Page 4 of Stray Cat

Lindsay pointed upward. Xav tilted his head back to gaze at the truss that held up the roof. The beams were barely visible to Lindsay in the dim light, which meant Xav’s human vision wouldn’t see them at all. But he knew what they looked like—every spring Xav brought an at-risk boy’s group out here to coach them in basketball.

“Seriously?” Xav switched his glare back to Lindsay. “I know you think you’re an indestructible Shifter, but you could have died from that jump.”

Lindsay realized her choices had been less than good tonight, but it wasn’t in her nature to hang her head and take a scolding.

She planted one hand on her hip. “Yeah, but did you see me stick that landing? It was awesome.”

And a great relief. She’d proved shecouldjump thirty feet, hit her target, and survive. Cats really did land on their feet. Or on someone else’s head.

Xav’s expression didn’t soften. “I know you wanted to help. You were worried, and I appreciate that. But I had Diego and our guys a step away, not to mention all those cops, and we were following a plan. We had it covered.”

Lindsay lost her feigned nonchalance. “Humans can’t move as fast as Shifters,” she said heatedly. “That man was going to shoot you, Xav, right between your shoulder blades. You’d have died. I wasn’t going to let that happen.” She matched his scowl with a fearsome one of her own. “You’re welcome.”

“I’m wearing a vest, Linds.” Xav pulled up an inch of his shirt to show her padded black fabric. DX Security’s bulletproof vests were less bulky than what most cops wore, thanks to Xav’s connections to people who made state-of-the-art defensive tech. “I knew he’d try to shoot me at some point. Figures he’d wait until my back was turned.”

“You’d still have been on the ground, and maybe out of it for a few days. And what if Diego hadn’t come in fast enough? The guy could have shot you in the head—or is that a Kevlar hoodie?” She pointed at the jersey fleece that hung down his back.

“A lot of things could have happened.” Xavier’s growl told her he’d reached the end of his patience. “If you’d missed him, if he’d shot you instead …”

Xav caught Lindsay by the wrists. She hoped he’d pull her into an embrace, lower her head to his shoulder, and confess how much he’d hate it if she were hurt.

Xav let out a breath without doing any of those things. “I don’t want to explain to your parents—or to Cassidy—why I let you get yourself killed. Cassidy would drag me up to those rafters and dangle me off them, and you know it. I understand you had good intentions, but you have to let me handle these jobs the way we plan them.”

Lindsay jerked from his grip. “Youneededme here, Xav. Humans are unpredictable, but I can scent what they’re going to do before they do it. I had to follow you and hide because you refused to tell me what you were up to tonight. I didn’t know what to think. Maybe you had another lady stashed away.” Lindsay pretended to ease back on her indignation and move to flirtation. “I didn’t want to be jealous.”

Something warm flashed in Xav’s eyes, and for a moment, Lindsay thought he’d relent. He’d tug her to him, tell her he couldn’t stay mad at her, and they’d go dancing. Xav liked to dance, and he was good at it.

Xav’s hardness returned. “If our detainee complains that a Shifter attacked him, the case against him can be thrown out. A Shifter assault is considered more egregious in the eyes of the law than a gun deal gone bad. Also, he might mention that your Collar didn’t go off. How are you going to explain that?”

Lindsay listened in disquiet. She knew Xav was right—the stupid laws and rules about Shifters put her status beneath that of a lowlife peddling weapons to even worse people.

Her Collar hadn’t gone off, because it was a fake. When Shifters had first been exposed to the rest of the world, Shifter Bureau had fitted them with Collars that were part tech, part Fae magic that fired excruciating shocks whenever a Shifter grew violent.

A while back, Eric and another Shiftertown leader had figured out how to remove the Collars and create fakes. Lindsay and her family had already had theirs replaced, so Lindsay could rescue Xav tonight without pain to herself. However, If any human figured out that the Collars no longer worked, all Shifters could be endangered.

Xav was correct that Lindsay hadn’t thought about whether her impulsive actions would curtail Xav or cause more problems than they solved. She’d only wanted to keep him safe from people who wouldn’t hesitate to leave his dead body here for the cleaners to find.

She’d pictured him being grateful, maybe celebrating with her when they went back to Shiftertown. He might invite her to his new place, where they could celebrate in private.

That clearly was not going to happen tonight. Lindsay had only succeeded in making Xav mad at her for everything thatcouldhave happened. And yeah, if the guy claimed a Shifter assaulted him, the whole operation would be for nothing.

Lindsay stepped back, so Xav wouldn’t see she was about to do something stupid and cry. She had to maintain the seductive bearing she always took with Xav, teasing him and tempting him, so she’d maintain some sort of influence in their relationship.

Theirnon-relationship, she corrected herself. There’d been no commitments, no exclusivity. Only the two of them getting together when they felt like it, neither of them admitting to wanting more than that.

Lindsay wanted alotmore. But tonight, she’d blown it.

“Convince the police that the Shifter attack had nothing to do with DX Security,” she said in a steady voice. “Which would be easier if you hadn’t called me by name. But you can do it. Everyone listens to you.” Lindsay considered all the other things she could add to her argument—rebuking him for not being more careful, pointing out that he could have explained to her about the mission first place.

She decided it was time for an exit.

“See ya, Xav.”

Lindsay turned her back on him, standing straighter and more confidently than she felt at the moment. She scooped up her bag and walked away, letting her hips swing.

Xav said absolutely nothing as Lindsay made her way to the nearest door. She resisted looking back as she went, not wanting to spoil her departure.

When she reached the outer hall that ran all the way around the arena, she couldn’t stop herself peeking back in through the open doorway.

---