“Of course he is. But I bet he does it out in the open, so no one sees or suspects,” Amara said. “It’s why most companies here deal with him.”
“Everyone says he got rich off the back of the Prime by selling goods that don’t pass safety checks in the human world.” Kane began to dress too.
“I thought about it, and now I think he pretends to sell shoddy goods. But really he sends the stuff the people over here really need. It’s why he thinks his work is so important; believe me, he would not have stayed in the Otherworld for money alone.”
“No. I believe you are right. He would give up everything he owned to be a lion again. Or do you think it’s a sense of guilt? He said he believed he betrayed my father,” Kane said.
“Not intentionally. I think he just feels guilty, that he could have prevented it. But we never see the true meaning of our actions until it’s too late.” She thought back to the way she had parted with her parents, particularly her father. He had asked for her forgiveness over the contract, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words he needed to hear. The debt remained a mystery, Darius been asked to take her contract on, that was all she knew.
“True,” Kane agreed.
“Do you think you can control the change?” she asked.
“I think so. If not, I’ll be going back to the cabin naked,” he said, buttoning up his shirt.
“I won’t complain,” she said wistfully.
“Anyway, back to Darius. There are even protests about what he does. People say it’s immoral,” Kane said. Once he had found out about being a shifter, he had felt a pang of guilt about the whole thing.
“Bait and switch, that’s what they call it. I’m not sure how it works, but I have seen the stuff that gets delivered. My brother had to go and pick up some tools once, and there was nothing shoddy about them.” She slipped her feet into her boots. “Your uncle is a clever man, so my guess would be that Frasier has information we need. That’s why he was watching over us.”
“Then let’s go ask him,” Kane said.
They left the cave. The light was dimming in the sky and the occasional star was appearing overhead. “Wait until they all come out. There isn’t so much light pollution over this side of the border, so you will see stars like never before.”
He breathed in, and then, as he let it go, his lion seemed to be conjured from the twilight. She smiled, feeling happy and free. He was right, life would be bliss if only they didn’t have to return to his pride lands.
Then her lioness morphed into existence, and they walked back to the place where their adventure had begun.
“For a souvenir,” Kane said, picking up the bracelet he had discarded earlier.
“I am not sure I want to keep my collar,” she said, picking up the cold metal.
“You should take it, you never know when we might need it,” he said.
“I am never putting this thing on again,” she said.
“I wasn’t talking about you.”
“I can’t think that I would ever be so cruel as to put this one another shifter’s neck,” she said with a shudder.
“Oh, I don’t know. I could think of someone I would like to collar.”
Amara liked the sound of that. There would be no need to fight if they could stop Serrif changing into his lion.
But she doubted things would ever be that easy.
17
“Frasier! Just the person we were looking for,” Kane said as they got to their cabin and the big bear appeared around the corner.
“What can I do for you?” Frasier asked good-naturedly.
“Have you ever been to the Talamo Pride Lands?” Amara asked directly, catching the bear off guard.
“The Talamo Pride Lands. Well, let me think,” he mused.
“Is this where we pay you a bribe?” Kane asked, putting his hand in his pocket and drawing out his wallet.
Frasier's hand, lightning fast, covered Kane’s. “Put that away. I don't take bribes. If anyone sees you giving me money, they will think I’m in the pocket of a human and I don't want that.”
“What, do you want to go inside? That way no one will see,” Kane said.
“No. Like I said, I don’t take bribes. Your uncle has paid me to look after you. If this is important, then I will tell you, but I don’t like people asking where I have and haven’t been, and who I might have seen, when I may or may not have been there.”
Amara laughed. “You lead a complicated life.”
“I do, and a dangerous one at times. So please, whatever I tell you stays between us.”
“Absolutely,” Kane said.
“Then I think we should go inside. I could do with some coffee, so why not come over to my place,” he said, turning and walking off, expecting them to follow, which of course they did.