,” he said, toasting her, so she picked up her drink and took a huge swig.

He turned his attention back to her, grinning, and slung his muscular arm around her
shoulders.

“So, tell me all about yourself,” he said.

She felt as if the room were spinning. That kiss. Dear God, that kiss.

She settled in against him to give herself a moment to stall. She had her cover story
memorized, of course. She always did. Her whole life story. She’d never enjoyed lying to people,
and found herself feeling even less inclined to lie to him in particular. Was it because of her strange
feelings for him, or because she was just tired of it all? Perhaps a bit of both.

“You first,” she said.

“Oh, not much to tell. I live in Playa Linda, California. I work in the computer field. That’s
why I came here, actually. I decided to take a break from technology, try a change of pace.”

“How’s that working out for you?” Keep the conversation directed away from herself. So
far, so good.

He shrugged, his eyes boring into hers. “Well, not so well at first, but I have to say it’s
getting a lot more interesting.”

She breathed him in again. His mere scent was intoxicating. She felt dizzy, swooning.

No. Wait. She genuinely felt woozy.

The drinks. He’d switched the drinks back. He’d double-double-crossed her.

As she sank into darkness, images of her sister swam through her mind. And, oddly, the
kids from the shanty town.

Rhonwen, she thought, as consciousness faded. Rhonwen, Tana, I failed you all.

* * *

She was stirring on the bed. She’d be awake any moment. When she woke up, she’d find
that he’d manacled her to the bed frame with copper handcuffs, and put a copper ankle bracelet on her
for good measure. That would prevent her from shifting.

He’d gone through her purse with painstaking thoroughness, checking for hidden
compartments. He’d found the bottle of capsules, sniffed at them, identified the drugs in them by
smell. He’d checked out her ID; it was so well-designed that he couldn’t even spot the flaws in it. If
he hadn’t run her fingerprints, he wouldn’t have known that there was no leopard shifter named
Katherine Bowman from Los Angeles.

He’d found a few cleverly designed implements that she’d adapted; a comb, earrings, a
couple of pens; she’d sharpened the tips on them and coated them with a knockout drug that he was
able to scent but that would have escaped the attention of customs agents unless they had a reason to
bring a shifter in for a scent-check.

That was it. There was nothing in the purse to give away her real identity.

He’d peeled the fake plastic fingerprints off her fingers but he hadn’t bothered to take any
prints. He’d leave that up to the local police, who would turn her over to Interpol. In California, his
agency had power of arrest, but this was out of his jurisdiction.

After he’d finished searching, he just stood there watching her breathe for a few minutes
and imagining what it would be like if things were different. He dared to let himself daydream about
waking up next to her like that, leaning in to kiss her again, tasting her…

Then he shook himself. There was no point in putting this off any longer, even though he
really, really wanted to.

He shook one of the capsules out of the bottle, dropped it into his hand and squeezed it. It
contained a stimulant that would wake her up immediately. He waved it under her nose. There was
the briefest of pauses, then she let out a low moan. Her eyes flew open in bewilderment and she
gasped, convulsing, yanking against her manacles.

“Hello,” he said, smiling at her, baring white teeth. “I found the antidote that you had
hidden in your vitamin bottle. Also your fake ID. Are you ready to share your real name now?”

She glared at him and yanked at her manacles again. Her eyes fluttered shut, as if she were
about to shift, then they flew open again.

“That’s right. Copper,” he said coolly. “I’m smarter than I look. Let’s you and me have a
little chat.”

“Are you some kind of pervert? You’re going to try to rape me? I’ll scream,” she
threatened, eyes sparking with fury.

“Am I a pervert?” He laughed at her. “Jury’s out on that one, but I’m not going to try to rape
or molest you. And you’re not going to scream, because we both know you don’t want the police to
come.”

She fell silent and just glared at him.

“So, Rhonwen, care to tell me what’s going on with you?”

There was a brief flash of surprise in her eyes; yes, he’d managed to find out her real
name.

He leaned against the wall, smiling regretfully. “I mean, I already know that you’re here to
steal the Eye. I mean before that. You used to be so good at what you did, then this last year you got
sloppy.”

She scowled at him.

He continued relentlessly. “And then there was that whole killing people thing. Bad for
business, Rhonwen. Especially that family. An innocent family. What was up with that?”

At that there was a flash of genuine surprise. Did she think nobody knew about the murders?

As he watched, there were several seconds when she was trying to pull herself together.
Her face went slack with surprise. Her mouth opened and for a moment he thought she’d say
something. There was confusion there. Fear. Dismay.

Then she turned her face away from him and stared at the wall.

He waited a long, long moment, then finally he turned away, feeling a dull, heavy throb of
disappointment in his chest.

He didn’t know what he’d expected. There was no explanation, no justification, for what
she’d done. What could she possibly have said to make it right? Nothing. That was why she hadn’t

bothered trying to defend herself.

He let out a long, slow breath. “I’m turning you in,” he said coolly. “Last chance to talk.”

She remained stubbornly silent.

He nodded, then picked up the room’s phone and dialed. “Hello, please connect me to the
police station.”

When he was connected, he told them who he was and who he worked for, told them
Rhonwen’s name, and explained that in addition to being wanted by Interpol in connection with
several murders, he’d seen her casing the museum and probably planning to steal the Eye.

* * *

As he spoke, she lay there futilely tugging at her manacles, her mind racing. What would
happen to Nadette and Corran?

She was supposed to meet with Nadette to get the replica, then make a check-in call to
Corran. When she didn’t show and didn’t call, they would cancel the heist. She hoped they would,
anyway. How else would they get to the Eye of the Jaguar? Neither of them could climb worth a
damn.

The Eye of the Jaguar would be removed from the museum and transported to the palace in
about an hour. The palace, because it was so huge, was surprisingly easy to break into. In a structure
that size, it was nearly impossible to watch every single possible entry point. And making it even
easier, instead of modern security measures like laser beams and surveillance cameras, they relied on
the curse of the Witch Doctor, which was supposed to strike dead any intruders with ill intent. She
already knew that wasn’t effective, because a number of smaller pieces from the palace had been
stolen and sold on the black market over the past few years. She wondered if the same person behind
those thefts was now getting greedy and going after the biggest prize of all – not that it mattered at the
moment.

She’d already studied the plans for the palace and identified the wall she would need to
scale and the window she’d enter.

Corran had used his royal connections to snake his way into the palace that morning, one of
a long line of dignitaries paying their respects to the King of Khaliji. He was the bastard son of an
English lord and a heroin-addicted hooker, and he’d grown up on the streets like everyone else in
Henri’s group. When he was twenty-one, though, he’d decided that his royal connections would be
helpful to his criminal activities, so he had actually come out of the shadows, hired himself a lawyer
and demanded royal recognition. He’d never been welcomed by his father’s family, but he had the
title and he could affect a posh accent and schmooze his way in anywhere. That was how observed
the security systems and layout of the upper crust. Les Abandonnes would strike a year or two later,
so there was never any suspicion that he’d been involved.

He also was a brilliant engineer and hacker.

The original plan had been that she would scale the walls of the palace and she’d be lying

in wait on a rooftop near the room where the guards were bringing the crown.

Thanks to Corran, there would be a palace-wide power outage that evening at exactly the
right moment, and she’d slide into the room in the pitch black, use knockout spray from her perfume
bottle to render the guards unconscious, and grab the crown. She’d leave the fake crown lying on the
ground by the window. It contained a man-made replica of the Eye of the Jaguar, but it had exactly
the same chemical composition. Nadette was a jeweler. She’d made up the replica. No scientist
would be able to tell the difference.

The hope was that when the guards examined the crown, they would think that the thief had
failed in their attempt to steal it, and their search would be less intensive. If they thought the crown
had been stolen, they’d turn the island upside down, but if they thought the thief had been
unsuccessful, they wouldn’t be searching people’s luggage for the crown when they left the island.

She’d give the crown to Nadette, who’d melt it down and remove the Eye. She’d be the
one to smuggle it off the island.

Or, she would have been if she hadn’t been busted.

She had no idea what would happen now. She felt that she had a fairly good chance of
escape at some point, given her advanced climbing skills, but when she got out, not only would the
Shadow Lord be looking to make her hide into a pretty leopard-skin rug, so would Nadette and
Corran.

Tyler hung up and they sat there in silence, waiting. It wasn’t long. Less than five minutes
later there was a knock on the door.

He cast a regretful glance at the door, then opened it. Three jaguar shifter cops hurried in.
One of them had a police captain’s insignia on his uniform.

The captain, who identified himself as Captain Hundri, thanked Tyler. “I will ask you to
wait outside your room so that we can interrogate the prisoner in private,” he said. She tensed. She
doubted this interrogation was going to be a friendly chat.

Then, as Tyler turned to go, the captain said, “You didn’t inform your employers about this,
did you?”

Tyler raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. “Of course I did,” he said. “Why? Is that a
problem? We work with the law enforcement community all the time.”

Gwenneth somehow had a feeling he was lying about telling his employers.

There was a pause. “For our national pride and security, we prefer that such incidents are
not publicized,” the captain said, frowning. “How much did you tell them?”

Tyler shrugged. “I tell my employers everything. And I can assure you that we don’t
publicize this kind of information,” he said, then he left the room.

The captain waited until the door slammed shut and Tyler’s footsteps had receded, then
turned his attention to Gwenneth, flexing his fingers and flashing an evil grin. Ice cold fear washed

through her veins. Something was wrong with this whole scenario. She almost wanted to cry out for
Tyler to come back, not to leave her alone with this man. This man had bad intentions.

“Now, thief, where shall we start?” he said.

Chapter Seven

“What’s your name?” he yelled, and struck the side of her face again, hard. Her ears rang.
Her lip was already swelling, and she could taste her own blood. Panic clutched at her, but she
pressed her lips together and stayed silent.

“Who sent you?” He backhanded her with his fist this time. Red hot pain exploded in her
head, and the room swam in dizzy circles.

Panting for breath, she looked away. Tears burned in her eyes, but she said nothing.

The jaguar glanced at his two men. “Step outside. I need to question her in private,” he
said. “In fact go take a walk.”

Her heart hammered in her chest. This couldn’t be good.

The men exchanged looks with each other, and she could see their reluctance. They’d
grimaced every time he hit her. They didn’t like what he was doing, but they couldn’t disobey the
orders of a superior.

They glanced at him, murmured their assent and walked out.

He waited a minute after they left, then leaned close to her. “Don’t want to talk, huh? That’s
fine, I knew you wouldn’t. “

Then his face rippled and his jaw elongated. Black fur shot from his skin. His fangs
curved down and his eyes turned a monstrous yellow.

He was shifting. Why was he shifting? If he shifted, he couldn’t talk. He couldn’t question
her.

He sank to all fours and crouched low. He lunged, and swiped at her, and she flinched and
closed her eyes, bracing for the brutal rake of claws. Instead he smacked the side of her head with his
paw. A cat toying with his prey.

He was going to kill her, she realized, panic choking her.

What the hell? She knew for a fact that Khaliji didn’t have the death penalty. Life in prison,
yes, but no death penalty. And she hadn’t even been formally charged yet.

He crouched over her, and a low growl rumbled up from his throat. Saliva dripped from his
jaws, splashing on to her chest.

Panicked, she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Help me! He’s going to kill me!” She knew
it was hopeless. Even if any of the hotel’s guests heard her, they wouldn’t come to her aid, would
they? And what could they even do? This was the island’s police – if he couldn’t kill her here, he’d
just take her somewhere else and kill her.

To her surprise, she heard footsteps thudding down the hall. The jaguar swung around with

a snarl.

There was a kick, and the door flew open.

Tyler ran through the door. He shifted into wolf form as he ran, and flew through the air,
knocking the jaguar off the bed. They both tumbled to the floor with a crash, and there were snarls of
fury. She twisted and craned her neck to see what was happening.

The jaguar swiped Tyler’s side, raking open his flank and drawing blood. She cried out at
the sight of it, feeling the ghost of his wounds as if they were her own.

Tyler twisted around, seized the jaguar’s throat, and ripped it wide open.

Gwenneth swallowed a shriek of panic as Tyler quickly shifted back into human form. He
was stark naked, the shreds of his clothing scattered on the floor around him. He quickly pulled on a
pair of pants and a T-shirt, stuck his feet into a pair of loafers, and fished a key out of his pocket.

Then he used the key to uncuff Gwenneth from the bed. She sat up, ears ringing, blood
pouring from her lip.

Dark stains splotched his T-shirt. “You’re bleeding,” she said, her vision swimming.

“Look who’s talking.” He grabbed a knapsack off the floor.

“Why did you come back?” She stood up and swayed, and her stomach lurched. Her head
was pounding and the ringing in her ears made it hard to hear.

“Because I knew he was hinky. No time to talk – we’ve got to get out of here, now,” he
said. “When his buddies come back, every cop on the island is going to be hunting for us.”

“Take the anklet off me,” she said. She was still trapped in human form.

“Not right now, thanks.”

He snatched a knapsack that was sitting on top of a chest of drawers. She stumbled over to
the coffee table and grabbed her purse, then he got a firm grip on her arm and rushed her out the door
and down the hallway, towards the rear staircase.

“Take the damn anklet off! You might need me to shift and defend us!” she protested, then
spat out a mouthful of blood as they hurried down the stairs.

He snorted. “Nahh, I’ll take my chances.”

He paused when they stepped outside, the bright sunlight of the day blasting them. “Give me
a minute. I need to think where we can go. I could call Maji,” he muttered. “But I hate to get him
involved in this. Whatever this is.”

“I know where to go,” she said. He glanced at her suspiciously.

“Look, as you already pointed out, I’m a criminal. That means I know people in low places.
People who would hide us from the cops.”

“Fine,” he bit out, but he didn’t look happy about it.

She’d memorized numerous escape routes on the island, as she did with every city, every
town, every place she visited or lived in. She quickly led him down alleyways, through narrow side
streets, heading towards the shanty town. She didn’t bother to check to see if he was following her;
she was too busy trying not to pass out.

* * *

“Just for a day or two,” she said to Tana as they limped up to a corrugated tin shack.

Tana watched her anxiously.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured her.

Tana looked at Tyler with suspicion. “Who is this man? Did he hurt you?” Her little fangs
briefly descended and she let out a low, feline hiss.

“He didn’t hurt me,” she assured Tana. “It was the police who hurt both of us.”

Tana nodded, satisfied. A beatdown from the police was something that she could
empathize with.

Tana’s little gang had gathered around, and Pern stepped forward, holding his hand out.

“Pay the man,” she said to Tyler. “They’re giving us shelter, and taking a risk.”

“So I’m the one who should pay him? I just saved your life,” he growled, but pulled out his
wallet.

“One thousand milukas,” the boy said.

Gwenneth held up her hand. “No. Five hundred. And that’s very generous.”

Pern shrugged. “Can’t blame a man for trying.”

A man? This kid’s voice hadn’t changed yet. She remembered Farruki saying that the day
before, and grimaced. That man was the role model for these kids, and there was nothing she could do
about it.

Tyler peeled off the bills and slapped them into the boy’s hand. He turned and walked
away.

Tana frowned. “I do not think that Farruki saw you come here, but I can’t be sure. If he saw
you, he might turn you in to the police,” she said, her voice low. “He does that sometimes, if they
offer a high enough price. That is against the guild rules,” she added, in scandalized tones.

“Be careful. Don’t get on his bad side.” Gwenneth leaned on Tyler so she wouldn’t fall over.
He felt warm and strong and solid.

“If I see him come in, I will warn you with a sound like this.” She put her hands on either

side of her mouth and made a bird-calling sound.

Gwenneth nodded. The simple motion made the world swim around her. “Wash your hands
before you eat,” she added, her voice hoarse.

Tyler slid aside a sheet of tin that served as a door, and she followed him. Now they were
in a dimly lit, makeshift room with a floor made of sheets of plywood cardboard lying on dirt.

“Five hundred milukas a night, huh?” He sank down to the floor, breathing hard. “I was
expecting something a little swankier for that price.” He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a key.
“I’m taking the anklet off you for now, so you can shift and heal. If you try to run, I swear to God I’ll
take you down.”

She let out a low growl of anger at that, but she extended her ankle and let him unsnap the
anklet. She was in no physical shape to try to run for it right now, and she was sure he knew that.

Then she stripped off her clothes and shifted into leopard form, and he followed suit,
shifting into wolf form. His fur was matted and spiky with blood.

They both curled up on the floor and lay there for several hours, not moving, as their shifter
powers worked their magic and healed their torn and battered flesh. The aches in her body receded,
her lip knit back together and her dizziness subsided.

It was growing dark out. The opportunity to steal the crown had passed. She wasn’t dead
or in prison – yet – but somewhere out there, a very, very angry Corran and Nadette would be hunting
for her.

Tyler rippled and his hair sank back into his body and his snout sank into his face. His ears
folded back into his skull and his tail vanished. Gwenneth tensed, prepared to fight if he tried to put
the anklet back on, but he reached out to stroke her fur and she relaxed. He ran his fingers through her
coat, caressing her, and just as a purr began rumbling up through her throat, she felt a sharp jab.

And just like that she was human again. Stark naked and human. A harmless-looking
mechanical pencil fell out of his hand and rolled across the dirt floor.

Motherfucker. That was the second time he’d gotten one over on her.

She lunged for the door, and he was on top of her in a moment. Stark naked, pressing her
down into the dirt. The warmth, the hardness of him…she let out a shudder of desire and bit her lip to
keep from whimpering. His hot breath was in her ear, and his thick, hard cock pressed against her
stomach as he pinned her wrists above her head.

“Going somewhere?” he murmured, his voice a low, seductive rumble.

“What did you do to me?” she demanded.

“Don’t worry, it won’t last more than a day. You’re not the only one who travels prepared.
Just a little concoction that our lab scientists cooked up.” He grinned. He rolled off her, and she

lunged for the makeshift door. He grabbed her ankle, fingers closing firmly around it, and she heard a
click.

He’d snapped the copper anklet back on her.

“Take that off!” She took a swing at him; he batted her arm away.

“Not until I get answers. And you can try to pick the lock all you want – it was designed by
my employers, and they’re very good. So you’re stuck with me until I say otherwise – unless you want
to stay in human form forever, that is.”

She sat there in the dirt, breathing hard, then folded her arms sullenly across her chest.

Finally she turned away from him, reached into her purse, and pulled out a t-shirt dress and
underpants. The dress that she’d worn to seduce Tyler was ruined, slashed by the jaguar cop and
crusted with her own blood.

Tyler pulled out a t shirt and a pair of shorts from his back
pack.

“Now. Answers,” he said, sitting between her and the door.

“I…I can’t really tell you anything. Except that I didn’t kill anyone,” she finally said. “I swear I
didn’t.” She suddenly found it incredibly important that he believe her. Not just because he was more
likely to drag her butt off to Interpol if he thought she was a murderess…because she didn’t want him
to think she was evil.

“I know. That’s the main reason I came back,” he said. “If I really thought you’d murdered
two security guards and a family, I’d probably have left you to the jaguar. I’m not against the death
penalty.”

“What do you mean, you know? You accused me of murder right before you handed me off
to that psycho.” She rubbed her face.

“I just had a feeling all along that something was off,” he said. “I mean, I saw the look on
your face when I asked you about the murders. You were shocked; you really had no idea. And
you’re supposed to be this master thief with this fearsome reputation, but something doesn’t click.”
He looked at her. “Whoever that murdering thief is, you’re not her.”

“I’m not?”

“Hell, no.” He shook his head decisively. “You’re not that good.”

“Hey!” she said indignantly, kicking out at him. He snorted and dodged her kick.

“Come on, sweetheart. I made you at the museum, casing the joint. And then drawing
attention to yourself by sticking up for Maji? Very noble…and also very unprofessional.”

“That asshole was being a dick to him!” she protested, which seemed to amuse him.

“Yes, that’s what assholes generally do, isn’t it?” He smiled at her. “They act like dicks.

That isn’t the point. The girl with the reputation as a master thief, she wouldn’t have exposed herself
like that. Even today, when you attempted to seduce me. You weren’t that good at that either.”

“Fuck. You.” Her eyes glittered with tears of humiliation. She was furious with him, furious
with herself. Why did she even care what he thought?

“Oh, not that I wouldn’t have been interested, under any other circumstances.” His eyes
glimmered with laughter. “But did you think I wouldn’t question how one second you couldn’t wait to
get away from me, and the next you were practically throwing yourself at me?”

She gave an offended sniff. “Well don’t flatter yourself that I wanted you. It was strictly
business.”

“Well you’re not very good at your line of work, then, because letting me switch drinks on
you was a rank amateur move. You shouldn’t have taken your eyes off me after you slipped me that
mickey, and you shouldn’t have taken a sip of your own drink. And when you did, your hands were
shaking.”

“With disgust,” she said indignantly. He just looked at her skeptically.

“Uh-huh. Sure. So tell me what the hell is going on here. You’re not Rhonwen Morgan,
master thief and killer – but you look remarkably like her. Relative? Sister, I’m guessing?”

She looked away.

“Okay. So you’re protecting your sister.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

She shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? The immediate, pressing question is,
what’s our next move?”

“We’ll lay low until tomorrow and re-evaluate,” Tyler said. “If you can have your friend
bring us a newspaper in the morning, we’ll know exactly how much trouble we’re in.”

She sighed and glanced around the filthy room.

“I guess I’m stuck with you,” she said grudgingly.

“I guess you are.” He pulled a bottle of water out of his knapsack and handed it to her, then
took one out for himself. “So,” he said, “what happened after I left the room?”

“He started hitting me and screaming questions at me—” She paused as Tyler’s face went
hairy and his eyes blazed with anger.

“I shouldn’t have left you with him,” he growled.

“Well, in fairness to you, you didn’t have any way of knowing he’d react that way.” Why
am I sticking up for him? she scolded herself. He made an utter fool of me.

Then again, he had come back and risked his life to save hers.

“The weird thing is,” she continued, “his men acted like they were really unhappy with
him. When he first started hitting me, they were arguing with him, telling him he couldn’t treat me like
that because he didn’t have any proof of anything yet, which is true. But he was yelling at me,
screaming, who sent you to steal the Eye? And then he sent them out of the room, and it didn’t seem
like they wanted to go.”

Something was wrong here. First her sister had accepted the job to steal the Eye and never
bothered to show.

Then this corrupt cop had not only seemed to know that someone had been sent to steal it,
but he’d tried to murder her after barely trying to question her. He really didn’t seem to care that
much about getting answers; it was more like he wanted to know if she would talk or not. He could
have interrogated her, tortured her to get her to confess – but he seemed more concerned with killing
her as quickly as possible. If anything, it seemed like he was protecting whoever ordered the theft of
the crown jewel – because if he killed her, she’d never be able to reveal who it was.

Of course, she wasn’t Rhonwen and she had no idea who the client was – but the cop
wouldn’t know that.

She shook her head. “I wish I knew – that’s the god’s honest truth.”

So why was the cop trying to protect whoever wanted to steal the jewel? Was the entire job
a setup from the start?

In fact, maybe that was why her sister hadn’t fulfilled her end of the bargain, she mused.
Maybe Rhonwen had accepted the job and then found out that someone was setting her up.

That would make the most sense, she thought. But why wouldn’t she have informed the
Shadow Lord about the betrayal? Unless…unless he was somehow behind the betrayal.

The thought chilled her to the bone. The Shadow Lord was one of the most powerful
members of the Thieves Guild. He was ruthless, vicious, and the tentacles of his organization
stretched worldwide. If he wanted you dead, you were dead.

But that kind of betrayal would be suicide for him. He was a broker. He accepted jobs, and
down payments, from carefully vetted clients and passed them along only to the crème de la crème of
thieves. For him to hire a thief and then betray them – if word got out, he would be the one with a kill
order out on his head, no matter how scary he was. And he was quite scary – he was a massive lion
shifter with a reputation for eviscerating his enemies – but if he was betraying his employees, there
would be mutiny and, someday soon, a hail of silver bullets sizzling through his flesh.

She pursed her lips, thinking hard.

Nothing was making sense here. Although the Shadow Lord – nobody knew his real name –
was vicious when crossed, he also had kind of a Robin Hood reputation. He wouldn’t steal from just
anybody and he was known to be fairly generous with the needy. He also ran a strictly by-the-book
operation.

But who else could have set Rhonwen up? Who’d known about the theft? The client – who
wanted the crown stolen, so he or she was hardly going to tip off the police beforehand. Henri – but
he was the leader of a gang of thieves, so he would be the last person to go to the police. And Henri,
Nadette and the rest of the gang had only learned about the theft after Rhonwen had failed to go
through with it and the Shadow Lord had issued his kill order.

Tyler was watching her face closely. “What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Got anything to eat?” she asked, nodding at the backpack, and he
pulled out a box of protein bars and handed her one. He ate one also, chewing thoughtfully and never
taking his eyes off her.

Chapter Eight

“I got the paper,” Tana said, handing Gwenneth a greasy paper bag, which held the
newspaper and a bunch of groceries. She’d also brought a tray with two cups of coffee and breakfast
pastries she’d got from a vendor on the outskirts of the shanty town; Gwenneth had given her enough
money to buy breakfast for everybody.

“Anything interesting in the paper?” she asked, taking a gulp of coffee from the Styrofoam
cup. She wanted caffeine in her system to brace herself before she saw her picture plastered all over
the front page.

Tana gave her a puzzled look. “You know I can’t read. You said you might come back and
teach us, but…” She shrugged her narrow shoulders.

But Rhonwen never came back. I swear to God, when I track her down…

“I’m sorry. I wanted to,” she said, at a loss for what to say.

“It’s okay. You sent us the money every month. Just like you promised.” Tana’s tone was
surprised and happy, as if a grownup doing what they promised was a rare and beautiful treat.
Gwenneth remembered what that felt like.

Gwenneth fished the newspaper out of the bag, stomach clenching with anxiety. How bad
was it going to be?

“Should I give him his breakfast?” Tana asked, inclining her head at their tin shack.

Gwenneth glanced at the shack; Tyler had been up most of the night, but he’d finally fallen
asleep around dawn. She’d managed to slide out of the room without waking him. She’d tried yet
again to take the copper anklet off, but with no luck.

“Don’t wake him yet,” Gwenneth said. “Let me read the paper first.”

As she read it, she grew increasingly alarmed and confused.

There was an announcement that there had been an attempt to steal the Eye of the Jaguar and
an assassination attempt on the king, and because of that, the parade had been cancelled and so had all
the king’s public appearances for the foreseeable future.

Police Chief Angara and Raa, Witch Doctor of Khaliji, Angarawere quoted in the article.
Angara and Raa were cousins, Gwenneth recalled the recon she’d done on Khaliji before she came.

“This attack on the sacred nation of Khaliji will not be tolerated. We vow to catch these
miscreants and bury them deep in a dungeon where they will never see the light of day,” Police Chief
Angara was quoted as saying.

Raa proclaimed that it was his magic which had kept the king safe, and vowed that his magic
would also lead to the swift exposure and capture of those who threatened their beloved kingdom.

Had there been an assassination attempt and an attempted heist on the same night? Had
Nadette or Corran come here with a secret agenda? She couldn’t see either one of them accepting an

assignment as an assassin.

And there’s no mention of Tyler killing the police captain.

Why not? Shouldn’t it be all over the news, along with their pictures? What the hell was
going on here?

She doubted that she and Tyler were off the hook. What seemed much more likely was that
the police planned to capture them quietly and then she and Tyler would vanish from the face of the
Earth.

“I need to go for a little while,” she said to Tana. “Don’t wake him up; we can give him his
breakfast when I come back.”

As she headed out of the shanty town, she cursed the stupid copper bracelet that clung tight
to her ankle. Tyler had steadfastly refused to take it off unless she told him everything. Like that
would happen.

She’d tried picking it with the hairpin she always kept stuck in her hair that was designed to
be bent into the shape of a handcuff key. No dice. Whoever had designed that anklet knew their stuff.

She really wanted to shift into leopard form when she left the shanty town, in the hopes that
she might not be recognized. Either way, she needed to find Nadette and Corran before they found
her. Hiding from them forever wasn’t an option. And she couldn’t take Tyler with her – she knew that
even though he’d bent the rules for her, he was still basically a law and order type. So he knew she
wasn’t a murderess…but he believed her sister was, and he would feel obligated to stick with her
until he could track her down.

She was sure her sister wasn’t a murderess. She couldn’t have changed that much. Could
she?

But would she had killed those people? What would Gwenneth do? Would she let Tyler track

her down – even help him?

She couldn’t let herself think that way. They might be estranged, but Rhonwen was all the
family she had in the world.

She gulped down the rest of her coffee as she headed into town. She’d shed her brown wig
and glasses and brown contacts. When Tyler fell asleep, she’d pulled a frosted blonde wig out of her
purse and donned that, along with blue contacts. She’d have to pray that no cops recognized her.

The only thing she could think to do was go and meet up with Nadette at the time and place
they’d agreed on when they’d drawn up their plans – a small park in town. That was where she’d
been supposed to meet her and give her the crown. The park was a popular one with couples looking
to get pregnant, because it had a fountain that was supposedly imbued with the powers of fertility.
There were people there at all hours of the day and night. That might slow Nadette down long enough
for her to get a word in before Nadette tried to kill her – assuming she even showed up.

* * *

Tyler watched through the door and waited until she’d walked away. He gave it another
minute, until Tana had also gone, then slid out from behind the sheet of metal that served as a door.
Was letting her go too risky? Not really, he decided, because even if she did manage to shake him,
there was no way she was getting that ankle bracelet off, and as long as it was on, she was stuck with
him.

He moved swiftly, staying far enough behind her that she couldn’t spot him. As he jogged
after her, he passed what looked like piles of refuse, but he knew that they concealed people who
called the garbage-heaps home. He scented people and shifters as he moved through the shanty town,
but everybody maintained their distance. Probably because of the bribe he’d paid the gang of street
urchins.

Gwenneth moved towards the better part of town. He wore a cap pulled low, and would
have to hope that it disguised him enough.

At the outskirts of the shanty town, he stopped to buy a newspaper, and read it as he
walked.

Once they left the shanty town, there were soldiers on patrol everywhere. He kept his head
down, pretending to be very absorbed in the newspaper, and tried to comprehend what he’d read.
Had there really been an assassination attempt? At least some of the cops here were corrupt, and the
newspaper was state-owned, so he couldn’t believe anything he read there. And why hadn’t they
mentioned him killing the police captain? That seemed like the kind of thing that would make the
news.

He watched the leopard stroll through an iron archway and into a park. At the edge of the
park, he stopped at a vending truck and bought two donuts.

Then he called out, “Hey, Tana!” to a stand of bamboo. Tana poked her head out from
behind the bamboo, scowling, and walked over.

“What?” she said irritably. “How did you see me?”

“I didn’t see you. You’re too good for that.” He handed her a donut. She beamed at the
compliment.

“I scented you,” he added. “I’m a wolf. We have the best sense of smell in the animal
kingdom.”

“Oh.” She nodded with understanding. Then she looked at the donut with a smile. “Two
breakfasts in one day!” Tana shoved half the donut into her mouth.

“Why did you follow her?” he asked.

“I wanted to make sure she’d be all right. I think all the soldiers are looking for her. I

thought if they spotted her, I could make a distraction and she could escape.”

He nodded approvingly. “You’re a good friend.”

“You think so?” she gave him a powdered- sugar smile, then her face grew serious again. “I
think maybe we did something wrong last time she was here. Maybe I did something wrong.”

“Like what?” Tyler felt frustration and pity for the little jaguar cub. What kind of chance
did she have, growing up in a place like this?

“I don’t know at all. She was taking care of us, and she brought us food and clothing and
toys, and she was starting to teach me to read, and I read the whole alphabet but I was having a hard
time…and then she said she had to go, and she would send money until she could come back. And she
left for a whole year. But she did send the money every month,” she added, perking up a little.

“How did you meet her?” Tyler asked curiously.

“Oh, she hired us to help her and her friend create a distraction. They were here to steal
some jewels. Then after that she came around to visit us a lot, and she stayed for months. But then she
left. Maybe it was because I couldn’t learn the alphabet. Do you think that’s it?” She screwed her face
up anxiously, looking up at Tyler.

“Of course not. I’m sure she only left because she had to,” Tyler said, shocked. “She came
back, didn’t she? And she sent all that money?”

He glanced over at the park. “I need to go in there, and I need you to stay here. If you come
into the park, you could be putting her in danger. If I need help, I’ll howl for you, okay?”

She frowned suspiciously, but nodded and jogged back over to the giant bamboo shoots,
ducking behind them.

He quickly moved into the park, sniffing at the air and following her trail. He wound his
way along narrow garden paths, past passionate couples who were groping each other on park
benches and in the bushes.

She was in a small clearing towards the back of the park, and she wasn’t alone. As he
rounded the corner, he heard a woman’s voice, speaking with a trace of a French accent.

“So, Rhonwen, do you want to die fast or slow?”

Chapter Nine

Gwenneth was backed up against the gnarled trunk of a banyan tree, bracing herself. She’d
been stupid to come; she couldn’t shift and defend herself, and Nadette was going to rip her face off,
chew it up and swallow it.

“Nadette, it wasn’t my fault!” she said desperately.

“It never is, is it? I think I’ll rip your voicebox out first.”

“Is that what you think? Because I think I’ll finally get to find out what hyena blood tastes
like.” Tyler’s voice made Gwenneth start as he burst through the bushes.

At the same time she heard footsteps thudding down the trail, and Corran came dashing up,
out of breath, hair mussed, holding a knife in his hand. Gwenneth sniffed; she could smell silver.
Well, he’d come prepared, all right.

“I don’t know which one of you two bitches I should kill first,” he snapped, eyes blazing
with rage, and then he spotted Tyler and froze where he stood.

He glanced at Tyler and then at Gwenneth with a mingled look of fury and betrayal.

“I’d suggest neither of them, if you want your heart to stay inside your ribcage,” Tyler said,
moving protectively in front of Gwenneth.

Corran looked at Tyler standing there growling and bristling, and then at Gwenneth. “Well,
well. This explains so much, Ronny.” There was a world of bitterness behind his words.

“It doesn’t explain a goddamn thing!” Nadette growled at Corran. “But it figures you’d be
here to save your princess.”

“She’s not my princess.” Corran gripped the handle of his knife tightly, avoiding
Gwenneth’s eyes. “Get over yourself. We’ve been betrayed, and I came here to find out who set me
up.”

“What do you mean, who set you up? What happened?” Gwenneth demanded. Her heart
was still racing, but she was paying close attention to the dynamics between Corran and Nadette. As
far as she could tell, her sister had had a thing with Corran at some point and then dumped him. And
Nadette still carried a torch for Corran that had never been extinguished.

“We don’t know that we were set up. He wimped out and failed to go through with the job,
just like you did,” Nadette said, shooting him a look of disgust.

“No, I paid attention to my instincts, which are never wrong. Except in affairs of the heart,”
he added with a bitter glance at Gwenneth. “I felt that something was off at the palace. They were
searching all the visiting dignitaries far too thoroughly, to the point where a number of them got

offended and stomped off. I heard the visitors shouting that nothing like this had ever happened
before.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Nadette grumbled.

“They also ran everybody through metal detectors, which had never been done before.
Fortunately all of my tools are plastic, but the level of security at the palace and the way the guards
were looking at everybody…they were expecting something every specific.”

“He didn’t even try to sabotage the power supply,” Nadette said with disgust. “If he had, I
could have attempted to take the Eye myself.”

“No, because I could tell that somebody had told them about my specific plans. There was
a doorway leading to the basement, where I needed to go to cut off the power supply. It wasn’t
guarded at all – all that security swarming everywhere, but they’d left the hallway, and that doorway,
completely unguarded. Open. It was like an invitation.”

He looked at Gwenneth and Nadette. “So who knew about my specific plans? You two.”

“I didn’t do it,” Nadette and Gwenneth said at the same time.

“I nearly got killed by a police captain yesterday,” Gwenneth said. “I was at my friend’s
hotel room, and someone apparently tipped him off that I was there.” She didn’t tell them it had been
Tyler, because things were already complicated enough. “The police captain started screaming at me,
hitting me in the face, asking me who sent me there…and then he shifted and he would have killed me
if Tyler hadn’t burst in and killed him first.”

“Wait, he killed a cop last night? Why hasn’t it been on the news?” Nadette said, while
Corran directed a look of utter loathing at Tyler.

“You know, what would help would be if we could find out who the client was who hired
us,” Gwenneth said.

Before she could continue, Tyler looked around and sniffed at the air.

“Tana! I told you to stay out of the park!” he called. Tana, looking sheepish, stepped
through the bushes.

Nadette scowled. “I thought I smelled jaguar cub,” she said, looking at Tana with
annoyance. “Who’s the brat?”

Tana glared at Nadette and balled her fists, and Corran shoot her an irritated look. “Really,
Nadette, that’s hardly necessary.”

“Watch how you talk to her,” Gwenneth snapped. “Tana, I’m fine. I want you to go back
now. I’ll be back soon.”

Tana looked as if she were about to argue, but then she let out a sigh and turned and
scampered back through the bushes.

“Anyway. As we were saying. The client may know who wanted to set us up. Nadette, can
you find out from Henri?”

She shrugged. “I can try.” She cast a glance in the direction that Tana had gone.

“What does she know about us? Who is she?”

“She’s Thieves Guild, so she’s not going to say a word, and she doesn’t know anything about
what we’re doing here. Since when do Guild members tell each other what jobs they’re working?”
Gwenneth said impatiently. “She’s just a street urchin from the Shantytown.”

“I’ll make some inquiries about what’s going on at the palace,” Corran said. “I’ve got a
few royal connections here. Very distant relations. I did notice something odd at the palace. The king
didn’t come out himself. They said that he was too ill and he was saving his strength for the parade.
His wives were there. And only a few of his older children. He’s got eleven children, and usually the
whole family comes out to greet everybody. And his wives…odd thing. Wife number two seemed
fine, but the number one wife seemed to be under a great deal of stress, and she had more guards
hovering over her, as well.”

“That doesn’t jibe with the report that there was an attempt on his life yesterday, does it?”
Tyler mused. “He was too ill to come out, so he must have been surrounded by doctors, nurses,
guards…how would anybody have gotten to him? And there was no detail at all about what kind of
attempt it was. Shooting? Bomb? Someone got past all his guards, with all that security swarming
through the palace, and tried to stab him?”

“It’s going to take me a couple of days to get any information,” Nadette said. She glanced at
Corran and Tyler. “It would be safer if I met up with Gwenneth alone. The more of us there are, the
more attention it will attract.”

“Bullshit,” Corran growled. “I’m not turning my back on either of you.”

“Agreed,” Tyler said coolly. “Let’s all meet up here in three days’ time, same time of day.”

Corran and Nadette both backed away slowly, watching each other and Gwenneth and
Tyler, and finally headed off in different directions.

“Not a lot of trust among your little friends, is there?” Tyler said, quirking an eyebrow.

She shrugged. “You know what they say. No honor among thieves.”

“They think you’re Rhonwen. Why didn’t you tell them?”

“For all you know, I could be Rhonwen,” she said defiantly.

“Nah. But I’ve decided I’m going to call you Kitty until I find out your real name.”

They were almost out of the park when he paused.

“Soldiers,” he muttered. “Looking at us.” And before she knew it, he’d grabbed her and
pushed her up against a tree.

He tangled his fingers in her hair and kissed her hungrily. He tasted of coffee and sweet
pastry and desire. Her lips parted and she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him tight up
against her.

His rock-hard body pressed against hers, and her thighs parted. He slid between her legs,
and she felt the outline of his thick cock pressing against her stomach. She kissed him back hard,
eagerly, devouring him.

Desire ran through her veins like liquid fire and she felt wetness seeping from her pussy.
The kiss went on and on, his hands cradling her face. She moaned with pleasure and thrilled to his
answering growl.

Finally, after many minutes, she pulled back to gasp for breath.

“Whoa,” he murmured. She glanced around, dazed.

“No soldiers,” she murmured.

“I have a confession.”

“There never were any soldiers?”

“Oh, there were. But they left a long time ago.” He flashed her a rueful grin, and after a
minute she grinned too, and then they were both laughing.

“Sorry,” he added, not sounding sorry at all.

Chapter Ten

“Thank you for saving me yet again,” Gwenneth said grudgingly. She was sitting on a
wooden box in their tiny hideaway, which was lit only by the flickering light of a kerosene lantern
sitting on a barrel. The air reeked of kerosene and the odors of garbage drifting in through the gaps in
the walls.

Tyler was pacing the plywood floor, uncomfortably close. Then again, for her, being in the
same room with him was uncomfortably close. Every time he came near, she became shockingly
aware of her own body. The beating of her heart. The sudden sensitivity of her skin. The wetness
and aching need pulsing between her legs.

“Oh, it was my pleasure. Really. It was loads of fun.” He swung around to scowl at her,
and his tone was exasperated. “You know what would be even more fun? If you told me what the hell
was really going on and let me help you.”

“That’s your idea of fun?” She raised an eyebrow at him, flashing him an innocent look.
“That’s not exactly my idea of fun. You know what’s fun? Roller coaster rides, especially the really
scary ones where you go upside down and drop straight down. Do you like roller coasters?”

He made a scoffing sound. “I like how swiftly and skilfully you changed the subject,
causing me to forget what I was asking you. Oh wait, you completely failed.”

Tyler sat down on the box next to her and his knee brushed against hers. A delicious
sensation of heat washed over her, and she shivered.

“Hey,” she protested weakly. “Personal space. You’re violating it.”

“So move.” He smiled at her with a hint of roguishness.

“No! I was here first.” And she didn’t want to move. She wanted to stay close to him. In
fact, she wanted to be even closer. It took all her willpower not to slide up against him, press up
against his body…

“Okay. So stay.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter either way. She wanted it to matter. “I
think it would help if I knew your real name.”

“Kathy works just fine.”

He let out a sigh that indicated she was trying his patience. “Can you give me just a little
help here? I saved you from the cop. I stopped your friends from killing you. I’ve got the entire
Khaliji police force looking for me because I stuck my neck out for you, and I don’t know the first
thing about you…except that you’ve got the face of a thief and a cold-blooded killer, but you’re not
her.” He peered at her closely. “And I just saw you twitch when I said the words ‘cold-blooded
killer’. So I’m guessing you don’t think Rhonwen committed those murders.”

She looked away.

“Her hairs were found clutched in the hand of one of her victims and on the body of one of
her other victims. Pretty strong evidence,” he said.

She glanced back at him, startled. Could that be true?

“Okay,” she said carefully. “The person you are talking about is supposedly a master thief.
Leaving behind evidence like that – does that sort of carelessness jibe with the kind of criminal
mastermind you’re talking about?”

He gave a slight inclination of his head. “Fair enough. It doesn’t. But this past year,
Rhonwen has been getting sloppier and sloppier with each job she’s done, and then she committed the
murders. For instance, she set off an alarm at one job and barely escaped. She snagged a piece of her
clothing and left behind a patch of cloth at another job. So it was a slow progression. Something
happened to her. Something changed. Maybe she got addicted to drugs, maybe she got tired of the
game, maybe she just got over-confident…”

He was still watching her. “And I’m guessing you haven’t been in touch with her all this
time, so you didn’t know about any of this and you don’t know for sure whether or not she killed those
people.”

She pressed her lips together and didn’t answer.

“Okay, then tell me about yourself. Anything. Here, I’ll start. I’ll share my deepest, darkest
secret. If you ever tell my friends this, they’ll torture me with it forever. Are you ready?” His grin
was so infectious, so roguish, that she couldn’t help but return it.

In the back of her mind, she thought, He thinks I’m going to meet his friends?

“Go on.” She met his gaze with an amused smile. “Am I going to lose all respect for you?”

“We’re about to find out exactly how open-minded you are.” He looked around the room
and said in a lowered voice, “I was a huge New Kids on the Block fan when I was growing up, and I
had an autographed poster of them on my wall.”

“Shut the hell up! You did not!” She choked on her own laughter, and he said, in a mock-
wounded tone, “I knew I shouldn’t have told you that.”

“No, probably not. Oh, dear lord. I’m sorry, I can’t top that. Let’s see, the first time I ever
rode a roller coaster, I’d eaten so many hot dogs right before that I barfed over the side and it
splattered on the people underneath us and I was mortified. I almost never rode a roller coaster again,
but my sister begged and begged, so I tried it one more time, on a crazy-scary ride called the
Neckbreaker, and I was hooked.”

And as soon as she said, that, she could have bitten her own tongue off. She’d just
acknowledged that she had a sister and identified an actual place they’d both visited. Of course
they’d both used fake names, even back then, but still…

If he’d noticed, he didn’t say anything about it.

“So our first date should be a roller coaster ride, but I definitely, positively, will not buy
you dinner until afterwards.” His lips tugged upwards in a smile. “Also, this is giving me some ideas
for new nicknames for you, Miss Barfy the Vampire Slayer.”

“Did I agree to a date with you? I did not. Especially not if you call me Barfy.”

“No promises. Anyway. In all seriousness. I am asking you not to sneak off again, my
mysterious cat woman. I might not get there in time to save your neck next time.”

“And why exactly does that matter to you?”

He frowned. “It just does.”

“That’s not an answer.” She wanted him to say that she mattered to him. That he cared
about her, that he didn’t want her to get hurt.

“Well, aside from the fact that I was raised to be a decent person and I would never stand
by while a woman’s in danger and not try to help…”

She bit her lip and looked away. He didn’t care about her specifically. He was just being a
typical Boy Scout kinda guy.

He reached out and trailed his fingers along her cheek and brushed a lock of hair from her
face, and she stifled a gasp.

“Aside from that, there’s…come on. You must have felt it too,” he said. Her breath
quickened, and she could feel her cheeks heating.

She struggled for words. She was tired of fighting this. There was no telling what tomorrow
might bring, but here, now…why couldn’t they be together? After all, there might not even be a
tomorrow.

“Felt what?” she said. “You mean…this?”

Boldly, she turned to face him, grabbed his hand and pressed it against her chest, right over
her pounding heart. She held her hand over his and looked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to
make the next move. To claim her, to take her.

He moved even closer, reached out for her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and –
hurled her across the tiny room. She barely had time to gasp for breath before he landed on top of
her, then a huge explosion rocked the room. Right before the explosion, she thought she heard the
sound of Tana’s bird song.

Her ears rang and she blinked hard. The room was spinning. She felt Tyler move off her,
then she heard clanging sounds as he kicked the tins sheet walls off them.

He grabbed her by the arm and they stumbled out into the hot, humid night.

She heard the bird call sound again, louder, insistent.

Even though the room was spinning, she cupped her hands around her mouth and called

back, letting out a trilling series of notes to let Tana know she’d heard her. A little late, but she’d
heard her.

Tyler hauled her along down narrow alleyways between the shanties. Tana shot out from
between two buildings and grabbed at her arm. “Go,” she hissed. “Farruki has betrayed you. We
will distract the police. We are all moving to the Fallback. That’s where we’ll be waiting.”

Before Gwenneth could say anything else, Tana ducked into a giant heap of broken
plywood, and Tyler dragged her away from there, away from the too-close sound of angry men
shouting.

“Wait, wait, wait,” she begged, but he kept dragging her without stopping. She wasn’t
Rhonwen; she didn’t know where the Fallback was. She needed to go after Tana and get directions.
Tyler kept dragging her behind him, ignoring her protests. Her arm ached, and she tried to pull away
from him, and then she had to be silent because the police were getting too close. Her ears still rang
from the explosion, and she gasped for breath and struggled not to fall as waves of dizziness washed
over her.

Tyler came to an abrupt stop, and she saw that he was carrying his knapsack and her purse.
He reached into his knapsack, knelt down, and unlocked the copper anklet.

“We need to heal and we need to be able to move faster,” he said. She realized that blood
was running from his nose and from cuts on his forehead. In her dazed state, she hadn’t noticed
before.

“Do not run off and leave me,” he added sternly.

Then he shifted, his whole body rippling and melting into wolf form, and she shifted too,
sinking down on to all fours.

She briefly considered ignoring his orders and fleeing, but he seized both her knapsack and

her purse in his mouth, and turned and ran. She ran after him, loping in the dark, her night vision
blazing.

She could have left him then. She could have climbed the mountains of debris and vanished
into the night and run away to freedom. But she didn’t want to be free, she realized. Not free of him,
anyway.

Tyler kept running and running, and she followed him, wishing she was in human form so
she could speak. Where the hell was he taking her? He led her out of the shanty town and towards
the jungle.

She followed him, growling in protest, but he ignored her.

He led her to a ramshackle patchwork of wooden pallets and corrugated tin, and stopped in
front, shifting into human form and dropping the purse and knapsack to the ground. She shifted back
into human form too, and they stood there, naked and sweating.

“Damn it, I don’t know where the Fallback is,” she cried between gulps of breath. “I don’t

know how to find the kids again.”

“We can’t go near them anyway right now. We’re poison,” Tyler said. While he was in
wolf form he’d healed. His nose had stopped bleeding and his cuts had vanished. “We’d just bring the
soldiers down on their heads.”

He was right, she realized unhappily. As long the police force was after her, she couldn’t
help them.

“Stay out here for just one minute,” he said. He grabbed her purse and his knapsack and
knocked on the door. He didn’t trust her enough to leave her purse with her, she mused; well, that
wasn’t surprising.

The door swung open, and Maji stuck his head out. He gave her a quick wave, and she
waved back. Tyler quickly slipped inside, shutting the door behind him. She shifted back to leopard
form and hurried over to the door, pressing her head against it. In leopard form her hearing was
enhanced; she could hear Tyler saying something to Maji. It sounded something like, “So the sister
was here on the island a year ago, with an Englishman. I’m pretty sure I know who that is. What else
have you been able to find out?”

She cursed silently to herself. Bastard. So all that time he’d been acting like he wanted to
get to know her better, he’d really been trying to get to her sister. Was there some kind of reward for
catching Rhonwen? Probably. Or maybe it was just Brownie points for him, Mr. Law and Order. Hurt
stabbed at her deeply. Why had she been stupid enough to think that he wanted to help her?

“Nothing else, I am afraid. The woman came here to the shantytown and spent time with
Tana and her friends off and on for many weeks, apparently. Her English friend did not come here, so
I am told. I was not living here then, so I don’t know what she did while she was here.”

She felt fury blazing inside her, both at him and at herself and her naiveté.

She backed slowly away from the door, desperately trying to think what she should do next.
Should she run off without her purse and try to scrounge up some clothes and money somewhere on
her own?

The door swung open, and Tyler walked out. He flashed her a wink and a grin, then shifted
back into wolf form, massive and gray, with golden eyes gleaming at her.

Then, grabbing both bags in his mouth, he turned and ran off again.

Cursing under her breath, she shifted and followed him. She was tempted to tackle him and
grab her bag and run off, but he’d be a fearsome opponent, and he might also make such a ruckus he’d
bring the police down on their heads.

And if she ran off without the purse, she was screwed. She’d have no clothing, no money,
no passport, no burglary tools, none of the chemical concoctions she’d cooked up…

They finally stopped in a thick grove, and he tilted his head back and sniffed the air. Then
he shifted back into human form, and she followed suit.

“We lost them,” he said.

“Looks that way.” She couldn’t let on how angry she was, at least not until she got her purse
back.

“So we’re just going to hide out in the jungle?” she said, looking around.

“Not quite.” He grabbed both bags. “Follow my lead.”

“Let me have my purse.”

“Sorry, we still have some trust issues we need to resolve first.”

“You think?” she said bitterly. He didn’t bother to answer, just hurried ahead. With a groan,
she trotted after him.

“Where are we going, then?”

“You’ll see.” She didn’t like the gleam in his eye, but she stumbled along after him, legs
aching with exhaustion. What choice did she have? He was heading in the only safe direction.
Behind them were the soldiers, the shanty town and the city, which was crawling with cops.

He led her a short distance through the woods, and when they broke through the trees, she
stopped dead. She turned to glare at Tyler, and was even more annoyed to see that he was laughing.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she said.

Chapter Eleven

“Nope. Dead serious. This is our best shot at ditching the cops right now. Why, what’s the
problem?” He flashed a grin at her.

They had emerged from the woods to find themselves on the road leading to the Temple of
the Fertility Goddess.

There was an enormous wooden statue on each side of the road, with an arch stretching
from statue to statue. The statue on the left was GuRa, the fertility goddess, who had an enormous
pregnant belly and was suckling a baby at each breast. The statue on the right was a naked couple
having very enthusiastic sex; the female had her legs wrapped around the man’s waist and the man’s
head was thrown back in ecstasy.

A fat, full moon hung in the sky overhead, and the night breeze caressed them, wafting the
scent of flowers and burning incense.

Curled up at the feet of each statue were several female jaguars, panting in the heat, their
pink tongues lolling. Guardians of the cult, most likely. There were bowls of incense burning by the
feet of the statues, as well as big bowls of water for the jaguars to drink from.

“This is ridiculous,” Gwenneth protested, folding her arms across her chest. “This place is
only for couples! And they all have sex with each other!”

“Sex? With each other? That’s disgusting.” Tyler’s eyes had that amused glint in them
again.

“I mean, we’re not a couple, for heaven’s sake. There’s no reason for us to be here!
You’re…you’re luring me into this sex cult so you can take advantage of me!” she sputtered. He
probably figured that he could seduce the information out of her, she thought indignantly. And why
wouldn’t he think that? He’d actually gotten her to start talking about her sister a little while ago.
Nobody else had gotten her to talk about her past before.

“Hey, very recently you weren’t exactly objecting,” he said. “In fact you were reciprocating
pretty enthusiastically.”

She raised her hand to smack him, and he grabbed her and pulled her up against him, arm
circling her waist. His naked flesh pressed against hers, and she choked back a whimper. Even now,
as hurt and furious as she was, she wanted him.

“We need to act like a loving couple so the priestesses let us in,” he murmured into her ear.
“The soldiers won’t bother us here. We can lay low tonight and decide what to do in the morning.”

She glanced around. They weren’t alone on the road. A lion couple, in their animal forms,
strolled towards the gateway. Further down the road, a bear couple, in human form, was walking
hand in hand, with knapsacks on their backs, and behind them a cheetah couple was strolling.

“Everybody walks here?” she said.

“Yeah, no technology at all here. Come on, honey, let’s go make a baby,” he said loudly as
the lion couple approached.

“Oh gosh, why stop at one?” she said through gritted teeth and a big, false smile as she
followed him through the archway. The female jaguars didn’t object. They walked for another five
minutes or so and came upon a round wooden structure made of elaborately carved latticework.

There were couples everywhere, some stripped naked and making love in the shade of
trees, some relaxing lazily on benches.

A tall, beautiful older woman walked up to them. Jaguar shifter. She had coppery skin and
wrinkles feathering out from the corners of her eyes, and her ebony hair was shot through with grey.
She was barefoot and wore a bright-red toga-style tunic trimmed with gold.

“Head priestess,” Tyler whispered to her.

“Greetings,” she said, folding her hands together in a prayer motion and making a half bow.
“I am the Priestess Belij.”

Tyler returned the bow, perfectly, and Gwenneth followed suit, not as perfectly.

“I see that you two are fated mates. That is beautiful. You will be blessed with many
healthy children.” She flashed a white-toothed smile at them.

Hah. Some priestess, Gwenneth thought. The woman had to be wrong. Didn’t she?

“Yep. Knew it the minute I laid eyes on her.” Tyler’s hand tightened on hers and he smiled
at her.

Gwenneth pasted a big, bright smile on her face and bobbed her head enthusiastically in
agreement. “Yep. He sure did,” she said. She paused for a long moment, then added, “And me too, of
course.”

“We have many, many visitors blessing us with their presence now, but we are fortunate to
have a few more huts free,” Belij said.

The grounds did indeed seem quite crowded, Gwenneth noted.

A young woman walked up to them, barefoot, wearing a blue toga-style dress that bared
one breast. Gwenneth saw that there were several similarly dressed women wandering outside the
hut and attending to the couples. Bringing them jugs of water and baskets of fruit.

“This is Helper Ani. Our helpers are understudies to the priestesses,” Belij explained. “She
will take you to your cabin. Breakfast is served here in the main temple, starting when the sun sets.
May your night be fruitful!”

Ani inclined her head politely to them and led them down winding jungle paths, past bushes
bursting with fragrant orange blooms. They could hear the sounds of lovemaking drifting through the
air as they passed small, round huts. The shrieks and moans teased Gwenneth’s senses and sent
shivers of desires through her. She still wanted Tyler. No matter how angry she was with him, it

seemed that she was going to crave his body, yearn for his touch. She couldn’t wait to get the hell off
this island and as far away from him as possible.

They finally came to a round hut with a thatched roof. Ani opened the door for them,
revealing a bed with a hand-hewn wooden frame, a wooden table with a big ceramic jug of water and
two glasses next to it, and nothing else. She glanced at the knapsack and purse that Tyler carried.

“No technology,” she reminded them, wagging a finger. “No phone, no computer. To
ensure that you conceive the child that you so yearn for, you must get back to nature.” Then she bowed
her head and said something in Khalijinese, and whirled off gracefully, leaving them alone.

As soon as she left, Gwenneth flung herself down on the bed. “Getting back to nature.
Fricking hell,” she groaned. “I hate nature. I’m not a cavecat, for the love of god. I’d sell my soul for
a laptop right now.”

“Tell me about it.” Tyler sat on the edge of the bed next to her. “I’ve never gone so long
without technology. Screw all this green stuff. I want concrete.”

Gwenneth sat up again. “What would you give to have a remote control in your hand right
now?” she asked eagerly. “I’d give up one kidney. I mean, I’ve got a spare, right?”

“Maybe a lung,” Tyler mused. “I’ve got two of those. And an internet connection? Don’t
even get me started.”

“I know, right? Oh my god, I’d give up everything I own just to watch a TV show right now.
Even a really bad TV show. Say, a New Kids on the Block reunion special.”

“Ouch. And to think I trusted you with my darkest secret.” Tyler clapped his hand to his
chest in mock hurt.

“You know what I really miss? I—” Gwenneth stopped herself. He was doing it to her
again. No, she was doing it to herself. She was about to confide in him, giggle like a schoolgirl, open
her heart to him. And then she’d slip up and say something that revealed too much, and he’d use it
against her to find her sister.

She turned away, her smile fading.

“What?” Tyler raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, I temporarily forgot myself. No consorting with the enemy,” she said coolly.

“So now I’m the enemy again? I thought we were starting to kind of like each other.”

She scooted farther away from him on the bed and turned her back to him.

“I’m tired,” she said. “I’m going to sleep now.”

There was a long, heavy silence, then Tyler sighed.

“All right,” he said. “Sweet dreams and all that.”

She didn’t answer, just curled up, naked, with her back to him, closed her eyes, and
desperately willed sleep to come.

Chapter Twelve

The cawing of birds woke Gwenneth, and she sat up with start. The bed was empty; she
looked around and realized that Tyler was sleeping in the doorway, in wolf form.

Then he shifted back. “Male jaguars, which must mean cops, coming from the direction of
the temple. Let’s shift and run for it. If we can get to the river a mile north, we can wade into the
water and they won’t be able to scent us. Take to the trees if you need to.”

“No, I’m staying with you.” She could outclimb the jaguars any day of the week, but she’d
be damned if she was leaving him behind. He’d saved her life twice already; she’d stay by his side
and go down fighting if it came to that.

He growled at that, shaking his head even as he shifted. They slipped out of the tent and
began running, with him still dragging his backpack in his mouth; she ran at his side.

It wasn’t long before she scented them and heard them. A couple of dozen of them. Her
heart sank.

She stopped and whirled around as a group of them burst through the trees behind them,
snarling. A second group rushed at them from the right.

Her heart pounded in her chest and her fur stood on end as she sank down low, growling.
They paced around, eyes glowing in the moonlight. Tyler moved protectively in front of her, his lips
peeling back in a snarl.

She knew they were outnumbered, and it was hopeless. It would end here, out in the jungle,
and nobody would ever know their fate.

Suddenly Tyler paused and began sniffing at the air. She looked at him, puzzled, and the
jaguars looked at each other and began sniffing too. Then they heard the sounds of big cats racing
towards them, and the scent of female jaguar wafted their way.

The female jaguars rushed in to the clearing and quickly shifted into their human forms. One
of them was Belij, tall, angry and imperious.

“Who dares trespass in the sacred jungle?” Her voice rang out so loudly that birds rose
from the trees and flew away, cawing in protest.

The male jaguars shifted back to their human forms as well, and so did Tyler and
Gwenneth. Gwenneth’s heart was in her throat. The women were outnumbered. Now she’d be
responsible not just for Tyler’s death, but for the priestesses’ as well. How had things gotten so out of
control?

“They’re just females. And there’s six of them,” one of the male jaguars sneered. Gwenneth
realized with shock that it was Khaliji’s Chief of Police. She recognized him from his pictures; a
handsome man with the coppery skin and broad cheekbones of the island’s native population, and an
ice cold gleam in his eyes.

“Leave now before it’s too late.” Belij stalked towards him, and he reared up, attempting to
intimidate her with a glower. She walked right up to him, standing between him and Tyler and
Gwenneth. Tyler’s fists were balled and his eyes were blazing with fury.

“These are escaped murderers!” the police chief snarled at her. “They have come to you
under false pretenses; they only want to hide from their crimes. I am taking them into custody.”

His men didn’t look quite as confident. They were glancing fearfully at each other.

“Nonsense. They are fated mates, here to create new life.” Belij’s tone was scornful.

“They are not fated mates.” He scowled at them and made as if to take a step forward.
Tyler let out a snarl, and Belij blocked his path.

“I am never wrong. Do you question the High Priestess of GuRa?”

He made a spluttering noise of frustration. “Fine. Whether they are fated mates or not,
we’re taking them into custody.”

His men all took a step back as the other priestesses joined Belij and stepped forward to
form a protective wall in front of Tyler and Gwenneth.

“Sir, we cannot. She will curse us so that we will never be able to father children again,”
one of the men said pleadingly.

“It is true.” Belij nodded, raking them all with a look of haughty contempt. “Your testicles
will shrivel to the size of raisins. You will never again have an erection. You will never again make
love.”

The men let out cries of dismay and backed away even farther.

The police chief stood his ground for a moment, but as she stalked forward, he took a hasty
step back.

“Leave now, or your entire family will become barren,” she intoned grimly. “Your sons
and their sons… No woman will look at you or your men with desire ever again. Your line will die
out and become a distant memory.”

At that, the men broke out into shouts of panic, shifted, and turned and ran full speed into the
jungle.

The police chief was as white as a ghost. He spat curses, his eyes shuttling frantically from
Belij to the other priestesses.

“My brother will rain curses on your head!” he cried out, his voice an octave higher than it
had been a minute ago.

“The Witch Doctor? Pah. He can’t even protect the kingdom from misfortune,” Belij said
scornfully. “He has no power here, and from what I hear, he has no power anywhere these days.
GuRa is all.”

“You’ll be sorry!” Angara shouted, stumbling back another step, and then he shifted and
ran.

Tyler put his arm around Gwenneth’s shoulders, and she realized that she’d been trembling
violently.

“Belij, we should leave at once,” Gwenneth said faintly. “We can’t bring you into this.
Those men…”

Belij shook her head, making a contemptuous gesture. “They are no danger to us, and we do
not concern ourselves with the laws of man,” she said. “I only serve GuRa, and she tells me that
there is still trouble between you two. You are fated mates, but something keeps you apart, which is
displeasing to GuRa. Let us return to the temple.”

After they had shifted and run back to the temple, they joined Belij in one of the rooms
there. They settled into wicker chairs and helpers came and served them cool water from ceramic
cups, and they gulped thirstily as Belij watched them with a frown.

When they set down their cups, Belij leaned back and shook her head, studying them with
her piercing gaze. “You still have not been with your mate,” Belij said pointedly to Tyler. “What is
wrong? I can sense your desire for her, burning through you. And yet you do not claim her.”

Gwenneth flinched. How the hell does the priestess know that? And is it true that Tyler
burns for me?

“Uhh…my last relationship ended badly,” Tyler said. “And I, ah, I have trust issues. With
her specifically. I feel like there’s a lot she isn’t telling me.”

Gwenneth shot him a murderous glare.

“I also have trust issues,” she said coldly. “Because of my upbringing. However, I am not
guilty of the things he thinks I am guilty of.”

Belij, surprisingly, brightened up immediately.

“That is easy to solve!” she said. She clapped her hands and an assistant hurried into the
room.

“The stone of truth,” she said to her. “Bring it at once.”

The stone of truth? Gwenneth thought with alarm. She didn’t like the sound of that at all.

The assistant hurried off.

Tyler leaned back in his chair, grinning from ear to ear. He clearly had no problem with
whatever Belij was proposing.

The assistant returned within minutes, holding out a necklace. A glowing red stone dangled
on a leather strip.

The assistant thrust it towards Gwenneth, who flinched. Finally, reluctantly, she took it,

holding the leather between two fingers as if the necklace were a grenade about to explode.

Belij was nodding happily. “You will return to your hut, and you will each take turns
wearing the stone of truth,” Belij said. “It is impossible to lie when you wear the necklace. You will
not emerge from the hut until you have each asked the other five questions. No more than five. It is
important for couples to have some secrets from each other, yes? Of course it is. A little mystery is
good.”

Gwenneth felt panic clutching at her throat as the helper led them back to their hut and left
them there. What would Tyler ask her? How would he feel about her if he knew the real her? And
how would he use the information he found out?

They entered the hut and she dropped the necklace onto the bed, backing away from it and
staring at it with dismay.

“I’m tired,” she said uneasily. “I’d rather wait until morning.”

“Nah, we should just get it over with.” Tyler grabbed the necklace.

“Or…we could give up this pretense and leave,” she suggested hopefully.

“Is it a pretense? I think that this will help us find out some questions we need answered,”
he said, and before she could protest further, he draped the necklace over her neck.

She felt a little electric sizzle jolt her and she was suddenly lightheaded. She took a step
back away from Tyler, her breath catching in her throat.

“Now,” he said. “Why did you really come to this island?”

She found herself talking without meaning to. Without wanting to.

“My twin sister Rhonwen accepted a job through a broker known as the Shadow Lord, to
steal the Eye of the Jaguar a couple of weeks before the jubilee parade,” she said. “She took the
downpayment and then never completed the job and failed to show up to hand over the goods. The
Shadow Lord put out a kill order on her and the gang she works with, so I decided to come here and
complete the job for her.”

He nodded thoughtfully.

“Why weren’t you able to get hold of your sister to ask her what was going on?”

“I haven’t talked to her in five years. We both used to work for a group of thieves called
Les Abandonnes, started with them when we were fifteen, but I quit when I was twenty and left the
lifestyle behind. I begged Rhonwen to come with me, but she refused. She got mad at me for quitting,
said I was abandoning her, and we got in a big fight and cut all ties with each other.” Damn it, the
stone not only forced her to tell the truth, it made her chatty as hell. She wanted to give short, non-
committal answers that didn’t really reveal anything, but it wouldn’t let her.

“What did you do after you quit?”

“Well, we all lived in L.A. at the time and I knew I needed to leave town if I wanted to
quit, so I got a job on a cruise ship as a maid and travelled the world,” she said. “I’ve just been doing
various odd jobs ever since then. Bartending and waitressing mostly. I’m a botanist by hobby. I like
to grow plants and brew up the kind of concoctions you found in my vitamin bottle.” She smiled
ruefully. “That may sound weird for a city girl, but I do love plants. I just don’t like living among
them. I like them in pots. I keep a little greenhouse in my apartment wherever I live. I’ve thought
about going to school to get a degree in botany, but I’ve lived under fake names for so long I don’t
even know how to re-enter the normal world. I mean, I guess I could get a degree under a fake
name.” She clapped her hand over her mouth to stem the verbal tide flooding out.

“You don’t need to. I could help you with that,” Tyler said, and she felt her breath catch in
her throat. He kept talking as if she was a part of his future. Did he mean it? She’d soon find out,
when it was time for him to wear the Stone of Truth, and the thought terrified her.

“How did you know about the botched theft, if you don’t talk to your sister and you left the
life behind you completely?”

She grimaced, struggled not to answer, but the words spilled out.

“I’ve been checking in with a connection from my past from time to time, just so I could
keep tabs on Rhonwen. I mean, we had that falling out, but she’s still my sister. I just want to know
that she’s okay. Once every three months I go to a public internet board for antique furniture
enthusiasts and leave a coded message, and a fence that I’ve worked with in the past will reply. When
I checked in most recently, I found an urgent message wanting to know why my sister had screwed up
this assignment.”

He nodded.

Last question. Would he ask her if she could figure out how to track down her sister?
Please, please don’t let that be the question…

He looked her right in the eye. “Do you know that you’re my fated mate?”

Chapter Thirteen

That one hit her like a sledgehammer to the chest. It knocked the breath out of her, and she
choked back a gasp, and struggled to string words together into a sentence.

“I don’t… I…your fated mate? As in…we’re each other’s fated mates? I don’t know if I
believe in that whole concept at all, but…” The truth stone wouldn’t let her lie, even to herself. It
pushed through the tangled skein of denial and self-protection wrapped around her heart, and she
looked him in the eye and said, “Yes. Somewhere deep inside me, I’ve known it since the first time I
laid eyes on you.”

He nodded, then reached out for the necklace and took it off for her and draped it around his
own neck.

“Go on,” he said somberly. “Ask me anything.”

Her heart pounded so loudly that she could hear the thudding in her ears. This is where
everything changes. If I let it. If I let him in.

“Who do you work for?” she said, her heart racing.

“A private security firm called Shifters, Inc. We’re based in Playa Linda, California.” So
he’d been telling the truth about that. He wasn’t one of her sister’s enemies running some kind of scam
on her.

“Did you come to the island to look for me, or my sister?”

He shook his head. “No. I didn’t know a thing about you or your group of thieves. I came
here because my parents tricked me into taking this technology-free vacation, and I happened to
stumble on you in that museum. Although if you believe what they say about fated mates, it was
destiny, not an accident, that I found you.”

“How did you find out my sister’s identity?”

“After I spotted you, I chartered a private plane and left the island for the day. I had taken a
picture of you at the museum with my cell phone, and I ran your face through a facial recognition
program of my own design. I compared it to databases of suspected thieves, especially high-end
ones. I came up with your name. There was only a record of your sister, not you, and she only came
to the attention of law enforcement a few years ago. There was nothing confirmed until this year
when she started screwing up big time.”

“I heard you talking to Maji, asking him if he’d found out anything else about my sister. That
was why I was angry at you. Were you just flirting with me so you can track her down and arrest
her?” She held her breath, waiting for his answer.

He looked shocked. “Of course not. But…if I did find her, I’d have to take her into custody.
An entire family was murdered. And two security guards, innocent men doing their jobs, men with
families who now do not have fathers. I cannot let that go.”

She bit her lip. “I know you’re right. I don’t know what I’d do if I thought she really
committed those murders – but she didn’t, I’m sure of it. I know it in my bones. For a million
reasons, I know it. All I can ask is that if we ever do come across her, that we at least investigate and
find out what happened before turning her in. If…if she really murdered those people…then you’re
right, I can’t defend that, even though she is my sister. But she didn’t,” she finished with conviction.

She looked at him, her heart in her throat. The final question. She knew the answer, so she
was kind of wasting a question, but she desperately needed to hear him say it.

“Do you really want me?” she said, her voice small and shaky.

A broad smile spread out across his handsome face. “Let me show you how much.”

“Do you really want me?” she said, her voice small and shaky.

A broad smile spread out across his handsome face. “Let me show you how much.”

He leaned towards her, moving slowly as if he was afraid she’d spook and run. She
wondered if he could hear her heart pounding as if she’d been sprinting. It was partly from fear – fear
of making herself so vulnerable to someone who had the power to hurt her – but it was mostly from
excitement. She trembled and held herself tense and still as he placed his warm lips gently against
hers. His muscular arms went around her, holding her fast like steel bands, and then it was too late to
run – even if she’d wanted to.

His mouth was firm and sweet against hers, and she parted her lips on a sigh, swirls of
sensation in her belly and shivers of anticipation running up and down her spine.

He gave a low groan and wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him. Her breasts
pressed against the hard planes of his broad chest and she could feel her nipples pebbling into tight
little buds of sensation. She knew he’d be able to feel it too.

She gasped against his mouth, sliding her arms around his neck so they were pressed even
more closely together, and he angled his head and pushed his tongue into her mouth, tangling it with
hers in sweet, teasing, twisting motions. She whimpered with need when he nipped at her lower lip,
feeling a warm trickle of wet excitement in her panties. A low throbbing arousal started between her
thighs and she wriggled against him in a futile attempt to ease the ache.

Suddenly he put his big hands underneath her arms and lifted her effortlessly, setting her
astride his lap so she could feel the hot, hard length of his cock against her most intimate folds. She
gasped and rocked her hips, setting up a sweet mutual friction that made him groan and clutch her hips
hard enough to leave bruises, pushing upwards towards her and panting against her mouth. He lay
back on the bed, letting her work above him for a few long moments, writhing on top of him and
revelling in the way his dick got bigger and harder until she wondered whether she’d be able to take
him. Her core was molten and aching with the desire to be stretched and filled and possessed by his
rigid length.

Then he rolled her over and lingered there, kissing her throat and palming her breasts
before he climbed off her and got to his feet, leaving her breathless and bewildered. She parted her

lips to ask him why he’d stopped, but he placed a finger to his lips, his eyes burning with dark,
intense desire as he looked down at her.

He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, his expression becoming almost playful as he exposed a
muscular chest, a flat, taut stomach and a trail of hair starting at his navel and trailing down below the
waistband of his pants. She could clearly see the rigid outline of his erection pressing against the
fabric in a way that looked restrictive and painful, and she ached to free him and take him into her
hands, into her mouth…

He quickly discarded his pants and underwear, letting his cock spring free from its prison.
It was long and thick with a slight curve, and she could see a shiny bead of precum trembling at the
tip, which told her that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. She didn’t need the truth stone to
prove that to her – his body’s reaction to her spoke for itself.

Following his lead, Gwenneth wriggled out of her top and bra, dropping them to the side of
the bed, and she saw his eyes drift to her full breasts with their hard, dusky nipples as if drawn by a
magnet. Then he kneeled on the floor, spreading her legs to either side of him before undoing the
button at her waistband and trailing his fingers down the insides of her thighs and her calves. He
pulled off her socks, then tugged at her pants, pulling them down her legs and leaving her in only her
panties, which were plain cotton – it wasn’t as if she’d been planning to seduce anybody on this trip.

Then he lifted her ankles onto his shoulders and grinned wolfishly up at her, setting her
pulse fluttering once again. She was sure he must be able to scent her arousal, and her thighs trembled
as he kissed her calf, then trailed his lips up her leg, lapping at the sensitive spot behind her knee and
making her whimper and twitch as he worked his way higher, nipping at the tender flesh of her inner
thighs.

He pushed his thumbs into the sides of her panties and twisted the fabric, drawing the
cotton tight so that the outline of her damp pussy was clearly exposed beneath, then lowered his head
and ran the flat of his tongue, hard, up the length of her slit, ending with a rough flick to her clit that
make her twist and moan beneath him, fisting her hands in his hair to hold him to her as she felt coils
of excitement winding tighter and tighter like a spring. She thought she might come just from the heat
of his mouth on her pussy, even through the damp cotton.

Tyler pulled down her panties, tugging the moist scrap of cotton down her thighs and
raising the bundled cloth to his face, inhaling deeply and savouring her scent before discarding the
panties and returning to her slick, throbbing pussy.

He lapped at her slit, pushing his tongue just fractionally inside her and withdrawing it
again, as if to tease her with a hint of the sensations in store when he entered her for real. Then he ran
the very tip around her clit in rapid circling motions that had her gasping and arching her hips off the
bed. She released his head to fist the covers on either side of her, white-knuckled as she rode out the
near-orgasmic sensations he was eliciting with his clever, playful tongue against her most intimate
folds. He washed her thoroughly with his tongue, moaning with satisfaction as he lapped up the juices
that flowed from her core as if they were the sweetest honey. Then he sucked her clit hard between
his lips and starbursts of light and colour exploded behind her closed eyelids as she teetered on the

brink of orgasm, his mouth on her wet pussy and her thighs clamped to the sides of her head.

He drew back, the bottom half of his face shiny with her juices, and grinned at her as he
crawled up her body, pausing to press his face against the soft curve of her belly, nipping at her
breast then suckling hard on her nipple, drawing a thread of electric sensation up from her clit through
her entire body. Her skin was delicately dewed with a fine sheen of sweat, from the tropical heat of
the jungle paradise and the wild, primal arousal that throbbed through her body and made her heart
hammer in her chest.

He quickly sheathed himself, and she felt a brief moment of relief. She was so desperate to
feel him moving above her, inside her, that she wasn’t sure she’d even have thought about using
protection. She remembered that they were at a fertility temple, for goodness’ sake, and thanked her
lucky stars that Tyler cared enough about her to be careful about protecting her.

He held himself above her for a few moments, arms straight and biceps bunched and shiny
with sweat. He gazed down into her eyes as if trying to brand the moment into his memory forever.
She knew she’d never forget it if she lived to be a hundred. There was a primal connection between
them that went beyond the physical, beyond the sexual, and if she’d still doubted that they were fated
mates, that moment would have laid those doubts to rest forever.

He positioned himself at her slick, needy entrance and she moaned and wiggled against
him, urging him to enter her.

She was tight, and he was so large that at first she struggled to accommodate him, but he
worked himself patiently inside her, inch by delicious inch, until he was seated to the hilt and her
pussy sheathed him snugly in its hot, wet depths. He closed his eyes and shuddered briefly, and the
knowledge of how hard-won his control was made her pulse around him with instinctive, involuntary
lust.

The he started to move inside her, and Gwenneth was lost. She thrashed her head from side
to side on the bed covers, moaning and whimpering with each powerful thrust, and clutched his
buttocks, digging her fingers into the bunching muscles and urging him inside her farther and faster
and harder.

He gave a hoarse, desperate moan and she wrapped her legs around his waist, opening
herself to him as far as she could while he drove inside her, his smooth skin sticky with sweat, his
muscles working, his breath coming in harsh, effortful rasps.

Gwenneth’s cries rose, crescendoing as he drove her closer and closer to a peak of ecstasy
that had her trembling beneath him with blissful sensation. She froze, shuddering, her thighs trembling,
as she came harder than she ever had in her life, unbearable sensation washing over her as Tyler gave
a fierce groan and surrendered to his own crisis, continuing to pump inside her until the last spasms
faded away and they were left weak and drained, tangled in each other’s arms, sweaty and utterly
sated.

Chapter Fourteen

“I cannot do it, sir.” Maji stood in the doorway of his shanty, glancing around nervously.
Tyler and Gwenneth had stopped by to ask for a ride into the city so that they could meet up with
Nadette and Corran.

“Here, you must take this back,” he added, thrusting his fist at Tyler. Tyler glanced down;
Maji had a handful of bills clutched in his hand.

“What is that?”

“The money that you paid me in advance. I cannot take it.” He glanced around again.
“Perhaps you should come inside a moment. It won’t do for me to be seen talking to you.”

Gwenneth and Tyler stepped through the door quickly.

The entire hut was one room, with several cots on one side and a small cooking stove on
the other. Stacked-up wooden boxes held battered pans and chipped dishware. An older man who
looked to be in his eighties lay curled up on one of the cots.

“My great-grandfather,” Maji said, nodding at him.

“Maji, what’s happening?” Tyler asked. “Why can’t you take us into town?”

“Farruki knows that you hired me,” Maji said, his voice lowered. “If you come to me, I am
supposed to take you straight to the nearest police station and call out to them so you can be arrested.
He promised me a very large reward. And he will kill me and my family if he finds out I’ve been
helping you.”

“Since when does the Thieves’ Guild work with the police?” Gwenneth asked, astonished.

Maji gave a tired shrug. “The Thieves’ Guild, the police…it’s all the same thing these
days.”

“How long has this been going on?” Tyler asked.

“For a few years now.”

The old man on the cot started coughing and pressed a dirty rag against his mouth. The
coughing fit lasted for almost a minute before it subsided and he lay there wheezing. Maji sighed
heavily and looked away.

“Why does the king allow it?” Tyler wondered, shaking his head. “It never used to be like
this.”

Maji glanced around nervously, as if even the walls of the hut had ears, and a voice to
betray him.

“The King has not been seen close up by anyone, for years,” he said. “Since the trouble

started. It’s always the Witch Doctor who makes the public announcements these days. Him and the
King’s Number Two Wife, Serena. We’re not even sure if the King is alive anymore, or if they’re just
using some actor to pretend to be him. He used to greet the public personally every year on his
birthday, giving blessings to hundreds of people, but he stopped doing that three years ago, and when
he makes appearances now it’s just from his balcony.”

Tyler and Gwenneth glanced at each other.

“Are we putting you in danger just by being here?” Tyler asked Maji.

“Not for the moment. Everyone in my neighborhood hates Farruki, so they will not betray
me. You could stay for tea if you wish.” But he looked nervous as he said that.

“Maji, we must go,” Gwenneth said. “Thank you for warning us. If I ever get off this island
and can talk to someone in the Thieves’ Guild, I swear we’ll have Farruki’s head on a pike.”

She and Tyler quickly hurried out, refusing Maji’s final attempts to return Tyler’s
money.

* * *

It seemed as if there were police officers on every street corner, Gwenneth thought
uneasily as they headed towards the park. They’d had to walk, since Maji couldn’t give them a ride.

She and Tyler had told the priestesses they had business to attend to in the city. Belij had
looked concerned but hadn’t said anything. They never got involved in politics.

“May all your endeavors be fruitful!” Belij called out to them as they left the temple. She
didn’t know that, while Tyler and Gwenneth had been having sex all night long for the past couple of
nights, they’d also been using birth control. Thank heavens the priestesses didn’t search through their
guests’ bags.

Gwenneth and Tyler were walking separately, since the police were searching for them as
a couple. He stayed a block or two ahead of her as they worked their way towards the park, which
was finally in sight.

Police walking past glanced at her then looked away. She’d taken care to disguise herself
before leaving the jungle – she had used a special bronzer to dye her skin so tan that she could easily
have passed for a native, popped in a pair of green contact lenses, and styled her straight hair so it
was in ringlets. Tyler had borrowed a business suit and a homburg hat from one of the guests at the
fertility compound, and she prayed that would be disguise enough for him.

“Miss, miss, a coin for me? My mother is sick and cannot work!” a familiar voice sang out
to her. She glanced down. It was Hiro.

She knelt down, fished in her purse, and pulled out a few coins for him.

“Hiro, are you all right? What are you doing here?” she asked in a low voice, glancing
around warily. Nobody was looking at them, she saw with relief.

“Tana heard you say you were meeting your friend here today. We have been watching the
park in case you need us,” he said.

Her heart made a painful thump in her chest.

“Is everything all right? Did the soldiers hurt any of you?”

“Oh, no, miss, we are much too fast for them.” He flashed her a devilish grin.

“Tell me where the Fallback is,” she said. “I can’t remember.”

He described an abandoned bridge on the outskirts of the shanty town. She pulled out some
more bills from her purse and gave them to him. A soldier was watching her, she saw; he was
probably wondering why she was spending so much time talking to the beggar child.

“You need to go. It’s dangerous here for you,” she said to him. “Tell Tana thank you, but I
want you to stay away from me for now, because the soldiers are watching too closely. If I can make
it to the Fallback, I will.” Before he could answer, she stood up and hurried away, praying she hadn’t
blown her cover.

She looked up ahead; Tyler had vanished, probably gone into the park already.

As always, she’d arrived early. Normally she showed up an hour early to scope out the
area when she was meeting with anyone, and Nadette knew that about her, so today, to be extra
cautious, she and Tyler had showed up two hours early.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Tyler walked up to her, grinning and holding out a cup of coffee. “Don’t
show any reaction, here comes a squadron.” His voice and expression were cheerful, but she felt the
tension in his body as he put his arm around her waist and quickly walked her to a side path at the
edge of the grove.

“They’re watching us,” she observed as they settled onto a bench.

“I know one way to blend in,” Tyler said. He glanced at another bench farther down the
path from them, where a lion shifter couple were having very enthusiastic public sex. The woman
was on her hands and knees, and the male lion was thrusting into her from behind. Every time he
pulled back, Gwenneth caught a glimpse of his enormous phallus.

Once upon a time, a public display like that would have had her blushing and running for
cover. After the last couple of days with Tyler, though, all she could think about was sex. Tyler
grabbing her, pulling her hair, forcing himself into her, thrusting hard…

“For the sake of blending in, you should probably kiss me immediately,” she murmured into
his ear.

“Oh, the things I do for you. Any other requests?” She could hear the smirk in his voice.

She pretended to consider for a moment. “Yes. There should be plenty of tongue. And you
should get handsy.”

He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Well, if you insist.”

Then he was on top of her, unbuttoning her shirt with greedy, eager hands, thrusting her skirt
up, sliding between her legs…

Then he was on top of her, unbuttoning her shirt with greedy, eager hands, thrusting her skirt
up, sliding between her legs…

Gwenneth giggled – she actually giggled. It was completely out of character, and all the
more so because she didn’t give a damn. There was something so freeing about the sexual openness of
this little island paradise, and for a moment she felt sad that she couldn’t be here, with Tyler, simply
as a woman with her lover – with her fated mate.

But why shouldn’t she enjoy the moment, even if they had other things to worry about? With
her dark ringlets, tan skin and bright-green contacts, she looked like another woman entirely. Why
shouldn’t she act like a different woman too? Wild, wanton and impulsive…

She wriggled out of his arms and pushed him back onto the bench, standing above him with
her hand on his chest and narrowing her eyes wickedly at him as he let his hands roam over her body,
spanning her waist, massaging her breasts, playing up underneath her skirt until she slapped them
playfully away and wagged her finger at him.

“Oh no,” she said, catching his wrist as he made another lunge for her. “I’m the one making
the demands here, remember?”

She got to her knees on the gravel path, feeling distinctly wicked and hungry for the hard
length of his cock. She didn’t care who was watching – the thought made her feel feral and free.

She ran her fingers over his rigid length where it pressed against the dark fabric of his
formal suit, and gave a low laugh when it twitched beneath her hand. She undid his fly and quickly
slipped her fingers inside, wrapping her hand around the hot length of his cock and marvelling at the
velvety-softness of the skin over the rock-hard shaft beneath. He throbbed in her palm and gave a
heartfelt groan, allowing his head to fall back against the slats of the bench as she started to run her
hand up and down, from his sac to the very tip of his dick where slick precum provided lubrication
for her wandering fingers.

She grinned up at him and he gazed back with heavy-lidded eyes that were clouded with
lust. His lips were slightly parted and his broad, muscular chest rose and fell in a rhythm that wasn’t
quite steady.

She worked him harder, watching his face as she pumped his shaft, then lowered her head
and kissed the tip of his cock before flicking out her tongue to scoop up the bead of precum that
glistened, trembling, on his glans.

He rolled his hips, pressing the head of his cock against her lips, and she parted for him,
swirling her tongue around his head before taking him farther inside. He groaned again and she
sucked harder, pushing her lips down his shaft, then hollowing her cheeks as she withdrew to
increase the friction against the sensitive flesh.

She moved back down again, not stopping until her lips were nestled against the crisp curls
of his pubic hair and the head of his cock was hitting the back of her throat. Then she swallowed hard,
again and again, allowing the motion to massage him. He trembled beneath her and she knew he was
aching to fuck her mouth but holding back with incredible self-restraint to keep from making her
choke.

She could feel moisture pooling between her thighs and she wanted to touch herself, but she
didn’t. This wasn’t how she wanted either of them to get off. As delicious as he tasted and as
intoxicating as it was to drive him out of his mind with her mouth, she wanted him inside her. She
wanted to ride him right there on the bench in the humid open air, not caring who might see them.

She pulled back, releasing him from her mouth with a little pop, and started to move back
up his body, unbuttoning his crisp white shirt and running her hand over his flat belly and strong,
broad chest. She couldn’t keep her hands off him.

She whipped off her panties and stuffed them quickly into his jacket pocket, then straddled
him, the warm, fragrant air feeling exotic and wicked on the damp flesh of her pussy.

Tyler kissed her deeply, their tongues duelling and their breath clashing as they fought to get
even closer. It was wild and unrestrained, and it was all she could do to hold herself back as Tyler
slid a condom on then returned to plunder her mouth again, groaning softly and running his hands over
her back and buttocks to press her against him.

She worked her hips, her moist lips sliding against his sheathed length and causing them
both to gasp and clutch at each other. Then she took his twitching member in her hand again and
positioned the head against her slick, aching entrance.

They moaned in unison as she sank down onto him, his entrance smooth and easy because of
the slick excitement trickling from her depths at the thought of how brazen their act of exhibitionism
was. She clenched around him in helpless spasms as she withdrew to plunge back down onto his
hard, pulsing length.

He grasped her hips in his large, strong hands, helping her to find her rhythm, burying his
face against her neck. He licked at the sensitive flesh, bit her gently. The gentle breeze, warm and
fragrant with the scent of blossoms, stirred the damp hair at her temples, and the air was alive with
the chirruping of insects and the moans and cries of passion from other couples having sex in the park,
their only privacy their total absorption in their partners.

Gwenneth moved faster as passion rose inside her, washing through her in thrilling waves
that ebbed and flowed as she moved above him. Tyler moaned desperately, closing his eyes and
parting his lips, shuddering as his excitement began to crest.

Then he was pumping into her in a sweet counterpoint to the rhythmic rolling of her hips
and she cried out, coming hard around his pistoning cock as he matched his pace to hers and spasmed
inside her with a desperate shout of pleasure that echoed through the sultry air of the park.

Gwenneth heard laughter and brief, playful scattered applause, and she rested her forehead
against Tyler’s and smiled into his eyes as the breeze cooled the sweat on their hot, damp skin.

Chapter Fifteen

He lay on top of her, breathing hard. Their limbs were tangled together, their clothing in a
heap next to the park bench. A sheen of sweat covered her body, but gentle breezes swept through the
trees, cooling her.

“That was amazing,” she moaned into his ear.

“I know. I am pretty incredible.”

For that, he earned a smack to the side of the head.

“You arrogant dick.” But she was laughing as she said it.

Tyler shook his head in protest, grinning at her. “No, no, as you’ll find, I’m just extremely
honest and always right.”

“As I’ll find?”

“You know. When you come back to Playa Linda and move in with me. You’ve been
running for too long. You need a place to call home. You need your name back. Until you change your
last name to mine. Gwenneth Witlocke. I like it, don’t you?” He stroked her hair, gazing down into her
eyes.

She looked up at him, hesitant.

“Isn’t that what you want?” There was a hint of alarm in his voice.

“More than anything,” she said, and she felt him relax again.

“But there’s so much…stuff that hasn’t been resolved yet. We don’t know what’s happening
with my sister. The Shadow Lord wants to kill me. Somebody betrayed Les Abandonnes, and I don’t
know who. And those kids in the shanty town…it may be the death of me, but I can’t just leave them
here like this, Tyler, even if all the island police are looking for me.”

His expression turned serious and he ran his thumb along her cheek, sending a sizzle of
desire through her veins. “And that’s why I love you.”

She jerked with shock. “You what?”

Instead of answering, he suddenly stiffened, then shoved her off the bench onto the ground.
She landed with a painful thud, and he landed on top of her. As he did, something clanged against the
bench and she smelled silver. A knife lay on the park pathway.

She and Tyler leaped to their feet to see Corran stalking towards them, his face contorted
with rage. Tyler let out a growl and jumped in front of her. Corran had a silver knife clenched in his
right hand. He must have brought his entire collection.

“Corran! What the hell!” she said in a low, urgent voice, not wanting to attract attention.

She glanced around frantically. The lovemaking lions were no longer on their bench, and no police or
soldiers were in sight; they were alone, for the moment at least.

The two men began circling each other. Tyler partially shifted, his snout shooting out, fangs
curving down.

“You think you scare me?” Corran snarled. “Smell my silver, wolf-boy.”

“Stop it, Corran!” she cried. “Whatever your problem is, leave him out of it.”

He ignored her, jabbing forward with his right arm and aiming at Tyler’s midsection. Tyler
just barely managed to dodge him.

She rushed forward and leaped in front of Tyler just as Corran jabbed again. Tyler grabbed
her and pulled her back, but the knife came so close to her that it brushed against her ribcage. She felt
her skin tingle and burn from the nearness of the silver, and she let out a yelp of pain.

Corran instantly dropped the knife and rushed towards her. “Are you all right?” he cried.

Tyler leaped in front of her, growling. “Get the hell away from her before I take your head
off!”

“Am I all right? You just tried to kill me, you crazy bastard!” she hissed at him.

“Not you – him! I would never hurt you, Rhonny, no matter how much you’ve hurt me. I
came here to warn you. But then I saw you with him, and I just couldn’t…” He sank to the ground and
knelt there. “How could you pick him over me?” His voice was racked with grief.

“Hey, Limey! Warn her about what?” Tyler demanded.

Corran looked up and raked him with a glare of utter loathing. Then he turned his attention
back to Gwenneth. “Nadette got taken into custody and she sold us out to save her hide. She told the
cops about the rendezvous. They’ve already got undercovers here.”

Then Corran looked at Gwenneth strangely, staring at a spot on her thigh. Remembering that
she was naked, she quickly grabbed her clothes and began pulling them on.

“Where’s your tattoo?” he demanded as she stepped into her skirt. “Rhonny? Where’s the
scar on your stomach? Where’s your mole?”

Then his jaw fell open in shock. “Bloody hell,” he said, peering at her closely, looking her
over from head to toe. “It’s Gwenneth.” He glared at her. “What the hell are you playing at? Why did
you pretend to be your sister? Where is she?”

“We can discuss this later. We all need to leave the park, now, before the soldiers get
here,” Tyler said, keeping his tone low and calm. “Corran, meet us at the Blessed Lotus Blossom
coffee shop in half an hour, and if you try anything again, I will rip your throat out. Gwenneth, you go
first, and I’ll be watching you.”

* * *

“Here’s your coffee, jackass.” Gwenneth shoved the mug into Corran’s hand and sat down
in the café chair next to Tyler. “Oh, did I spill some on you? Sorry. Idiot.”

Corran winced as the hot coffee splashed him, and quickly wiped his hand off with a
napkin. “I’m sorry I tried to kill you,” he said to Tyler. “I thought you were shagging my Rhonny.”
Corran’s tone was conciliatory; Tyler just shot him a look of contempt and sipped his tea. All the
mugs were shaped like Gu-Ra, with big pregnant bellies and a jaguar-tail handle.

“Talk,” Gwenneth snapped at him. “When was the last time you saw my sister? Why did
you break up?”

“I haven’t seen her in months now. Close to a year. Rhonwen wanted to quit, and I didn’t,
and she broke it off with me. But then she ended up staying in the game after all that. I thought maybe
she was just looking for an excuse to get rid of me.” His expression was woebegone.

“A little more detail,” she pressed.

“Well, we’d been sort of seeing each other off and on, but things really heated up after we
came to Khalijji. We came here a year ago to break into the palace and steal some statues,” he said.
At Gwenneth’s dirty look, he said, “What? It’s what we do. It’s what you used to do, so don’t act all
superior.”

“And then I quit.” She stared at him stonily.

“Too bad. You were great at it.” Corran shrugged easily. “Rhonny and I liked it so much
here, we hung out for a couple of months. Then things changed. She suddenly started acting concerned
about those street urchins, the gang from the shanty town. I suggested to her that we could take them
under our wing, and she seemed all happy, and then I said we could teach them the tricks of the trade
and make them as good as we were, really top-level, and for some reason she got really angry with
me.” He paused and took a sip of his coffee, staring into space.

“Go on.” Gwenneth kicked him under the table, none too gently. He winced again, pulling
his legs back out of her reach.

“Out of the blue, she said we should just quit and get normal jobs.” He looked bewildered.
“I said no, never. This is all I know, and I couldn’t think of screwing Henri over like that. He took me
in when I was selling myself to tourists for a crust of bread.”

“How exactly would it be screwing him over? We’ve made him an enormous amount of
money over the years. He always made us feel obligated to him, like he’d saved our lives, but that’s
crap,” Gwenneth said heatedly. “He plucked us out of one hell and dropped us into another. We were
the ones running around risking life in prison while he sat back and took three-quarters of the profits.
We bought him his damned mansion and his fancy cars and fancy clothes. We owe him nothing.”

“That’s pretty much what Rhonny said,” he sighed. “After our argument, she cut me dead.
We flew back to the States the next day, and then she packed up and moved out of her flat and ditched
her phone and shut down her email account, and I haven’t seen her since. I would have thought she’d
vanished from the face of the Earth, except from time to time I’d hear rumors about her accepting

assignments from Henri. Other than that, it was radio silence.”

“Did she accept those assignments, though? Was it her?” Tyler said suddenly. “I mean, how
would you know it was her on those jobs?”

“What do you mean?” Corran tilted his head quizzically.

“Oh god.” A look of shock and understanding dawned on Gwenneth’s face. “All those
assignments that were screwed up – that only started after she disappeared. The dumb mistakes she
supposedly made, the people who were murdered. That’s not Rhonwen, Corran, you know that. It’s
not her style. She’s not a fuckup and she doesn’t hurt people. Who does that sound like?”

He stared at her, light dawning on him. “Nadette.”

“Yes.” She nodded vigorously, enormous relief washing over her. Her sister wasn’t a
killer; she’d known it all along. “My sister really did quit. She really disappeared. Nadette accepted
those assignments in her place and pretended to be her.”

She frowned. “There was physical evidence left at the scenes of the murders. Her hair.
Nadette had been friends with her for years; she’d have been able to grab some hair from Rhonny’s
hairbrush and use it to frame her.”

Corran flashed a sudden look of alarm at her. “What if she’s dead? What if Nadette killed
her?”

“No,” Gwenneth said quickly, her stomach lurching. “I’d know. She’s my twin. If she were
gone, I’d feel it. I’d know. I’m sure of it. She’s just gone off the grid, like I did.”

“I hope you’re right.” He didn’t look as certain as she was.

She looked at him accusingly. “You had an affair with Nadette, didn’t you? That’s why
she’s so jealous and bitter.”

“Not an affair, for god’s sake. It was once. One night.” He winced. “And it was before I
ever got involved with your sister. And I accidentally called out your sister’s name when I was in bed
with Nadette, and she got pissed off with me and screamed out, “If you want to be with her so much,
why don’t you?” And she stomped out.” He shuddered at the memory.

“So after Rhonwen quit, Nadette pretended to be her, accepting all those assignments. How
would she get away with that?” Tyler wondered.

“Well, I hadn’t seen Rhonwen since she broke things off with me, so it’s not like it would
have come up in conversation,” Corran said, pondering. “I had assumed that she just was avoiding
me, but let’s say she told Nadette she’d quit and was leaving the group. And Nadette didn’t tell
anyone else. You know Nadette always operated as Henri’s right-hand man, so to speak, handling all
the assignments. Hell, with Henri’s health declining, the rest of the group has barely spoken to him in
the last couple of years.”

“His health is declining?” Gwenneth said, surprised. “I never heard anything about that
through the grapevine.”

Corran nodded. “He did his best to make sure word didn’t get out, but those of us in the
group knew. His three-pack-a-day habit finally caught up with him. He wears an oxygen tank and lets
Nadette run the business end of things almost exclusively these days.”

Gwenneth nodded. Everything was making sense now. “She just took all the jobs that were
meant for Rhonwen. Henri wouldn’t have bothered to question his niece. He might not even have
known that the jobs were getting screwed up.”

“Why would Nadette have accepted a job to steal the Eye and not completed it, though?”
Tyler asked.

Corran frowned in thought. “She’s always been jealous of Rhonwen. She wanted to destroy
her. You know how much she hates it when anyone outshines her. So Nadette took several
assignments on Rhonny’s behalf and screwed them up royally; she was already ruining Rhonny’s
reputation in the thieving community. This would have been the coup de grace. But she
miscalculated. She thought the Shadow Lord would only go after Rhonny, but he put the kill order out
on all of us, including her, so she had no choice but to try to fix things.”

“And so when I contacted her pretending to be my sister and asked her to help me complete
the job, she jumped at the chance.” Gwenneth nodded her understanding.

“But…wouldn’t Nadette be afraid that Rhonwen would know she’d set her up?” Tyler
asked.

“Not necessarily,” Gwenneth said. “If I really had been Rhonwen, I would have known that
somebody had set me up, but I couldn’t have been sure it was Nadette or Henri. I’d have come here
and tried to investigate, tried to figure out who had done it. And Nadette must have planned on killing
me as soon as we’d successfully stolen the Eye. She kept trying to get me to meet up with her alone,
remember?”

“But now she’s been arrested, which complicates things,” Tyler pointed out. “How did the
police know to arrest her, anyway?”

“I’m not clear on that,” Corran said. “I have a Thieves Guild connection here who has a
police sergeant on his payroll. He was the one who told me that she’d told the police chief about the
meetup at the park.”

“So where does this leave us? We’re still stuck here.” Gwenneth leaned back in her chair
and sipped her coffee.

“Yes, and now the police are going to be looking for me too,” Corran said gloomily. “And
by the way, I haven’t been able to find out who the client was who wanted the Eye stolen, and Nadette
was the one who took the assignment, and now she’s screwed us all over she’s certainly not going to
talk.”

“I have a thought,” Tyler said.

“What’s that?” Corran didn’t look particularly hopeful.

“We may need some help from the priestesses for this.”

“They won’t help,” Gwenneth protested. “You said yourself that they never get involved in
politics.”

“But they do care deeply about their sacred mission to help infertile couples conceive.
Trust me on this, I think they’re going to want to help us.” He gave Corran a look of annoyance. “You
may as well come with us.”

Chapter Sixteen

“This is dreadful. I cannot believe it.” Belij shook her head unhappily, dismay rippling
over her handsome features. She sat in a high-backed, throne-like chair, clenching her fists so hard
her knuckles were white. There were a dozen priestesses in the room of the temple known as the
Great Room, fluttering their hands, pacing the floor. They didn’t know what to do with themselves.

Gwenneth, Tyler and Corran sat on hand-carved wooden chairs, facing them. Tyler had to
convince Belij that he was telling the truth. Everything depended on it.

“Think about it,” Tyler said. “Think about all these couples coming to you now. Many,
many more couples than before. Why? Because the island’s fertility magic is weakening. Failing. Just
like everything else here is failing.”

“It is true,” one of the priestesses said, nodding. “Even when they come to us, it is taking
them longer than it should to conceive. Who knows how long even our magic will suffice?”

Belij’s coppery skin had taken on an unhealthy pallor. Her air of quiet strength and
command had vanished, leaving her looking lost and distressed. She couldn’t meet Tyler’s eyes. He
was telling her things she desperately didn’t want to hear – but he had no choice.

“Everything started going wrong at once,” Tyler continued relentlessly. “At the same time
that the king vanished from the public eye, the economy failed, and the fertility magic began to wane.”

“You really believe that the Witch Doctor and the Police Chief sold the Eye of the Jaguar
and replaced it with a replica.” Belij shook her head in an attempt to deny it.

“Yes. Years ago. And then they hired thieves to steal the crown right before the Jubilee,
because they wanted to hide the deception,” Tyler said. “On the day of the Jubilee, the crown is taken
from its display case and examined by the Island Council before being passed off to the king, right?
So the Island Council would have spotted the fakery, and there would have been an outcry, and the
Witch Doctor would have been exposed. If the crown was stolen, then everybody would be searching
for the thieves, and nobody would know what the Witch Doctor and the Police Chief had done.”

“What monsters would steal our sacred national treasure like that?” Belij held her palms up
and importuned the heavens.

“The worst kind of monsters,” Corran said, keeping a straight face. “Terrible, terrible
monsters.”

Tyler shot him a look of annoyance, and Corran returned a wide-eyed look of scandalized
innocence.

“And you feel that if you can gain entry to the palace, you will be able to track down the
crown’s whereabouts.”

Tyler nodded. “Yes. We need access to Wife Number One. She has also been largely
absent from public view, but she was seen on the day of the Jubilee – with guards standing near her at

all times.”

Corran jumped in. “Yes. Wife Number Two was definitely very chummy with the Witch
Doctor. You could pick up on the vibes. Wife Number One was putting on a good show, but you
could tell there was severe tension there under the surface; something was troubling her.”

“How can you be so sure?” Belij asked him. “Did you question her?”

“No, but a large part of my livelihood depends on reading people and their emotions.” At
Belij’s quizzical glance, he added smoothly, “I’m a therapist.”

He hadn’t lost his knack for lying under pressure, Gwenneth thought.

“We think she’s being coerced somehow,” Tyler continued, “and she’s not in on the whole
scheme. If we could get private access to her, we’d at least have a hope of finding out what’s going
on. And I don’t know anyone else who could get away with just strolling into the palace uninvited,
much less anyone who’d be able to get access to any person in there.”

Nobody refused the High Priestess of GuRa – and nobody had reason to suspect that she
would be interfering with the Witch Doctor’s political coup.

Belij closed her eyes and stood there with her hands folded together and her lips moving
for what felt like a very long time, murmuring in a voice too low to hear. Finally she nodded in
acceptance, although she still looked as if she’d tasted something very sour. She stood up straighter,
and the strength seemed to flow back into her as she made her decision. “Very well. I know that you
are truthful; I can feel it in my heart of hearts. I can get you into the palace,” she said to Gwenneth.

Tyler waved at her to get her attention. “And me, of course.”

“Only women are priestesses. There is no way I could get a man into the palace.” She
shook her head, standing up and smoothing out her gown.

“I could pose as a bodyguard,” he argued.

Belij looked at him with derision. “We don’t ever use bodyguards. We don’t need them,”
she said. When he tried to argue, she cut him off. “If we walked in there with a man, it would attract
attention and suspicion.”

“But it’s too dangerous for you to go alone,” Tyler protested to Gwenneth. Gwenneth stood
up too, shooting him a reproving look.

“I have done much more dangerous jobs than this. I will be with the priestesses; I’ll be
fine,” she said reprovingly.

When he started to protest, she took a step closer to him and put her hand on his arm. He
felt a delicious sizzle of heat wash through him, the same way it always did when she touched him.

“Tyler, I must and I will do this. Please don’t try to stop me. There is more at stake here
than just you and me,” she said. She cast a quick glance at Belij. They hadn’t told the priestesses
everything; they couldn’t very well tell them that she had originally come to the island to steal the

crown. Instead, Tyler had told them about his job as a security consultant. Then he’d spun a tale about
how he’d started investigating on his own when he heard about the island’s growing misfortunes, and
that investigation had led him to interview members of the Thieves Guild.

Gwenneth turned and followed Belij out of the room without giving him a backward glance.
Corran sat there with his arms folded, frowning, but he didn’t seem too perturbed. Of course not ; it
wasn’t his fated mate who was marching off into a lair of serpents.

Anger and helplessness swirled inside him. She was his. He should be there by her side to
protect her, always – but arguing with her would be useless. He’d already experienced the steel
backbone underneath that velvety coat of hers. Forbidding her would accomplish nothing.

* * *

The morning sun gleamed off the gilded turrets and lacy spires of the castle. Lines of
soldiers in blue uniforms trimmed with gold stood at rigid attention on either side of the crushed
gravel pathway that led to the broad marble front steps, their bayoneted weapons resting on their
shoulders.

Gwenneth walked with a dozen other priestesses who trailed behind Belij. She was
dressed in an orange tunic that apparently indicated she was in the fifth year of her training. Her skin
was darkened to match their skin tone, and she wore a wig to mimic their long, dark, streaming hair.
They were all barefoot.

They were greeted by a lieutenant colonel who marched smartly up to them and saluted
Belij. She nodded in return.

“Number One Wife has summoned us,” she informed him. “You will take us to her at
once.”

“Why did she wish to speak to you, Blessed One?”

“The affairs of GuRa are not your concern, and it is not your place to know.” She had the
tone of an angry schoolmarm, and he wilted visibly.

“She said nothing of this to me.” His tone was conciliatory, but he looked alarmed. So,
access to Wife Number One was being strictly limited, Gwenneth thought to herself.

“You question me?” A hint of steel in Belij’s voice made him wince. She gave a quick
glance in the general region of his crotch, and he stepped back quickly, his hand instinctively
dropping to protect it. Gwenneth had to struggle not to laugh at the alarm in his eyes.

“No, no, of course not,” he wheedled. “Please, Honored Priestess. Enter the palace and
rest in comfort while I summon the Number One Wife.”

They were led inside, through rooms with soaring ceilings and painted friezes on the walls,
the marble floors cool beneath their feet. They threaded through a maze of hallways until they
reached a drawing room with twenty-foot-high windows and thick, lush carpet.

The lieutenant colonel clapped his hands imperiously at several ladies-in-waiting who had

hurried after them when they entered. “Bring refreshments for our honored guests,” he said. “I will
return shortly.”

“No,” Belij said loudly. She turned her attention to the ladies. “We need no refreshments. I
need you to summon the Number One Wife to this room at once. We are here for the meeting that she
requested, and my time is quite precious. And you, my dear Lieutenant Colonel, you will remain here
with us and we will talk about your family.”

He opened his mouth, shut it again, then nodded at the ladies in waiting, clearly unhappy.

Gwenneth turned away and permitted herself a small smile of triumph as the ladies hurried
off. Belij was no fool. The lieutenant colonel would be in on the conspiracy; he’d had no intention of
summoning the Number One Wife. He’d wanted to stall the priestesses so that he could hurry off and
consult with the Witch Doctor, but now he had no choice. No man on the island would risk incurring
the wrath of a priestess who had the power to shrivel his private parts and curse him with infertility.

Gwenneth and the other priestesses sat down on the plump velvet sofas, and she looked
around the room, examining the massive portraits of the royal family.

There was the king, handsome and much older than his young wives. There were half a
dozen children crowded around them.

She glanced closer at the portrait, seeing a familiar face, and shock rippled through her.
Could it be?

She leaned close to one of the priestesses. “Who the heck is that in the picture, leaning on
the Number One wife?” she asked in a low, conspirational voice.

Chapter Seventeen

Her Royal Highness Serena, Wife Number One, looked exhausted as she quickly crossed
the room to greet them. She had circles under her eyes, and her face was pale and drawn. She was
robed in creamy peach-colored silk, but her dress hung on her as if she had lost a great deal of weight
recently. She walked through the door with her hands clenched, flanked by ladies-in-waiting on
either side.

The lieutenant colonel leaped to his feet and moved as if he wanted to speak to the Number
One Wife. Several priestesses quickly crowded in front of him, blocking his view.

Belij stood up quickly. “And now you must go at once,” she said to the lieutenant colonel.
“This is a matter for ladies only. It is very bad luck for you even to be here right now. In fact, you
might never recover.”

He pressed his lips together, shifting from one leg to the other. It was obvious that he was
trying to decide which frightened him more; the Witch Doctor or the loss of his manhood.

“I told you to leave. Your disrespectful behavior towards a Priestess of GuRa is
intolerable,” Belij said, her eyes blazing with fury. “It disgraces you and your ancestors. If it
continues, we will go to the Island Council and demand an investigation at once.”

With a wretched look on his face, the lieutenant colonel allowed the priestesses to surround
him and walk him to the door. Gwenneth knew they wouldn’t have long. He’d go scurrying off to the
Witch Doctor like the rat he was.

“Priestess Belij,” Wife Number One said as she came closer to them. Her voice was thick
with sorrow, as if she were grieving a death, and she swayed slightly where she stood. “I welcome
you here.” She glanced around nervously as if fearing she would be overheard.

Gwenneth stepped forward. “We don’t have a lot of time. I’m not a priestess, I’m a tourist
here. My boyfriend works for a security company, and we’ve been doing some investigating and
speaking to the local Thieves’ Guild. We know the Witch Doctor and Wife Number Two are
conspiring together. What have they done with the king?”

And had she just called Tyler her boyfriend?

Queen Serena’s shoulders hunched and her gaze darted around the room before she
answered. “They keep him drugged with a special hypnosis serum concocted by the Witch Doctor,”
she said, her voice low and fearful.

“Did they replace the Eye of the Jaguar with a fake?” Belij asked, also keeping her voice
low.

“Perhaps. Many precious paintings and statues have gone missing, so why not the crown?
Nothing they have done would surprise me.” She blinked hard to keep from crying.

“Why have you not spoken up? Why did you not seek help?” Belij asked.

Gwenneth already knew the answer to that question.

“Because they took her youngest son,” she said to Belij. “And I know where they’re
keeping him.”

A look of shock crossed Belij’s face, but before she could say a word, Serena had crossed
the space between Gwenneth and herself so fast that Gwenneth didn’t even have time to blink.

The look of deep sorrow and desperation had vanished, replaced by wild determination
and anger. Her face rippled with black hair and her fangs descended.

She grabbed Gwenneth by the shoulders.

“Where is my son?” she demanded, her voice ending on a growl, and Gwenneth had no
doubt that Her Royal Highness would rip Gwenneth’s throat out if she didn’t get an answer at once.
Gwenneth liked Serena a whole lot at that moment.

“He’s living in the shanty town with a group of children who are members of the Thieves’
Guild,” she said quickly. “They call him Hiro. I recognized him from that family portrait.” She
pointed at the enormous painting on the wall. There was a picture of him there, a toddler in formal
ceremonial robes, leaning against his mother. He must have been taken away shortly after the picture
had been painted.

“The shanty town!” Serena cried in tones of horror. “There are children living there? That
is an evil place for criminals. You must take me to him at once. And all of those children must be
rescued from there. That is not acceptable!”

“Who took him from you?”

Serena let out a low growl of anger. “The Witch Doctor and my husband’s second wife. It
was three years ago. Three years since I have seen my son. I sent him out to play in the garden one
morning with the nanny, and the Witch Doctor came in, holding my son’s clothing, soaked in the
nanny’s blood.” Tears ran down her face; she didn’t raise a hand to wipe them away. “She fought to
the death for him, but to no avail. I have been a prisoner ever since that day. But now you will take
me to him and I will have my revenge on those who stole my child.”

“It would be safer for me to find him and bring him to you,” Gwenneth protested. “The head
of the Thieves’ Guild in the shanty town – I’m sure he’s working with the police and watching over
Hiro for them.”

“His name is Tam, and I will not be kept from him another minute,” Serena said in tones
that brooked no argument.

Does Farruki know the children are all hiding out at the Fallback now? Gwenneth
wondered. If he did, they were heading into a trap. But how could she refuse to take Serena to her
son?

“Take her,” Belij interjected. She began stripping off her clothing. “We will switch
clothing. I will stay here, and my priestesses will surround her as you walk out of the palace, hiding

her from the guards. You must get off the grounds at once, because the deception will not last long.”

“They’ll kill you!” Gwenneth protested, but Serena was already shedding her robes. The
ladies-in-waiting stood by nervously.

“They wouldn’t dare,” Belij said. Serena was quickly stepping into Belij’s robe. Then she
glanced at the ladies-in-waiting.

“We must take you back to your quarters, or they will spot the deception too soon,” one of
the ladies said.

“They might harm my ladies for helping me escape,” Serena said nervously to Belij.

“Pah! The Witch Doctor is destroying our country. If he stole the Eye of The Jaguar, he has
committed sacrilege,” one of the ladies said defiantly. “His offense against GuRa has cost our country
dearly. My family is falling into ruin; all of their businesses have failed. If I must die to free our
country, so be it.”

“You will not die,” Belij said. “I will command that you all stay with me so they cannot
harm you. They will not dare disobey a direct order from me. Go!”

There was no time to argue. Gwenneth and the priestesses surrounded Serena, and they
hurried out the door and down the hallway.

“As we walk, cover your face with your hands and start singing,” one of the priestesses
said to Serena, and she did so. They all began singing loudly in their native language, words that
Gwenneth didn’t understand, so she just made it up, trying to match their tune. As they walked out of
the front door, the soldiers quickly stepped aside for them.

They walked as quickly as they dared to the curb, then climbed into two waiting taxi cabs
and headed back towards the jungle. The priestesses apparently did not own any vehicles, and the
only money they had came from donations from infertile couples and tribute left by the native
populace. Then again, they spent their time living in the jungle and their needs were few.

They directed the taxi drivers to drive quickly and leave the main road. As they drove off,
Gwenneth prayed that the ancient, battered vehicles wouldn’t break down before they reached their
destination. She could see the road through the holes in the floor.

After twenty minutes, they heard sirens in the distance, heading their way.

“We’ll get out now, before they catch up to us,” Gwenneth said.

Their taxi driver pulled over, idling as they scrambled out. The second taxi full of
priestesses stopped as soon as they did. The coughing, sputtering exhaust pipes pumped black smoke
into the air, and Gwenneth wrinkled her nose at the smell. They were still in the city, in a dodgy
neighborhood near the shanty town.

“Once we have her son back, she can go to the Island Council and tell everybody about
what happened,” Gwenneth said to the priestesses. “Everything should be back to normal soon.”

“May GuRa protect you,” the priestesses called out the taxi window as it pulled away.

Serena stared with dismay at the dingy, battered buildings with their cracked windows and
the garbage piling up in heaps at random intervals up and down the street. If she found this upsetting,
the shanty town was going to make her sick to her stomach, Gwenneth thought.

“We should shift. It’ll be faster,” she said to Serena, who nodded in agreement.

They stripped off their clothes, seized them in their mouths, and began running, the jaguar
queen following the leopard commoner.

When they entered the shanty town, they stuck to the shadows, slinking down narrow,
stinking alleyways and staying out of sight. The queen shuddered frequently as she ran, lifting her
paws to avoid stepping in puddles of filth.

They kept moving until they finally reached the area that Hiro, or rather his Royal Highness
Prince Tam, had described. It was the area underneath an overpass for a rusted old train bridge that
had been abandoned long ago. Obscene graffiti was sprayed across cracked concrete, and spiky
weeds higher than Gwenneth’s head swayed in the breeze.

Gwenneth stopped just before they reached the bridge, crouching behind a heap of broken
furniture, battered shopping carts and old, stained mattresses. She didn’t see anyone under the
bridge, and she didn’t hear anything either. In leopard form, she should have been able to hear the
kids if they were there.

She turned human, crouching low to stay hidden, and dropped her clothing from her mouth.
Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and made the bird sound that Tana had taught her.

Then she sat back on her heels and listened.

In the distance, she could hear the faint sounds of traffic. But that was it. Total silence. No
reply.

The jaguar queen turned human too, crouching down next to Gwenneth. “What’s happening?
Where is my son?” she demanded, her voice frantic.

“I don’t know. This is where they said they’d wait for me. Maybe they’re out hunting for
supplies?” Gwenneth had an uneasy feeling. At least some of them should be there, shouldn’t they?

She made the bird call sound again, waited again. And there was still silence.

“Stay here,” she said to the queen, and she shifted and slunk over to the underpass, sniffing
the air. As she got closer, her fur stood on end. She could smell the scent of male jaguars, and also the
acrid scent of fear. Panic seized her and she let out a feline growl of fury and ran back to where the
queen waited anxiously.

Again, she shifted back to human form so she could speak. “They’re not here. Let’s go,” she
said to the queen. “We’re going to have to go to the temple for help. I don’t know what else to do at
this point.”

“Will they hurt my son?” the queen cried, tears shimmering in her huge, dark eyes.

“I don’t believe they will. He’s leverage, so he’s valuable,” Gwenneth tried to reassure
her.

Queen Serena swallowed hard. “I will find my son, and I will kill the people who took him
from me,” she said, her voice tear-choked but determined. Gwenneth had no doubt she meant it.

A sudden scuttling sound made them both jump. They looked up; a lone male jaguar was
perched on top of a garbage heap

He leaped down in front of them, landing with a thud about twenty feet away, and hurried
towards them. He was a scrawny adolescent with scars on his fur. When he reached them he shifted
back into human form. It was Pern.

“You’ve got to get out of here,” he said to Gwenneth, glancing around fearfully. “The
Shadow Lord and his men are looking for you.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Is that who took the kids? The Shadow Lord?” Gwenneth asked as a sickening sensation
swirled in her stomach.

“Who? What is a Shadow Lord?” The queen wailed. “Where is my son?”

Perk took another look at her and did a double take. “Your Highness?” he said, staring at
her in shock, then went down on one knee and bowed his head.

“Tell us what we need to know,” Gwenneth demanded. “Who took the kids?”

“I don’t know where any of them are,” Pern said anxiously. “I scented male jaguars under
the bridge, but I didn’t recognize anyone’s scent. They were there this morning. We were running
low on food so I went to bring back provisions.” He glanced up at Gwenneth, then at the queen, then
quickly looked down again. “When I got back, everybody was gone and it appeared there had been a
fight. I started searching through the shanty town, and after a while I spotted Farruki and his men, so I
hid and listened to them. Farruki was talking to a very big, powerful-looking man, and he addressed
him as the Shadow Lord. The Shadow Lord had many others with him.” He shuddered as he
mentioned his name, a look of fear on his face.

“What did you hear them say?” Gwenneth prodded impatiently.

“They said that they were here looking for Rhonwen and her gang. Farruki promised he
would find you and deliver you to the Shadow Lord.”

“I see,” she said, going pale. She’d be dead very soon, then, and so would anyone near her.
She looked at Serena. “I must send you and Pern to the temple; being with the priestesses should give
you some protection. You’re in danger being with me.”

“No.” Serena’s tone was regal and determined, and held no fear. “I do not fear death, not
anymore. Living every day without my son for the past three years, that has been worse than death.
You will be searching for him and the children, and I will go with you.”

Gwenneth stifled the urge to argue. She couldn’t force Serena to leave.

“All right, then.” She nodded. “Your Highness, at this point the only thing we can do is go
to the Island Council and tell them everything. Farruki and his men must have taken your son and the
other children. Going public is the only hope we have of getting them back. And Pern, I need you to
go to the Temple of GuRa and find a wolf shifter named Tyler and deliver a message for me.”

He nodded, looking up at her, carefully avoiding all eye contact with the queen.

“Tell him to leave without me. Tell him that he is not my fated mate, and I was using him to
get information, and I got what I needed. Tell him he was a fool for ever believing that I cared about
him.”

“Are you sure?” Pern asked in tones of bewilderment.

“Dead certain.” She was not going to let Tyler die trying to save her. All she could do was
pray that he’d believe Pern and give up on her.

The queen looked at her in confusion.

“Really long story; no time to explain,” she said.

“You forgot to say ‘Your Majesty’,” Pern chided her disapprovingly.

“Pern! Go!” Gwenneth gestured at him impatiently, pointing towards the jungle.

As Pern ran off, she and the queen shifted yet again and headed out of the shanty town,
racing down the stinking alleyways and leaping over piles of debris. The queen no longer looked
around her or shuddered at the horror of their surroundings; she was looking straight ahead, entirely
focused on their destination.

Then Gwenneth slowed down. She scented male jaguars – lots of them. She heard growls,
and crashing sounds, like tin walls being tossed about. She heard shouts of anger from the shanty
town’s inhabitants.

She and the queen back-tracked, raced down alleyways, and crouched behind big piles of
refuse for a while, waiting until the sounds passed.

Then the scent grew closer and they had no choice but to abandon their hiding place and
make a run for it.

The edge of the shanty town was up ahead. Here there were actual drivable roads, although
there was no electricity. There were small shacks on either side of the road, wedged in among trees
and shrubbery. They were still shabby but they looked like real dwellings instead of ramshackle
piles of plywood sheets.

And then Gwenneth scented more of the male jaguars, lurking in the vegetation and behind
the houses. She and the queen were quickly surrounded.

She stopped in her tracks, and so did the queen. Jaguars came running from behind refuse
heaps and leapt from the trees

One of them strode down the dusty road straight towards them and turned human as he
walked. He stopped in front of them and stood there with a look of gloating triumph on his face.
Police Chief Angara. Gwenneth’s heart leaped into her throat.

His eyes gleamed with malice. “I’ve been really looking forward to this.”

Neither Gwenneth nor the queen favored him with a reply.

Within minutes they were dressed, with copper collars clamped on their necks, and sitting
in the back of a stretch limousine with darkened windows. Nadette and the police chief sat facing
them.

Nadette leaned seductively against the police chief, who had apparently forgotten that he

was a married man. She trailed her fingers along his thigh, and a smile twisted his lips. He laid his
hand on top of hers.

“Let me make her bleed,” she cooed to Chief Angara, casting a malicious smirk in
Gwenneth’s direction. “Pleeeease. I’ll make it worth your while.” She moved her hand closer to his
crotch, but he seized her hand and removed it.

“Not yet, my dear,” he said. There was a briefcase sitting on the leather seat next to him,
and he opened it and pulled out a sheaf of papers.

“These are confessions,” he said to Gwenneth. “You will sign this paper, or your little
friends will die in ways more horrible than you can imagine, while you watch. If you sign it, I will
return them to the shanty town unharmed, and I promise you a quick and merciful death.”

With Nadette there? Right, Gwenneth thought scornfully.

The limo was moving through town now, and outside the window, citizens were strolling
by, driving by, with no idea what was taking place mere yards away from them.

“What’s in the confession?” she asked.

“Don’t question me,” he said haughtily. “You have no power and no rights.”

He glanced at the queen. “And you will sign this paper confessing to treason, and to
conspiring with this woman to steal the crown and kill your husband. In exchange, we will spare your
life and only imprison you. And we will allow your son to return to the palace, to be raised by the
Witch Doctor and Wife Number Two.”

“We must see the children before either of us will sign anything,” Gwenneth said quickly.
“You two are liars and thieves. We have no reason to trust that they’re alive and unharmed.”

The queen nodded in agreement. “I demand to see my son, or I will sign nothing, and I will
die fighting you. Try explaining my disappearance or death to the Island Council if you can; they will
open up an investigation and all will be exposed.”

“They can’t tell you what to do! Baby, let me hurt them.” Nadette leaned forward to nibble
at the chief’s ear, but he moved away from her impatiently.

“I cannot risk blood spatter getting on the confessions, foolish woman! Then the Island
Council would know they were coerced!” At that, there was a flash of dark anger in Nadette’s eyes,
which vanished quickly to be replaced by a manufactured look of pouty seductiveness.

Then the chief shrugged, baring his teeth in a cruel smile that promised vicious retribution
once he’d gotten what he wanted. “Very well,” he said to Gwenneth “We’ll go pay your little friends
a visit.” He called out to the driver, “Take us to the factory.”

Gwenneth leaned back in the seat.

“And, I want to know what your part is in the theft of the Eye,” she added to the chief.
Before he could argue, she added, “It’s my dying wish. And there’s no reason not to tell me. It’s not

like I can escape, is it? Tell me about your brilliant plan.” Knowledge was power. Whatever
information she gathered now, she might be able to use against him – if she survived, that was.

“Don’t tell her anything!” Nadette commanded him.

Mistake; Nadette had just done exactly what Gwenneth had hoped.

The police chief was a macho pig, and Nadette was overestimating her charms. She thought
that because she’d had sex with him, she now had power over him. The truth was quite the opposite;
now that he’d gotten what he wanted, he was already getting bored and impatient with her. Also, a
man like him would never allow a woman to give him orders.

He addressed Gwenneth in a haughty, condescending tone, as if he were doing her an
enormous favor by answering her question. “I was the one who arranged for the theft of the Eye, of
course. You already figured that out, I assume. The Shadow Lord assured me that you were the best in
the business, so I arranged for you to steal the crown, but you never showed up.”

They still thought she was her sister. She saw no reason to inform them otherwise. At least
if they killed her, Rhonwen might be safe – they’d have no reason to keep looking for her.

Tyler. What will happen to Tyler? She forced that thought from her mind. She needed to
focus on what was happening right now.

“You planned on double-crossing me from the very beginning, didn’t you? You’d arrange
for me to steal the Eye, have me caught and killed while resisting arrest, and the Eye would
mysteriously disappear. Then nobody would know that it was a fake you replaced the real Eye with
years ago.”

His smug grin was all the answer she needed.

Nadette sat with her arms folded across her chest, pouting.

“If she escapes, she’s got all this information that she can use against us. Baby,” she added,
stroking his arm.

He shot her a look of disgust. “She will not escape me. Unlike you, I know how to handle
her,” he said coldly.

Nadette’s hand fell away, and she turned to glower out the window, pressing her lips
together. It wasn’t that she cared about the police chief; she just didn’t take well to rejection. If she
were able to, she’d gladly slit his throat right now, Gwenneth knew.

“So what happened when I didn’t show?” Gwenneth pressed.

“I called the Shadow Lord, and he assured me that everything would be put right. Then
Nadette showed up on the island with you and your English friend. The plan was still the same; let
you steal the crown, catch you in the act, and kill you when you attempted to escape.”

“Brilliant.” Gwenneth did a bored slow clap.

“Despicable. You will be punished for your treachery.” The queen raked him with a look of
hatred and contempt, and he returned it with a scornful, “Pshaw.”

Gwenneth shifted in her seat, turning her attention to Nadette.

“So, Nadette, what’s it feel like to know that you won’t live to see the next sunset?” she
asked idly, pretending to fiddle with her hair but actually touching the copper collar’s lock. Unlike
the one designed by Tyler’s friends, this was a lock she knew she could pick. She just needed to wait
until the time was right. Not that she thought she would survive an escape attempt, but she wanted to
go down fighting.

“Oh, I’m so very scared right now. You’re terrifying, Gwenneth.” Nadette sneered at her.

“Not me, dumbass. The Shadow Lord. He’s here on the island, you know. He’s already met
with Farruki.”

At Nadette’s look of shock and dismay, she added, “Oh, you didn’t know? Farruki’s
playing all of you against each other. That includes you,” she added to the police chief.

The police chief jabbed Nadette in the arm with his finger. “Why is the Shadow Lord
here?”

“She’s bluffing,” Nadette said hurriedly. “And even if he’s here, it doesn’t matter. Once she
signs the confession, he will be satisfied. And he certainly has no reason to pursue you; he doesn’t
have any way of knowing your real plans.”

The fear in Nadette’s voice said that she knew that wasn’t the case. She was nowhere near
out of danger yet.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Gwenneth gave her a lazy, satisfied smile.

Nadette let out a bark of rage, partially shifted and lunged at her, jaws snapping. The police
chief intercepted her, also partially shifting, and cuffed her with an enormous paw. Nadette cringed
and yelped, then settled into the corner, whimpering as she shifted back into human form. As they
drove, she shot bitter, wounded looks at the police chief, who ignored her.

The limo had left the center of town and was heading towards the outskirts, and Gwenneth
turned away from Nadette and the chief, staring out the window in silence. Wherever they were going,
it was almost certainly the end of the line for her. Her only hope was that she could pick the lock on
the collar, shift, and create enough of a distraction that the children could escape.

Chapter Nineteen

Tyler sniffed around at the ground, his fur standing on end. Off in the distance, he could
hear Corran huffing and puffing, his feet thudding on the ground as he ran to catch up.

Pern had taken Tyler and Corran to the last place he’d seen Gwenneth and the queen, and
Tyler had shifted and followed their scent from there, with Pern loping along at his heels.

Their scents told a story. A story with an unhappy ending. Everything had been fine for
Gwenneth and the queen until they’d reached this spot. Then dozens of male jaguars had closed in on
them, and he recognized the scent of Police Chief Angara. He could smell anger and fear. He also
smelled Nadette’s scent. To his great relief, he did not smell any blood.

But he did pick up the lingering scent of exhaust, sweeping towards him on a stiff breeze.
Gwenneth and the queen had been forced into a car, he was sure of it.

“What happened?” Corran wheezed, skidding to a stop next to Tyler and Pern. He held
Tyler’s backpack, which he tossed to the ground at Tyler’s feet as Tyler shifted back into human form.

“You might want to renew your gym membership.” Tyler ignored his question and scowled
in thought, debating his next move. Pern paced anxiously, tail twitching, sniffing the air.

“Hey, I’m in tip-top shape, for a human.” He gasped for breath, bent over with his hands
braced on his knees. “You’re a wolf, damn it, I can’t be expected to keep up. You could have slowed
down and waited for me.”

“I could have.” Tyler scowled fiercely, sniffing at the air again. Pern shifted back into
human form, looking worried.

“So what did you find?” Corran asked between heaving gulps of breath.

“A bunch of male jaguar shifters abducted Gwenneth and a female jaguar who I’m assuming
is the queen. They left in a car.” He gritted the words out, struggling to quell the rising fury and panic
inside him.

The message that she’d sent to him through Pern– she’d been trying to save him. Trying to
trick him into abandoning her.

As ever, his fated mate wasn’t very good at lying. He knew she was his, and he knew she
knew it. She was his heartbeat, his life, and he would not sleep until he found her.

“So now what’s our next move?” Corran asked impatiently.

As he spoke, the wind shifted, and he picked up another scent that made him freeze in his
tracks.

Lion shifter, and several bears, and the coppery tang of blood.

“Corran, get out of here,” he said quickly. “Run. The Shadow Lord’s heading this way.”

“Screw it,” Corran said wearily. “If he wants me dead, I’m dead. I’d rather face my death
like a man.”

“Don’t be an idiot. Leave so I can explain things to him,” Tyler snapped.

“No explanation necessary.” A man’s voice rang out from behind a pile of broken
chipboard furniture, and then he stepped out. Lion shifter. The Shadow Lord.

A big man with a brutal face, thick brows, the burn of silver on one cheek – the one scar
that would never heal or fade. He wore a leather coat, seemingly unbothered by the heat, looking as
cool as a cucumber. Bear shifters flanked him on either side, and he was holding a severed head by
the hair in his right hand.

“Farruki,” Pern choked out.

“He was, yes,” the Shadow Lord said, and tossed Farruki’s head onto a pile of garbage.
“Do you work for him?”

Pern cringed, and Tyler stepped forward in front of him, letting out a low growl. “Leave
him alone,” he snapped. “He’s just a boy, and he didn’t work for him. He just paid protection money
to him, the way you Thieves’ Guild leeches steal money from children everywhere.”

The lion looked at him with eyes of ice blue. “I do not take money from children.”

Tyler scoffed. “Forgive me if I don’t take the word of a criminal as the gospel truth.”

The bears on either side of him growled, but the lion shifter appeared to be unfazed.
“You’re the security contractor from California.”

Tyler tried to place the man’s accent but couldn’t. It was American, but the Shadow Lord
didn’t have any regional twang to his voice, or he’d made sure that he erased it.

From what little Tyler knew about the Shadow Lord, he moved around the globe, never
staying in one country for long. He was one of the underworld’s most powerful brokers; if you wanted
to acquire an object that was impossible to steal, you went to him.

The lion glanced at Corran. “Corran. Good to see you again.” Corran swallowed hard, and
Tyler could have sworn he went a shade paler, but he didn’t say anything.

“You understand that I’m not going to stand here and let you harm either one of them,” Tyler
said, letting fur ripple on his face as he glanced at Corran and Pern.

That seemed to amuse the lion. “Suicidally brave. An admirable quality. But you might
want to wait before you leap into my jaws. You’re about to go and try to rescue your fated mate, I
assume. I’m here to offer you my assistance.”

“Me? Work with you?”

“For the time being.” He glanced at Tyler. “Unless you have a small army at your
immediate disposal…like I do.”

“What exactly are you proposing?”

Corran raised a hand. “Hello, I hate to interrupt, but does this mean you’re not actually
going to kill me?”

The lion shifter ignored him. “Can you scent where she was taken? That should lead me to
some people I need to speak to. I’ve been betrayed, and that never ends well. For those foolish
enough to betray me, that is.” He glanced over at Farruki’s head.

“I don’t know how much you know about what really happened, but the woman who was
supposed to steal the Eye is not the one who betrayed you.”

“I know.” The lion shifter nodded, and the icy glitter of anger in his eyes grew even colder.
“So will you take me to them? I can find them with or without you, but it will probably be faster with
you. And there’s a certain police chief who’s going to be trying to get rid of any loose ends sooner
rather than later. Your girlfriend is a loose end.”

“So is the queen!” Pern said anxiously. The lion shifter shrugged, the picture of
indifference.

Make a deal with the devil, a notorious criminal and murderer, in order to save Gwenneth?

In a heartbeat.

“Let’s go,” Tyler said. “I’ll lead the way.”

Chapter Twenty

The old bottling factory was located on the outskirts of town. There were jaguar police
officers already on guard there, and they snapped to attention when Chief Angara climbed out of his
limo.

They looked a little less sure when Queen Serena and Gwenneth climbed out.

The Queen raked all of them with a look of loathing and contempt.

“Traitors, all of you,” she said loudly. “Have you seen what is happening to our island
because of this man? You are destroying your own people!” None of them would meet her eye.

“Move along!” Chief Angara growled, prodding her hard with his finger. Several of the
soldiers flinched at that, but nobody moved to help her.

Gwenneth and the queen were herded inside by Chief Angara and six jaguar police officers,

past rows and rows of rusting, idle machinery, through dusty rooms that made Gwenneth sneeze and
reeked of bird droppings.

The police officers and the chief had all dressed as they were being driven through town,
and had donned their gun belts. Her nose twitched at the scent of their silver-coated bullets.

Nadette stalked through the room with her head held high and her eyes blazing with
wounded pride. She shot looks of murderous rage at Gwenneth, who ignored her. Nadette no longer
mattered. One way or another, her days were numbered.

“My God,” the queen exclaimed n horror as she looked around.

Some of the children were sitting on old cardboard boxes. A few were wandering around
barefoot on the dirty floor. Gwenneth gritted her teeth in fury. The bastards hadn’t even put mats
down on the concrete for them to sleep on, and they’d put copper collars on all their necks.

Tana was sitting cross-legged, drawing in the dust on the floor with a stick. She leaped to
her feet when they walked in. “You came for me!” she cried. She ran over to Gwenneth, jumped into
her arms and gave her an enormous hug. As she did, Gwenneth felt Tana picking the lock on her neck
with a tiny twist of wire, and she hid a smile by burying her face in Tana’s hair.

“All our collars are loose; we were just waiting for you, because we knew you would
come for us,” Tana whispered in her ear. “Just give us the signal.”

“The guards have silver bullets,” Gwenneth replied in a low murmur. “Just let me distract
the police chief, and when I do, do your best to get everyone out of here.”

She glanced over at the queen, who was looking frantically around the room. The queen’s
eyes lit on Tam, or rather, Hiro, who was standing by a stack of boxes, staring at her uncertainly.

“Tam! My son!” Serena rushed over and knelt down next to him. She swept the boy up in a
hug, and he stared at her in confusion and put his hand on her face.

“Who are you?” he asked her, looking into her eyes with wonder. “You look like a queen.”

“I am a queen. You are my son, and you are a prince.”

He giggled at that. “Me! A prince!” Then he hugged her and buried his face in her shoulder,
and Gwenneth saw that he was picking her lock also. A proud smile spread across Serena’s face; she
knew what he was doing.

Gwenneth walked over to the police chief, who impatiently waved the confessions at her.

“Just give her five minutes with him before you take us,” Gwenneth said to the police chief.
“After all, it’s her last goodbye to her son.” She wanted time to assess the room and decide what her
best options were.

Nadette stamped her foot. “No! You’ve stalled enough!” she snarled.

She just didn’t learn. Her ego would be her undoing, Gwenneth thought.

Chief Angara glared at her. “No woman tells me what to do. I give the orders here.” He
cast a cold glance at Gwenneth. “Five minutes,” he snapped, glancing at his watch. He leaned against
the wall, his arms folded across his chest, watching them. Nadette turned on her heel and stalked out
of the room.

Good. One less person to fight. Seven armed cops, versus the queen and Gwenneth and
fourteen children who could shift into jaguars…there was a good chance at least some of the gang
would make it out alive.

Gwenneth knelt down and whispered to Tana, “When I give the signal, be ready to move.
Get the kids out of here, don’t look back, don’t stop for me.”

She glanced around. There should have been fourteen little street urchins there. She saw
only eight. Tana caught her eye and gave her a tiny nod.

That was a good start.

“They are up in the rafters,” Tana whispered back. “When I give the signal, they will jump
down on the guards.”

Several minutes later, the police chief keyed the microphone on his radio and spoke.
Gwenneth couldn’t hear his words, but she saw the expression on his face. He looked unhappy. He
spoke into the radio again, and apparently there was no answer, because he sent one of the guards out
of the room.

A minute went by, and the guard didn’t return. The chief pressed the button on his radio
again. There was still no answer. Now he was starting to look panicked and angry. Hope rose inside
of Gwenneth. Could Tyler have come for her? But Tyler alone, or even with Corran’s help, couldn’t
have taken out all of those men outside.

“You two! Get over here!” Chief Angara shouted at them from across the room.

“Come get me,” Gwenneth taunted him.

He pointed his gun at Tana, who stared back at him, unblinking.

“I will blow her head off on the count of three.”

“If you hurt her, I’ll never sign your confession,” Gwenneth said, standing up quickly, but
she began moving towards him, putting herself between him and Tana. The queen thrust her son
behind a box and did the same, hurrying towards the chief.

The police officers began crowding in around them.

Tana gave a wild cry, and jaguar cubs dropped from the ceiling, landing on the police

officers. They clawed and snarled, and the police officers pulled out their guns and fired wildly.

At the same time, Gwenneth and the queen ripped their collars off and shifted, lunging at
Chief Angara.

As he shifted, Gwenneth raked his face with her claws, savagely slashing through one eye.
All around her she could hear howls and hisses and growls and thuds.

Then the door burst open.

As it did, she felt something slam into her ribs with agonizing pain. Silver. She’d been shot
with silver.

She fell to the ground, gasping, and heard a roar of fury. It couldn’t be…but there she was.

Rhonwen. In jaguar form, but she’d know her twin anywhere.

Blood streamed down Chief Angara’s face. He swung towards Rhonwen, levelling his gun,
but Rhonwen knocked him off his feet before he could fire a shot. She bit his hand clean off, and it
fell to the ground, blood spurting from the stump. An enormous lion joined her, savagely slashing at
him. The chief’s roars of rage turned to screams of agony.

There were lions and bears and jaguars and…Tyler? Pain seared through Gwenneth and
she gasped for breath.

She heard Tyler’s voice. “Hold on, baby, I’m sorry!” She looked up, and Tyler and her
sister, still in jaguar form, were crouched over her where she lay.

Her sister put her paws on her and held her down as Tyler clawed the silver bullet out of
her rib. Her abdomen was on fire; she screamed with pain and passed out.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Ouch. Silver sucks. I really hate silver. You know what my least favorite metal is?”
Gwenneth leaned back into Tyler’s arms.

The Shadow Lord had bought a medic with him. He’d applied a special antibiotic ointment
to her wound to counteract the effects of the silver, and she had an I.V. catheter in her arm. Tyler was
holding the saline bag and there was a steady drip of fluids running through her veins.

“Silver?” Rhonwen guessed. She was barely recognizable – to anyone but Gwenneth. Her
hair was shoulder-length, dishwater blonde streaked with brown. She wasn’t wearing makeup. She
was going for the understated look; whatever she was doing in her new life these days, she didn’t
want to be noticed.

“Very good guess.”

“So no silver earrings for your birthday then. Check.”

Gwenneth managed to return a grin that turned into a grimace. Her ribs throbbed with a dull,
steady pulse of pain.

The queen sat on the floor with Tam on her lap, murmuring into his ear. Tana and the other
children were crowded around Rhonwen, looking back and forth between her and Gwenneth in
amazement. The dead bodies of the police officers had been dragged off to one side, and the air
smelled of gunpowder and blood and the reek of slashed intestines.

“Hey, you started the party without me,” Corran called from the doorway. The Shadow
Lord’s men stepped back to let him in.

The Shadow Lord shrugged, giving him a dismissive look as he walked through the room,
stepping around pools of blood.

“Rhonny.” Corran stared at her, with a look of deep hurt; she bit her lip and looked away.

“You were supposed to wait back at the hotel,” the Shadow Lord said to Rhonwen, with a
look of annoyance. “Nice job giving my men the slip.”

“Please,” Rhonwen said dismissively. “This is me we’re talking about. And you can’t tell
me that my sister is in danger and just expect me to stay put.”

“I thought you were going to kill her. You two are working together?” Gwenneth said to
him, disbelieving.

“I wouldn’t put it like that.” The Shadow Lord scowled at her. He yelled out, in the general
direction of the doorway, “Do you have her yet?”

“Coming,” a voice called from the hallway.

A bear shifter marched through the door, dragging a frantic, bedraggled-looking Nadette by

the arm. Apparently after she’d stomped off, she’d tried to make a break for it – and hadn’t gotten far
before the Shadow Lord’s men had grabbed her.

A copper collar gleamed on her neck and her eyes were wild.

The Shadow Lord returned his attention to Gwenneth. “When your sister failed to steal the
Eye, I knew something didn’t add up. And when I investigated and found out that she’d supposedly
made major errors in her last several jobs, I knew Nadette and Henri were somehow behind it. They
wouldn’t have tolerated one fuck-up, much less multiple botched jobs. And when I found out Henri
was in a coma at the time that I assigned the theft of the Eye, then I knew that only Nadette could have
been responsible.”

“He’s in a coma?” Corran and Rhonwen said at the same time.

“It wasn’t me! We just felt sorry for her!” Nadette whined. “She was like family to us, so
we kept giving her another chance and—”

“Bullshit!” the Shadow Lord growled at her. “Everyone knew how you felt about Rhonwen.
You’d have gotten rid of her at the first opportunity. You were jealous as hell, and rightly so; she
was always a million times better than you.”

“No, she isn’t!” Nadette blurted out, tears of fury glittering in her eyes.

“How did you find my sister?” Gwenneth struggled to sit up, winced, and settled back into
Tyler’s arms again.

“Settle down,” he growled at her. “Don’t hurt yourself.” His fingers were bandaged; they’d
blistered where they’d touched the silver bullet.

“Nobody can hide from me for long. I found her in Africa, where she’d been living under a
new name with her baby. Once I verified that she’d been there for the last six months and never left, I
knew for certain that she wasn’t the one who took any of those jobs. So I brought her here so I could
find out who was playing the both of us. And kill them,” he added as an afterthought.

All eyes turned to Rhonwen.

“You have a baby?” Corran cried.

She met his gaze. “We have a son. He’s still in Africa, being cared for by friends while I
came here to straighten this mess out.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he choked out.

“I tried,” she protested. “As soon as I knew that I was pregnant, I asked you if you’d quit
the biz. You were incredibly adamant about it, said you’d never leave. Remember how mad you got at
the very idea?” She shook her head sadly. “It broke my heart to leave you, and to leave them…” She
looked over at Tana. “But I couldn’t raise my child in this lifestyle. The only way to ensure that my
son was never tainted by my past was to disappear completely and leave everything behind.”

Well, that explained why she’d suddenly gotten all maternal, actually caring about the street

kids, Gwenneth thought. Rhonwen hadn’t been running some kind of long con after all; she’d sent them
the money because she wanted to help them.

Rhonwen glanced at Tana. “I wanted to come back for you. I got messages from Farruki
assuring me that you were all well, and he said he’d even started a school for you. Was that true?”

Gwenneth made a scornful noise.

“He stole most of the money you sent and didn’t do a damn thing for them,” Gwenneth said
irritably. “You shouldn’t have left them behind.”

“That bastard.” Rhonwen let out a hiss of anger. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have.”

“Well, on the bright side, the Shadow Lord ripped his head off,” Tyler said. “I assume
because he found out that Farruki had sold everyone out to the police.”

“Yes. The Thieves’ Guild doesn’t take well to our members screwing over their own. Keep
that in mind,” he added to Corran.

“I’ve quit,” Corran said firmly. He hurried over to Rhonwen’s side. “Will you take me
back? I’ll quit right now.”

“This is so very touching,” the Shadow Lord drawled, looking at them with contempt. “You
know the price?”

“I can pay,” Corran said.

“What’s the price?” Tyler asked Gwenneth.

“The cost to quit is half a million. I paid when I quit.” It had cost her every cent she’d made
from her various heists over the years, and it had been worth it.

“Wait, seriously?” Tyler twisted around to look her in the eye and see if she meant it.

“Yes,” the Shadow Lord answered for her. “And I believe you neglected to pay your exit
fee, which is why nobody knew you’d officially left the game,” he said to Rhonwen. “Did you think
I’d just let that slide? Mercy isn’t one of the qualities I’m known for. And that’s the other reason I
brought you here. I kept you alive until I had verified what really happened with the Eye…”

The children crowded fearfully around Rhonwen, trying to block her from him. Gwenneth
sat up quickly, ignoring the pain that lanced through her. Tyler let out an angry growl, shifting where
he sat, ready to spring.

“I’ll pay her portion,” Corran said quickly.

“It’s double for her now, since she didn’t pay when she first quit . So that’s a total of $1.5
million for the both of you to ride happily off into the sunset.” The Shadow Lord glanced over at
Rhonwen, who’d tensed up and was trying to shove herself in front of Tana. Tana kept struggling,
trying to protect Rhonwen with her own tiny body. “Sure she’s worth it? If I kill her, you could
always raise your son by yourself.”

“She is the mother of my child,” Corran bit out. “Yes. I will pay it.”

“You are an evil, low life son-of-a-bitch,” Gwenneth snapped at him, struggling to quell
her fury.

The Shadow Lord scoffed at that. “You’re being far too kind.” He glanced at his men. “But
as an extra special gesture for you all, I won’t kill Nadette in front of the children. Don’t tell anyone –
they’ll think I’ve gone soft.”

His men dragged Nadette towards the door; she kicked and screamed, but he ignored her.
“You’re all on your own now. Oh, and let the Witch Doctor know his days are numbered; I know his
part in all this.”

The queen broke her silence. “He’ll be jailed for life by the Island Council.”

He laughed at that. “That won’t save him. I could order his death right now if I wanted to,
but I’m going to wait. It’s more fun that way.”

A cat toying with his prey. Gwenneth shuddered, then grimaced in pain. Tyler squeezed her
hand in sympathy as the Shadow Lord and his men left the room.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“This would be a beautiful place to get married,” Tyler said, his arm around Gwenneth’s
waist. They were sitting on a bench in one of the palace’s many courtyards. There were classical
marble statues tucked among the topiary bushes, and winding pathways led through groves of fruit
trees. Fat tropical blossoms perfumed the air, and a gushing fountain tinkled nearby.

They had tickets to leave the island in another week, and the queen had insisted that they
come to the palace to recuperate from their injuries. Silver burns healed slowly, even with proper
treatment, but they were living the high life while they mended, sleeping in a room the size of a house
and waited on by their own personal squad of servants.

“Oh, yes! You must do us that honor!” Queen Serena spoke up quickly. King Mahrim was
sitting in a wheelchair, with nurses hovering nearby. He nodded weakly. He was still pale and thin,
but recovering.

“Of course,” he said to them. “We will hold a festival in your honor.”

“I can be the ring bearer!” Tam said excitedly. “Can we have a parade for them? I always
wanted to ride on a parade float!”

“You can have as many parades as you want,” his mother said, smiling.

Gwenneth barely recognized him with a haircut, a clean shiny face, and wearing his royal
robes.

His mother held on to his hand as if she’d never let go. He looked up at her frequently with
a shy, uncertain smile, and then around at his surroundings, as if afraid it would all vanish. His
brothers and sisters were inside studying with their governess, but Serena had been away from Tam
for so long that she couldn’t bear to part with him for a moment.

The king let out a sigh. “I am fatigued too easily, I fear,” he said. “I must take my leave of
you for today.”

The queen and Tam nodded, and bid their guests farewell. They followed the king inside the
palace with his nurses. They were passed by servants heading out to the gardens bearing trays of
food and drinks.

“Man, this is the life,” Rhonwen said contentedly.

“We’re really going to live here? Really?” Tana repeated for the twentieth time, clinging to
Rhonwen’s hand. “I’m like a princess now?”

“You’ve always been a princess,” Rhonwen said, stroking her hair.

Tana grabbed Gwenneth’s arm with her free hand. “You could stay with us here too,” she
pleaded.

Gwenneth smiled at her. “I can’t. But I’ll visit all the time,” she said, glancing at Tyler.

Tyler had a job and a home and a family, and her place was by Tyler’s side – now that she knew the
children would be safe and cared for. “And I’ll send you presents.”

Rhonwen, Corran and their son had been invited to move into the palace to raise Tana and
her gang and to serve as security consultants. It was a good thing, too, because Corran had spent
literally every cent he had, and sold off his royal title to pay for Rhonwen’s departure from the
Thieves’ Guild.

“I’m going to go climb to the top of that tree. Watch me, Rhonwen!” Tana shifted into cub
form and raced straight up a palm tree, with several of the other children joining her.

Rhonwen turned to look at Gwenneth. “Are you actually going to come visit, or are you
going to disappear again for five years like you did before?” she said, a faint trace of bitterness in her
voice.

Gwenneth shot her a look. “Come on. You know why I did what I did. Either you’re in or
you’re out – it’s never halfway. And I begged you to come with me.”

“I felt so alone after you’d gone.” Rhonwen heaved a sigh. “I thought you’d change your
mind and come back. For years I thought that.”

“I did spy on you from afar, if that makes you feel any better.”

“It does.” Rhonwen smiled at her sister, then waved at Corran, who was walking among the
trees, holding their chubby little son Edward in his arms. They’d flown to Africa to fetch him and
then come straight back. Gwenneth had been partly afraid that they wouldn’t return, but apparently her
sister was really, finally, ready to put down roots.

The king and queen were setting up schools for the residents of the shanty town, and running
electricity to the town. The Eye of the Jaguar had been found, in the home of a billionaire private
collector, and was being returned; hopefully that meant the island’s good fortunes would return with
it.

“So have you heard anything from the Thieves Guild? You’re definitely free and clear?”
Gwenneth asked her sister.

“Yep, me and Corran. We’re clear. Oh, and there’s one more thing. Did you hear about the
new rule in the Thieves Guild?”

“What new rule?”

Rhonwen looked around and lowered her voice. “He met with the other higher-ups in the
Thieves’ Guild, and they ruled that there will be no more members under the age of eighteen. I swear
to god, I’d say that he’s gone a teensy bit soft, except that if he heard me saying that he’d have me
killed.”

“I guess I misjudged him. He’s just a big, cuddly stuffed animal of a man, isn’t he?”
Gwenneth said with derision.

“Shhh, for God’s sake. That’s also the kind of thing he’d kill you for, and I just got you
back, and my son needs his auntie.”

She waved at Corran, got up, and headed over to him.

Gwenneth settled back and leaned against Tyler, resting her head on his shoulder. For the
first time in a long time, she felt at peace, and it was the strangest sensation.

Nobody was looking to kill her or her sister. Tyler was going to use his connections so she
could re-establish her real identity and go to college. Better late than never.

Belij had been released from the palace unharmed, and the palace had made a generous
donation to the temple in gratitude.

Maji had been hired by the palace as one of their drivers, and he and his family had been
moved into a new home, and his great grandfather was finally receiving a doctor’s care.

The Witch Doctor and Wife Number Two were in prison awaiting their trial, as had all of

Chief Angara’s accomplices on the police force.

“So, about that wedding,” Tyler prodded her. “I’m thinking two weddings, actually. One at
home in California, or my parents will kill me. And one here. Next summer, gives us time to plan.
What do you think?”

“Just to be absolutely clear, I’d be the bride in these theoretical weddings, right?”
Gwenneth grinned wickedly at him.

“You know you would.” He leaned in and brushed his lips across hers, and she felt
delicious warmth flood through her body. He pulled her close to him, and she stifled a moan of
pleasure.

“Did I hurt you?” he pulled away in concern.

“No, quite the opposite.” She glanced around. “The pain in my ribs is completely gone.
Think we can give everyone the slip for a little while?”

His eyes lit up and he seized her hand. “I’m sure of it,” he said, and she followed her fated
mate through the garden and into the palace.

THE END