the ability of mind control convinced network executives the story was fake.
Afterward, the influential Council of Draicon feared that all Shadow Wolves wished to embrace sedition and establish a new order. To contain Shadows, they raised a force field around the island. A steep bounty was placed on the heads of any escaped Shadow.
The waitress returned with a tray on her outstretched palms. She set down two large glasses of milk, a mug of steaming coffee, and three plates piled with sausage and eggs. Megan protested. The woman held up a hand.
“Someone canceled an order. Can’t let good food go to waste. It’s on the house.” She winked.
The girls beamed and a chorus of thank-yous followed. Megan swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat at the woman’s compassion.
“Thanks,” she managed to say.
Caution returned as the waitress scribbled on her pad, then handed the check to Megan. “Enjoy. My name’s Mitzi.”
When the waitress walked off, Megan read the note. “You’re among friends. Remain here and someone will be along to help you get out of shadow.”
Even though the code phrase was correct, Megan hedged. There was a fat reward for capturing an escaped Shadow Wolf. Enforcers didn’t care if the escapees were beaten and raped before being turned over.
Hot coffee burned her mouth as she took a deep swallow. Megan took a bite of the food. It was delicious, but she had no appetite.
The roar of a powerful motorcycle drew her attention to the hotel entrance. A man parked the Harley, drew off a black helmet and swung a muscled leg over the saddle. Megan’s heart raced. The rider’s face was permanently stamped into memory from the photos circulated among Shadows of their worst enemies.
Black liquid sloshed as she slammed down her coffee cup. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for oxygen.
Gabriel Robichaux.
Oh God. She’d walked straight into a trap.
Megan looked around, desperate to escape, but it was too late. If they left now, surely he’d see them. She slid down her seat.
The power and raw charisma he exuded felt like a tornado as he ambled onto the terrace. Tight black leather pants hugged each inch of his rock hard thighs and taut buttocks. A Harley-Davidson T-shirt and steel-toed scuffed boots gave him a dangerous air. Stubble shadowing his angular jaw contrasted with his classical good looks, like a biker with the face of an angel. Dark brown hair curled down to his wide shoulders. His mouth was sultry and mobile. Four women sitting at a nearby table gave him the twice-over.
If they only knew what exactly he was, they’d run away screaming. Draicon, like her. Only not like her. Not Shadow, outcast and shunned. He was an Enforcer, who returned escaped Shadow Wolves to their island prison.
No Shadow ever escaped the powerful Gabriel.
Megan glanced at the girls.
“Jenny, Jilly, remember how I told you Enforcers are the bad ones? How they hunt down our people and return them to the island prison?” When they nodded, she whispered to the girls. They nodded. Plan all set.
Megan sauntered toward the restroom. She had to pass him. Her palms went clammy as she felt him glance in her direction. Peripheral vision caught Mitzi nudging Gabriel.
Palms sweating, she raced into the women’s room. Megan drew in a trembling breath. He could inconspicuously follow her in here, but at least she had a few moments.
Bracing her palms on the counter, she studied her reflection. The face in the mirror was strained and framed by dull black hair that hid her natural honey blond. Shadows edged eyes the color of deep lake water. The secondhand clothing was streaked with sand, but at least it wasn’t the hated purple tunic Shadows were required to wear.
Megan summoned her magick. Unlike the twins, she was a Halfling and required energy to shift. Her body screamed, the starved cells needing nourishment from rare meat. Burning pain scraped across her raw flesh, but she focused. For the girls, she had to do this, had to become …
Shadow.
As if in slow motion, her hands and arms vanished. Megan squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, nothing showed in the spotless mirror.
She was invisible.
Until someone else came to use the restroom, she was stuck. A door opening by itself would raise suspicion.
By now the twins, shadows themselves, would be waiting by the car. Even though they were young, their powers were far more advanced. Come on, come on, Megan silently implored. Someone use the restroom.
The door creaked open and she started forward, then stopped. Her knees felt like cooked spaghetti. Megan trembled wildly.
Hardened with ruthless intent, the face of a male Draicon poked inside. Gabriel.
He entered, looking beneath the stall doors. Stunned, she inched backward until hitting the wall. His nostrils flared as he straightened.
Oh dear heavens, he’d caught her scent.
Panic flared as he strode in her direction with smooth grace and stealth. Gabriel’s dark brown eyes widened. They flashed amber, signaling the emergence of his wolf. Her gaze traveled from the chiseled jaw and hollowed cheeks, down to the T-shirt stretched tight over his broad chest, to his long, muscled legs.
Tight leather snugly cupped his bulging sex. Megan acknowledged her sudden flare of sexual interest. Sheer biology. He was the enemy, the one she feared most, but striking in his innate masculinity. The air sizzled between them, the chemistry so intense she couldn’t ignore it.
Biting back a hiss, she bunched her fists.
“I know you’re there, Megan,” he said quietly. “You can’t hide from me.”
Impossible. She was invisible. But he advanced, boot heels clicking on the tile floor.
“Just come with me now, and don’t make a fuss.”
Like hell I will. Hugging the wall, she inched toward the door. Almost there, almost, she could make it, open the door and be gone….
Gabriel pounced. Steely arms encircled her waist. She twisted, snarled with all her might, but he had pinned her against his hard body.
Depleted of energy, she could not maintain shadow. But she’d be damned if she went down without a good fight.
Terror squeezed her heart as her body materialized. She writhed in his powerful grip, but he held tight. Then he freed one hand. Megan shrank back. Here it comes. He was going to hit her. That’s what Enforcers always did. Just for laughs.
Instead she felt him caress her cheek. The gesture felt soothing and erotic. Gabriel bent his head and brushed aside her hair. He was inhaling her scent. Surprised, she stopped struggling. Enforcers didn’t care about their captives. She’d heard they only punished and brutalized. Alarmed at the rising tide of desire, she wondered if Gabriel’s methods were even crueler than other Enforcers. Lower her defenses and then strike like a snake.
A tantalizing scent of leather, pine and spicy male filled her senses with erotic awareness. The space between her legs felt open and wet, wanting. Well aware of the distraction, Megan resumed her struggles to get free. But she was too exhausted.
Warm breath feathered over her cheek as he bent his head. “Shhh,” he murmured. “It’s all right. Everything will be all right. Sleep now.”
This was the true danger, his deep, hypnotic voice lulling her into doing as he wished. Megan felt her eyes closing.
He pushed a hand through her hair, the gesture almost tender. Just before she passed out, she felt a sensual brush of his mouth across her neck as if Gabriel marked her.
Then the grayness turned black, and everything else faded into shadow.
“Dammit.”