The Protector Read online

  The motherfucker that was the sheriff around here would understand what it felt like to have someone close to them dead. Maybe he would torture her for a while before he killed her. He would record it all, of course. Not only could he watch it repeatedly himself, but he could know the fucking murdering bastard would see how his girl died screaming.

  ****

  Cole looked over the crime scene while keeping in touch with the cholan that were tracking the scent of the missing girl. A sick dread filled him that the killer that had plagued Colorado Springs, had now targeted in his county. Stacy Bradshaw had come with her family for a weekend trip into the mountains. It was supposed to be a fun family getaway, and now these people were in fear for the daughter’s safety. They had good reason to fear. Stacy was ten years old and unable to defend herself. Cole had sent the parents to one of the cabins a family around here kept as a rental, as it was more comfortable than the motel and would give him a chance to head off any press that might show up.

  Thank the Goddess that David Mannis was in the Child Crimes Division of the FBI. When Cole had called him and told him the situation, he’d dropped everything and driven over from Denver. As a panther shifter, David would know how important it was for federal agents and the press not to stumble onto anything that would cause suspicion. They had a lot of young shifters here, and they were not always careful about shifting. One reporter getting a video of a young cub shifting, and they would be forced to leave their homes due to the people arriving. Some would be curious and hoping for a video; others would be looking for trophies.

  So far they had held off the press showing up. Only a few local newspapers and a station in Colorado Springs had called, and so far they were happy with telephone interviews. It could blow up though, and fast, if someone made the connection. That would be a fucking nightmare. The thought of reporters descending on their town to follow them around made the urgency to find this girl even stronger.

  The parents had nothing to do with law enforcement or shifters, but still they were living every parent’s worst nightmare. Cole understood now that terrible things happened sometimes. There was no way to keep loved ones completely safe from harm, or heartbreak.

  He watched a min-min light fairy fluttering around a bush. They were fairies that let off a glow at night. If only he could talk to the magic folk, but if they did speak in their language, it was too high and fast for shifters to understand.

  He was busy watching the fairy and never heard anything before a hand landed on his shoulder. His hand went instinctively to his gun before he saw it was Lucas. “You’re getting soft, Cole. Had I meant to kill you, you never would have been able to save yourself,” Lucas said in a hard tone.

  “I was busy trying to think of what we are missing.”

  “That guy they are looking for in Colorado Springs, taking kids, is here. The girl will be somewhere, isolated where he can do as he pleases, and no one will hear her scream.”

  Cole felt chills running down his spine. Lucas was a unique shifter. He was a Goddess-damn good Guardian, before a woman experimenting on shifters had murdered his family. Lucas had declared his own war on the woman, and any human who he thought meant harm to shifters, which had gotten him banished for a time. Michael nearly executed him when he killed a woman vacationing in the mountains, but it turned out Lucas had thought he was killing the woman that murdered his pregnant mate, but it was her twin sister, Marcy, Cassie's friend.

  Learning he had killed an innocent woman had changed Lucas even more. He was more quiet and withdrawn, and he no longer trusted his own Guardian senses that helped him decipher innocence from guilt. Michael told Cole that he’d had to harass Lucas a bit before he finally agreed to help. Lucas was not only a hermit now, but he disliked humans even more. They were frail, and he couldn’t tell the evil from the innocent ones, he claimed. It was the only explanation, but Lucas was adamant that his senses had left him, and he wanted to be left to grieve for his lost family, alone.

  “Shit. Are you sure it’s the perp from Colorado Springs?” Cole now hoped that Lucas’s senses were off. Having a kidnapper and child murderer here was the nightmare Cole feared.

  Lucas pulled a cigarette out of his pack and lit it. “Yep, for some reason my wolf senses are working today. I can scent the girl’s terror in the area. He took her in a truck and planned to take her off road judging by the tire tread. It is meant for rough terrain.”

  Cole felt his hope that Lucas was wrong fade. “Shit.” His earpiece crackled to life.

  “We lost the scent. Whoever took her, put her in a pickup truck, and drove off on the highway.”

  “Fuck,” Cole swore under his breath. He had really hoped Lucas had not been right. It seemed Lucas’s senses were coming back, confirming Michael's theory that Lucas had somehow had his senses dulled and someone had set him up to kill humans.

  Cole looked over at Lucas. He was not sure how much to tell him. Lucas was still unstable, and no one trusted him. The only reason Lucas was alive after he killed Cassie’s friend was their Goddess Ilithyia had intervened before Michael could kill him. “They lost her scent.”

  “The scent is off. I didn’t scent a shifter, but there are a lot of shifter drugs in his blood. Something is weird.”

  Cole straightened and gave Lucas his full attention. “Off, what do you mean off?”

  “I am not sure. I just know it isn’t a normal scent. I hope you find the girl. I have a feeling she doesn’t have long.”

  Many would say Lucas would know all about killing, since he had done so much. Lucas felt all of his killing was justified, except one, Marcy. Lucas still deeply disliked humans, and he was watched carefully. No one was sure he would not go back to his old way of killing. Cole was confident Lucas was safe now as he was a very different shifter from the angry, bitter man he was just a few months ago. Cole's only fear was something would provoke him enough to start killing again.

  ****

  Blair had returned home and hurried through her shower. All this sneaking around was getting old a lot quicker than she thought it would. She had to figure out what she was going to do, and soon. She didn’t want to get anyone into trouble. Cole could be intimidating. Even though Myra mostly thought of him as a big brother, Mandy was shy and easily intimidated. When Michael or Cole really questioned her, she would tell them what they wanted to know.

  Blair cleaned the fog off the mirror and picked up her hairbrush. She stroked the brush through her hair as she tried to picture what Cole had gone through. Myra had told her how Warren had held her while she cried, and Cole watched the children. He would have seen the children reacting as well. The entire time she was gone she had tried not to think about Cole much, but now she was imagining what it must have been like for him. Her heart softened even more towards him. She felt terrible for running away instead of staying. Cole was hurting and lashed out at her. She should have held him instead of running to her parents.

  She looked at herself in the mirror and knew what she would do. She would listen to her heart and go after Cole. She wouldn’t be stubborn like her mother, or punish him like Myra said she was. She would do everything in her power to make things right with him.

  ****

  Silas leaned against the sheriff’s SUV, smoking a cigarette. It was easy to stay hidden in the dark. Some blonde teenager looked like she was getting ready to close the place. Silas ran his hand on his crotch and felt his dick growing hard. He liked young girls. She looked like a good little schoolgirl, which would mean she was tight. He would love to go and have some fun now, but he wasn’t sure where the sheriff went off to. He didn’t want to be just starting to have his fun and have a gun shoved in his face. That dude was fucking huge, and looked like he could handle that gun he carried. He would hate to end up like Levi.

  Silas watched a blond-haired man walking with a red haired chick. He wondered if it was true that these people turned into animals. His brother was an avid hunter and always wanting to find challenging
prey. The temptation of intelligent animals to hunt would have had Levi up here like a shot.

  He pushed off the SUV to walk away before he attracted any unwanted attention. This seemed like one of those towns that would notice someone new around. He smiled. It was just in time, and the sheriff walked out of the coffee shop, got in his SUV, and backed out of the parking space.

  Chapter Four

  Blair pulled into the parking place next to Mandy’s little Ford Escort. Her phone rang, and she glanced at the screen and saw Myra’s name. She hit the green phone. “Hi, Myra.”

  “Hi yourself,” Myra said sounding stern.

  Blair knew she deserved that. Cole probably talked to Myra, so she knew what went on.

  “Where are you?”

  “I am at work checking on things before I go and talk to Cole.”

  “You better, or I will hunt you down myself. Cole is worried about you.”

  “He has no need to be. I was at his house.”

  Blair could almost see Myra closing her eyes as she whispered, “Oh good lord, Blair.”

  Blair looked out the dark window. “I promise I am going back and talking to him though.”

  “Good.”

  “Myra,” Blair said turning to look at the time on her clock. “You were right. I was punishing Cole. He hurt me. I didn’t set out to punish him, but when I thought about what you said, I realized that is what I am doing.”

  Myra didn’t make a sound for a moment, and Blair checked her phone to make sure it hadn’t disconnected. “Then you know what you need to do.”

  “What?”

  “Stop it. Stop being afraid. Life is scary. Falling in love is scary as well. You can get hurt, but if you miss all the mess, you miss all the beauty, too.”

  “Thank you,” Blair whispered. “I will. I need to go now. I will call you tomorrow and let you know how the talk went.”

  Blair shoved her phone in her purse and got out of the car. She was shocked to see Mandy still here. The shop had closed hours ago, so she should have long gone home. Blair had told her she would do the cleanup. Mandy was eighteen and had her own life she wanted to live. Blair was going to call Cole so they could talk while she cleaned. She felt stupid for running from Cole in the first place, like a scared little girl. She remembered her grandmother’s note. Blair knew she could call it needing to think all she liked, but the hard truth hit her. Yeah, stubborn, that is what I am.

  A fairy was fluttering in a tree next to the building. Blair stared at it for a moment. Fairies were usually asleep by now as they hated the dark. She wondered if some kids had come through here and woken it up.

  She pushed on the door, but it was locked. Was Mandy suddenly scared about being alone? Normally she left the doors unlocked until she left. Blair was starting to get that feeling in the back of her neck that something was wrong. Her hands shook a little as she fumbled with her purse to find the zipper.

  She dug into her purse for her keys wondering why Mandy would lock the back door. Was there an imp in the area? An imp would wake up a fairy just for the hell of it, and cause enough trouble so Mandy would lock the door. Blair looked around, but didn’t see an imp anywhere. They didn’t hide well because they wanted everyone to know they were about to cause mischief. They were sneaky little bastards that loved to annoy everyone.

  She turned the lock, to find the back store room dark. Her senses were instantly on alert. She could scent someone in here that didn’t belong. There was no magical scent at all, so whatever had scared Mandy was not an imp as they carried a strong scent of magic with them. Blair concentrated on listening for anything out of the ordinary in her shop.

  She heard muffled crying. Mandy. She could hear her. She ran into the kitchen and stopped in her tracks. A man had Mandy pinned on the chopping block island in the middle of the kitchen. She could see duct tape over Mandy’s mouth, and her hands were tied over her head to one of the iron posts that held the pot rack over the chopping block. He had a knife out and was drawing the point down her bare skin. Mandy was screaming under the duct tape gag and thrashing around.

  “I am going to fuck you all night long, bitch. When I am done with you, you will never screw another man without thinking about my dick inside of you.”

  The man’s voice was sinister, giving Blair a chill. His hand stroked his cock, which was out of his unbuttoned jeans.

  Seeing him stroke his erection shook Blair out of her stunned shock. “Get the fuck off of her,” Blair screamed, horrified at the scene.

  Mandy looked at Blair with her eyes pleading for help while she screamed through the tape once more.

  The man turned with the knife in his hand and looked at her. He had a mask over his face, but she could see he had ice blue eyes. The hatred she saw in them as they stared at her was chilling.

  Blair was shifting before she even realized it. She didn’t even feel the familiar falling sensation she normally felt. One minute she was yelling at the man, and the next she was snarling in her fox form. She kicked free of her clothing and leapt at the man.

  He yelled and slashed at her with the knife. She bit the hand holding the knife, making him scream. She thrashed her head while she kept her sharp teeth embedded in the man’s skin as she let her fury take over. She let go and went for his neck. She had an overwhelming desire to rip the man’s throat out. The more she thought about his plans, knowing he would have raped Mandy had she not arrived, made her bloodlust grow.

  She bit down into his neck while he yelled and thrashed around, trying to throw her off of him. Blair had no plans of letting go, but the man had managed to rip her off of him. He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, then threw her hard, making her crash into the pans on the shelf. The clatter of metal and glass baking pans was almost enough to make her ears ring. Blair quickly got to her feet, fearing the man would harm Mandy. She caught a flash of movement just as he ran out towards the back door. The fucking coward was running.

  Blair chased him to the door before she remembered Mandy. She skidded to a halt, and turned around. She embraced her human form, shifting mid run. “Mandy. Oh Goddess, Mandy,” Blair cried frantically. Mandy was struggling, trying to get her hands free of the tightrope. Her hands had turned a light blue color from the circulation being cut off.

  “Hold still, sweetie. I need to cut the rope.” Blair picked up her knife out of the wooden block and sliced through the nylon rope.

  As soon as her hands were free Mandy sat up and grabbed Blair in a tight hug.

  Blair held her close. “It’s ok, you’re safe now, honey.” Blair reached over and pulled the tape off of Mandy’s face gently. She didn’t want to rip the skin off of Mandy’s face or lips.

  Once the tape was off, Mandy held her tighter. “Thank you for saving me. Thank you, thank you. He was going to rape me. He told me he was going to do it all night long. I was so scared.”

  “You’re safe now.” Blair’s stomach churned at the thought of what that monster wanted to do to Mandy. He had threatened to rape her all night long. If Blair hadn’t stepped in, he would have. Mandy was such a sensitive girl. Blair had no doubt something like that would have broken her. “Mandy, sweetie, I need my phone. I have to call Cole.”

  Mandy shook her head. “No, you can’t call him. Please. He’ll know what happened to me. I don’t want anyone knowing.”

  Blair took Mandy’s face in her hands. “Mandy, listen to me. You have nothing to be scared about, and Cole will not be angry with you at all. You know that, right?”

  Mandy nodded. “Yes, I know. I just don’t want everyone looking at me like this. My clothes are all cut up.”

  Blair understood. Mandy might live around shifters, but she wasn’t a shifter. She had not grown up with people being nude after shifting, or stripping to shift. She would be embarrassed when Cole and the others showed up and she had no clothes on. “It’s ok, I keep spare clothing here. I have shifted and run to work more than once.” Blair went over to the closet and found a shirt and pants
that would fit Mandy.

  “Here are some clothes for you. I need to go call Cole now.” When Mandy’s eyes teared up, Blair added, “Cole will be angry you were harmed.” Blair could see the ugly bruises on Mandy’s face as well as the welts and bruises forming on her arms. That asshole had worked Mandy over before she had come in.

  “I know, I’m just scared,” Mandy whispered.

  “I know you are, but I am going to make sure your parents are called, and that you are not left alone, ok?”

  Mandy finally nodded and let Blair go. Blair walked over to her purse and pulled her cell phone out, and dialed Cole’s personal number. She closed her eyes already imagining how furious he would be. A human had attacked Mandy and had seen Blair shift. He would need to be tracked down and dealt with. True, it was a harsh reality that he would be killed without a trial or due process, but the asshole should have thought of that before attacking a teenage girl alone at work. If Blair had been here and shot him, she would have had the legal right, even in human courts.

  The phone rang once, and then Cole answered. “Goddessdammit, Blair, where the hell are you?”

  “I’m at work.” She let out a cry from the trauma settling on her, as well as the fear of the man returning before Cole could get here.

  “What’s wrong?” Cole asked, sounding alarmed.

  “Cole, I need you. Mandy was attacked. A man was in here trying to rape her.” Blair could feel herself losing control. She knew she had to keep it together for Mandy. She wished Cole was here to be strong for her right now. Cole had always been her strength when she couldn’t be.