Page 5 of Mortal Shift
“I said, what sort of gibberish?”
“Ow, get off. You’re hurting me.”
“Answer me!” He grabbed hold of my other arm and rattled me, and somewhere in my periphery, I caught sight of Jax lounging against the kitchen counter, watching idly. Great. What the hell had I gotten myself into?
“Just something about this being some guy’s party because he’s heading off to some fancy school.” I sucked in a breath and met his eye, willing my voice to calm. “Now let go of me before I scream.”
“Let her go, Shane,” Jax said. “Let’s get her out of here before Cole sees her.”
“Someone say my name?” The husky voice sounded from the hallway, sending liquid heat to my stomach. It was the sexiest sound I’d ever heard. And as he stepped into sight, outlined in the doorway behind the asshole currently crushing my upper arms, the breath left my body in a rush. His dark hair was close cropped, above green eyes that held an unspoken menace, and a jaw that radiated strength. His shoulders were just broad enough to hint at his strength, and his white tee was stretched across his chest. And he was the hottest thing I’d ever seen.
His eyes locked onto me and his nostrils flared, then his whole face contorted with fury.
“Get the fuck off her!” He grabbed hold of Shane and flung him against the wall, ripping his hands from my arms, and didn’t spare the blond so much as a glance as he slumped to the ground, wheezing. His eyes were back on me, softening, his expression anxious as he searched my face. My heart stuttered.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded mutely, completely unable to remember how the power of human speech worked. This Adonis was looking atme.Was worried aboutme.
Behind him, Shane scrambled to his feet, supporting himself against the wall with one hand. The Adonis—Cole, I assumed—whirled on him with a snarl.
“She’smine.”
A shiver worked its way through my whole body at his declaration. I didn’t know what it meant, but some feral part of me liked the sound of it.
“But Cole,” Shane said, “she’s—”
“She’s what?” Cole demanded, his voice dropping an octave. “I suggest you choose your words very carefully, unless you want to be running on three legs when we get to the academy.”
I blinked. Running onthreelegs? And again with the academy…
“Human,” Shane finished, darting a look at Jax; a silent plea for support.
“The fuck do you mean, she’s human?” Cole demanded. “She can’t be fucking human. I don’t imprint on a fucking human.”
I shrank back. I had no idea what the hell was going on here, and Cole was the hottest guy I’d ever seen in my life and it was taking all of my self-control not to climb him like a tree—company or not—but he was quite clearly unbalanced and I needed to be alongway from here. Preferably in the company of a cold shower.
Cole’s gaze snapped back to me, and he cocked his head, assessing me through eyes that were suddenly cold, and narrowed with malice.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Seriously, why was everyone asking me that today?
“Going,” I said firmly. “I’m going. And if you don’t get out of my way, I’m calling the cops.”
“The cops?” He sounded faintly puzzled by my threat, which, if I was honest, hadn’t been the response I’d been hoping for. I knew this was the rich part of town, but surely they still at least nominally followed the law? They had to.
“Yeah, asshole. The cops. So unless you wanna spend the night in jail, I suggest you move. Now.”
I mentally gave myself a pat on the back. Great job, Cali. That had come out very convincing. And they had no way of knowing I hadn’t brought my cell with me.
“Shit. It’s true. You’re human, aren’t you?”
“Are you guys taking drugs? Because the cops will arrest you for that for sure when they get here.”
“Fuck!”
He spun around and slammed his fist into the wall… and the brickwork cracked. I took another step back. What the actual hell?
