“Jace and Deni aren’t mated,” Sean said. He slid the Sword of the Guardian back into its scabbard and moved to Andrea as though drawn to her.
Fionn’s arrogance returned. “And I’m constantly amazed at how dense Shifters are about their own kind.”
“That’s enough, Father,” Andrea said firmly.
Jace pulled Deni back to him. He didn’t care anymore about the Collars, about freeing Shifters, about helping Liam. He wanted Deni—wanted to bury himself in her and not come out. Whether she felt the same about him, Jace didn’t know, but he would find out. If she didn’t care about him, if he’d simply been a way for her to defuse pressure, he’d let her go.
The thought of letting Deni go made his feral side want to burst out again. Jace kissed her shoulder, drawing in her scent until it calmed him a bit.
This was the wrong time and place for a mate-claim. He wanted it to be special, right, with his family present, and hers as well. They were from two different Shiftertowns, which would be a problem, but they could work it out somehow.
After they figured out this stupid Collar situation, Jace would get official permission to visit and mate-claim Deni. Deni could always turn him down, her choice, but Jace would take some time to persuade her.
He was busy thinking of fun ways to do the persuading when the workshop door slammed open to admit Connor Morrissey, agitated and out of breath.
“They’re back,” Connor said. “The cops. Liam says to shut down the workshop, and for the Goddess’s sake, hide Jace.”
Chapter Nine
Another thing Shifters could do, if Fionn was so interested, was galvanize themselves to move swiftly when need be. Dylan and Sean slid Collars and tools into hiding places with the smoothness of long practice, quickly placing the half-finished woodworking projects on the tables, scattering about tools and used sandpaper as though a woodworker had absently thrown them down.
Sean and Andrea departed without much of a good-bye, heading to wherever they’d prefer to be found. Deni helped Jace up from the floor, her touch the only thing keeping him from rushing out the door to confront the cops and keep them away from her.
“Where are they, Connor?” Deni was asking. “I need to get Jace back to my house.”
Connor shook his head. “No time. Too many cops between here and there.”
“I can hide the Shifter,” Fionn said. He was the calmest of all, as though the situation was one more interesting tidbit in his observation of humans and Shifters. “I don’t want humans to find me either.”
“Hide me how?” Jace asked, every nerve a line of fire. “I don’t trust Fae.”
“Very wise of you,” Fionn said. “Fae are treacherous bastards, every single one of us. I should know. Come with me now, or end up in a cage to be poked at by humans. Your choice.”
“Go.” Deni kissed his cheek. “Dylan will take care of me.”
Dylan, the powerful alpha Feline who liked to hug Deni. Jace would rather cave in Dylan’s face and pull Deni with him to wherever the Fae was taking him. But putting Deni under the Fae’s power wasn’t what he wanted either. Jace hugged his arms over his chest, his instincts tearing through him, warring with his common sense. It was hell going feral.
“Now,” Fionn said. He didn’t touch Jace, as though he knew Jace would attack him if he did, but his voice galvanized. Jace could well believe this man was a general.
Jace caught Deni around the waist. Her gray eyes were large, filled with fear, but behind the fear, Jace saw her mating frenzy answering his. He kissed her, savoring the taste of her warm lips, then he cupped her cheek, pulled on his jacket again, and followed Fionn into the night.
* * *
“And you are?” the female police officer asked Deni. The woman wore a bulletproof vest and a riot helmet and carried two pistols, while her male counterpart had a pistol and a tranq rifle. They’d come prepared to do battle against Shifters if need be. They found most Shifters peacefully cooking out, as Sean was doing behind Liam’s house.
“Deni Rowe.” Deni handed the female cop her ID card, which each Shifter had to update every year. “Same as last time,” she couldn’t help adding. Both these officers had been in the group that had come to Deni’s and Ellison’s house.
“Hmm.” The female officer peered at Deni’s ID, shining a black light on it, pretending she wasn’t nervous. Dylan stood behind Deni, not wanting her to face the cops alone. Dylan said nothing and didn’t try to interfere, but Dylan could unnerve most humans—not to mention most Shifters—simply by standing there. Both the male and female officer were sweating under his scrutiny.
“Seems okay.” The female officer handed the card back to Deni. “Nice bracelet,” she said, glancing at the gold chain on Deni’s wrist.
“It was my mother’s,” Deni said. She tucked the ID into the back pocket of her shorts.
“Looks expensive.” Shifters weren’t allowed to wear costly jewelry, and shouldn’t be able to afford to buy it.
“Handed down through the family,” Deni answered. “I have photos of my mother and my grandmother wearing it, if you want to see them.”
“Hmm.” Another skeptical sound. “Where’s the other guy? The one I saw you with before?”
Deni prayed these two weren’t good at reading body language as she answered nonchalantly, “Ellison? He’s my brother. He’s at the bar with his mate.”
“I mean the other one. The drunk one you were with at the . . . ceremony.”
Damn it. “I don’t know,” Deni said. She took a step back to Dylan, putting herself into the radius of his warmth. “I’m with Dylan tonight.”
Deni smiled at the female cop, as though willing her to understand. If humans liked to believe Shifter women were promiscuous, Deni would use it to her advantage. The female officer’s look turned to disgust, but Deni didn’t care what this woman thought of her as long as Jace was safe.
Both cops looked Dylan and Deni over and exchanged knowing smirks. They’d seen Dylan with Glory at the fight club. They must think Shiftertown was one big sex fest.
Dylan put his arm around Deni and dared them to say anything. The cops all but snickered as they moved off toward another set of Shifters walking on the dark street.
“Sorry,” Deni said in a low voice to Dylan.
Dylan squeezed her shoulder. “You’re good at thinking on your feet. Nothing to be sorry about.” Another squeeze of reassurance, then he let her go. “But let’s don’t mention this to Glory.”