Page 17 of Liar For Hire (For Hire 1)

She took the opportunity to question him alone. “You’ve been sending jibes at him since you got here. I know you two have history, and it seems like it’s something bad. Why would you want to hire us if you hate him so much, or do you want to torture him?”

“He’s told you nothing of his past?”

“Why don’t you tell me where you come in?”

He studied her face. “You’re different from the kind of woman I expected him to be with.”

“We’re not together. We’re business partners and best friends.”

“Ah-huh.” He didn’t appear to get her. “For the record, I don’t hate Declan. I don’t respect him. Just as I didn’t respect his parents.”

“His parents? Please, tell me more.”

He shook his head. “If you are just his friend and not his mate, then I can’t tell you anything. My loyalties are to my people, and I take them very seriously. I won’t ever betray them. Not like Declan.”

She felt sick to her stomach.

“Good day, Ms. Waverly. It seems I won’t be hiring you after all. I’ll find some other way of finding out the truth regarding my future son-in-law. When I get back, I’ll have my secretary send you payment for your time.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“I insist.”

He walked around the back of the restaurant. Rather than speculate on his direction, she turned her thoughts to Declan. When she got back to the car, Declan sat silent and still behind the wheel.

“Want to tell me what that was all about, Declan?”

“No.”

“I—”

He started the car. “And before you threaten me, do whatever you have to do. If you dissolve the business, I accept that. If you need to end our friendship, that’s okay too. I won’t tell you about my past or why he questions my loyalties.”

Her heart broke, and she had trouble swallowing. “How could you hear what he said from fifty feet away?”

Chapter 6

A breeze stirred all around Declan. He breathed it in, welcoming it as a familiar friend. He stood upon a cliff’s edge and gazed down into the valley below. A smile spread over his face as he anticipated taking the plunge, allowing the wind to guide him where it may.

He thrilled at the anticipation and yearned to let go. Still, he held back, waiting. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he dove out. Muscles twitched in his back. He expected to catch the air and soar. Instead, he plummeted. Panic set in. This must be a mistake.

He checked over his shoulder, and the full horror hit him in the face. One gnarled wing refused to unfurl. Although he willed the appendage to pump, it refused to move. Trying to compensate, the other wing clawed at nothing, struggling to give him lift. He continued to fall. The single healthy wing couldn’t carry his weight. He would die on the rocks below.

Jerking awake with a cry, Declan hurtled over the side of the bed. He caught himself with one hand before he landed face first on the floor. Panting, he tried to calm his erratic heart rate, but the dream clung to him and threatened to drag him into the nightmare once again.

After he clicked the light on, he sat on the side of the bed, hands over his face. Sweat dripped down his back and in his armpits. He thought these dreams were a thing of the past. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had one. Then again, he shouldn’t be surprised. Not after that meeting with Patrick.

How had he found Declan, and did Patrick’s cousin truly own a restaurant nearby? The last time Declan checked, no shifter of any kind lived within two hundred miles. That’s why he settled where he did, to be alone, away from his people or any reminder of them.

Recalling what he had said to Janessa brought bile to his throat. Shame and hopelessness washed over him. What would he do if she weren’t a part of his life? She had made it bearable. While he had no intention of making her his mate, he didn’t want to lose her either.

Mate?

He hadn’t thought of a relationship in those terms in a long time. In fact, he deliberately struck the ways of his people from his heart and mind. Nevertheless, the past found him in the form of Patrick. Resentment replaced the shame, and he swore.

What should he do? Run? Maybe. For now, he needed a shower and a drink. No, not a drink. That was a recipe for disaster. His clear head had allowed him to smell the shifter they traveled toward. He could pick up his own kind within twenty miles. It was overkill that he chose to live not less than two hundred miles from anybody but humans.

Why now?

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