That was what they wanted, wasn’t it? They told him he had to prove himself when he tried to join after his father died. And now he had. This bull wasn’t his first shifter, nor would it be his last. With the others, he simply tortured and killed them. But that was before he learned about the Knights. Before he learned about the experiments they did on shifters, trying to find out what made them tick, and why they could shift into beasts.

  The problem with that plan was making it to their headquarters without the Agency riding his ass. He’d managed to stay hidden, to keep his activities secret. But the Agency always had a way of finding things out. They’d disrupted several of his hunts over the years, and he wished he could just kill the lot of them. Fools, they were all monster-loving fools. Shifters were nothing but demons parading as humans and animals. They were neither and they didn’t deserve to be in this world.

  Richard smiled with manic glee and glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror. He’d won this round. He’d been sneaky and fast. The Agency would be eating his dust. He knew where the headquarters were for the Knights, and he would just drive his prize there. He could imagine it, presenting this ill-begotten bull shifter to the Knights and being congratulated and welcomed into their organization. He would be known and respected and given missions and resources to do his job better.

  Respect. He fucking deserved it.

  “You’re going to make me a legend, shifter!” Richard shouted. “You’ll never tempt another human again with your evil ways. I hope that bullet causes you fucking agony!”

  Ryan was in excruciating pain but he managed to open his eyes. So, his father was right about that beware-of-silver stuff. The ball of silver in his hip was causing enormous swelling, and it dug into his bone and muscles, causing fiery pain to travel to all parts of his body. His stomach started to cramp and a headache began to creep up his skull.

  The silver had also caused him to shift into a bull, his birth form. He knew what happened, and although he kept losing consciousness for a few minutes at a time, he suspected they were still in Nevada. They hadn’t been on the road for very long. Every time the trailer hit a bump, he would snort in pain. He knew he needed to move, but every time he tried, his muscles would spasm as a result and nausea would follow.

  He was most likely going to die, and his only regret was that he would be leaving Caleb alone in the world. The day and night they’d spent together had been mind-blowing, and he was happy that those memories would be with him when he left this world. Heart sinking, he lay his massive head on the floor and tried to think of a way to get out. If the man had the guts to kill him face to face, he would make it hard for him, no matter how much pain it caused. If he was going to die, he would take that bastard with him.

  “How do you know where they’re going?” Caleb said. He had to shout since he was on the back of a fucking motorcycle, hanging on for dear life. Agent Poe had to be going at suicidal speeds, and though Caleb wore a helmet, he was far from secure. He clung to Agent Poe’s waist as they sped down the highway with nothing but desert and hills on either side of them. They didn’t even see any other cars.

  Agent Poe lifted his visor and turned his head so Caleb saw his profile. “Everyone in the Agency has a special ability. Agent Isis is able to find things that are lost. She was able to find Ryan.”

  Poe turned back and flipped down his visor. Caleb was momentarily puzzled by Poe’s explanation. Special abilities? Like superpowers? Well, who was he to doubt? He’d spent the first seventeen years of his life ignorant of the existence of shifters, so why should he doubt superpowers? He wondered about Poe’s ability.

  “Is the Agency international?” he yelled.

  Poe nodded his head. Wow. An actual international, secret police force. Conspiracy theorists the world over would be drooling if they knew.

  “Where do you get your funding?” he asked, unable to quell his curiosity.

  Poe turned his head again and lifted his visor. “I think it would be best if you held your questions until we aren’t going a hundred miles an hour on a motorcycle.”

  One hundred miles an hour? He shut his mouth and prayed that Agent Poe would keep his eyes on the road. He really didn’t want to end up as roadkill.

  They were stopping. Ryan felt the rocking of the trailer slow and eventually stop. He braced himself and tried to stand but the pain caused him to fall again with a shriek of agony. His large lungs worked overtime to try and get enough breath to control his pain. He heard the driver’s door slam shut. This was it. If the bastard was going to kill him, it would be now.

  He waited, but nothing happened. The trailer's doors didn’t open, an ugly head didn’t poke itself inside. What was going on? Did the bastard want him to suffer a little more? Because he was. Ryan shifted his head and eyed his hip. The swelling had increased, and the pressure in his head was getting worse. His stomach cramp seemed to contract deeper. He couldn’t move his leg without passing out from the pain.

  He might not be able to attack the bastard if the pain got any worse. He wouldn’t be able to move. What was taking so long?

  A small diner came into view as they rounded a corner by a hill, which had obscured the road ahead, and Caleb’s eyes bugged out of his skull.

  “That’s the trailer!” he said to Poe, as close to the agent’s ear as he could get. Agent Poe slowed down and swerved his bike into the parking lot. Caleb flew off the motorcycle before it fully stopped and ran toward the trailer. Before he got even two steps, Poe’s arm lashed out and gripped his, yanking hard, and he found himself on the ground. Poe took off his helmet, his eyes shining with blue fire.

  “Are you stupid? We don’t know what Richard Gordon is capable of doing. Just stay here while I investigate.”

  “The hell I will.” He lurched to his feet and threw off his helmet. “Ryan is mine, and no son of a bitch is going to take him away. I’m coming whether you like it or not.”

  Though his arm throbbed from Poe’s grip, he still stood up to the strangely strong man. He wasn’t going to be bullied by anyone, and damned if he was going to have Ryan rescued by someone else. Agent Poe didn’t look too happy about it. In fact, he looked plenty pissed off. The agent dropped his helmet and shut off his bike. Then he turned back to him.

  “Listen closely, Caleb O’Connell. I will humor you this time, but if you get in my way, you will regret it. My ability is strength, and I can either twist you into a pretzel or pull every one of your limbs off without breaking a sweat. Follow my lead.”

  With that dire warning said in a hard, quiet voice, Poe walked slowly toward the trailer. Caleb followed the agent and rubbed his arms absently, trying not to imagine the pain of what Agent Poe described.

  They approached the trailer cautiously from behind, and Poe gestured for him to wait while he turned the corner and approached the driver’s side. Caleb nodded and stood quietly, hoping nothing happened to the agent but also wishing he’d hurry up. He pressed his ear to the trailer doors and wondered if the steady noise he heard was Ryan breathing.

  Please God, let it be Ryan.

  Agent Poe came back and shook his head, his eyes taking in their surroundings.

  “He’s not in the truck,” he whispered. "I’m going to check the diner. You wait here. I don’t want you to go touching or opening things until we know there isn’t a bomb. Got it?”

  Caleb nodded. “Got it.”

  Agent Poe gave him a look of warning before turning and walking casually towards the diner. Caleb leaned against the trailer and battled with himself about whether to listen to the agent or to take a chance and open the doors. What if Ryan was suffering? Dying?

  Anxiety gnawed at his gut as he weighed his choices. Then he heard a snort. He spun around and pressed his ear hard against the doors, trying to hear more. He heard scraping and snorting and then a high-pitched whine.

  Ryan.

  If only he had the keys! A little part of Caleb died when he realized he was inches from comforting his lover and unable to close the distance. He laid his head against the doors but jerked away when a commotion came from the diner. A man come flying out of the glass window and landed hard on the dirt. People yelled and ran as Poe jumped up on a table and stared Richard Gordon down with a look of pure hatred.

  Blood streamed from a wound on Poe’s arm as Poe approached Richard, planning on giving him a good beating. But the man was tougher than he looked—being a rodeo clown might have something to do with it—and he got up and ran toward Caleb. Caleb saw the moment of recognition from Richard, and the kidnapper lifted a gun. Caleb flung himself to one side just as the gun went off. Sounds of animal rage came from the trailer, and Richard was running for the driver’s door.

  Poe sprinted past Caleb when he rolled over. As Richard opened the door and got a leg in, Poe grabbed his jacket and yanked him hard, causing Richard to lose his grip on the door and crash into the ground, slamming his head, hard.

  “Fucking asshole,” Poe spat and took the gun from Richard, shoving it into his jacket pocket. Caleb stood as Poe slapped handcuffs on Richard.

  “Ryan is in there.” Whines sounded from behind those doors, and his heart ached. “I need the keys. Does he have the keys?”

  Poe stuck his hands inside Richard's pockets as the man yelled and cursed, and Caleb didn't understand any of it.

  “You fucking shifter-loving pussies! They're demons, demons, I tell you! They must all be destroyed! The Knights know that. They hate the demons as much as I do! Let me go! You have no right. I'm on a godly mission! God showed me the way, just like my father! You will burn in hell!”

  “Oh, shut the fuck up,” Poe said, sounding exasperated. He kicked Richard hard in the stomach and the man gagged, curling into himself. The agent rolled his eyes at Caleb and handed him the keys. Poe quickly checked for bombs and when he didn't find any, Caleb unlocked the doors, and flung them open. Whirlwind stared back at him, and relief crashed down over Caleb’s shoulders. He climbed into the trailer and cupped Whirlwind’s large head between his hands.

  “Thank God you’re all right. I love you so much.” He kissed Whirlwind on the snout, but another painful whine came from him.

  He only had to turn his head to see why Whirlwind was in such pain. The area between his hip and knee was swollen, the skin a disturbing shade of green.

  “Shit.” Poe lifted his phone to his ear. “Mackenzie, it’s Poe. Get a medic out here and another agent. I need supervision while I take the perp into lockup. Now, Kenzie, or we’re going to lose this one. Silver poisoning.” Poe hung up.

  Fear clawed at Caleb’s throat. “What do you mean, we could lose him? What’s wrong? What about silver?”

  “Shifters are allergic to silver.” Poe glared at Richard with such malice, Caleb made a note to himself never to piss the agent off.

  “Silver, like in the movies?” he asked, stroking Ryan's head.

  “Yep, and this asshole seems to have a real monster-slayer attitude and followed Hollywood way too closely.”

  Caleb stroked Whirlwind’s head, speaking softly to him. He’d forgotten about silver's effect on shifters. Dammit, Ryan couldn’t die. Not now, not ever.

  “Don't touch the devil! He's already tricked you once. Don't let him seduce you again! They're impure, they're—”

  “Enough!” Poe kicked Richard full in the face, knocking him out cold. His teeth were bared and his eyes were bright with rage. Caleb heard Poe’s knuckles pop and turned his attention back to Ryan. He stroked his head, scratched his ears. The whines that came from Ryan were heartbreaking, and he would take that pain onto himself if he could have.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, remembering Poe’s wound.

  “Fine. Bastard shot me with the same type of bullet. Hurts like a bitch. But I should be grateful. Silver’s not exactly the best bullet material.”

  Caleb frowned. “What do you mean?” Asking questions kept his mind from thinking that Ryan could die. He kissed Ryan’s forehead and rubbed his cheek over his fur.

  “Just the way the bullet moves through the barrel,” Poe said, eyeing Ryan. Caleb thought he recognized concern and sympathy. “Silver’s harder than lead, which means it doesn’t turn as fast when it shoots out of the barrel. Even a good shot will miss half the time. He shot Ryan at close range without the shifter knowing about it. I anticipated it. Idiot.”

  He knew Poe wasn’t calling him an idiot—that title belonged to Richard. He’d misjudged Poe, badly. When he’d thought him cold, Poe had only been professional and focused. But he didn’t have time for guilt—he needed to keep Ryan awake.

  “You’re going to be fine, Ryan,” he said once Poe left to deal with Richard. “You’re going to heal, and we are going to go home. I promise.”

  Soft brown eyes stared at him, and large nostrils flared. He was breathing much too fast, and Caleb couldn’t imagine how much pain he was in.

  “Hold on, Ryan. I love you so much.” Tears clogged his throat but he kept stroking and tried to keep speaking.

  It wasn’t long—though it felt like a lifetime—before another face appeared by the trailer doors. This one belonged to an Amazonian woman with bold red hair, freckles, and dark blue eyes. She climbed into the trailer with a bag and knelt beside Ryan’s wound.

  “I’m Agent Genii,” she said, her voice deeper than he expected. “I need to put him out so I can examine him without causing more pain. Here.”

  She handed Caleb a cloth and a bottle.

  “Hold the cloth over his nose and make sure it doesn’t get dry. He’ll wake up if it does.”

  He nodded and kissed Ryan before pressing the cloth to his snout. “Let’s trust her, Ryan. Breathe deep.”

  Ryan continued to stare at him even when his eyelids drooped, and he dropped into a chloroform-induced sleep.

  “I need to get the bullet out before anything else is done,” Agent Genii said, putting on plastic gloves and grabbing forceps. She quickly located the entry wound, and he had to look away or risk vomiting. The swelling was pus-filled, and as she searched for the bullet, some of that pus leaked. He concentrated on keeping Ryan asleep and controlling his own stomach.

  “How’s it—oh, geez.” Poe cringed as he looked in the trailer. “I don’t envy your job, Genii. Agent Pan is here, so I need to go lock that asshole kidnapper up.”

  “Go,” Genii said, her entire focus on finding the bullet. “I have it covered here.”

  “Good. Mr. O’Connell.” Poe inclined his head before stepping away.

  “Agent Poe,” Caleb said, bringing Poe back. “Thank you, for everything.”

  Poe smiled. It surprised Caleb and pleased him at the same time. He had a nice smile, and his eyes didn’t look so cold.

  “Stay out of trouble, Mr. O’Connell. The Agency isn’t nice to its enemies.”

  Caleb smiled slightly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Do that.” Poe looked at Ryan for a moment before leaving. He heard Poe trying to disperse the small crowd that had gathered from the diner, declaring it was police business and he used the standard “nothing to see here.” Caleb smiled slightly, knowing what an incredible lie that was. There was so much to see here. But things that shouldn't be seen by the general public. A moment or two later, he heard Poe's voice again, speaking to someone else.

  “Fine, I’ll take your car, but don’t you dare harm my baby. She and I have been through a lot.”

  “Poe, we’ve done this before. Have I ever harmed your motorcycle?”

  “No, but I just want to make myself clear.”

  “Crystal clear, now go. Get that bastard locked up.”

  A few minutes later the sound of a car leaving met his ears, and a new face appeared. He looked Greek, with his dark hair and eyes and olive skin. He was slender and reminded Caleb of the Greek statues in museums.

  “Need any help?” he asked Genii.

  “Just act as lookout for now, Pan. I’ll call if I need you.”

  “Got that.” Agent Pan gave Caleb a reassuring smile before disappearing from sight.

  “What’s with the names?” Caleb murmured.

  He didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud until Agent Genii answered. “We choose our names when we become Level 4 Agents. There you are, my beauty.”

  Caleb looked over and bit his tongue to keep from vomiting. Genii had found the bullet and pulled the small slug out of Ryan’s hip. She sighed in relief and put it in a baggy.

  “Now I need to just squeeze the pus out, patch him up, and give the shifter some antibiotics.”

  “He’s going to live?” That was the only question Caleb really wanted answered.

  She met his gaze and smiled, yet it looked strained. “Yes, he will live. But the next few days are going to be hell. He’s going to feel like shit and he’ll want to shift. You can’t let him. Any silver in his bloodstream has to make its way out naturally. He’ll have cramps, headaches, and he won’t want to eat. Just make sure he continues to drink water. He’ll have a nasty scar and he might limp at first. If he keeps moving and flexing his leg, that limp should go away.”

  Caleb swallowed hard. “God. Silver really fucks with shifters, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, it does.” Genii tenderly stroked Whirlwind’s flank before cleaning out the wound and patching it up. Then she filled a syringe with something and injected it into Whirlwind’s rump.

  “That’s it,” she said with a relived smile, and began returning things to her bag.

  Caleb trembled with a mixture of anxiety and relief. Ryan would be all right eventually but he’d have to push through hell first. And making sure he didn’t shift? God, that wouldn’t be an easy task.

  “Thank you so much.” Caleb gripped her hand and she patted the back of his.

 

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