Page 30 of Venice Heat (Urban Heat 2)

He hesitated. Sometimes in his line of work, he needed to bluff in order to make the bad guy think he had a whole team behind him, but this was not the situation for that. He sensed the better move was to allow Darryl to think he stood alone and weak. That way his strength would be overlooked and underestimated. He already knew what would happen if Shae did not choose to mate with him. She had lied about who she was and continued to. She knew why Darryl wanted her, and it was not just because of her incredible beauty.

Eiji turned on the balls of his feet and started back toward the house. Travon shouted after him, but he pushed his hands into his pockets and continued on. When he reached the door, he listened and sniffed to see if he’d been followed, but the wolf shifter had left the area. Eiji figured they had a bit more time. Darryl would not approach Shae until she was fully wolf. The danger to her turning did not lie in death now, but in finding her right mind during the change. The aggression of the wolf could overtake her human side, and she could be no more than a vicious killer. In that case, he would have to put her down.

He let himself in the house. Shae stood in the kitchen at the refrigerator. She’d changed into shorts and a T-shirt and stared into the box, unseeing. Her toes curled on both feet as if in defense against the chill or life in general. She appeared more vulnerable than he’d ever seen her. Both desire and a need to protect her rose in him. He looked away and walked to right the chair he had knocked over earlier. After retrieving the teakettle, he started to make some and decided he wanted something stronger. His cousin had left a stock of both sake and wine. He took down a bottle of the sake, along with a glass from the cupboard, and had a seat. Two glasses swallowed, he poured a third and took his time.

“So your name is Shae Keith.”

Chapter Nine

The room did a flip at Eiji’s simple words and then righted itself. She continued to stare into the refrigerator. After a moment, she removed bread, mayo, mustard, and meat and cheese and set them on the table. Hunger was the farthest thing from her mind. How had he found out? What did it mean for their friendship and his helping her through the madness of becoming a shape-shifter? Denial didn’t occur to her. Eiji’s words weren’t a question. At the same time, they weren’t an accusation. She detected no emotion at all, not anger, not surprise. How the hell did she take him? No man confused her about what he thought or felt like Eiji did, and it drove her insane.

“Yes, it is,” she said in answer to his question of her name.

“Darryl wants you as his mate.”

“To somehow rule my family. I don’t pretend to know the inner workings of his plan. Maybe he thinks he can change us all, one at a time, before anyone is the wiser. We can’t all be his mate, can we? I mean us girls?”

He watched her, and something

told her he was trying to figure out why she wasn’t defending herself or her family’s ideals. She refused to.

“No. Just one.”

“Lucky me.” She put down the knife she’d been using to spread mayo on her sandwich and sighed. “Look, I’m not going to pretend I haven’t done the things I did. Since you don’t seem surprised or confused about learning my last name, I assume you’ve heard the details of what we do. We…”

Damn, it was hard to say for the first time. She licked her lips and stole a glance in his direction. He stood with his feet apart, arms folded. His expression appeared grim, but closed off. The warmth and gentleness she’d received at his hands and in his words during her sickness had evaporated into thin air.

“I’ve killed shifters…with my own hands. I believe—believed—they were abominations that don’t deserve to live on this earth. Damn, I sound self-righteous or like some religious nut. The truth is I’m not sure I don’t still feel that way. Look at what Darryl did to me and what nine times out of ten he’ll probably do to others.”

“Kill yourself.”

She had brought her sandwich to her lips to bite for lack of anything better to do. At his words, she choked and coughed because the food went down the wrong pipe. Her eyes watered, and she blamed the pain in her throat rather than welling emotion. “Excuse me?”

She peered into his eyes and caught a flash of anger. “I said if you feel you are an abomination, one that will only hurt humans, who are better than you and more deserving of life, kill yourself. It is honorable.”

“Don’t give me that honor bullshit,” she screamed. “I have a right to—”

“What?”

The sandwich thumped the bottom of the trash can where she’d thrown it, and she cleaned up her mess, slamming jars on shelves and banging the refrigerator door shut. “I don’t know! Why aren’t you telling me how much you hate me now that you know? Why aren’t you trying to kill me in retribution for all your brothers my family slaughtered?”

“It is not for me to kill you.”

She put her hands on her hips. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged.

“Forget you. I don’t need you, Eiji. I can take care of myself.”

She dragged the trash bag from the can and started past him. Her shoulder bumped his arm, and his hand snaked out to capture her wrist. She found herself forced to face him, the bag slipping from her fingers. Eiji thumped her against the wall. Before he could bring a hand to her throat, she knocked it away and punched him in the face. She thought he’d block the hit, but he took it full on. She almost laughed at the surprise when his head snapped back on his neck. The impact gave her time to attack a second time, this one with her knee. He moved without effort and lightning fast. One hand covered the other to push her knee back down. Shae’s legs gave, but Eiji caught her and pulled her close. She shoved against his chest.

“How long are we going to play this game?” she demanded.

“I am aware of no game.”

“You know what I mean, Eiji.”

“You have a decision to make.”

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