Tooth and Nail (Small Town Shifters Book 3) Read online

  “Hey, do you think being in a romantic relationship makes it easier for a shifter to Compel a human with magic?”

  “What? Where did that come from and what does it have to do with what I asked you? Don’t dodge my question.”

  “It isn’t out of nowhere. This is related. I was thinking of this yesterday night. If it does, it makes sense why Zach was trying to get close to me. Since I’m immune to Compelling, if a romantic relationship makes it easier, of course he would try.”

  “Or maybe he liked you. ‘Cause I doubt that it has any effect on Compelling. I think maybe the loyalty could be something, but I don’t know.”

  “Maybe. But I’m putting a pin in that. Seems like something to explore.”

  “Are you going to come home now?”

  “I don’t know.” Tally said. “Probably not. I want to get to the next town and then maybe after that.”

  “Where next?”

  “The closest dragon town is Fairview. That’ll take me about a day or two to reach depending on how slowly I drive.”

  “Okay. Want me to meet you there?”

  “No, it’s fine. I can do it on my own. But I’ll call you again tonight before I post my next story.”

  “You have something ready?”

  “Yeah, well, I will. I must be onto something if they’re so desperate to get me to join ranks with them. I’m going to post about my theory and my chat with Game.”

  “Without naming names.”

  “Of course. That should buy us some time before I find anything else out.”

  “You’re doing good, girl.”

  “Thanks. I try.”

  “Talk to you later.”

  “Later.” Tally stayed in bed when the call was over. She didn’t feel very brave. Or even good. She felt so awful. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She was really hoping to have a partner in Zach. No, he wouldn’t have been able to travel with her, but it would have been nice to have a shifter to bounce things off of. Even another person would be nice, shifter or not. This was only a two-person team and sometimes that worried her. It made her want to give up sometimes. It seemed like there was so much working against them and it was going to be hard to prevail.

  She sighed and rolled over. But today wasn’t the day she quit. Some lying shifter wasn’t going to be the end of her blogging days. She was going to get through this and she was going to come out the other side stronger if not a little more cynical. Not that she wanted that to happen, but she couldn’t imagine trusting anyone so fast again.

  It had felt like Zach was trustworthy and her instincts were usually good. That’s what was tripping her up. While there was some unease, mostly she’d felt comfortable with him and safe. More safe than she felt alone. Knowing he was following her to meet Vaugh had made her much calmer and stronger. Without him, it would have gone much different. She’d had a gun pointed at her and she’d felt afraid, but she also knew that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He’d get hurt himself before he let anything touch her. She truly believed that.

  But it couldn’t be true. None of it. It was all part of his plan to get her to relax around him and confide in him. That was what he’d wanted all along. She brushed her teeth and started the shower. While she was sudsing up, she decided to play a little mind game.

  What if?

  What if he was a liar but was telling the truth about some things? What if he did come clean because he wanted to be true with her and start over? Was that at all possible?

  Yes, she decided. It wasn’t a zero chance of that being true. He could want to be friends with her. It was also possible that his Keeper team wanted to work with her. There was a chance that the dragons knew more than everyone else and they were keeping secrets. That was a very real possibility. But maybe the Keepers of Zach’s town wanted to use her to get one over on the dragons. Maybe it wasn’t about her or humans at all. They might just want answers and she was an easy mark. A good addition to the team and nothing more. They didn’t particularly care about her, but they didn’t want her to get hurt either.

  Those things could all be true too. She got out of the shower and sat on the edge of the tub. This was a lot to think about. Maybe she’d acted rashly when she’d first heard the truth. She needed to get away for sure, but maybe she could go back later. Maybe she could try again with the Lake Magnolia team. Not now though. Now, she wanted to get out and do some work alone and clear her mind more. Think about it when things weren’t so tense and she wasn’t feeling so raw.

  When she came back into the room, she nearly passed out. There was a man on her bed.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “She isn’t going to come back,” Zach assured Rhett. They were in the Keeper office bright and early in the morning. He wasn’t late this day. He’d been up since Tally had left and was itching to get to work to talk about it all with someone. It was just him and Rhett this morning and he’d filled him in on the action last night and that morning.

  “Any idea where she’s headed?”

  “Yeah. The next dragon town. I’d bet Fairview. It’s the next closest one.”

  Rhett nodded. “Good. We can keep eyes on her still. How are you holding up?”

  Zach shrugged. “Not great I guess. I dunno. I feel much worse than I expected.”

  There was a silence while Rhett drank some coffee before saying anything. “You know, you should pay attention to your animal more. I feel like you’re not listening and you’re missing pretty big clues. That’s why you’re so confused about what’s obvious to everyone else.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Exactly.” Rhett chuckled. “Come on, man. How does your animal feel about her? What’s he saying to you?”

  “To go after her. To not let her out of my life.”

  “Right. Okay. So that means something doesn’t it.”

  He shrugged again. “I dunno. That we should be best friends or something. She’s important to me. I get it, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do at this point. She’s gone. She wants space at the very least before she’d be willing to talk to me again. I can’t just run after her and force her to be with me.”

  “No, but you know that’s special. Tell her that the next chance you get.”

  “If there is a next chance,” Zach muttered.

  “There’s going to be another chance. She likes you too. She isn’t going to leave you like this. Give her time.”

  The conversation ended when someone walked into the station. A familiar face that Zach wasn’t in the mood for right now. Everyone’s favorite Keeper from Abbott. A young dragon shifter who was the intermediary between the two towns whenever needed. Normally Zach liked the guy, but today he had a feeling he was bringing bad news.

  “Hey, Tucker,” Rhett said, surprised. “What are you doing in our neck of the woods today?”

  “Came to talk to you about the purple-haired woman,” Tucker said.

  “What about her?” Zach was ready to get up and punch him into next week. Now wasn’t the time to speak to him about Tally. The dragons needed to keep her name out of their mouths right now.

  “It looks like she left town. Any idea why?”

  “Nope,” Rhett said smoothly.

  Tucker looked at Zach. “You sure?”

  “Sure are,” Rhett said. “How do you know she’s left?”

  “We’ve been keeping tabs on her of course. As close as we could anyway.” He looked at Zach again. “We know she was staying at your place, Zach. What’s that about?”

  “Can’t a man have a little female company?” Zach growled.

  “Sure he can, but I’m surprised this was the company you decided to keep. We’re all surprised. Did you not know who she was when you brought her home?”

  “What’s it to you who I bring home?”

  “Nothing man, just wondering how close you were to the woman is all.”

  Zach narrowed his eyes and stood up. His animal wanted out. Something was going
on. It wanted to tear Tuck to shreds and then make him talk. “I’m as close as is usual for a man and woman who spend time alone together in the evenings.”

  Tuck nodded and held up his hands. “Sure, man. Look, I didn’t mean to pry or get you all riled up. This is a courtesy call. We wanted to keep you guys in the loop since it looks like you’re close to the woman. We don’t want to make the same mistake twice, you know?”

  Rhett cleared his throat and stepped between the two men. Zach’s whole body was buzzing. They didn’t want to make the same mistake? What damn mistake? He looked at Rhett, who shook his head and motioned for Zach to sit down.

  “We’re happy to be in the loop,” Rhett said. “What’s going on exactly?”

  “Hayes went out to talk to her. He’s going to see where her head is and try to get her to stop being so damn obvious,” Tuck scoffed. “She’s lucky we’re being nice but the next town won’t be. If she has her heart set on following this story to the end, well, the end might come sooner than she anticipated.”

  Zach shot out of his chair again and growled. He could feel the change starting. Rhett put his hand on his chest and pushed him to his seat, hard. His eyes flashed. “Not here. Get a hold of yourself, Malone. Tucker’s helping us. No need to rip his head off.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Zach said. “How do we know they aren’t going to hurt her?”

  “Why the hell would I come in here and let you know that we hurt her?” Tucker laughed. “Come on, you’re too close and not thinking clearly.”

  This wasn’t a laughing matter. He knew that Tally was going to get herself in trouble once she got out his sight. She wasn’t grasping how serious this situation was and the consequences she could face. “Where is she?”

  Tucker made a face and dipped his head. “I don’t know if I should tell you that.”

  “Why the fuck not?” Rhett had a hand on Zach’s chest but it wasn’t going to be any good soon. He wasn’t going to be able to contain himself. This jackass knew where his mate was and he was going to keep it a secret.

  Friend. Where his friend was. Not mate. Friend…friend? Maybe mate. This wasn’t the moment he needed to decide exactly what she was to him. He just needed to see her and make sure she was safe. Then he could think about what they were to each other. If she was dead in a ditch somewhere, it didn’t matter what they were or what they could be. It would all be over.

  “If you don’t tell me where she is, you aren’t going to make it home in one piece.”

  “Jesus, man.” Tucker shot Rhett a look. “I come here to give you guys a heads up and this is how you thank me and my team. Guess we’ll be thinking twice before we do this kind of thing again.”

  “Cut him some slack,” Rhett snapped. “She just left a few hours ago and told him she didn’t want anything to do with him. He’s a little raw and has some misplaced emotions he’s taking out on you right now. We appreciate the heads up and we’ll return the favor whenever we can.”

  “Thanks.” Tucker looked at Zach. “I’m sorry you and your girl are fighting. I hope you work it out soon. Good luck, man.”

  Zach wanted to say something, but the look Rhett was giving him made him think twice. Tucker was a dragon. It would be a pretty entertaining match, but he could probably take Zach right now. Even if Zach did beat him, it wasn’t like Tuck would tell him anything. He’d still know nothing and he’d have pissed off one of their best allies in Abbott. Tucker always stood up for them and tried to keep the channels of communication open between the two towns. They were friends. He was being an ass and he could barely stop himself.

  “Sorry,” he said through clenched teeth. “Thanks, man. I hope we work it out too.”

  Tucker nodded and left the station. Rhett turned to Zach. “You’re going to have to do a better job the next time she’s brought up. And there will be a next time if we can’t convince her to come back. It looks like she’s much closer to the truth or some kind of revelation. Close enough to make the powers that be very nervous. We need to find her and bring her back.”

  “I’ll try calling her. If they sent someone to talk to her, I think she might be more open to talking with me. If not, I’ll try contacting her best friend. I think her name is Bettina.”

  Rhett nodded. “Okay. Good plan. Keep me updated.”

  Zach sat at his desk and took a deep breath. He needed to calm the fuck down. This was serious, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Not yet anyway. Tucker said they only wanted to talk to her. It probably scared the shit out of her, but it wasn’t anything more. Tucker wasn’t a liar and Hayes wasn’t a psychopath. It was fine. He was going to talk to her again. It was going to be fine. He just needed to keep his wits about him and stay calm.

  He dialed her number and hung up when it went to voicemail. He tried twice more before leaving a message on the fourth call. He sent her a text too. He waited around the office on pins and needles until two hours had passed. When he’d gotten nothing back he got on his computer and sent a message to Bettina via their website. He leaned back to wait. There wasn’t much else he could do right now.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “Please have a seat,” the man told her calmly.

  There was nothing she could do but comply. She was in a towel and there was nothing in reach for to defend herself. She was too scared to think of what to do. “What do you want?”

  “To talk,” he said. “I’m Hayes. Do you remember me? We met in Abbott.”

  “No. So you’re a shifter then?”

  “Yes I am. I’m a little hurt you didn’t remember our interaction. Am I that forgettable?”

  “I guess so.” He was handsome, but she’d been so focused on her work that he hadn’t registered. It wasn’t like he was more handsome in a standout way among shifters like Zach. Shit, Zach. She might have been doing a little better if she’d listened to him and stayed up in Lake Magnolia. If she got out of this she was going to call him and tell him he was right. She didn’t care if he would always be able to say “I told you so!”—not that he would. He would be happy to hear that she was okay.

  “Ouch. Well, like I said, I just want to talk. It looks like you don’t plan on stopping your little research assignment.”

  It wasn’t a question, but he looked at her after the sentence. She started to get uncomfortable. “No I don’t.”

  He nodded. “Okay, well, that might be a problem in the future if you want to keep poking around where you aren’t wanted.”

  “You want me to just stop? If I say I’m done, will you leave?”

  He cocked his head. “I guess. Not that I’d believe you. I don’t think there’s anything I can say that will convince you to slow your roll. But I think a mutual friend might be able to. He has a vested interest in keeping this thing under wraps too. Or at least to be more careful in how the information is dispersed.”

  “Like you planned on telling people,” Tally snorted.

  “In our own time yes. Not that I need you to believe me. Like I said, I think if you knew more of the story, you wouldn’t be so quick to want to blast it around the web.”

  “So who’s this friend?”

  “Zach Malone. I know you’ve been staying with him and you two must be close. Not close enough for him to tell you everything he knows, but close enough for our purposes. You should go back to Lake Magnolia today and talk to him. Tell him that I came to your hotel room.” He stood up and handed her a card. “This should convince him that you aren’t lying.”

  “And if I don’t want to go back?”

  “That’s up to you. But I wouldn’t recommend it. You have nothing to lose by going back. I haven’t spoken to Zach or anything and we don’t work together. This isn’t my team trying to trick you or something. This is on the level. Whatever you decide, that’s where things can get interesting. But we’re giving you a chance to make sure things stay...boring. Safe.”

  “Sure, yeah, okay.” She pulled her towel tighter around her. “Can you get out now?”


  He tapped the card in her hand. “I hope that I won’t be seeing you anytime soon.”

  “Same, buddy.”

  As soon as the door closed behind him, Tally was a shaking mess. Once she was able to get a hold of herself, she went and locked the door. Not that it did her any good. That guy had come right in without any problem. There wasn’t even any damage to the door. It looked like he’d come in with a key or was a very skilled lock pick. She made sure this time to lock the deadbolt. She found her phone and saw that she had six missed calls and three messages. Four of the calls were from Zach, two from Bettina. Bettina had left two messages and Zach one. It wasn’t from long ago. They’d called while she and Hayes were having their conversation.

  First, she called back Bettina. “What’s up?”

  “I just got a message on the site from a Zach Malone. Looks like you’ve got a fan. He wants to know if you’re safe. I haven’t contacted him or anything, but I wanted to let you know.”

  “Thanks. I’ll handle it. Also, it looks like I’m going back to Lake Magnolia. I just had a very scary run-in and it seems I have unfinished business that needs to get wrapped up.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? We can go to the FBI or something if you’re being threatened.”

  “No, not yet anyway. I think it’s better if I go and talk to the Keepers.”

  “If you’re sure. I’ll be calling you every two hours though. I don’t feel great about this.”

  “I think it’s going to be fine. Once I leave, well, that’s a whole different story. But for now and as long as I’m in town, I’m safe.”

  She hung up and got dressed. Then when her bags were packed, she called Zach back.

  “Are you okay?”

  Tally almost burst into tears when she heard his voice. “I’m fine. I’m going to come back to town. I need to talk to you about something.”