Massive lights clicked on, illuminating the concrete courtyard. Garages took up three sides, while the shifters blocked the only road.
Daire’s body stiffened, and his legs bunched.
A smaller door to the main garage opened, and a man prowled out. He looked like a bear. Broad and graceful at well over six feet tall, he had shaggy brown hair and honey-chocolate eyes. A primal sense of danger cascaded off him, and he moved with the ease of a wild predator. Sleep cleared from his eyes as he took in the scene, obviously having yanked on a pair of jeans so old the white creases had creases. His lightly haired chest was bare but roped with fierce muscles. “What the holy fuck?” he rumbled.
Even over the bike engines, his words were clear.
Daire glanced at him. Apparently making a decision, he cut his engine. Adam did the same.
The guy jerked his head, and the wall of shifters on bikes followed suit.
Quiet roared in on the echoes of the pipes. An owl hooted in protest through the trees.
“I thought we were allies, Bear,” Daire snapped.
Felicity peered at the leader of the bear shifters, who at the moment, no longer appeared sleepy. Instead, a slightly pissed-off curiosity glimmered in his honeyed eyes.
“We are,” he said, his gaze moving to Lucas, who sat alert on his bike. “Luke?”
Lucas jerked his head toward Felicity. “Side job.”
Bear glanced at Felicity, Daire, Lucas, and back to her. “Somebody talk,” he ordered.
Felicity started to swing her leg from the bike. Smooth as silk, Daire half turned, grabbed her waist, pivoted, and plunked her down in front of him, her back to his front. One arm banded around her rib cage with enough pressure to compress her lungs.
Bear cocked his head to the side. “The human is yours?”
Felicity winced. “Demon,” she rumbled.
Now Bear’s eyebrows lifted. “Interesting.”
She shrugged, hampered by the strength of Daire’s hold. His body, warm and solid, shielded her from the wind. Almost against her will, her body relaxed right into his strength. “Human or not, I’m not a puppy, thus I am not his. Kindly order him to release me.”
Daire stiffened.
Bear threw back his head and laughed, the low rumble echoing around the garage doors. “The Coven Nine enforcers don’t take orders from me, sweetheart, and you’re far too beautiful to be a puppy. I meant no offense.” Quicker than a thought, he sobered, his gaze hardening as he glanced at the shifters. “In contrast, they do answer to me. So I’m wondering why I have a pissed-off ally here surrounded by my own men.”
Felicity shivered. Okay. Bears could be scary. “I, ah, hired them to do a job.”
“Which was?” Bear asked silkily.
“To bomb my apartment and shoot me full of tranquilizers,” Daire barked. “You’ll receive the full bill for damages within a week.”
Bear kept his gaze on his men. “Lucas?”
Lucas shrugged. “We often take side jobs.”
“Not against allies,” Bear shot back. He scratched his head. “Lucas, I’ll deal with you later. Daire, Adam, ah, demon lady? Why don’t you all come inside?” Without waiting for a response from anybody, he turned and loped back toward the still open doorway.
“Felicity.” She raised her voice. “Instead of demon lady, call me Felicity.” Maybe Bear would be an ally after all. She could currently use one.
He stopped moving, and his bare shoulders went back. Almost in slow motion, he turned around. “Felicity?”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
His gaze darkened and focused over her shoulder at the tense enforcer. “As in, Felicity Kyllwood?”
Mutely, she nodded her head.
“Well, fuck me.” Bear turned back around and strode for the door.
Chapter 13