Page 34 of Shifter For Hire (For Hire 2)

“How can I not worry? They’re coming.”

He shook his head, but again didn’t explain. She was just about to run and drag Janessa behind her when the SUVs rolled to a stop. The passenger door opened on the middle vehicle. She swallowed the bile in her throat as Patrick Sevelle stepped out onto the street, followed by a swarm of men from all three vehicles.

Patrick smiled, approaching them. “Need a ride?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Janessa shouted.

“You know him?” Lachelle looked from her sister to the man she had met earlier for the first time.

“He—” Janessa began.

“Let’s go,” Gerard ordered. He shuffled all of them into the third car, and they were off before Lachelle could catch her breath.

Chapter 13

“If you think you’re going to kidnap us and use me and my baby to get to Declan, you’ve got another thought coming!” If Janessa had the power to shoot laser beams out of her eyes, she’d have burned Patrick to a pile of ash by then.

Patrick, to Lachelle’s annoyance, was still all pleasant and gracious. “I promise I’m not taking you against your will. I rescued you from the hunters. If you’d like me to take you back there, let me know.”

Janessa sat stiff as a board, her baby held tight in one arm and the other hand gripping Lachelle’s hand as if she would jump out of a moving vehicle if she had to. “Prove it,” she growled. “If you’re not holding us, give me a phone. Let me call Declan.”

To Lachelle’s surprise, Patrick produced his own phone and held it out to her. Janessa hesitated and then leaped on the device. While she dialed her fiancé, Lachelle focused on Gerard, who sat at her side.

Gerard also sat stiffly, his gaze on the sky. His thigh pressed hard against hers as they were all cramped into the SUV. She touched his hand, and he looked down at her, his expression unreadable.

“I don’t normally ride in cars,” he said.

“Oh, right. You like to fly everywhere. How is it that no one has seen you? I’ve never heard any rumors about a flying man.”

“Dragon. When I fly, I like to be in my dragon form.”

Her mouth fell open. “You have a full on dragon form? I don’t know what to think about that.”

Feeling eyes on her, she checked the front seat and noticed the driver watching her through the rearview mirror. The man in the passenger front seat also kept turning his head to check her out. Her stomach flip-flopped when she realized they must all be shifters. The only humans in the car were her and Janessa.

Did they intend to kill them? Would Gerard protect her if they did have evil plans? Just because Declan fell in love with her sister and would die to keep her safe, didn’t mean anyone would do the same for Lachelle. Of course, she would do her best to give as much damage as she got, but the odds weren’t good.

Gerard squeezed her hand, bringing her attention back to him. “I have the ability to keep humans from seeing me.”

He explained other facts about his people, and listening to his voice calmed her down.

One of the men in the middle seat swore. “We have a problem, sir.”

He handed his phone to Patrick, who took it and watched a video playing on the screen. Afterward, he handed it to Gerard. Lachelle leaned over to see as well. Someone had uploaded a video of Gerard charging into the restaurant, shimmering with scales all over his face. They zoomed in at one point to his hands, which were clawed.

Already the video had hundreds of views, and when Lachelle refreshed the page the count rose. She checked the comments beneath the video. “They’re asking the person who uploaded the video if it’s a movie or some kind of stunt.”

She noticed other videos in the suggested list. These were videos from the same restaurant from a different angle. Some showed more of what happened during the confrontation and included decent audio. This was the age of the personal video camera. Of course it was caught on tape.

“I thought you said you can keep from being seen?” she questioned Gerard.

“He was protecting his mate,” Patrick explained. “You can forgive him for not being cautious.”

“Mate?” Janessa paled behind her cocoa skin tone. “You’re wrong. She’s not his mate. There’s no way. Not him, especially not with him working with you!”

“What are you talking about?” Lachelle wanted to know. “What’s with the ‘mate’ stuff you keep spouting? I just broke up with that idiot back there at the restaurant. I’m not looking to get involved with anyone else.”

She denied it because everyone stared at her, but she couldn’t deny that there was attraction between her and Gerard. Not that she would follow through with anything because this dragon business scared her. The fallout from the video and the restaurant and the hunters took priority over any potential relationship.

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